digital studios

[Jamal]

Are these tool such as the Vs-1680 a good tool for recording? Is it hard to edit, drag parts(ect)? Can I get some feedback about these?

[Norman Vegan]

I've been using a VS880 for years (since they first came out)
I've heard the work of many who've used 880s, 1680s and 1880s...and the Boss BR8. You can get great results with these boxes as long as you're willing to put some time in at the start to learn the basics.

[Boray]

You can't "drag" if you don't edit with Emagic Logic (computer program)... On the VS2480 I think you can "drag" without Logic... I have a VS1680 and why would you ever like to "drag"? I think it's the simplest thing to edit the way it is (using special locators). I like the VS! It's easy to use (when you have learned it), it's very stable and sounds great. If you choose to buy a computer program instead, there would be a learning curve there as well. The VS is probably faster to use. On a computer, you first have to grab the mouse, maybe scroll around a bit so find the right button to press and then press. On a stand alone machine, you can just press that button right away... Just some thougths...

/Anders

[bigbear]

Rolands VS series are pretty incredible machines given the above mentioned learning curve. I presently own a 1680 and am wildly happy with the power and flexibilty of this piece of equipment. I've done several large projects and some small ones and have never been disappointed with the 1680's performance.

My only sticking point, and possible cautionary warning, would be that there is no good way, to my knowledge, to dump the 16 tracks you record on the 1680 to another device (i.e. computer, adat, etc.) and remain in the digital domain. The only way I've found to do it without going D/A/D is to dump the tracks two at a time through the spdif. This can be quite tedious.

This is not to say that the 1680 isn't perfectly capable of performing any needed editing, mastering, or other duty on it's own, because it is. I've rarely had the need to process outside the 1680, so it hasn't been an issue for me. The benefits of the VS series far out way any drawbacks in my book.