I can understand your confusion. As a general user, I can relate to Terfyn's instructions, but for a newbie I think that they are still a bit too technical and describe the functions rather than how to use them.
Many of the functions needed to record are achieved by pressing and turning the Menu/Enter knob.
To do a simple recording (which is what I believe you were asking for) try this:-
Setting up to record
1. Switch on the recorder (this helps a lot!)
2. Press the Menu knob to get to the initial menu list (The Menu knob is pressed to select options, so I'll just say "Select" from now on).
3. Turn the Menu knob to scroll down the options to "Song" and Select to get to the next level menu.
4. Scroll down to "Select Song" and Select.
5. Scroll down to "New Song" and Select. This now gives you a song number. You can edit the title if you wish, but let's just leave it as-is for now. All new songs are given a unique number by the recorder anyway.
6. Turn the Menu knob until "ENTER" is highlighted and Select. You will be returned to the main screen with the new song title at the top.
Connecting and priming
7. Connect your chosen instrument (or input device) to the recorder. If, you have a mono instrument (e.g. guitar) plug into either the balanced or unbalanced socket of Input A. If you have a stereo instrument (e.g. keyboard) plug the LH lead into Input A and the RH lead into Input B.(Ok, there are other variations, but do this for now.)
8. Press the Record Select button(s) above slider 1 (for mono input) or sliders 1 & 2 (for stereo inputs).They will flash.
9. Move the sliders up to the = mark. (These don't do anything for the initial recoring levels, they're just for monitoring.)
10 Move the Master slider to the = mark. (This sets the record level.)
11.Turn the Trim knob for each input used to about the 3 o'clock position.
12. Connect earphones or an external amp to the recorder.
13. Press the Record button and start to play the instrument. (Nothing will record yet but you should hear the sound.)
14. Adjust the Trim knobs on each input to ensure that the meter stays around the middle line on the screen.
Watch out for the Peak LED - if it lights up, the trim/input volume is too high.
15. Adjust the instrument volume if the signal is too high or low.
Recording
16. Press Record and Play buttons at the same time.
17. Start to play the instrument.
18. When finished, press the stop button. The recorder will complete the recording process for a few seconds before you can proceed.
19. Press Stop and Rewind together to completely rewind to the start, then press Play to listen to your recording.
To record another instrument, repeat steps 7-19, but at step 8 use sliders 3 & 4 (or any unused ones up to 8). You will then hear your original recording at the same time as the new instrument plays.
Mixing, bouncing, mastering and mix-down are a bit more complex, but get the hang of simple recording first. You can gradually explore the other functions and features as you progress in order to get a better quality recording. That's what I did when I started.
I hope that this helps.
