[kittonian]

Actually there's much more to the 960L than what is available on other units (barring of course the System 6000 from TC). The vibe of the 960L is awesome (some won't agree with me but I used a 960L for years and it was incredible at every turn). Not only do you get some very serious algorithms, but if you run the unit via analog i/o at 48k, you get 4 stereo reverbs/delays/etc. simultaneously. If you add on the optional 2nd DSP card, you get double that power (that's 8 stereo effects). I liked it better via the analog i/o because the converters definitely have a sound to them that's very pleasing to me.

If you think of how much it would cost you to have 8 stereo high-end reverb/effect units you are way over the price of a 960L. Even with the Bricasti (which is stereo reverb only as far as I know) at a reduced price of $3k/each that would be $24k to get the same power you'd get with a single 960L with the 2nd DSP card. Heck, even if you picked up 8 TC Reverb 4000's (again, stereo reverb only) at $2k/each you'd be at $16k which is right in line with the 960L's price point.

Above that, you get 5.1 algorithms, the LARC2 with the color screen and matrix routing and full automation with moving faders. That's huge. Plus, you can define your own custom presets and save them to a disk. The fact that you can work up to 96k with the 960L and it meets the needs of both stereo/surround work as well as post production for movies/tv makes it extremely flexible.

To me, the 960L isn't overpriced at all and can be everything you need for reverbs/delays in the studio. Sure, it's an expensive entrance fee but it's well worth it.