Quoting Alan Turner, "Does anyone on MMD (or their associates) know
of any more modern systems (read "direct to digital") that have an
audio AGC that can be disabled or is non-existent?"

Unless you are willing to pay a great deal of money for professional
high definition video and audio recording equipment you are out of
luck in dealing with the AGC circuitry of consumer "off the shelf"
equipment.  But there is a work around if you are willing to do it.

Al Pebworth invited me to a recording session a few years ago featuring
a newly restored Steinway Duo-Art grand.  Here was the work around:

1. A video camera was used to produce the video feed;

2. An audio mixing console with strategically placed microphones was
used to produce the audio feed;

3. A hi-fi VCR recorder was used to combine and record the video and
audio feeds;

4. A TV was used to monitor the video and audio quality.

At the time of this recording session the hi-fi VCR was the best "off
the shelf" device available to me.  Today one could use the same set-up
to create the video and audio feeds, but use a computer based recorder
or DVD recorder to capture the video and audio.  This is a "messy"
set-up, but it is a good way to get semi-professional results without
the major cost of professional equipment.

Sam Harris
Greenville, North Carolina
http://www.youtube.com/user/playerpianoshop