It wouldn't be more expensive than buying a sound devices 302 and one of their recorders together, which this seems to eliminate the need for.

You could also get a Dr 680 and a pair of matched pair of Schoeps MK41 microphones for the kit price :)

I used a 302 + Fostex FR2 for many years, then a 552 came along s/h. TBH it was like chalk and cheese. Not that the 302 or the FR2 are no good, but the ergonomics of the 552 compared to the old set up made my life that much simpler. When you are sole boom, mixer and recorder, having less to worry about makes for a happier life.

At the level most of us operate at, I'd guess, the Zoom F8 kills the need to spend up large on the 633. (though I won't deny I wish I had one!)

I own a Tascam DR680 (two even!), and doing sound professionally now, but I undoubtedly can appreciate the benefits of having a Zoom F8 instead! (hopefully next year I'll buy an F4 / F8)

Kinda funny reading my comments in this thread from three years ago, as now I certainly can appreciate the benefit of a 633 over a Zoom :)

@DrDave

What you mean under

The noise figure of -126 dBu is really unacceptable for a device in this price range ?

http://www.avisoft.com/recordertests.htm

I'm a fan of sd. Because kick ass preamps, incredible limiters and build quality. I've tried cheaper stuff and that was just waste of time and money.

The basics of circuit deign were worked out decades ago, and there are some really good ones--like Grace design, Benchmark, Lavry, and so on. Anyone can come along and make a box with world-class specs since all the research has been done already. No one needs to invent anything.Lot of high-end preamps or pre/AD are some of the best sounding boxes you can buy, and have world class specs--at or near the theoretical minimum for noise, THD, transient response, and so on. So when we are looking at a premium box--and SD is way more expensive than most, you just have to wonder why they could build a simple circuit with a noise figure of -129 or better. You also have to note that some reasonably priced boxes get it right, like Fostex.
SD 633 is 3K+. At that price, the converters should be stellar. After all, Mackie can do it for $99.
So what to do if you want world class sound? Well, the cheap way is to take a 680 and plug a converter into digital input. Why should we have to do that, it's stupid: tt should be simple for the manufacturers to give us this in one box. The parts are cheap, the design is simple. I can't imagine that someone would want to save $10 on a $3K item, so I hope there is some other explanation.

There's nothing wrong with it, I'm just saying if I were to spend $3000 on a box like this, I would expect top of the line preamps, noise figures, circuit topology, and so on. If I spend $400, it's a different story, but of course I would prefer top of the line for cheap.
Also, I'm annoyed that to get a really good sound I have to plug my high end pre into the digital input of the Tascam. I want it in one box. I'm not really annoyed, because it sounds amazing, I just want to hook the thing up and hit the red record button.