Topic: Sound Devices USB Pre... what's it worth?

[taper420]

My friend has a used one of these.... the version with the digital in/out... he wants to sell it and I might want to buy it....givin the limitations (outdated, only 2 channels, only 48khz) and the benifits (good pre's and ADC's) what should I offer him? He's a good friend so I wanna offer him a fair price, but understandably I could get an equal box for much less than he paid for it 6 years ago. I mean I could get 96khz with 4 channels for around $200, but I'm sure the pre's and ADC wouldn't be as good. So what's a fair price to offer him  given the other options available on the market right now and should I even be spending (wasting?) my money on such an old piece of equipment?
Thanks for the help

[sygdwm]

i sold mine last year for $350. great piece of gear. sounds great.

[mmmatt]

A lot of people here like these... I bought one and it sounded like ass to my ears.  I ran it with mbho's and studio projects c-1's and c-4's.  I thought it was muddy and severily lacking in detail. YMMV
     I tried to sell mine here for $275 and there were no takers, I then checked out ebay and they were going over $400.  I ended up selling for $410 BIN plus shipping on ebay.  http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=46243.0
     As a warning, this box is incompatable with c-4's.

Matt

[BC]

mine sold for $350 on ebay a few months back, only 1 bidder.

I did have some stickers and velcro on it, and some minor paint wear around the corners, definitely was not mint condition in appearance.

I think this is a pretty solid and flexible box, mic, line, tape level analog ins, -15dB pad, SPDIF digi in, solid mic pres and IMHO sounds great for the price point. If I had to nitpick, it sounded a little dry/flat in the low end with my 4022's.

[taper420]

Thank for the help guys....
Can someone tell me how the USBpre compares to boxes like the MAudio 410, the Edirol 101, the MOTU Ulttralite or the Presonus Firebox?
It'd be nice to have the extra channels but are these in the same league... they seem to be more consumer quality while the sounddevices seems more professional. And if that's the case what is a multichannel (more than 2) unit that compares in quality (pre's and ADC) to the USBpre?
Thanks again... i'd +T if I could

Edit: It has to be bus powered of course