vf-160 Users, I have some questions

[junplugged]

how long does it take to burn a cd of your project for backup?

looks like no usb or other interface, so it's cd only?

what's that row of buttons above each fader?

how do you adjust pan on a track, (since there's no obvious pot to turn)?

it has 2 inserts, so where do they route to?

can you hear the disk running?

it has 2 xlr's so, that means it has only 2 inputs of preamps with phantom power?

any other things you wish you knew before you got it?

the ex version is out, what's the diff?

[carelessorc]

That's a lot of questions! The manual may help yuo can find it at
http://fostex.com/index.php?file=support/documents
Good Luck

Orc

[billisa]

Originally Posted by junplugged

how long does it take to burn a cd of your project for backup?

It depends on the size of the file... I recently did a wav back-up of a 17:00 thing on 16 tracks -- took up 1.3 gigs of space across 2 CDR's (I'd say it was about a 15 minute burn.) But I usually do :60 second commercials that can be backed up in about 2 to 3 minutes. The burner on the VF160 is a plextor (at least on mine). Very, very accurate. The 17 minute stereo master had zero errors (I don't mean skips, I mean ANY errors at all -- even commercial discs can have some errors, but my VF160 rarely does, ever)

looks like no usb or other interface, so it's cd only?

There is S/PDIF in/out and ADAT in/out, if this helps.

what's that row of buttons above each fader?

The buttons above the faders arm each track.

how do you adjust pan on a track, (since there's no obvious pot to turn)?

There is a PAN button that gives a visual image on the LCD of eack track's pan position. You select the tracks, via the fader buttons, and rotate the jog wheel.

it has 2 inserts, so where do they route to?

Tracks 7/8.


can you hear the disk running?

Barely. This is a very quiet unit -- no fan. Not dead quiet, but extremely quiet compared to some others.

it has 2 xlr's so, that means it has only 2 inputs of preamps with phantom power?

Yes.


any other things you wish you knew before you got it?

This is a very solid performer capable of great recordings. Buy the 8051 footswitch for punch-in/out. Easy as can be and extremely clean. I don't think there's as good a machine for the money out there. These are setup to behave almost like analogue tape machines -- no need to save as you go, or optimize the disk or defrag. The Fostex's do that on the fly and when you want to stop, just switch it off. It is possible to make the system freeze by pushing command buttons too fast during edits (not unique to the Fostex), but in a year and a half of constant use I have never lost data, ever. If you yanked out the plug during a recording, that might cause some data loss, but by and large these are very well thought out machines.

the ex version is out, what's the diff?

The VF160EX had no SCSI port and the facia is silver. Plus they ship with 40gig drives (that by thae way are a snap to replace with a number of different sizes and brands).

Check within your quote for my other responses.

[glynb]

Just a point, if you want scsi specificaly the vf160 has a scsi socket, which is enabled if you run it with earlier versions of the software. Though I believe in later versions they disabled the scsi port for some reason.

The vf160 is also cheeper than the vf160ex and i believe there's little discernable difference in quality or performance? But if you really like silver, then you'll need the vf160ex!

It's a quiet machine. It's solid and reliable. had mine 2 years with no probs and it gets heavily used, only hit problems with filling up the disk, but that's my fault.

There's a dedicated discussion group here for upgrades and stuff...

http://pub15.ezboard.com/fvf16frm1

[junplugged]

billisa - thanks for the answers. It's now around $800, I think. That's a good price for 16 tracks.

Do you ever use outboard gear w/ tracks you have recorded? like eq or comp? That seems impossible w/ most of the DAW boxes out there.

care & glynb, thanks for the info. Manuals are hard to get into w/out the gear, but I look anyway. I think silver is good for contrast.

I was using the Korgs and Roland vs2000cd last night. I didn't fall in love w/ any of them.

[billisa]

Originally Posted by glynb

The vf160 is also cheeper than the vf160ex and i believe there's little discernable difference in quality or performance?

According to Fostex, there is absolutely no difference, except in the lack of SCSI port on the EX, the CDR which is always installed, some adjustment in the software (hence the upgrade from Ver.1.15 to 2.02, etc, and the color. Hardware wise these are exactly the same machines.

I never did check to see if in upgrading my software if my SCSI is no longer functional. I don't use it, but it'd be good to know.

[billisa]

Originally Posted by junplugged

billisa - thanks for the answers. It's now around $800, I think. That's a good price for 16 tracks.
Do you ever use outboard gear w/ tracks you have recorded? like eq or comp? That seems impossible w/ most of the DAW boxes out there.
I was using the Korgs and Roland vs2000cd last night. I didn't fall in love w/ any of them.

I've never used external gear on tracks prior recorded, but many others have and do with no worries. Any DAW that has an aux capability should be able to do this. Personally, the KORGS look really good. The 1600mkII might be my second choice, though I believe it has an onboard fan. Still, it looks like a fine machine, and Korg support is very good. Fostex support is good on the phone, but there's only one or two people who are available. Rolands are rumored to have a very steep learning curve, plus the price is much higher than the VF160. The Korg 16XD looks awfully nice in the $2k range...

Honestly though, you should be able to make wonderful recordings with any and all of these machines.

[glynb]

Originally Posted by junplugged

billisa - thanks for the answers. It's now around $800, I think. That's a good price for 16 tracks.

Do you ever use outboard gear w/ tracks you have recorded? like eq or comp? That seems impossible w/ most of the DAW boxes out there.

care & glynb, thanks for the info. Manuals are hard to get into w/out the gear, but I look anyway. I think silver is good for contrast.

I was using the Korgs and Roland vs2000cd last night. I didn't fall in love w/ any of them.

Well it ain't love at first sight junplugged, with these babes you learn to appreciate thie charms the more you become familiar with them and start to explore, and start to get some results...! Theres a lot of frustration and learning to go through first, but then so there is with learning how to use software, like protools, on a PC right? You invest the time learning a machine and eventualy get some great recordings.

Yes I use outboard compressor for most things, but i tend to compress as I track, which a lot of people don't like doing. If you want to use outboard gear after you track it;'s tricky because you have to route the recorded track out through the outboard gear and then re-record it to another track, not brilliant really, but it works OK.

This is a great machine for the money and i have produced recrodings with it that have been polayed on the radio here in the UK, but you will always have limitations on a stand alone multitracker when compared with PC recording, if you can't live with the limitations then best to go for PC recording in your case, or learn to live with the limitations and work around them.

Goos luck with whatever you choose.