Akai Professional DPS16

I acquired the unit at guitar center. I needed something to record with and I paid about 2K for it.

I think I can still unload it on some sucker

First of all the manual was poorly written at least my version. I think the product was rushed into the market. I found numerous spelling errors in the on the screen display (makes you wonder about QTM). Granted recording is easy but anything after that is not intuitive. The effect are silly and a pain in the butt.

To big to fit in my skeet launcher

I honestly really, really suggest people look closely at all the recorders and don't make the same mistake I did.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The DSP16 features a recording section which is capable of 10 track simultaneous recording and 16 track simultaneous playback, a mixer section of 26 channels, and an internal effect section that enables you to use four effect channels simultaneously. The DSP supports various recording formats: the standard non-compressed 16-bit/44.1 kHz; 16-bit/48 kHz; and non-compressed 24-bit/96 kHz. I initially saw the DSP16 in a magazine ad and in a local music store. It has just about everything you would want or need in a digital recorder. However, I didn't want to pay the $1500 price tag at the time. I recently found one in a pawn shop in mint condition and purchased it for $900.

The DSP16 has a beautiful layout of all the controls. It has excellent sound quality, including effects, and is very easy to use. What is especially cool are the Q-Link knobs which are next to the large LCD display. These allow you to directly control mix and effect parameters shown in the display window without interrupting your work flow.

There is very little I don't like about this unit. I there was one thing I would change, it would be to make the size a little smaller. It measures approximately 18 inches wide. I wish it could have been no wider than about 12 inches. That would make it easier to place on my desktop.

The construction consists of a high-impact plastic and is very durable and well made.

The looks, feel, and sound quality of the AKAI DSP is top-notch. Just like stereo components, I prefer to have a separate CD burner rather than an all-in-one digital studio. Then, if something breaks down and needs repairing, you are not without both units at the same time. Now that I own and have had time to use the DSP16, I would certainly buy another one because of its high quality construction and pristine sound.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

got this unit on sale for $1300 about a year ago...but i believe musicians friend is now currently pricing them at $1300 as well.

this unit sounds bad ass...however, if you want to record anything that is deemed 'releasable' i would invest in a decent microphone as well...the 57 probably won't cut it.

The onboard effects sound better than most cheap rack units, beats the hell out of my lexicon mpx100...it has an auto-pitch corrector, not that we should ever use it.

This recorder also seems much more intuitive than it's contemporaries... physical knobs on the box give you efficient control over the internal mixer, effects, and aux sends.

the only thing that really pissed me off about this thing was that like most other recorders in it's class, it's not capable of in-line recording...makes me feel like less of a pro.

if you dropped it from over five feet, i think it would break.

i like it better than using ADAT, and pro tools...and a monkey could operate it too.



This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

16 tracks DtDs friendly, 8-input jacks on symtriques (combo XLR / jack and power supply phantme for channels 1 & 2), an I / O numrique S / PDIF, 4 AUX jacks on sym, Master and Monitor CAR, MIDI.
The CHARACTERISTICS are allchantes: up 96kHz/24bits, IDE internally and up to 6 SCSI peripherals externally, 16 tracks + 256 virtual tracks.
We can only record 8 tracks the time it's a shame (can be 9 or 10 with between numrique, but I'm not numrique trs).
Card effects (4 time) that seems plutt effective the little I used.
The screen is big enough and enjoyable.
Keys, for cons, make a little Bontempi.

UTILIZATION

Most of the functions is very simple, but you still even delve into the manual that comes out of the DS record itself, the effects are a bit complicated to Started on the other hand when they are rolled on its own, and the eq, thanks for the catch pots ct: plutt damn well like Systm!
The assignment of tracks is very simple, nothing wrong.
Export to WAV is just a way of the cross, for against, as the external SCSI hard drive must be formatted in FAT, and that (beep) persists in WindowsXP does not read, have to pass the disc on another PC, or burn any CD to WAV for export.

SOUNDS

Converters excellent my (humble) opinion, the sound of the machine is really good.
As against the pre-amps are ignored from the start, take VTRE or console! May be that mine have not aged well, but the sound quickly becomes infected with!

OVERALL OPINION

18 months with this little BCAN but true regret is that there are only 8-track simultaneous recording, for qualitprix against the report is excellent, and the machine is a super- tool, specially for beginners while challenging.
Ct the mix is ​​not very practical, but I guess that's the case for all ministudios of this kind, but for a group the machine can do all the work recording engraving ( with a SCSI drive, even when ...) for cheap and not too much decision-head, the capacity of IDE hard disks is now quite monstrous and can really work on projects srieux.