i love the direct record feat. i also have no prob with Akai OS 1.24. i get busy on it.
with direct record, you can have your sequence playing and fly a sample, synth, etc in and record it live on the fly. then you have the option to keep it on that track as you flew it in, or assign it to a pad the replay it in. it also shows up as a sample in the trim screen so you can chop it up, change it up, etc...
it's one of the best new features of the 2500, that and the mute groups!!!
I love my 2500SE and i'm rockin akai OS 1.24. so far there is nothing that i have wanted to do with it that i couldn't do with the akai OS.
but, to each his own. you just gotta find a workflow on any machine you have that works best for you.