Feature:
I have only used the effects on a mic and they weren't as bad as everyone had said they were. Although, I can get more effects and way better quality from Cool Edit Pro. But for someone without any editing software the effects should do just fine. I also find the MIDI function very useful for hooking up my Yamaha DGX-200.

Quality:
When I first saw the red color on the net I thought, "Yuck!" But now that I have actually played around with it I really don't mind; it actually looks kind of cool. However, the product does feal a little cheap since it is made out of hard plastic, but it can last a long time if you aren't like the backwards retards who throw theirs down the stairs and run their cars over it just to watch it break and say that BOSS is better.

Value:
This is most definitely the best value you can get for such a low price. Just remember that you are only buying the recorder. You will have to buy seperate mics and monitors to actually get it to work. Don't listen to the people who are telling you to save up for a bigger package...you will still have to buy the accessories and will end up paying much more. This product is fine for recording and even making CDs, you will; however, have to purchase a bigger flash card (I suggest Rima's 512 MB card for $36)

Desirability:
It could look better, but it will do.

Sound:
I wish the people complaining about the hissy recordings would shut up and buy an actual microphone. No, the built in mic isn't the best... but get over it and buy a real mic. The sound quality is just fine, that is if you are smarter than the idiots who have no idea how to adjust a few knobs.

Support:
I have never had to deal with the support because I have never had any problems with it.

Overall:
I plan on using the MR-8 until it breaks or until I outgrow it and decide to purchase a new one, probably a recorder with a hard-drive and CD burner. But I can expect to be using it for the next year or two.

Feature:
I like the internal mic, the LCD, it's very portable, and easy to use. It's pretty fun. A good feature also is the USB, but they don't include the cord with the MR8, which is bogus becuase you have to go out an buy one immediately. It also has a S/P DIF out and midi out, but you will need more equipment to use those, I never have. It would be nice it had and effect send jack for external effects, and an equalizer. The most notable feature overlook is the size of memory CF card. The included card is 128 MB, which is 24 minutes or 3 minutes on each of 8 tracks, in normal mode, 1 to 3 songs depending on how you record.

Quality:
Great for home use or taking to a party (depending on the party I guess) or recording your drunk budies singing "leavin on a jet plane" in the back yard. You'll want a padded bag if you plan on toting it around much. I would do carry-on, rather then check, if I went by air, about the same abuse resistenace as a lap-top computer.

Value:
Unbelievable out of the box value. It is short on some nice features, namely memory, but a great buy overall, you won't regret it. It gets you into digital recording on a budget. Plan on buying a 512MB CF card ($118.45), you'll out grow the 128MB quickly. You will probably want a mixer as well, I ended up getting the Eurotrack 1202 for about $90 . You will also probably want Cakewalk, Power Tracks, Sonar, Cubase, Garage Band or some other software eventually ($50-$500).

Desirability:
I have one!! If you've always wanted to play with yourself, and I know you have, this is the ultimate. You won't know how you went without for so long.

Sound:
The sound is remarkably clear/good. It's amazing how well it reproduces your mistakes... the good stuff too. You probably won't like the guitar distortion, it's wierd, just mic your amp and use the stomp stomp box I know you have. I like the reverb and delay.

Support:
Check out the web site. Use the forum. It will answer your questions.

Overall:
I expect to own this for a long time. I love it, it's great. I wish I knew about the memory limitation before I bought it. At this time there are only 4 approved CF card for the MR8 and the largest approved size is 512MB, see the web site. I tried my 256MB SanDisk CF from my camera, it worked on individual tracks, but it skipped when you bounce the tracks to 5/6 or 7/8. I ended-up buying a RiDATA 512 MB approved card for $118.45 on yahoo, it works perfectly. You may want to consider getting a mixer and some audio software such as Cakewalk. Also if portablity is not and issue and you are computer literate you may want to consider just recording directly to the hard drive on your computer. The songs end-up there anyway. You'll end-up buying a sound card, mics, mixer, large hard drives, software, cords, sound monitor, head phones, etc. Probably cost you $500, to get started recording directly to your hard drive.

Feature:
Not too disipointed that it did not come with a USB cable. I already had a SCard reader on my computer. I just take the card out of the MR-8 and plug it into my computer. The 128m card that comes with the unit is too small. It has taken me a couple of months to learn how to best optimize it. If you use the step down feature you can save a lot of space. I would really like a bigger card. You can also convert you song to .WAV on the recorder. I still haven't learned much about cutting a pasting sections.

Quality:
Product is made well. I could care less about the color - please. I have left it on for days. Never lets me down.

Value:
I think this product was worth the selling price. However, I can not compare it to any other simmular item. I have not used any simmular item.

Desirability:
I own it.

Sound:
Features are good. It has built in guitar distortion if you are in to that. You may want to plan to run you instrument through. It has three amp simulators. But the amp simulators are best used for mastering.

Support:
never delt with them.

Overall:
I'm am overall satisfied with the MR-8. I would like for it to come with some computer software so that you could master the tracks once you put them on you computer.

Feature:
Overall, this machine has very useful features for the cost. One thing I'm not fond of though is if you have a guitar cable plugged into Input A's "unbal/guitar" jack, and you flip the switch in the back to use your microphone, you don't get a signal from the mic until you UNPLUG the guitar cable. This is quite annoying. Otherwise, no complaints about the features.

Quality:
Overall- excellent quality, soundwise & buildwise. I expect to be using the MR-8 for many years to come, unless I make so much money from recordings I make on it that I just can't help but upgrade to a more expensive unit :-)

Value:
For $299.99, this unit delivers in a big way where it counts: getting down quality home demo's, or used as a "sketch pad" for demo's to be recorded on better equipment later.

Desirability:
I don't know what the bright red color is all about unless it's a psychological thing designed to make you think about using it more often than you might if it was some duller color (gray/silver). If they're gonna have a bright color, then they should have a variety of colors available, like a blue equivalent to the red. I'd have bought a blue one instead of red, but I'm not complaining.

Sound:
Sounds excellent. Another reviewer wrote it sounded "hollow" - I don't get that, this thing sounds great for the bucks and it'll sure blow away old cassette multi-trackers.

Support:
n/a - haven't really had to use support. User forums on various recording websites (including Fostex's own) are as helpful as anything.

Overall:
Overall, I'm really satisfied with this for my purposes of learning the recording process in my bedroom studio. I bought it mainly because I had always wanted a four-track cassette unit and never got one, so when I saw this thing with EIGHT tracks for $299, I knew the time was right. In addition, I was annoyed/frustrated/overwhelmed by recording software on computers and this unit turned out to be exactly what I hoped it would: a way to get down some guitar, vocal, keyboard, & drum tracks while keeping the learning curve SIMPLE. And the sound quality is terrific as long as you take time to get the sound as good as possible to at the get-go (basic tracking, correct mic'ing, recording levels, etc). And it's self-contained- you can supplement this machine of course with a computer, outboard mixer, etc, but you don't have to.

Feature:
It has a lot of useful features. While they aren't amazing, the on board mic and distrotion are convenient. It has a few other effects, and they are not to my liking, but, once again, more opinion than fact. And if you don't like them, just don't use them.

Quality:
Durable and well constructed.

Value:
Very good, price considered

Desirability:
It is really pretty and shiny.

Sound:
The sound's not terrible. So far i've only used it with the built in mic, which isn't professional grade or anything, but isn't amazing. The guitar distortion is rather sub-par, but i suppose that's more opinion than fact. I'd advise using a real mic, and playing guitar through an amp and recording it with a mic.

Overall:
One thing to keep in mind--it is NOT mac compatible. Despite all of the good qualities, I have no way to get my music onto cds with out the help of someone with a normal pc. I suppose i'll have to return it. Oh, and the flash card doesn't hold much at all... maybe three minutes of music if you're using 3 or more tracks. You can get bigger cards for about 30 bucks though, so don't worry about that.

Feature:
Features are fine. The effects are O.K. but if your mixing on a computer you have more options anyway.

Quality:
It feels solid to me.

Value:
For the price you can't go wrong. Couple this with a PC and a great software called N-track ($45) and you've got everything you need to record some great sounding songs!

Sound:
Use this with a computer for extra tracks. Due to the small size of the CF card it comes with you almost need a computer as well. The USB connection the MR8 comes with is fantastic!

Support:
The OS upgrade was very easy to apply.

Overall:
I think I will be satisfied for a number of years. If it were lost or stolen I wouldn't think twice about buying another mr8.

Feature:
Don't bother using the on-board effects, it is cheesy. I plug the line out from my amp and use my own pedal effects. The recorder is a funny red color, like a crayon, but it's alright, suits my needs.

Quality:
Nothing broken yet. Praise the Lord.

Value:
Great value, because it's cheap and quiet. Records to compact flash cards so you don't have to worry about hard drive death. (trust me, I used to own a Yamaha multitracker with hard drive and when that thing crashed, I cried like a little girl.)

Desirability:
Cheesy red color. Not sure if it's supposed to be sexy.

Sound:
First of all, I think if you approach this recorder for what it is, you will not be disappointed. You must realize that this is basically a great scratchpad for ideas. Don't expect to do any thing fancy. I do love the convenience of it, lightweight and really portable. I plug in my guitar and my vocal preamp and I'm good to go. I record my ideas, transfer the Wav files via the USB connection, then I mix and polish up on my PC in Acid Pro.

Ease of Use:
So simple to operate, you are retarded if you don't know how. You just plug in your guitar, press record and play. I've owned this little recorder for 3 years now and, knock on wood, it still hasn't failed me yet.

Support:
Never had to deal with Fostex.

Overall:
I'm really glad I got this. If I lost it, I would replace it with one that had a different color.