bayou sam - I've just gotten one and am starting to fool around with it. It seems fairly simple to operate if you plan out what goes on each track. Our four-piece group worked out that you lay down an instrumental bed on track one, the lead vocal on track two, harmony vocals on three (and sometimes four), and if you have track four left, you can add another lead instrument. I haven't tried any "bouncing" of tracks yet, beyond the basic four.

The good thing about this machine is the clean, digital sound (Which some people say is "colder" sounding than tape). I've recorded a bit with a friend's Tascam cassette 4-track, and the tape hiss builds up pretty quickly -- you don't get that with this machine.

The down side of the BR-532 is that the smartcards you record on are pricey, and even the 128MB card will only hold about five songs if you use all four tracks. If you search on-line you can find 128's for about $50 US.

I'm about to start a project with it this week, so will let you know more as I experiment.