Feature:
This is where it excels. You can route just about anything, anywhere in this board and that is extreme flexibility. Where it lacks in sound, it makes up for with ins, outs, effects processors, really nice faders, DAW automation, ADAT (16 in/out possible with add on card) nice meter bridge and just a great, ergonomic surface. It takes awhile to digest it all, but the manual is well writtten, and easy to follow. It takes awhile to get used to all the different buttons, functions, sub menus, etc. I don't like the white background, tiny resolution LCD,. They could have done a better job there, but for the price, I think the board is OK.
Quality:
it looks more impressive than it sounds, just MHO
Value:
I am going to give it a high 8 because the board has so many inputs, that it really doubles as a sound card and DAW controller first. I really think it is a glorified FW-1884 with a stainless facadae, as I have owned both and really feel the sonic quality is comparible to its younger sibling, with inputs halved. Problem is with the DM, is if you want more inputs, it cost more money so the board with the options you need can easily set you back 3 grand. All that considered, I'd look seriously into the Allen and Heatch Zed16R if I had to do it all over again, but at the time of purchase, that unit was not available. I added plug ins to mimic warmth, so that is how I got around the stoic and sonically sterile nature of the DM 3200.
Desirability:
I is a nice looking board, I will admit. Looks impressive
Sound:
I give it a 7 because it is clean. too clean. It doesn't have that full, rich, deep sound that you get with a Mackie,or say an Allen and Heath (use those as comparisons as they are in same price range). Cannot compare to Yamaha mixers and I have not mixed on them. I know that IMHO, it doesn't have as nice a deep, rich low end as a good analog console with a bus compressor. It cannot touch an SSL or Neve unless you throw in an Xl rack or UAD/Duende Cards in your PC, which is exactly what I did.
I am not a big fand of the sound of digital boards, and when guitars, drums and whatnot are run straight into them, they have no depth in the low end and digital EQ is just, well, weird sounding. Unnatural to the human ear. SSL and Neve consoles cost 140,000 for a reason, but hey, I've tracked LP's on a Mackie and it sounded a hundred times better in the low end. This board has great features, unfortunately, its sound, is not one of its highlights and if you mix on it, great, plug into it, great, run and entire mixdown on it with no external processors, and you are getting a thin product on the final mixdown. You will have to spend a little more (say two grand) for some really good DAW plugs or a UAD/Duende Card to process before it enters the DM then set all DM parameters on EQ to mid range. Then, you can get a good sounding mix. The DM sounds clean, but it is just too clean, too digital or 'brittle', in a way that I personally don't like, but others may like. It is a case of try before you buy. Listen to mixes done on the board if it will be your sole audio interface and mixdown device.
Ease of Use:
If you come from analog boards, it is not that easy to get into and get a workflow going. I think personally, that the user interface is a bit crowded as some buttons have multiple functions and the shift and alt key must be pressed in sequence to get the desired screen, while other functions are more intuitive. Takes time, but easier once you read along with the manual a few times
Support:
They called me back, and were nice, so I have to give them props for that
Overall:
I chose this board for the sheer number of inputs and its ability to act as a fader layer for my DAW. because I do not depend on its sound alone, I keep the board for the aforementioned reasons as it saves me the cost of a multi fader controller and audio interface. If I had to do it again, I'd have gone analog, but hindsight is always 20/20
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