Fostex VF-160 How the heck do you work this thing? LOL!

  • Thread starter Thread starter meki
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meki

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We bought the Fostex VF-160. We've never recorded before and thought our band was ready.

It came last night. The manual appears to be written in GREEK code...

Is there anyone out there that has a:

If you want to record.. click on A... then push B.. then connect mic A to slot b... then plug in hi jack from PA into mic hi jack... then push record.... etc. Type of manual..

Are there any suggestions? Any hints or tips to just getting it started?

It's a beautiful looking piece of machinery.. but I am NOT a rocket scientist.. and there really aren't a lot of forums for this...

So if ANYONE at all, has any idea or suggestions.. I am ALL ears.. I know that eventually I will get it figured out.. but... in the interim ANYTHING that could speed up the process would be WONDERFUL!!!!

Thanks in advance - If I figure anything out - I'll post it as well in the future, so others who have the same problem can view it later.. and maybe help them out.

Meki
 
Try" VF16.com".Its totaly dedicated to the original machine.Your newer version included.
Good luck.VF16.com
 
Hiya Ginzoo - yeah. got there... THANK YOU!

But I am still having probs.. So I will post here, what I posted there... MAYBE someone will be able to help out!

(HOPING AGAINST HOPE I THINK!)

NEWBIE Help - Beginner's VF-160 questions HOW do we RECORD?
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OK.

I've looked through the archives and this forum for some basic Q&As for people who have NEVER seen a digital recorder but now own one... Have not found any questions similar to the ones I need to ask.

We bought one 3 days ago.. and the manual is in like some bizarre GREEK code.

The questions I have are probably stupid compared to those here that are normally asked... But hopefully someone out there will have some sort of answers.. or can point us in the right direction.

(Please remember that we have NEVER seen a digital recording device before and We will understand things like: the little twisty knobbie thing that makes the line move up and down.. much better than JOG DIAL BUTTON... LOL!)

This is what we've done so far:

We've put lines from guitar #1 into input 1... Guitar #2 into input #2.... Bass into input #3... and Vocals into #4....

We've created a new PGM.

And pushed RECORD PLAY at same time.

We have the song recorded.

We can hear it.. we can play it back multiple times... It IS PGM #4...

We even named it.

NOW... Here's the problem we're having...

WHAT DO WE DO WITH IT NOW?

We've tried recording (AS a SAVE PGM) it to a cd (we have the VF-160 - it has a CD burner in it).

The cd comes up blank... and we've just created another coaster for our living room coffee table!

OK... so WHAT are we supposed to be doing?

Are we supposed to clip it and paste it? If so... how do we do that in a simple step by step explanation...

AND once we clip it and paste it... where do we paste it to?

Or do we do something entirely different?

Can someone please assist? We've already got enough coasters... and plenty more to spare... LOL!

Please - when you answer... pretend you are talking to a 5 year old..... who has NO knowledge of computers or digital recording stuff..

Or if you know of a site.. or webpage that has ALL of this information on it.. please point me in the right direction.

THANKS SO MUCH>>>>> I am sure I will be here to pester everyone a LOT more..

Meki
 
meki,sorry that I cant help any further as I have the original VF-16(no c.d.burner).
I know for a fact that some of the folks around here have the VF-160 and know how to use it.Be patient and they will be more than happy to walk you through it as soon as they see this post.
Again good luck and welcome to hr.com.
You will be amazed at how much time you can spend here learning from some great people.
 
Thanks doll!!

OK.. since you work with the VF-16..

Could you tell me what you do to create a song..

Tonight we are going to do band practice... We would like to record our session..

The Vf-16 is the same as the VF-160 on this issue.

Do we:

Make a new Program for EACH song?

Or how would you do it? (we have about 15 songs 3 -6 minutes each) Please be very "NON tech" in explaining... LOL.. I am begining to feel really dumb.. the more I read the manual.. the more lost I become.

Without worrying about how to record it to CD..

What steps would you take to create EACH song?

(we have a 20 gig drive..so currently space is not an issue - in another month sure.. but right now.. no.)


I will worry about mixing and panning and editing later.. I just want to make sure I am creating a song and saving it for later burning... Then I will sit down and learn how to mix it.. edit it.. etc.

Any help you provide.. I will fall down and kiss the ground you walk on!!! LOL!

Meki
 
Hey meki,what I do to create songs is layer everything cause I am no longer in a band, I'm just playing with myself.:D
In a band situation I would try to record everyone doing at least basic tracks ie;drums,bass gtrs,vox...depending on how many mics/mixer channels you have to work with at one time.Remember to keep everything seperate so you can tweak each track without messing with the others.
I would make a new program for each song if it was something you want to keep to work on individualy and maybe post it somewhere.
 
OK..
How do you STEP BY STEP..

Make each track?

How do you start it?

(Turn Power on... Then what?)

What order?

Once you record the track... THEN what?]

How do you save it?

How do you make the next track..

How do you combine them?

I'm really sorry.. but like I said earlier.. I have been humbled. I know nothing.. and I am learning... that I have less knowledge NOW than I had before I bought this thing.

If you have a moment.. could you please write out the steps?

If you have them somewhere, you could email them to me as well.... penguin@ptialaska.net

Or anything.. I am getting desperate... I feel like I spent a lot of money on something that has a learning curve that I will never graduate to..

LOL

Meki
 
meki,no need to feel sorry.We are all here to learn.I have learned SO much from this place.
This is just my opinion and there are many ways to achieve the end result.And there are many here better informed than I.
I would start by checking out this site for recording techniqes as they pertain to what you know/dont know.
I start by recording drums and bass.My drum machine is recorded on 4 channels,sn-1,kick-2,all others(toms cymbals hats)-3&4 panned left and right.I do this so that I can e.q.these on their own and give them their own levels in the mix.I record my bass track/s next direct on ch 5.
My gtrs come next.This could be from 1-8 gtr tracks.All done seperately.This is where you need to study mic techniqes.Your sound comes from the placement of the mic position and you REALLY need to study and learn this to get good sounds from the mics that you own.
All of this will come over time and the more you study and experiment the more it will make sense.
Give it time my friend.
 
Each song will be a program. After you record one song on one program it is saved automatically. When done with the program go to program select and move up to the next "new program" and start on the next song. You can just come back to that program an play it. you can come back and overdub ect or bump the tracks to the back 16 to open the first eight for more recording. Dont get to excited it isnt that difficult and you will get the hang of it. As far as downloading them on to cd we have the VF16 and I cant help you with that.
Our hard drive is 5 gig and after about 20 tunes with 8 tracks each it fills up just so you know the limits there.
Turn unit on, if needed turn phantom power on.
Push program select and Select an unused program(it will say "new program"
Arm tracks that you are recording to.
set levels, eq, effects etc.
record, tracks are automatically saved in program you have selected
to overdub, arm unused tracks within existing program and record overdubs
after 8 tracks are used up bump them to 9 through 16 to open up 8 more tracks and follow steps above to add more tracks in existing program on inputs 1 through 8
You can only record on tracks 1 through 8, once they are full you have to bump them to 9 through 16 so you can record more.
When complete select new program and start next song

1 through 8.Effects and eq? will not be recorded in direct mode only in bus mode.
It is better not to record these anyway and deal with them on mix down.
When reading the manual it is important not to confuse tracks with programs.
I hope this helps, if you have anymore specific questions I will be in the studio tuesday night and I will try and get you some answers
You can email me at
http:\www.dragun@witty.com
 
Last edited:
Awesome Dragun!

It actually made sense... and it helped with one of the probs we've had.

We've gotten the first 8 tracks open.. recorded the program.. we had to mix them to 2 tracks in order to record them on the cd...

Is this the correct thing to do? Or is there another way?

We haven't quite figured out how to edit and add efx.. we're working on that tonight.

We just need to do it a lot I think..

But to be honest.. The only thing I DON'T like about what I've seen from this Fostex... Is the Manual.

There should be a Basic Explanation Guide.

You wanna record 3 instruments?
Then do This:
Click button A
Push button B
Roll the dial to "C"
Push this button
Push record.

You wanna take all those instruments you just recorded and Mix them together --- adding Efx?
Then do this:
Click "A"
Put in song name that you ALREADY recorded.
Click B
Roll dial to efx
Push Play
Push Record
Push efx button you want
move slider to efx amount


You Wanna Record all that you just did to CD?
Push A
roll to song name
Push record/save
put in blank cd
push burn..



You know? And if it were like that they'd probably sell a LOT more...
And have VERY happy customers!

Anyhow.. Thank you very much for that info - it fits right in.

I'll be asking more - to be sure!

Meki
 
There should be a way in setup ( the setup button) to download unmixed data to a cd for backup purposes. To use the eq and effects just push either button, if you press effects once you are using your reverbs, if you press effects again it comes up to effects 2 which is your chorus. You press the track selection button (same as arming) to select the track you want to add the eq or effects to. Remember the effects will not be recorded unless you are in bus mode. In bus mode you can assign any input to any track, havent gotten using it yet so not exactly sure but you can assign say input 2 to track 8 etc.
Mixing down is different than backing up. I am not exactly sure but when you back up there are issues about wether your reverb eqs etc get backed up. You should rely on the the fostex site mentioned here and go there there is a ton of info and most of your questions should be answered with a search there.
Question, when you mixed to 2 tracks did you bump to two tracks then mix or mix all tracks down to the main out and record.
You can record all tracks seperately for backup purposes.
 
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