R8 : Great multi-tool

The fact that it can both serve as control surface and external audio interface for your DAW or just be a stand-alone multi-track recorder is really what makes this a great tool for me. Sometimes I just want to record stuff and I don't care to be near a computer or think too much about it. With the R8 I just power it and start recording, it makes me a lot more productive than having to fire up a DAW, hook up cables, pre-amps and stuff — by the time I'm done with all that all inspiration and creativity has left my body.

Most basic operations are pretty straight-forward but some things are well hidden behind several obscure layers of menus—especially when it comes to sampling/sequencing and such. UX-wise this certainly isn't a master piece but it's adequate.

The quality of the built-in effects is about what you'd expect, but I don't really see why it needs any effects at all. I figure most people that use this will be doing post-processing in a DAW anyway in which case they probably already have their favorite effects and presets there.

You CAN do some rudimentary sampling/sequencing with it, but I personally only use it as a fancy metronome and then do real beats later. If that's an important factor for you, then I think you should look for a different device because it's not where the focus of this one lies.