Yamaha AW1600 16-Track Recorder User Reviews at zZounds

"Big things in small packages" submitted April 17, 2009

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Features

Ease of Use

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

Sound: The overall sound is clean and bright, much like the samples coming out of their motif synth line. I never used a Roland MTR before, but the Roland MV8000 (which is Rolands MTR with a sampler and sequencer thrown in), has a compressed sound. The sound is very low-end. Good for hiphop drums and basslines. Bad for samples. The yamaha sound cant be touched. Be careful that the source signal is not cranking out too high or else it will sound distorted. Feature: Compact, and packed with features. The mobility of this unit makes it very sexxy. The effects are good for what it does. Ease of Use: if you ever dealt with yamaha, you should know they evolve around obscurity. That is not the case with this machine. The manual is very basic and details everything with numbers that correlate to what your looking at. The only thing that sux about the machine is the display. It will be a bit discouraging at first, but stick with it for a couple of hours and everything will make sense. Quality: Built tough. I thought my headphone outputs were shot. But after reading the manual, i found that I had mistakenly adjusted the pan controls. This machine is awesome... Value: High value. I will keep this machine for a long time. I was gonna purchase the rain recording rackmount computer to cover my tracking needs, but since its been on back order for so long, I opted for this baby, and have no intentions on purchasing that $2,000 computer Manufacturer Support: havent had to use them yet The Wow Factor: Its color, durability, features, size and sound makes this a sexy beast. I create all my beats at home, track it out to the aw1600, then take the 1600 to work or the bathroom and tweak away. This is also a great machine for those wanting to learn the basics of engineering. Just put on your headphones and get busy. Overall: overall, a great machine. Just because of the small size dont think there will be a compromise in sound. The sound is bright and clean. Think of the motif synths. Thats how this sounds. the only dislikes i have about the machine is the small size of the screen and the lack of ADAT.

9 of 9 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"AWSOME BANG FOR THE BUCK AND THEN SOME" submitted January 25, 2006

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Sound: how can 26 people say its 6.6 ? This is an amazing box period. Feature: Its feature laden. C'mon guys for a grand? 10 years ago this box would have cost well over 6 grand. Quality: well built for the money. Overall: theres enough in here to keep you busy fora long while

11 of 13 people (84.62%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"Alan Say's "BUY IT!"" submitted February 24, 2009

By a customer from wmconnect.com

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Features

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: 48years old who's been in love with making music for 38years thus far!

Music Style: I'm OLDSCHOOL........If it Sounds Good to me I like it......No Label's Please

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VERIFIED BUYER

zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

Sound: This digital 16track recorder is awesome. It has all "on Board effects that you would ever need." It's very Portable and it's actually a digital Mixer with recording capabilities. Feature: There is no "one" feature that I can say over rides the other's, but it's kinda Old School with real knobs and slider faders etc. and that's what I know...........I grew up on "OldSchool" but it has all the new technology like USB Out/In for transfering wav files as well as downloading to the AW1600. It's High Tech with the OLDSchool Look Ease of Use: You will not take this unit out of the box and start recording right away. It comes with a very thick manual and it's kinda difficult at first, but the Yamaha Help Desk has been great..........they send me emails that simplify using the recorder and the Technical help department has been awesome. I actually get to talk to real People not recorded Stuff that you are use to hearing when you call a "TechHelpDesk" Quality: This ain't no flimsy piece of plastic like alot of the other Digital Recorders ( I won't call names ) I have tried several other Brands etc. and this Yamaha AW1600 has a sturdy Metal chasis, with real knobs and Slider Faders. I Love It! Value: AS I stated earlier, I have tried several other Home Digital REcorders but I wanted something that i could at least record 8 tracks simultaneously without having to break the bank. This Unit does this and for Under a Grand You can't Go Wrong. Manufacturer Support: AS I stated , the Yamaha Tech. Help Desk is Great. They simplify alot of procedures and email me stuff that makes it easier to understand. The Owners Manual is Pretty good but it is very hard for me to understand (I'm a Countryboy from the South). Perhaps other's who have read the manual find it simple, but for me some of it is complicated. The Wow Factor: This is a "Fine" looking Unit......as far as "sex appeal" hmmmmmmmm? I'll Plead the 5th on that question........"Grinnin" Overall: I have had my Yamaha Aw1600 for 13months thus far........If I had the money I would have bought the Aw2400 but my PocketBook Dictates what I can afford. My Advice is this......"try it out and should you not like the Yamaha AW1600 you can return it for a full refund (minus shipping cost) I mean hey? How can You Go wrong with that? Huh?

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"3 years of daily satisfaction" submitted November 23, 2009

By a customer from mac.com

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: part time pro

Music Style: electronic

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Sound: For a digital machine sounds good, I've got too a tape Tascam 16 ch 1" and it's another music.... Feature: Simple, useful, well made nothing to say Ease of Use: As a tape recorder Quality: 3 years of daily use, no problem Value: Worth every penny (euro) paid. Manufacturer Support: I dont know..... The Wow Factor: I have it Overall: Some days I think to buy the AW2400 to have more possibility but isn't necessary I cant stay without it!

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"Excellent product at a reasonable price" submitted April 11, 2006

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Sound: This is a fine product for recording songs and it's not difficult to use, once you've spent a month or so with it. I record songs on my own using a drum machine and various keyboards and synths and I'm very impressed with the overall quality. It's well built and every thing is laid out well, even for someone who never used a digital workstation before (like myself.)There's many choices out there but you won't get a better product in this price range.

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"Too slowhard for an impulsive energic idea freak." submitted March 3, 2006

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Musical Background: Active ideamaker

Music Style: Impulsive

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Feature: It has a lot of features but-!!!!On The menus and the ease of use i give up. Actually i rented this, but before this i rented, in a short period 2 boss products, they were a lot more "just go into it logical" and as a solo idea performer i just give up on this yamaha thing, messing around in the the menus kill my inspiration. I deliver it back and switch to a boss or protools which delivers me more logic interfaces. Ease of Use: I "go" cold, i give up , try to navigate around but theres just no of that "ease of use" that i need to get my music ideas from the lowest 4track acoustic crap to a higher here we go with some beats standard, just too complicated. yes i am restless ,thats the way it is, give me an intuitive action music productionproduct. NOT a lowres no information map screen(my god why didnt they improve this),as an example i just couldnt find which EQ i attached earlier to a channel in a recording,simply NO INFORMATION to find. (or just too difficile), now its collecting dust on my desktop and i dont use it more than my old simple 4 track taperecorder for ideas. Quality: Probably high quality,but i got some distortion on a vocal recording with a beta 58a, which was lower than 0db ??? maybe my eq settings was wrong, i will newer know??`???? Value: Think again, pro tools offer great screen editing and overview. Just for recording ideas you dont need this. For the band recording, maybe, you need a lot af channels for a good recording, maybe other brands offer the same without this menunightmare.. Manufacturer Support: havent dealt Overall: I expect to deliver this rented product back as soon as possible, and get an easy to use for ideas recorder, and else go fro protools total setup.

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"Features that count, quality that lasts." submitted November 14, 2006

Overall

Sound

Features

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Quality

Value

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Garage band, local gigs. Play in a band situation every week.

Music Style: Classic / Hard Rock

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Sound: I acutally own the AW16G, the AW1600 predecessor, so the AW1600 should be better. If you set your input pre-amp levels and track levels correctly, and don't overdo the effects, manage your companding and compression carefully, you can get very punchy CD quality recordings out of this unit. The huge pluses / power are the 4 band parametric EQ and the very flexible dynamics processing on every input and track. If you have a DAW without very flexible and extensive EQ and dynamics processing, you are going to struggle to get a good sounding mix with pro quality punch and clarity. The effects are decent, but require tweaking to get to what I consider acceptable. You can use effects like a slight amount of dual pitch with small delay to really warm up and open up individual instruments. Just need to spend some time experimenting in mixdown. Feature: This unit really has all you need, but not much more than that. Wish there were more than 2 effects assignable at a time, but that is not a huge deficiency. Also wish there was more flexible effect send/return. Ease of Use: This does take some time to learn how to use. But once I learned all the ins and outs, it is very easy. The manual is a good reference after you know how to use the unit, but stinks for a newbie. I pitty the non-technocrat that tries to harness the power of this thing out of the box. The manual really needs a newbie "how to go from beginning to recording, to mastering, to CD burning" step-by-step guide with pictures. Quality: Very high quality construction. No issues whatsoever with 2 years of heavy use in my studio. Value: Well it does not have an integrated drum machine or sound module like some of the competitors do, but it does work flawlessly and can lay down some impressive sounding recordings. Manufacturer Support: Have not had to deal with support, so I can't give a bad mark The Wow Factor: Yamaha delivers a solid product that I enjoy using regularly. Overall: I expect I will own and use this until is breaks down and is not repairable. I am not actually desiring anything more in a digital recorder at this time.

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"Get a Professional sound at a Rookie Price" submitted July 10, 2007

By a customer from cable.comcast.com

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Features

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Musical Background: Artist, Producer,Active Muscian

Music Style: Gospel, Gospel Rap

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Sound: After buying this unit 3 weeks ago, I have to say it a very solid recorder. There a few things a newbie needs to learn ( Mixdown levels, mastering effects) but overall, this unit has a great sound. I just have to figure out why my mastered version of the song is at a lower level then my mixed version. Feature: My Yamaha AW came with Cubase (not sure why) , however there was no manual for it. Ease of Use: For a newbie, you will totally lost in the instruction manual, it's comprehensive, but not "newbie" friendly. Once you get familiar with the ends and outs, it's flawless in it's ability to record and mix. Quality: State of the art!!! For a multi disk recorder, this is constructed very well, hard casing, sturdy professional faders, knobs are state of the art and the buttons are engineered to last for a very long time. Value: This product is worth the price, a home studio in a box at a resonable cost is what you get here. You can create tracks a fraction of an amount as the BIGS, and get the same quality sound. Manufacturer Support: I've called once (because I was lost in the instructions), but they work on a call back system, however, I was called back in a timely fashion. The Wow Factor: Very sleek design, appealing to the eye. It turns you into a knob turner. Overall: I will use this until the faders no longer fade....

25 of 26 people (96.15%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"Excellent value" submitted July 25, 2010

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Sound: Fantastic - love that you can go up to 24 bit quality Feature: fair complement of basic features Ease of Use: Ok, there are definitely times when navigating menus and parameters felt clumsy with the button interface. But with practice this has been less of an issue Overall: It's easily portable and works well in the field - 8 track simultaneous recording is great, plus can be a hub or component in a computer based arrangement. All the recording basics are here already, and I love that it can stand alone and go right to CD.

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"Un producto bueno en un p" submitted July 30, 2006

By a customer from yahoo.es

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Musical Background: composer, musician

Music Style: contemporary music

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Feature: Lo que gana por cantidad de prestaciones lo pierde por dificultad de uso para el m

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Yamaha AW1600 16-Track Hard Disk Recorder

User Ratings

"Big things in small packages" submitted April 17, 2009

"AWSOME BANG FOR THE BUCK AND THEN SOME" submitted January 25, 2006

"Alan Say's "BUY IT!"" submitted February 24, 2009

"3 years of daily satisfaction" submitted November 23, 2009

"Excellent product at a reasonable price" submitted April 11, 2006

"Too slowhard for an impulsive energic idea freak." submitted March 3, 2006

"Features that count, quality that lasts." submitted November 14, 2006

"Get a Professional sound at a Rookie Price" submitted July 10, 2007

"Excellent value" submitted July 25, 2010

"Un producto bueno en un p" submitted July 30, 2006

Yamaha AW1600 16-Track Hard Disk Recorder

User Ratings

"Big things in small packages" submitted April 17, 2009

"AWSOME BANG FOR THE BUCK AND THEN SOME" submitted January 25, 2006

"Alan Say's "BUY IT!"" submitted February 24, 2009

"3 years of daily satisfaction" submitted November 23, 2009

"Excellent product at a reasonable price" submitted April 11, 2006

"Too slowhard for an impulsive energic idea freak." submitted March 3, 2006

"Features that count, quality that lasts." submitted November 14, 2006

"**Get a Professional sound at a Rookie Price**" submitted July 10, 2007

"Excellent value" submitted July 25, 2010

"Un producto bueno en un p" submitted July 30, 2006

"Get a Professional sound at a Rookie Price" submitted July 10, 2007