I think they sent me a bedside clock radio by mistake! oh wait it's got four XLR mic inputs on the side...
Wow! I was expecting gravel rash.. or dings. At least a scratch or two... There's not a mark on this thing! So much for 'scratch and dent'. Some finger smudges on the top surface is all I can see. I keep thinking, 'no factory warranty', and wondering 'why'?
OK... fresh-charged NiMHs in, format (my only) 2GB card in the machine. Stick a couple of C460s in inputs 1 and 2, headphones in... Preamps seem pretty quiet, but hard to tell anything yet. Must get out and do some proper recording ASAP.
The menu options and access to controls seem easy enough to get by trial and error. A few things I don't like so far include the ratchety digital headphone volume control, and the backlight ON max of 30 secs on batts... you need that thing lit up! And that dinky little cheap-looking data wheel on top!
I tried accessing menu options and controls through the front panel data knob... but it doesn't do the same things as the wheel up top, as I heard it will. Is this due to the firmware update no being present here? It says V. 1 - I'm looking up the firmware updates now...
Levels, Solos, Pans, on the row of small knobs, doesn't seem like it'd be too difficult to get the hang of. I can see liking this thing a lot.
It's 3/4 the size of a DA-P1! I thought it might be smaller. probably no big deal...
I like it OK so far. As someone said, it's the only game in town at this price for 6/8 mic preamps/channels, anyway. I really hate that dinky little data wheel on top, though!
The big question for me now is - is it worth another $200 to have a new machine with a factory warranty? How good is that anyway, if you need it? I've never needed one, but I guess there's always a first time.
Still, this thing would be a steal for the $640 I paid. It'll be hard to send back. What do you think about risking the 'no factory warranty'?
Will make some proper recordings this weekend if I can. This thing looks like fun!
Dave