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LSimons
Feb-21-2004, 10:52am
For some unknown reason I have been having this urge to buy a Yamaha AW16G-16 track recorder for home recording of our BG band. This unit can record 8 tracks simultaneously and burn CD's. Was wondering if anyone out there has any experience or advice regarding this unit. We have a bunch of fairly good mics and my goal is not to get a final studio quality CD, but something close from which the band (and especially me)can learn. Thanks.

TonyP.
Feb-21-2004, 11:30am
Besides price the thing that turned me away from the Yamaha is complication, it doesn't run like a tape machine. If you will read the reviews out on it everybody talks about shallow learning curve(takes a long time to learn)and nobody uses it right out of the box. What I have right now is an old Akai MG1212, 12ch analog tape recorder and when it's working right it sounds great and I know we can put out a pro cd with it, it was used for several albums by "name" bands in the 80's. The one I would like to have is the Akai DPS16 when I get money to upgrade. Most of the new stuff has the same specs, it's how hard it is to use and all the reviews of it say 5min out of the box your recording. Either machine will make as good a recording as what you will hear on a commercial cd. Oh and the Akai has a screen that's twice as big and has all kinds of dedicated knobs and buttons and it can be hooked up to a pc, the Yamaha can't.

CHPorter
Feb-24-2004, 9:32am
I have an AW16G with a couple of decent AKG mics and really enjoy the sounds I'm getting from it for recording guitar, mando & voice. It definitely has a learning curve, though. Perhaps that's because I'm a newbie to recording.

That said, with a little use of the fast-start instructions you can be up and recording quite quickly, and the basic controls are like any 'tape' recorder -- record, ff, rewind, etc. It's got some pretty decent effects, dynamics, tone control, etc, and that's where it can seem very complicated. To simply cut some tracks and put them on the CD is not that difficult in my estimation. TonyP's right -- it can't be hooked to a PC, and the screen is fairly small. Maybe the new Akai ( or other brands) have leap-frogged the AW16G since I bought mine, so check out the competition. I'll be happy to try to answer any other questions but don't take me for any kind of expert on the thing!

Craig

TonyP.
Feb-24-2004, 1:36pm
Another good thing about the Yamaha I forgot to mention is that it's still supported by Yamaha, the DPS16 isn't. Akai only seems to make one machine at a time, now it's the DPS24trk. You can still get service and tech support but they don't make it anymore, which is good/bad. It drops the used price on ebay but you can't buy a new one. Don't get me wrong, I know the Yamaha is a great machine. I'm just mentally challenged when it comes to complicated devices.