I don't know. I'm still up in the air.
I've been eyeing the 2480 for a while, and like Curtis, I've heard good review of it from some people in the recording business....but the Akai DPS 24, also shines through the pack too. I'd even dare to say that it's better than the VS2480.
So you can see my dilemma...I really want a hard disk recorder, but I don't know which I want to buy. If I don't get a hard disk recorder, I'll get the Tascam FW-1884, because even though it comes with Cubase, you can use it with ProTools too, so for 1k. It's not a bad deal.
The Tascam FW-1884, is software-based. It has 4 MIDI I/O as opposed to the VS2480 only having one. The Akai DPS 24, has 12 XLR inputs, and supports 12 96khz tracks, while the 2480 only has 8 XLR inputs and supports four 96khz tracks (maybe
.
Also, the AKAI has a lot more effects built-in and has more features. Now that I think about it, I'm almost certain that I'm not considering the 2480 anymore. It's between the DPS24 and the FW-1884 for me, only because of the ProTools compatibility.
AKAI:
http://www.akaipro.com/productsDPS24.htmlAKAI reviews:
http://www.harmony-central.com/Synth/Data/Akai/DPS24-1.htmlTASCAM:
http://www.tascam.com/Products/FW-1884.html