After all, why use a hardware digital mixer when you can do so much 'in the box' for free these days? However, there are some applications where a budget hardware mixer still makes some sense - such as for location recording, or where there are a lot of outboard sound sources to mix. With the ever-increasing power of DAW systems, the market for modestly priced digital studio consoles is, I would suggest, relatively small. Tascam's new 48-channel digital console is an imposing sight, full of features and attractively priced.