Okay, they just shipped last week. I bought it Sat and installed it.
New Dell. PIII 1 GHz, Intel chipset, 256 RAM, ATA 100 HD for the OS, 40 GB Ultra 160 SCSI for sound files. Windows ME. Sonar (did not install the Logic that came with it).
It installed perfectly and has WDM driver.
It was up and running very fast. No problem at all.
The WDM driver and the PCI card are from M-Audio which have a good rep. The A/D, D/A chips are Lucid which also has a good rep on this message board.
So, it is a combo Roland/M-Audio package. This LCD is backlit (a must) but is small (what else is new). I did some recording with 4 tracks at once. No problem. Will do 8 soon. Sounds great to me. I am not a big fan of Roland effects but the compressor and limiter will be nice for snare and kick.
The mixer looks deep. But if you're familar with the VS recorders, no problem.
Cons:
Only two XLR inputs, the preamps may not be as good as a Mackie but I don't have $2000 mics or UA compressors either. The way the log taper pot for the preamp is set up makes fine adjustments hard with a very light signal. No biggie though.
Records only at 44 KHz. 24 bit. That funny because the RPC-1 card (M-Audio remember) supports 96 KHz. But unless you have a acoustically designed room with Neuman mikes and UA compressors you'll be just fine.