Peavey AMD SDR 20/20

Hi I could not find anything for there AMR line of mixers and recorders,so I thought I would put it here This is a 4 track cassette recorder made in 1989 This is a good tool for home recording ideas and little demos

It has good sound quality for a 4 track The only reson I am giving it a 8 is its a 4 track cassette recorder

I has held up pretty good for 22 years.You just can't be ruff with it

Here is where Peavey Shines.They Stand Behind Everything They Sell.My recorder was "barrowed"from me for 1 1/2 years.I got it back,sent it to Peavey,thinking that they would tell me "we do not work on thoses anymore.# weeks later a nice lady calls me,and says that they fixed it BACK to Factory SPECS and for only $50.00 I have a almost band new 4 track.THANK YOU Mr. Peavey and Co.

I have been playing since 1968,Rock and Blues.I have always owned a Peavey amp in one way or the other,I was playing down in Texas and this country player told me to get one at a pawn shop as a back-upIts hard to get a Marshall fixed in 1977 in the midwest They sound great,but break down ALOT.My Peavey NEVER broke

Without the manual it took a little bit to figure out. Once you have the basic concept on how the patches work, it's relatively simple to set up and has a very wide range of effects. Its ability to run 8 effects at a time allows for great creativity.

The sound quality varies depending upon what effects you are using. The reverbs are very clean, whilst the distortions can be a little messy. If you take the time to fine tune your settings, it can become quite transparent while adding great effects.

Currently I'm running it in my bass rig. I play a Carvin bass running through an old, but great, Peavey Bass Combo Mark III Series 260 C that I have heavily modified to include an effects loop and direct outputs among other modifications.

When running it on my Fender Prodigy electic guitar setup, it sounds great. I'm running it behind a Line6 POD either through a Peavy Studio Chorus 70 or direct through a Behringer Mixer to a FOH mixer. I must say that I like the SDR 20/20's Chorus and Reverb effects much better than those of my POD.

In both setups, I use the MIDI output of my POD to control the SDR 20/20's user presets. I do this because I have the foot switch for the POD which allows me to change both the POD and SDR 20/20 at the same time with the foot switch. I don't need the POD on my bass setup so I only use the MIDI output and don't even run audio through the POD.

I'm not sure how to rate the reliability as I obtained my unit from our studio when it quit working. I worked without any problems for 11 years and then went completly nuts. Upon rescuing it from the junk pile, I discovered that the backup battery was not working. I spent $6 for a new Varta V80H NiMH battery and soldered it in place of the dead battery. A simple factory reset and she was as good as new! Can't beat free stuff! So considering that the unit had no problems other than simple maintanance, I'll have to rate it high.

We are Peavey dealers. That fact aside, Peavey has always been good at taking care of customers. If you need schematics for old Peavey gear, they will almost always email them to you.

Our band plays a cross section of Rock with a bit of Jazz and Country blended in. The more I play around with the unit, the more comfortable I get with it. I am finding that it allows me to be a little creative in the sound I get which fits our band well. I don't want to get too over the edge, but I don't want to always have the same old boring bass sound. Stick out without sticking out.

I've been playing for 11 years now. Currently I've been playing with Folk Sing Bright for 3 months, although I've been playing with members from our band for 10 years. Musically, we've grown up together.

My gear list includes the following:

Lyle acoustic guitar with a Fishman Rare Earth Blend stereo pickup. (sounds freaking awesome!)

Fender Prodigy electric guitar

Line6 POD (1st generation)

Line6 FB4 (foot switch controller)

Peavey Studio Chorus 70 (great for practice but gets plenty loud for stage use without loss of quality)

Behringer Eurorack UB1204-Pro Mixer (great for running an Electric and Stereo Acoustic setup on one line to the FOH mixer)

Alesis Nanoverb (small and effective)

Carvin Bass (I have no idea what model)

Peavey Bass Combo Mark III Series 260C with EXTENSIVE mods

Peavey AMR SDR 20/20 digital studio effects unit (duh)

Peavey AMR Midi Director (rarely used)

It is not the easiest. You have to have clear knowledge on most of the regular effects and should have a technical audio or acoustics related background to use this. But if you know what you are doing, this might be a great effect prcessor.

It is made for studio use. Total harmonic distortion is about 0.01%, which is very good.

So far, it is reliable.

They are very supportive. They FAXed me some advanced setting data.

It is a good effect processor if you are willing to spend time and discover the "hidden" effects that can be found by putting 8 effects (max) simultaneously. I loved it.