Tascam DM4800 48-CHANNEL Digital Mixer

Why does Amazon keep jacking the price up and down by two grand? Do people really fall for that?Is anyone really still buying this product that dates back to 2007? How come there's absolutely no reviews?Who in their right mind would buy this when the latest digital mixers like the Behringer X32 or even Soundcraft Si Expression are out now with much higher specs and lower cost?Seriously? Anyone?

I have had this mixer about 6 years now, its still functioning great. The interface is fairly easy, and its "midi" touch sensitive daw controls make it a great sale at the units costs. Why 3 stars? The video screen will develop lines across it over time, basically to the point that it is un-usable. My screen has more lines than actual image. You can order a vga adapter from 2seemy, though it is not an easy install. So, if you are ok with buying a $300 video output, and feel technically strong enough to install it, then this board is great. Otherwise stay away from it.

I check this listing every now and then, and the one-star review from a person who acknowledges that they've never even used this item has always bugged me. I've been using this board for about a year and a half and thought I'd give it the treatment it deserves.First off- cosmetics and durability: This thing is RUGGED. If you're a fan of the brushed-aluminum aesthetic prominent in Apple's design philosophy you will love how this unit looks and feels. If you've ever lusted over the wood trim on a Moog Voyager or Moogerfooger you'll like that, too. As with the Moog gear, the wooden rails on this board can be removed if you want to install it into a desk or custom rack. The screen leaves a bit to be desired- especially in this era of touch-screen devices and retina displays, but navigation is intuitive and effective. I am the 2nd owner of my board, and it came with a few lines across the top the screen. They don't inhibit my ability to read the menus, but they do diminish the attractiveness of what is already a somewhat bland display. Reportedly, replacement screens run $200. 2Seemy also makes a mod for this board that enables you to hook up an outboard VGA display, which I think would be a wise investment for long-term use.Versatility- where to begin? Firsly, a lot of younger people might not realized that this board was not designed specifically to hook up to a computer. All of the functionality described in its promotional literature is stuff you can do regardless of the medium to which you are recording- ADAT, 2" tape, cassette, CD-R, minidisc, direct to mp3, you name it. This is an "out-of-the-box" board, with extensive digital integration. The automation section is straight forward and easy to get your head around, even for someone like me who learned in a PC-DAW environment. The digital routing is impressive, to say the least. Take a good look at a picture of the back of this board- now realize that ANY input can be routed to ANY output, including any inputs and outputs that you might add via one of the 4 expansion bays. This means you can essentially set up all of your equipment, and not have to re-wire your studio every time you want to do something differently, it's essentially a big digital patch bay. Which brings me to my next point-DAW Integration. It's 2013, so chances are anybody reading this review will be wondering how well it works with their DAW as a controller and/or interface. I added the IF-FW/DMMKii Firewire card and have used this primarily with Cubase 7, on both Windows and Mac. Setup was fairly straight forward, especially on the Mac (Windows took longer mostly due to my unfamiliarity with Windows at the time). The Tascam documentation provided most of the information necessary to get me up and running, and I was able to easily fill in the blanks by extrapolation or performing a quick forum search. I've also recently started playing around with Logic X, and setup was instantaneous- Logic detected my board, and did all of the configuration for me. It is worth noting that Tascam is still actively supporting this product, and already has a driver available for OS X 10.9 Mavericks (which, as of this writing, has not been publicly released).I mentioned above how any input can be mapped to any output? This also holds true for the "virtual" inputs and outputs in your DAW. You can map any existing track back into the board in order to make use of the TC|Works effects or Tascam preamps, or you can route them straight out of the board and back in to make use of any external effects, outboard gear, etc. If you want, you can even route your entire project through the board and do your mixing 100% out-of-the-box, using the computer as if it were a tape machine. You have a total of 64 tracks over FireWire (32 in, 32 out) to work with, which should be plenty for anyone searching out a board in this price range.As a DAW-controller: It was my search for a DAW controller that brought me to this product. Put simply- there is nothing else in its class. You could buy three Mackie 8-fader banks for the same price, and be left with a cluttered desk and still no interface or preamps. You could buy a Behringer X32 and be embarrassed any time you had somebody over to record. Or you could spend twice as much JUST for a nice control surface, and still have to worry about your actual audio interface. For my needs the DM-4800 was a no-brainer. Faders respond to my Cubase automation flawlessly, Cubase records my Tascam automation flawlessly, there's really not much else to say here. It's a nice touch(no pun intended) that simply tapping a fader will select that track in my DAW. In my 3-display setup this enables me to instantaneously view my live-spectograph, EQ, and channel strip for any track I want instantaneously, without having to reach for my mouse or scroll through my project. There's no telling how much time this single feature has saved me, but I'm guessing it could be measured in "hours per month".Now the preamps: A+, Tascam. Seriously. The trim pots give you up to 56dB of gain, and with a good mic I can get well into the 40s before I start hearing a discernible increase in the noise floor. They don't seem to add or remove any particular quality to the sound, they just do what they need to do and they do it well. You can select between Mic and Line inputs, with an optional -20dB cut on the mic, and the +48V Phantom Power is switchable in banks of 4. In a studio with several contemporary Neve and vintage Sunn preamps, the Tascams hold their own. In comparison with the Presonus and ART pres that I've also used, the Tascam has essentially ejected them from my work flow.I could write a lot more, I could probably sit here writing for hours just as I could sit and talk your ear off all night about it. The truth is, this board does way more than what I've been able to do with it, it does way more than I even understand. There are buttons I still haven't pressed, and no doubt features that I've yet to discover. Point being- after a year and a half on this board my enthusiasm is the same as it was the day I bought it, and shows no signs of waning.

I've had this board for about 5 years and still love it! I wish Tascam would come out with a new one with a new display system.The display is the only thing bad about this system. Other than the display, this thing has more features than you will use in a life time.But if you are adventurous, you will never get bored trying.