This gives me about 8 minutes memory sampling time in mono, HiFi grade (32 kHz), although you can only use 1 minute dumps at once. This is quite strange, because the Zoom is said to have 18 bit converters. For example, if you save several samples @32 kHz, 16 bit, from the PC to the card, covering about 4 MB, and then you load them to the Zoom´s main memory and save everything as bulk data again to the card, you´ll find that the proprietary file (St224pXX.zmf) is only 2 MB size. Maybe some kind of compression is used. Once you have saved a bulk data set, you can delete the original samples in the root directory.

I don´t know if the Zoom is compatible with the new 32 and 64 MB cards.

Loading from the card to the SampleTrak is much faster than from the FlashPath to the computer, and saving from the PC to the FlashPath is very slow. USB readers are surely faster, and cost less, but my old Pentium 100 doesn´t support this new interface. Anyway, installing and using the FlashPath and its software is easy and hassle free.

I find the SmartMedia option very interesting, not only because it expands the number of samples you can use (each bulk data in the card would keep samples for a certain song), but because you can do all the editing in your computer, using your favourite software and graphical interface. The card itself seems to me very fragile indeed, so I think I´ll keep mine inside the Zoom or the FlashPath all of the time.

Thanks to someone at mc505@onelist.com -sorry, I lost your message :)- whose experience and info convinced me to get the SmartMedia.

Don't worry about the review below that complains about the sync issues while running the onboard sequencer. The other feaures outweigh the fact that the onboard sequencer well, blows. The only good use for it is quickly creating loops using a set of drum samples, for example. Then, you can RE-sample the result, creating a beat-loop with whatever effects you decide to add. Assign this to a pad and delete the indivdual samples to save memory.<p>

Just trigger the samples from your keyboard and sequence them in your normal computer sequencer. If you're using loops, make sure that you re-trigger them every bar (or two, or four...) or they will of course drift out of time with your other tracks. This is a fact of life with all sampled loops, not the ST-224.<p>

A true five-star product for the $$$