gitrokr said:
i read a review on proaudioreview.com for the fostex VF160 and he said he really liked it, i know it has 2 phantom power ins, but does it have any effects, hows the compression? and how many inputs does it have in all, kuz it says it can do 16 tracks simultaneously? thanks
35+ effects (reverbs and delays of various descriptions), no guitar or amp simulations. The reverbs can all be adjusted and two different effects can be placed on each track. If effects are put on during mixdown (most common), then you must choose two effects for the whole mix (unless you do scene memory changes). Obviously some tracks can be kept dry, or set with varying degrees of each effect, but on mixdown you can't have 2 given effects on one track and 2 completely different ones on another. However, with internal ping-ponging you can add as many effects as you like prior to mixdown.
To do 16 tracks at once, you must get an ADAT interface, of which Fostex makes one, as do others.
I like the compression, but don't use it often because I have an external RNC. My machine is two floors up, but in general, it has 8 inputs, 2 XLR, 2 inserts, 1 ADAT, SCSI and (I believe it has s/pdif in+out; aux out). It records 44.1khz/16bit uncompressed. It's got 20bit/24bit AD/DA conversion.
My sense of the VF160 is it's very well thought out, becomes very intuitive, and rarely freezes. The ONLY time I've been able to make mine freeze up is if I push too many buttons while the hard-drive is being accessed during a procedure. Even so, I've never lost data, never. Also there is no on-board fan (though my unit stays very cool). I think they use a 5400
rpm 3.5" hard drive which is both cooler and quieter.
In some ways the VF160 is set up to act like an analogue tape machine. For instance, there's no shut down procedure, just turn it off. When you turn it back on you're automatically brought to the song you were last on. Everything you record is saved as you go, and the drive is optimized/defragged as you go. In addition, these are now shipping with a 30gig drive that is replaceable with a number of easily accessible units (Maxtor, Western Digital, etc. up to 80gig)
I would say the screen on the unit is smallish, there is only 1 level of UNDO/REDO (not 99 like some have), there are only 8 virtual tracks, and the manual is not the best ever written.
There are a lot of nice units out there. They all have their proponents, and I'll bet you can make great recordings on each one. I looked at the Korg 1600, but there is a significant price difference. (The VF160 goes for about $850.)