32 KHz sampling rate is OK for guitar but will not be good for things with lots of top end like cymbals. And if you are not planning to record cymbals it is probably a really good bit of kit!

The rule of thumb is that good reproduction requires twice the sampling rate of the target frequency you are trying to record. The top end of human hearing is (theoretically) 20 000 cycles per second (20 KHz) and requires a sampling rate of at least 40 KHz for full reproduction. However their may be other rate limiting steps for instance using a cheap microphone that may only be able to record between 300 - 10 000Hz or a crappy pre amp / mixer that may degrade signal.

The best thing about this beast is the virtual tracks which allow non-destructive editing. On an analogue 4 track you had 4 tracks and that was it. If you wanted more tracks you had to bounce 3 tracks to one and then record over the original tracks. Great as long as you like the mix and don’t care about stereo imaging !

I think that this unit will be great fun for recording ideas and working out arrangements etc. I don’t think it will be good for doing a really good full demo even with the right microphones and a reasonably good external desk and some one who knows their way round. Don’t expect to be recording albums on this unit !


[Edited by Dr_simon on 07-09-2003 at 12:41 PM]