Product: Akai DPS16
Price Paid: US $1999.00
Submitted
07/11/2000
at
08:52am
by
Anonymous
Ease of Use
:
10
For such a complex piece of equipment, this thing is easy as hell to use... It is all so self-explanatory, that I have been recording & mixing a whole bunch of stuff without even cracking the manual... I am used to simple analog equipment, and this digital recorder is just as easy to use!
Sound Quality
:
10
THIS THING SOUNDS KILLER!!! For the last year I have been recording an album on 2" tape... I just got the DPS16 about a month ago and I started doing some of my new songs on it... I really think that it sounds better than 2" tape... The DPS16 is dead quiet and it's so great not having any tape hiss!! 24-bit mode sounds so totally amazing, but 16-bit mode still sounds so killer... I am using both modes on my new album (depending on the song)... The average person woundn't even be able to tell the difference between to two modes... 24-bit mode seemed to have much higher resolution and detail and more high frequency response... I didn't think that I would be able to do a fully professional album on this thing... BUT I CAN... AND SO CAN YOU... I can't really comment on if the mic preamps are any good because I have been using a Presonus MP20 preamp going into the line inputs of the Akai... The sound of this thing is so sparkly clean... This is a pro unit, kids... This is the real deal... I have been recording for years and I haven't seen anything like this...
Reliability
:
10
It kicks ass... I have been bringing it to and from another studio to record drums and it definitely can handle some abuse... No problems with it so far...
Customer Support
:
10
I have heard other people say that Akai has poor customer support, but that is bullshit... Ever since I got this DPS16 I have been calling them all the time and they have been very helpful and they are always there... Don't listen to anyone who tells you Akai support sucks... And when I mailed in the coupon for the effects processor, they sent it to me almost instantaeously... I got it way faster then they had originally told me...
Overall Rating
:
10
I record heavy rock music and this thing just kicks so much ass... I was originally in the market to buy a Roland VS-1680, but then I read the spec sheets for the VS-1680 and the DPS16... There is no doubt that the DPS16 has much better specs... It seems to me that Akai is moving up with the times and Roland is still putting out the same stuff from 2 years ago... I am sure that the Roland sounds great, but it can't beat the 24-bit 96kHz A/D D/A converters and the uncompressed sound quality and the 10GB hard drive in the DPS16... Plus, the DPS16 has more inputs and more simultaneous recording tracks... The Akai DPS16 is 16 tracks of pure perfection...
