Converting an Analog user to Digital

S

sean.brown

New member
Hey guys!
You are always a great help so I thought I'd come here with a little debate I've been having.

My Dad has a Roland 2480 setup. He has been using that for probably 8 years now, maybe more. I'm trying to get him onboard with most of the new generation, using Pro Tools, Audition, or Nuendo. I have yet to purchase any of these for him yet.

I DID build him a decent recording PC with Core 2 Duo 2.7ghz, 4GB Ram, and 2 m-audio 1010 cards.

I've been doing some reading and have found out that you can actually buy a PCI card (called VIRdis) that can transport tracks from his 2480 board to a folder on a PC hard drive in WAV format!

What would I be better off doing?

A) Getting him a couple of those VIRdis cards and selling off one of the M-Audio 1010 cards and racks? (I would keep one of these for him because he really wants the ability to mix down drums to two tracks and then run them through separate mixers and compressors)

B) Keep the 1010 cards and racks, convince him to sell his 2480, and buy a couple of automated mixer boards with 8 in/8 out that could be synced up with the software (whether it be audition, nuendo or protools).

C) Completely nix the mixer boards all together and purchase some sort of analog to digital converters. Then do all of the mixing on the PC end.


Also, which software do you think would be the best out of the three I previously mentioned?


Thanks for all your sage advice!
 
I'm confused as to where the 'Analog' part of your dad's setup is? :confused:

I use a Roland 2480 as well as Sonar 7 Producer tied together with a Presonus V-Fire.
I'm able to record 16 simultaneous tracks on the 2480 more reliably than the computer has ever done for me (Dual Xeon 3.6 processors/XP Pro/3 Gigs Ram).

I can also do do some incredible mixes within the 2480 utilizing world-class plug-ins (UA 1176LN & LA2A, Massenburg Parametric EQ, T-Racks Mastering EQ & Dynamics).

Not to say there aren't any limitations using the 2480... If I really want/need to get into the trenches for mixing, the computer is the only way to go.

In using both setups (2480 and Sonar) I have removed most limitations each of them presents.

That might be the best option for your dad as well :)

The VirDis product is good, but there are free options out there as well designed to transfer the raw tracks to a PC, although, those are pretty time consuming.

The V-Fire's are running for around $100 and connects via Firewire to the computer and transfers 16 tracks realtime using the 2480's RBus ports. It also synchs the 2480 to most of popular recording software packages to use the 2480 as a motorized control surface for the DAW as well. There's no Vista drivers for it but it runs perfect for me on XP.

Also, depending on your dads needs, the 1010 cards might be overkill... I'm not saying get rid of them, but he might be perfectly content tracking with the 2480 and maybe porting only a couple of tracks out to the PC for editing and then transferring them back into the 2480... I do this quite a bit when sending drum tracks out to folks or when I receive individual tracks in collaborations and it works like a charm.

http://www.vsplanet.com/ is a great resource for both you and your dad if you need more info on 2480/PC issues etc. (although I'm guessing he's already a member there) ;)

Good luck!

:)
 
Thanks Rabbit!
Sorry, I should have titled the post: Converting a Console Recording User to PC Based Recording

The more I read about the 2480, the more everyone raves about it. But to me the effects and abilities of it just seem really limiting. Everything that is recorded on it sound pretty similar. And from what you said about the EQing aspect, that is another thing I definitely agree with. The EQing on that board is pretty poor compared to some stuff I have heard on the PC based recordings.

I'm just wondering if there is any way I can find a board (or 2 boards rather) with 8 mic inputs (low z mic) and 8 line level (hi z) outputs (to input into the m-audio units), EQs on each channel, and has as good a quality of sound as the VS2480.

An added bonus would be that it could sync to the word clock on the PC so that you could automate onboard eq's and effects, but not a must.


Does any one know if such a board exists?
 
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