What's Best Roland or Alesis?

[tmorg]

We're trying to build our new studio and we have 2 different salesmen badmouthing different equipment. One says Roland disk drive equipment and the other says Alesis ADAT. What's your opinion.

[BigKahuna]

I went with Alesis. The tapes are relatively cheap and widely available. Plus, i don't think that format is in any danger of disappearing any time soon.
I've got 2 ADAT LX20's, and couldn't be happier with the sound quality and ease of use. Also, the sync for the two machines is very solid and was extremely easy to set up (one cable ... done). If I ever need more tracks it is as simple and picking up another machine.
I had thought about a hard-disk based system, but was worried that setting up a way to archive the tunes off of it would be costly.
Anyway, hope that helps.

[tmcbrinn]

I disagree. I was in the same situation and I went with Roland. For the same price, you get double the tracks. That was enough for me to decide, but you also get better quality, optional effec processors, more editing capability, and its upgradable. ADATs are tape recorders. Tapes get eaten, and heads need cleaning.

[tmorg]

Ok here's a list of what I actually got:

3 Alesis 20-Bit ADAT XT 20 8Track Digital Recorders
Mackie 32x8x2 Console
Mackie HR824 Powered Studio Monitors
Drawmer mic pre-amp/tube compressor
Lexicon PCM81 Signal Processor
Neumann U87SetZ Large Diaphram Condenser Mic
Earthworks Time Coherent TC30KMP matched pair Mic
AKG D880 Vocal Mic
Sennheiser MD421MKII Mic
AKG D112 Kick Drum Mic
TC Electronic Finalizer 96k Dyn. Processor
Tascam DA40 DAT Recorder
Roland/Boss DR770 Dr. Rhythm Drum Machine

Did I leave out anything important or necessary?

[foo]

Mr. Coffee 12-cup maker?

[Dragon]

Cables and patch cords...and a computer!

[tmorg]

Already got a coffee maker and already have the Computer and just didn't include the cables on the list.

[RockIt Recorder]

Salesmen... I hate 'em!

Before committing to either the Roland OR the Alesis, ask yourself some questions:

What will you be doing and what do you need?

The Roland's are great when it comes to inexpensive digital recording... for the money, they CAN NOT be beat! They do have limitations however...

Do you need to expand to a high multitude of tracks? If you do, ADAT is the way to go! (of course, 128 REAL tracks may be a bit extreme for most home recorders on a budget). If 16/24 tracks will fulfil your every need, the Roland will be fine.

Do you need (or want) the capabilty to fluff up your music with every effect known to man? If you don't: Roland covers most of the effects and tools needed in their cards... if you DO, then sink your money in the ADATs and all of the requisite outboard gear... just get ready to SPEND that money cuz it will take alot of it!

Do you need a digital, programmable board? If not, then Roland will fill the bill... if so, then once again, go the ADAT route and all the outboard gear. (Granted, you can buy the board and hook it to the Roland, but why?)

Will a self contained unit fit your needs or do you need the capability of swapping out specific components like effects or boards or power supplies, etc, etc, etc? If you need to continually upgrade to the latest and greatest, the ADATs are the only way you can get the ability.

Is a two gig hard drive (plus any additional external SCSI devices) enough space for you? If so, Roland... if not: ADAT. (Tapes are a hell of a lot cheaper than hard-drives or JazDisks, and the ZipDisks are pretty useless since they are only 100Meg).

Are you planning on taking your studio mobile? If so: Roland, if not: ADATs.

Are you limited by space restrictions? If so: Roland, If not: ADAT.

Are you on a budget? If so: Roland, If not: ADAT. (This question can be asked a different way also: Are you married or are you single?)

Personally, I have used both HD and ADAT formats (Roland 1680's and Alesis as well as TEAC DATs)... they all accomplish the same thing, just in a slightly different fashion. Digital sound is digital sound... it all sounds better than you can usually hear anyway... just ask yourself just which one works best for you?

As a final tip I will offer the following: GO FIND SOME DIFFERENT SALES PEOPLE!!! If the people you are dealing with are spending their time bad mouthing a competitor, they obviously AREN'T spending their time helping you get what you need! These chumps aren't professional and you need to be asking yourself what YOU are doing buying your pro-line gear from someone who isn't a pro!

Good luck.

Cordially,
the guitar half of "RockNGunz"

[tmorg]

We do have a BRC and concerning the Ghost we did look at it and saw a better console with the Mackie. This is just our first and after using it for a while we may look at getting a good digital console within a year we'll see what happens. The studio is mainly to be used for my songwriting but I'm sure we'll get into doing some demos with the local bands and some soundtracks for churches. We're not trying to make a bunch of money just a kick a$$ hobby!