Ok, first, have you gone to the Yamaha and Tascam websites to see what their features are, how many inputs and outputs they have, etc?

Sonically, I don't think you're going to find earth shattering differences. The Tascam has not been out as long. The 01V96 is a third generation mixer, has a huge following. etc. Personally, I don't like them much, just from an operational standpoint (we have three). There is not much else to consider in that price range and that is the only reason we went with them.

I have gone through hell with (2) of the Tascam's predecessors, the DM24.
Sound is adequate, lots of quirks that they may have fixed on the 3200, but....Like Sheet says, the Yammie has been upgraded several times and the 'bugs' are largely worked out.

Neither.

rmr wrote: I'm new to recording and looking at building a small studio... which is better for the money.. a Tascam DM-3200 or Yamaha 01v96v2? Which has better mic preamps? and which one functions better?

The DM3200 offers far more routing and I/O than the Yamaha. For the money you can't get anything close its features.

I have been using two Dm-24s since their introduction (in fact, I have worked with TASCAM, here in Californie, to develop, implement and test the software revisions for the DM-24) and they have worked flawlessly on many commerically released recordings. I only had to have the LCD replaced last month.

The DM-3200 is better than the DM-24 and I do NOT have it (nor do I work with TASCAM anymore) but, it an excellent mixer if you don't have the budget for a Yamaha DM-2000 or O2R96v2.

THe O1v96v2 is not a recording console per se in that it lacks certian BUSES and routing as well as I/O which the DM-3200 gives you right out of the box.

Go to a local store and ask to ck them out in person. Get a feel for each console and see which serves YOUR needs best.

Another alternative would be to get something like a MOTU 2408MKIII (however many you can afford up to the max number possible :)) and then, get an ANALOG console for summing and mixdown to STEREO.