Hi all!
First of all, the mixer available for rental in Sweden is MM-3100 and not MM-4220.
MM-3100 is a 3-inputs mono mixer.
About the 16/24 bits issue:
Our goal with the design of MM-4220 has been to make a professional 4 inputs mixer with an additional recording feature.
In order to keep power consumption low we decided to go for 16/48. For 24/96 the processor capacity would have been 3 times larger and we would also need a lot more memory to compensate for the fairly slow writing time to the CompactFlash card. All this would increase power consumption.
This was an easy decision, since very few portable mixers, MM-4220 included, will offer much more than 96 dB dynamic range = 16 bits. 24 bits would be overkill, nice to write in a datasheet but quite useless.
As of today, there are no 24-bit converters that actually offer 144 dB dynamic range and I seriously doubt there will be. One of the very best A/D´s is CS5381. It offers 120 dB dynamic range = 20 bits.
Note that old times 16-bit A/D´s only delivered about 14,5 bits of resolution.
In MM-4220 we get the full 16 bits resolution.
There is also a digital AES3id output that delivers 24 bits, although dynamic range is still limited to less than 100 dB.
FYI we have started a design project with the goal to make a 6-channels mixer with 6-channels of parallel recording at 24/96. This will be a larger unit and, of course, much higher priced.
We would be happy to receive suggestions to features and performance goals for this new mixer.
In the US, Markertek has distributed our MM-3100 mixer for almost two decades.
The last few years the low rate of the USD has made it hard to avoid losing money on this mixer.
Also, the insurance cost for putting products on the US market is extreme.
Lately, the USD rate has improved a lot and we are considering to increase our activities in the US market again. Meanwhile, we can offer direct sale with payment through PayPal. Today the price for MM-4220 is USD 1700.00 excl. VAT and shipping cost.
/Leif
Links:
http://www.marenius.se/products/mm4220.htmlhttp://www.marenius.se/products/mm3100.html