Feature:
Has a large bank of effects for guitar and drums. Some are just plain stupid and a waste of space. I have the cd burner which has so many bugs I whish I never bought the unit. With my unit I have to format/erase the cd at least 3 times & sometimes more before I can record a track. (I have tried several different brand cd's) Once you do finally get the track the sound is pretty good. (Forget trying to record several tracks as an album this has never worked.

Quality:
The recording and sound of this is not bad. Like a said before the CD burining format is not a realiable function, If you want this for demo's... I would look elsewhere.

Value:
I would be happy with the price if the unit worked properly.

Desirability:
Machines don't have sex appeal to me. I would tilt the LCD screen so you don't have to hover over it.

Sound:
Play back sound is fine. Playback through the headphones vs studio monitors is a whole different world. Do not depend on the headphone sound for mixdown.

Ease of Use:
For doing the basics the machine is okay. I'm not an engineer and I need to read the manual several times before trying anything difficult. Unit has more than I will ever need for recording demo's, practice and pretty simple to to basic recoring of live shows. They should have made all channels with the phantom power option.

Support:
I have just started to reveaw their web page to try and figure out the cd burning issues. After reasing other reviews on the internet I see I'm not alone. No luck with a patch yet.

Overall:
I am not satisfied with the unit, wish I never bought it. My goal was for a simple solution to knock out demos and record practice/live gigs. Besides the bugs, this unit should also offer more types of recording output formats, WAV, MPS... It would'nt bother me much if it was stolen.

• User: a customer from charter.net
• Submitted: 1/26/2008
• Style of Music: Rock, Blues
• Location: Washington State

Feature:
I love the features oh here. I just wish i could have more than 8 tracks to record. an example why...when your recording a whole drum set you only have 8 tracks to work with. If your a metal drummer or have a huge drum set. id advise buying really good over heads mics to make up for the missing mics you need. i do not like the drum machine. its too complicated to program and if you mess up you have to start all over again. also theres no undo function so if you accidently record over something or erase something or if you use the wrong fade in/out you have to redo the whole thing again

Quality:
the only reason why im giving this an 8 is because i have a few bugs in mine. When i try to do the scrub function it does everything else but that. i have to attemped it several times b4 the actual function shows up. also a lot of times when i hit the stop or play button it jumps to different functions. I used the cd it came with to try to fix the problem and it still does it. also the cd drive doesnt always burn the cd correctly, or maybe the cd drive that came with it is a p.o.s.

Value:
Its worth the price i paid for.

Desirability:
it looks nice. it would be awesome if it had motorized faders

Sound:
I was surprised by how good everything sounds through here. It actually sounds pretty good. The mastering program is decent but not he best. It doesnt make it as loud as a profesional recording would but it still comes out a good volume.

Ease of Use:
This is extremely easy to use. the manual does very well at explaining things.

Support:
I got lots of help from the dealer emailing them questions about things. It may have took them a few days but they alwys responded to my questions.

Overall:
overall its a great purchase for the small projects that i do. I do wanna upgrade to something more complex though. something like the akai dps24

• User: a customer from hotmail.com
• Submitted: 11/28/2007
• Style of Music: punk grunge industrial
• Location: suwanee ga

Feature:
The Fx routing capabilities are minimal. You have 2 sends per channel, but you can only have one reverb and one delay and not, for example, two different reverbs. There is also one insert effect per channel, whereas 2 or 3 would be preferable. You can of course get over this by bouncing down a track with Fx added and then adding Fx to another track. But this means that the original track is now stuck with that Fx setting regardless of how your mix develops. The drum sounds are pretty good, and sampler capability is great. Drum programming is a pain the wotnot, and if you write songs with different combinations of beats it takes a long time, and then you can't really edit afterwards, you have to start from scratch. Other than that everything works as you would expect, or better. If you're into using a lot of effects, and complicated routing, you're better off with a Yamaha AW16G or similar. If you are like me and just want to record guitars etc with the minimum of fuss then this will give you high quality recordings. One other word of warning is that THERE IS NO UNDO, which means you have to be quite careful not to accidentally erase things etc. Probably not a good purchase if you are a stoner and your mind and memory are shot to pieces. Also, if you are buying this, make sure you have the optional USB board if you have a PC. This will save you hours of time backing up your work etc, and it opens up loads more possibilities. USB works flawlessly.

Quality:
This is a difficult one for me to comment on: I bought an MRS1608 and I immediately had problems with it. It kept conking out unexpectedly, as if there was a problem with the hard drive or the power to the hard drive. Went back to the manufacturer twice (via the dealer). The first time they said it was fixed but it wasn't. The second time they kept it for so long I complained and in the end the dealer said I'd been messed around for too long, and sent me a completely new one. The new one has worked 100 percent fine for 6 months now, with quite heavy use. Never a single crash, glitch or anything. I've not heard of any other MRS1608 owners who had the problem I had with my 1st one, so I think I must have just been very unlucky and got a rare dud one. Based on the current one, it would be 10 out of 10, as it is sturdy, well put together and never crashes.

Value:
Definitely worth the price. Some of the recordings I've made have astonished my friends, who thought they were commercial recordings. Make sure you know what you want to record, and how, before buying this however. Great for people who want to record a demo with relatively little other equipment and no hassle. If you want to integrate it into a complicated studio setup it is maybe not ideal.

Desirability:
It looks good. My only criticism is that it's a bit big, and is quite cumbersome to carry to rehearsals. My friend has an AW16G which is much more portable (but doesn't have drum machine, sampler etc etc etc)

Sound:
It has very low noise. The preamps are pretty good. The effects are good as well, although the presets are set at ridiculously over-the-top levels.

Ease of Use:
Very easy to use. that's the best thing about it. doesn't take long to learn, and once you know how you can set things up and record very quickly. Can be slightly confusing when you forget that you have just been setting the EQ or panning and start pressing buttons as if you were in the normal mode, but this doesn't cause any major problems. I don't understand why some people have said it's difficult to use...

Support:
See above. They were willing to repair but took months trying, in the end taking so long that I was supplied with a new one.

Overall:
If this was lost or stolen, I'd buy another one, or the new version that Zoom are bringing out.

• User: a customer from hotmail.com
• Submitted: 5/10/2007
• Style of Music: Celtic Folk, and other acoustic based music
• Location: SE England

Feature:
It's fairly easy to use once you do it a couple of times. You do have to jump around in the manual to figure some things out. Most of the FX of the 1608 do well. The toggle works well. Actually all features on this unit have worked well for what I've needed. I write songs in the rock genre with some pretty heavy electric guitar down to some really pretty acoustic stuff.

Quality:
Well built. Mine has stayed in my studio but I would feel comfortable taking it out in a decent padded gig bag to do some 8 track simultaneous recording.

Value:
Definitely worth the price. I wasn't to sure until I got it and used it and heard the end result. I checked on some other name brand recorders and heard a lot of horror stories about hard drive crashes and decided for the price I would try this unit and it has performed flawlessly. Check the price of similar units to this one and you'll see what a bargain it is!

Desirability:
I own it.

Sound:
I've owned mine over a year now and don't really have any complaints. It does what I want it to do. I have recorded several songs on which I played all the instruments except for the drums but was able to program the drum machine to do what I would have wanted a drummer to do.

Ease of Use:
Like I said before, in the beginning you kinda have to refer back to the manual once in a while until you get it nailed down.

Support:
Haven't needed any.

Overall:
I am very satisfied with the 1608 after a year of use and probably won't replace unless given something better.

• User: a customer from yahoo.com
• Submitted: 1/2/2007
• Style of Music: Rock, R & B, Blues, Contemporary Christian.
• Location: Jacksonville, Fl

Feature:
This is a great unit for a moderate studio beginner. It's set up with tons of presets. But sooner or later you're going to want to have a greater degree of sound control and precision that better units offer. For the money, this is a great deal.

Quality:
Rock solid. Road worthy. Hefty.

Value:
Outstanding deal for the money. Just going to want more in a short time.

Desirability:
Again. It's a great deal for the money. If you have the extra bucks, buy better. I spent an extra $800 for rack units to get better sound.

Sound:
Sound quality if great for this price range. Internal effects and mic preamps are a bit lacking. I use external mic preamps, compression, and effects, rack units before the zoom recorder and the sound quality is night and day. Vocals are a bit lacking if using only the internal preamp and effects.

Ease of Use:
The manual is lousy. Learning curve is steep because of that. Other brands have manuals 4x as thick. But it's easy once you get the hang of it. Just takes time to get there.

Overall:
Why the lower rating? First, Zoom doesn't loudly claim that this is a 16 bit digital recorder. Other competitive units are 24 bit. Second, you have to buy an extra gizmo card to be able to link up to a computer. This should be included. Third, it would be good to be able to export the tracks into Pro Tools. That would make for a very versatile unit. But, again. It's a great deal for the money depending on what you want to do with it.

• User: a customer from hawaii.rr.com
• Submitted: 11/25/2006
• Style of Music: covers and originals, pop, rock, jazz, country, oldies, contemporary hawaiian, etc.
• Location: hawaii

Feature:
The features are astonishing, I have worked in and owned my own recording studio in the past. This little box kicks serious ass. I find it easy to edit, copy, backup material, load, burn finalize. The effects are great, EQ, drum and bass sound fab. i love this thing

Quality:
I really worried about this. She is a stout unit, I would not want to usee it for live or portable work but in my studio I have no worries about the Quality

Value:
I can not believe this thing does not cost $5000.00 dollers, I can do more with this thatn my od otari 16 studio

Desirability:
Buy this machicne, if you have a brain and can read you can work it. I am not super techno man, I struggle with gear, I have a Fantom XA and it gave me some fits in the beggining,(roland supprot was fab and straightend me out)This machine and manuale are very clear

Sound:
I have not owned this machine long, the sound is absoulutly clear, and I find it easy to thumb through the manual and learn to adjust peramaters as I go.

Ease of Use:
I have owned tons of gear in my life, I am no kid, I had a commercial recorded almost immedeatly out of the box, I have had it a few weeks and have recorded commercials, music projects, guitars, vocals, phone interviews, I look forward to really haveing some time with this box under my built, again I Love It

Support:
Havent needed any

Overall:
I am so glad I bought this recorder. I was worried in the begining but after a few hours I was jubilant.

• User: a customer from gmail.com
• Submitted: 11/23/2006
• Style of Music: If it has note I like it
• Location: Seattle washington

Feature:
Features include a "programmable" drum machine and Bass sampler, maybe its my inexperience with programming, but I`ve found it pretty tough to figure out, the manual is not very helpful either IMO. For instance, although there are a lot of beats for different music styles (rock,blues,hip-hop,dance etc) I have only found 1 TIME SIGNATURE, (4/4)-maybe I`m missing something, or maybe they aint there, either way, its frustrating.

Quality:
The 1608 is built very well, it has a metal casing and is pretty heavy, so I think it will last for a good few years if looked after properly. You have to install the Hard Drive yourself, however if u can use a screwdriver and connect a cable it should present no problems, the mnanual describes the process perfectly.

Value:
For anyone on a budget, this machine is well worth its price, as I said earlier I`ve only had the 1608 for 2 months and its fine for my needs. My only gripe is some parts of the manual could have been more in-depth, but apart from that I`m happy with it

Desirability:
I went for this machine because of the price, it is quite a good looking machine "in the flesh", but the roland VS STUDIO would have been my 1st choice ($$$ permitting)

Sound:
I`ve had the 1608 for around 2 months now, pretty good effects ( if you dont have any other outboard gear)for the price, believable recordings can be made on this machine.

Ease of Use:
Once you get the hang of tweaking the effect presets, its pretty easy to get some really decent sounds, OD & DS take a little more time but are worth the effort when u get the sound you need. Recording is easy, just arm the track u want to record to, press RECORD then PLAY and off you go. It`s worth downloading the manual as you can work hands free while working with the 1608.

Support:
I`ve never had any dealing with Zoom cant say much on this 1.

Overall:
I like the 1608 for now, but as soon as I can afford it, im going for the roland vs2000

• User: a customer from bti nternet.com
• Submitted: 11/20/2006
• Style of Music: Rock, blues & a lil classical
• Location: Scotland

Sound:
I don't really have an opinion as I can't figure the damn thing out. The manual doesn't answer the few questions I have. How do I assign the front 1/4th jacks to separate tracks as i'll be recording an electronic drumkit through them? What get's me the most is i bought this 16 track unit and it's really only 8 tracks with 4 addtional stereo only paired tracks - so really only 12 tracks in all. I was under the impression that it also had another 160 virtual tracks. Well a "V" tracks is just some practice space and you don't really get all those extra tracks to record on and mix down. Their more like "Takes" and you get 10 per track and you pick your best version and mix that one down. Is that in addition to the 'regular' track you'd record on so you'd at least have 24 tracks? The manual doesn't say... I've emailed Zoom almost a week ago and have still yet to recieve any answers so I'm sending this useless piece of crud back and hope I can find a REAL 16 track unit. Or maybe i'll have to buy a 32 track deck in order to get 16 tracks? My main rant is because i got quickly tired of bouncing tracks (and losing mixing/eq control) on my old tascam DP01fx 8 track(s) so I thought I was getting a 16... So if you see a recorder with tracks labeled 1, 2, 3, etc and then 9/10, 11/12, 13/14, etc. your NOT getting what you payed for! Whoever came up with the idea for paired tracks should be flogged! What a complete waste!

• User: a customer from isp.com
• Submitted: 8/12/2006
• Style of Music: almost everything
• Location: NH USA

Feature:
the biggest screen with the least information on it. Can't view all panning assignments on it at once only one channel etc. Drum parts loop or step input but can't record while playing along to tracks. two headphone jacks are nice.

Quality:
well the cd burner crashed within a month of startup. It wouldn't 'see' replacement by other manufact. Took it back to my dealer who sent it in no problem. 8 months laterstillno burner.

Value:
well it does do a lot of the things you need for recording all integrated

Sound:
it is a decent sounding piece of gear. Nothing glorious or to-die-for. Built in drums sound good ,guitar sims are not going to make you sell your amp but are usable

Support:
support seems to be to protect the techs from fixing problems. I called in the morning and my call was returned late afternoon. I was told that there was no one avai9lable who could help me . After some coercion a tech magically appeared on the line. Although sympathetic, all he could offer was "send it in". Do not know why they make devices proprietary with no chance of using aftermarket cd buner.

Overall:
If it could be upgraded say to 24 bits it might be a keeper. Or if it supported plug ins for that killer vocal reverb I could deal with its weaknesses. It has sixteen faders plus dr&bass and a master.The ability to store and recallscenes (volume pan eq effects etc.)witha button push or by having the scenes calledfrom a marker location means great repeatable mixes.

• User: a customer from yahoo.com
• Submitted: 1/10/2006
• Style of Music: rock pop
• Location: Absecon NJ

Feature:
Again, coming from the ADAT system where every single effect you wanted to add had to be purchased and bolted in-line with a tonne of wiring, snakelines, etc., i found the "studio in a box" features of the MRS1608 to be a real spoiler. And . . . the on-board drum kits beats the heck out of the DR-5 we toured with as far as sheer realism. I especially liked the ease at which you can "try" an effect, leave it be and live with it, then remove it if you change your mind. While this may be common to most DAWs of this type, understand that whenever we wanted to remove an effect from the XT-20 ADAT, it required a re-take of the entire track. I do like the front ports for the phones and instruments. Also like the phantom power availability. Keep in mind, we produced some great stuff on ADAT . . . but you had to have much more equipment and spend a heckuvalot more time to produce it. The 1608 is far more convenient. Not to mention the bennies of a 40g. HD. I do wish there was a direct USB connect instead of making it an option. I do not know if a PC based programme can process files from the Zoom. I know the optional USB board will permit downloading and backup onto a PC. I also wish that the 1608 had optical INPUT besides the output. Then i could take the work directly off the XT without going digital to analog to digital. It would be great to be able to handshake my two systems.

Quality:
Everything modern has that "look" these days that just comes off differently than the sherman-tank look and feel of the older gear. So, yeah, i am a bit wary of dropping the 1608 off a table, but under normal use, and using normal care and precaution i would think this unit should last for years. Reliability? Hasn't failed yet. I believe it to be road-worthy in my experience.

Value:
I think for what you get, it's the best deal going.

Desirability:
Sexy to me is a rack of tube gear from the 1950s. Black wrinkle-finished boatanchors running 1500v B+ from off purple glowing 866's and huge modulation transformers facing class A amps using 811As. But that's just me. These little boxes all seem dainty, like if you had all 8 rear ports connected, would the weight of the wire make the unit slide off the table? Naw, but it did take me a while to get used to the small size. I have to remember i live in an IC world of chips and small drives. Zoom uses that silvery colour on all their stuff it seems. I wish it was darker, personally. I cannot say i 'lusted' after looks, because once you've been to the mountain top of glass, steel laminate and iron, the "Iron Maidens" and the bullet proof reel transports, brother, everything else just makes you feel old. <grin>

Sound:
I put 9 instead of 10 only because i may not have a wide range of comparison aside from my good ol' XT-20 ADAT. I have always felt the old Alesis sounded great, and the Zoom sounds at least as good right off the 'phones. I can say that the 1608 has more than pleased me with the results of our efforts. It is highly compatible with not only my style, but my recording dynamics. I am using both dynamic and condenser mics with great results, and have recently produced a remote recording with it. Good results. So far, no suggestion upon improvement.

Support:
I have not had need to call for support. Hmm . . what does that tell you?

Overall:
I suspect we will have this box for a while. I like the convenience, and once i like something i keep it. While i do appreciate the base feature, i cannot say i use it much. I would have traded that feature for more onboard interconnectivity with the outside world, like litepipe compatibility, both in AND output, on-board usb or firewire ports, or even a vga card. Eventually these studio boxes will have to deal with the PC world more directly than just downloading back-ups and storage. This unit absolutely meets and has met our musical needs. Right now i am borrowing my guitarist's unit, and before Christmas i will most likely be buying one for myself . . . optical connection complaints notwithstanding.

• User: a customer from aol.com
• Submitted: 12/7/2005
• Style of Music: Neo Celtic, folk, acoustic, with some industrial techno leanings
• Location: Deltona, Fla.

Feature:
the most useful features are the onboard effects

Quality:
teh quality is very well put together.

Value:
yes very well competitive

Desirability:
yes,very appealing technical and aesthetic

Sound:
The sound is pretty amazing and very user friendly

Support:
yes very easy to attain info

Overall:
Long time before I'm done with this product.In comparisions with other multi-track machines I've purchased I found this product to be the best for the price.

• User: a customer from hotmail.com
• Submitted: 5/6/2005
• Style of Music: Rock and New Country
• Location: Brampton Ontario Canada

Sound:
Ilike this machine because its a all in one recorder. Ive had mine for about two years and its on eof my best recording tools. I record live bands guitar and even produced three albums with this machine.

• Submitted: 3/22/2005