Korg D-1600 mkII

As Digital recorders go - it is pretty simple. However, if you wish to further edit tracks on your computer, it is very very slow. You have to set the in and out points. Copy each track to a temporary "clip". Output the "clip" to the USB partition. A 10 minute track will take a good 3 minutes to copy. After you have done that with all the tracks it takes as long again to USB them over to the PC. Biggest annoyance is having to "ok" every function after it has completed. There should be an advanced user option that allows you to dispense with confirmation files. Especially when the confirmation isn't optional ie the ONLY choice is "OK". Pointless and time wasting.

I notice after much useage that the record levels are pretty low. The mic inputs are averagely sensitive up to 9 and then rocket up into clipping levels in the last 10% of travel. Hence it is safer to record a little low and normalise afterwards. The downside is that you are using much less "bits" to record a sound and the noise floor is thus much higher than it should be.

Other than that the range of effects is pretty good, albeit something we don't need for recording voice overs.

After 3 years of professional use the hard drive died. Getting a replacement was NOT easy as it has to be a "silent" drive 40gigs of a certain type (can't remember the finer points at the moment). The closest we could source were 2 80gig drives (one is kept as a spare).

Korg were pretty helpful sourcing the drives though the original spec is no longer available.

I would consider the next model up, however for my personal use I elected to get a Tascam 2488 mkII which is better in every way.

This machine really is quite simple to use. I was able to start recording on this right after I skimmed through the quickstart section of the manual. The touchscreen is tremendous for doing things quickly, and it is also quite responsive. If you have used multitrack devices before, you will have no trouble learning how to use this machine.

I am using this machine to record vocals and accoustic instruments. The sound quality is excellent!! When I play the recordings through my KRK monitors, I am amazed at the realism that I hear. The EQ is very effective if you know how to use EQ.

I have only had one problem with this device. My machine will not save any changes that I make with the seventh track of the eleventh song that I have recorded. I cannot delete nor erase this track for some reason. I copied the song to another location on the hard drive, song 28, and I had the same problem. I have tried to re-record this track SEVERAL TIMES, and the new recordings cease to exist after the machine is turned off and re-started. This only occurs with the seventh track of the eleventh song, but it really irritates me.

I have not tried to call Korg. I have tried to register for the third party support groups for this type of device, but even that is problematic.

If it were not for the problem mentioned above, I would be VERY happy with this machine. When I am finished with the project on which I am currently working, I will donate this device to one of the schools at which I work for a tax write-off. I believe that the problem I have with the device has to do with the operating system, and not with the hardware itself. I will replace this machine with a device that has better software, namely a Mac G5 with ProTools!!!!!!!