This recorder is truly superb. The handling is great, and the touch-screen interface, although small, is very easy to navigate and use. All the options you need are there. The preamps are extremely clean with masses of gain available. The build quality is very solid and the knobs are smooth and easy to adjust. The 'glow rings' around the input controls are excellent. It does use quite a lot of power and the 4X AA sled is not going to keep you going long. I'd recommend the NP battery sled as an option. The headphone amplifier is also fantastic on this, up to usual Sound Devices standards.