I was always puzzled by the intended market for the SQE-2000 Encoder. Surely the only significant applications would have been in recording or radio studios – but it isn’t made like a professional bit of kit. It matches the domestic SQD-2000 decoder series (not sure why) and is made to the same build quality (decent higher end retail hifi of the day, but nothing exceptional) - it’s rather flimsy switches and tiny slider pots would surely not have survived the rigors of a working studio very long. It is not rack mountable and has very limited input facilities (for something which claims to be a mixer) – but strangest of all, it only has domestic, single ended connections for microphones (jack sockets) and line level in/out (RCA sockets)– what use would they have been in a commercial studio environment? The user manual also looks like it was aimed more at home user than an audio engineer. I wonder if the design was undertaken by Sony’s retail hifi division without any real understanding of the requirements of the professional market. Did they sell many? I somehow doubt it.