backup options for D-160v2 (and a few others questions)

[Cratinus]

the price on these units has gotten really enticing recently and my Mackie 1604vlz
is looking for a new playmate,...HOWEVER i DO have a couple of questions:

1) can you backup data (via SCSI) to an external cdr/rw?? i realize that the hard-drive
is caddy mounted and can be exchanged with another similarly mounted drive,...but
cd backups might be a nice for someone who hops from project to project frequently.

2)must ALL track bounces be done through an external mixer?? i guess this would make sense (and be best,..unless the D-160 had the ability to adjust levels internally).

3) other than the higher resolution,...are there any OTHER significant differences between the D-160 and the D-1624?

thanks.

 

[skippy]

1) Yes and no. You can back up to an external CD-R drive, but only just a very few are supported: in particular, I found out that the Yamaha unit I bought thinking I could make it work is not. Basically, the only CD-R drive that is known for sure to work is the Fostex, and it is outrageously expensive. There is a list of supported drives on the Fostex web site, at http://www.fostex.co.jp/int/hdlist/medial.html . Believe that list. Otherwise, you'll waste some money. I'm just glad that I could use the Yamaha drive in the DAW I built....

2) Track bounces (combining/processing/level shifting) must be done externally. Track *moves* involving just shuffling data around, on the other hand, can be done internally.

3) I don't think that there is that much difference between the D160V2 and the D1624, once you get past the converter change (which is a major deal). I believe that the current operating firmware for the D160 is a very close relative to the D1624 version. The only possible gotcha is in the absolute upper limit of hard disk size: I vaguely recall the D1624 having an advantage there. However, I haven't really researched it: you're on your own there, especially if you need to do SMPTE work (which I don't: yet, anyway). My decision was made by the 24-bit resolution....

I suppose I ought to say this, just for good measure: I have no relationship with Fostex other than as a satisfied customer. I just reread my last few posts to this forum, and taken as a whole they sound like a freakin' advertising glossy... Yuck. I just like my machine, and I'm glad it came along- or I probably would not have gone back to recording.

 

[markert]

I think the d160v2 is a great buy right now. I got mine from musician's friend for $799 ( they emailed an incorrectly priced advertisement and I made them honor it). I use mine for remote recording. It fits nicely into a rack with a 16 channel line mixer for monitoring and a couple of dedicated mic pre's. I got this thing a couple of weeks ago and immediately tracked sixteen drum tracks for a local band in two days. Not a hitch. The sound is good, even at 16 bits. I think the editing, etc is a little limited, but I dump mine to protools via the lightpipe, so thats not an issue with me. Also note that this thing is not a "studio in a box" like the roland VS or the Korg d1600. I has no way of monitoring directly from the unit and no headphone jack. Also no effects. It is just a tracking device with some limited editing capabilities. With a mixer, however, you will be able to bounce and use ouboard effects.

By the way, mine shipped with a 30 gig hard drive instead of the advertised 2.55 gig. I guess it may be easier for fostex to get the larger drives now.

At $999 or less, this is a great machine.

 

[ausrock]

I was recently told by the Aust. distributors that they can now upgrade the D160 to accept H/drives up to 70gb.

Personally I feel that having a few smaller drives would be more useful than one big one, but of course....... "to each his own".

Peace.........ChrisO