TASCAM SS-R200 Professional Solid State Recorder

Although I have owned a hand-held digital audio recorder for some time, I have been seeking a rack-mounted model that could be an integral part of my field audio equipment. I do not do a lot of complex multi-track work, but do provide audio and video media support for meetings and for some live music events, so the SSR-200 is great for my needs. (I would have preferred the SS-CDR200, but was not able to find one at a reasonable price.) The SSR-200 has been around for quite a while, so its user interface is perhaps not as smart or smooth as some newer units. In fact, the instruction manual at first seemed a bit daunting, with many pages of instruction. I read it anyway, then plugged the unit in, inserted a memory card, and started playing with it. I discovered that operation is actually very intuitive, even though it is good to have the manual handy if there is any difficulty accessing infrequently used features or functions. For me, the ability to use CF memory cards is a plus, since I still have a number of them left from past projects. You will want to know that if there are any files on a CF or SD card that were written by another device, you may have difficulty formatting them for use in this recorder. Card with no files seem to reformat and work just fine. My only complaint so far is that the supplied wired remote plugs into the back of the unit instead of the front. This is not convenient if it is rack mounted. The remote is handy because it provides direct access to a number of functions that otherwise require navigating through the tree structure of the menu interface. So in summary...very functional and durable unit even though it is not totally up to date.