Roland 1880 vs Akai DPS-16

S

soundguy777

New member
Does anyone out there have an EDUCATED/EXPERIANCED opinion of the two?
I know the Roland is great, but the Akai looks so much easier to use.
It will be used to record electronic drums/keys, acoustic and electric guitars, lots of vocals, pretty dry effects. It will be used as a writing tool now and I will be dumping tracks to pro equipment later.
Any satisfied/dis-satisfied owners of either?

Thanks for any help.
 
The main difference between the two units is this...


The Roland unit is a 24 bit recorder with 24 bit internal processing and more internal effects than the Akai (most of which you probably won't use).

The Akai unit is a 24 bit/96 kHz recorder with 56 bit internal processing and a HUGE 10 gig hard-drive.

Translation....

The Roland is slightly outdated and overpriced.

The Akai is the highest quality stand-alone unit you can get for under $2,000 right now.

But hey... give it another 3 months and something better will come along, right?

Yamaha has a new digital recorder coming out in the next few months that is supposed to blow away everything else. It's rumoured to cost around $3,000 (base) or $3,200 with an optional built-in CD-RW. But, it's an "all-in-one" unit with mastering capabilities and a zillion effects.

Just something else to think about, in case you want to wait. :)
 
I am also trying to decide between the DPS16 and the VS880ex or VS890. I know you said the DPS16 does not have as many effects, does it have "the essentials?"

Will the DPS16 record directly to my PC's CDRW? If so that would save me the expense of having to buy another burner...the Roland burner is $600. If I can use the one on my PC, it seems as if I could get the DPS116 for the same price as a VS880ex plus the CD burner. This would give me extra tracks and and a superior machine.

Also...what is you opinion on ease of use of both machines?

thanks...
 
First of all, for "ease of use", the Akai unit is definitely the one. Thier manual is very easy to understand, and you probably won't even need it that much if you have some digital-recording knowledge.

Secondly, the Akai has a SCSI port that *should* hook up to your computer to burn cd's.

Lastly, yes... it has many different types of reverb, chorus, phase, etc.
From what I remember, (I saw the manual about two weeks ago) it has around 40 or 50 effects and variations.

Basically, what you get with the Akai unit is superior recording quality and processing for under $2,000.
You also get 16 seperate tracks/faders with the Akai, unlike the Roland unit, which combines two tracks into "stereo tracks".
 
As far as I can tell, with the Akai, when you use higher sampling rates (I think both 24 bit 48K and 96K) it becomes an 8 track machine.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rjt:
As far as I can tell, with the Akai, when you use higher sampling rates (I think both 24 bit 48K and 96K) it becomes an 8 track machine.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

This comes from the spec sheet on Akai's site...

SIMULTANEOUS RECORDING
10 tracks (8 at 96kHz)

SIMULTANEOUS PLAYBACK
16 Tracks at 16-bit 32kHz, 44.1kHz and 48kHz (8 at 96kHz)
12 Tracks at 24-bit 32kHz, 44.1kHz and 48kHz (6 at 96kHz)


Even with these rates it seems comparable to the VS880ex....I'm using a "package price" assuming you were to buy an external CDWR....Roland's is around $600 and recommended drives from Akai price in around $300.....$2300 for DPS16i(and a CDWR) or $2300 for the VS 890(and CDWR)....

Unless the Akai has inferior effects or somehow does not perform sound wise, I think for the same amount of money, I'm leaning towards the DPS16i....

Any thoughts???
 
Check out Harmony Central's coverage of Summer NAMM. Tascam has an 8 track 24 bit uncompressed Portastudio for$1149MSRP,the 788.Cheers!
 
I think you can only record 4 simultaneous tracks with the Tascam....other than that, it looks as if they continue the Portastudio "tradtion".
 
I'm buying the DPS-16i as soon as I get the $$$ together.... which (hopefully) should be within the next month or so. It's a great machine for the price.
 
I have owned a VS1680 for about 18 months and have been very happy. At the time when I purchased it there were no options in the same price ballpark. The Akai unit looks interesting and I would give it a good look if I were buying today. The Roland camp has many users so one can find answers and also swap files, just something to think about. The Roland effects are also pretty good. Good Luck.
 
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