Please Welcome a New Member… Ani

[sweetbeats]

The Roland VS880EX that I have is actually not a rack mount unit; it's a desktop stand alone digital hard disk recorder.

Right, right...that's the one. I was referring to mine as the rackmount because yours is the tabletop version with the mixer interface...easier to navigate...but the build and sound quality was good for sure.

I also have the Yamaha i88x that you mention, although I have to admit, I've never really been able to capitalize on the full benefit of using it. My son tore my studio down right as I was getting everything configured and, throughout the process of moving and getting re-established, I've never set it back up. I still have the necessary driver saved to hard disk, and I kept the notes that walked me through the set up that was provided by a Yamaha representative that was a member of another music forum that I frequented.

Oh cool! (that you have an i88x, not that your studio is packed up...)

I use the 01X, i88x and a Presonus Digimax FS in conjunction with each other. Makes for a relatively powerful and flexible setup. It does take awhile to understand the different GUI interfaces but once I got how they relate it is really powerful. The 01X and i88x hit the market a long time ago and frankly I think the market is just recently catching up with the package that Yamaha put together. With those 3 units I have i/o galore and tons of routing flexibility. The i88x alone is a great interface...nice for 8-track transfers and has the two high-quality pre's on it...the three units cost me probably $1200 on the used market and they're all in as-new condition. There's no way I could find all the features for anything near that and the quality is top-notch. Ani, when you get around to setting stuff back up let me know if you need assistance with the i88x setup; if you're getting hung up on any snags. I figure that other forum you mentioned might have been 01Xray...I'm registered over there as well though its been a long time since I posted...found some nice folks over there too. But anyway, I've done two full-length projects using the Yamaha rig and set it up from scratch on four different systems so if you have trouble I'd be happy to help.

 

[trancedental]

Welcome to the forum Ani!

 

[Ani]

Thanks again to all that have chimed in after my last thanks. This seems like a really laid back and comfy place here on the HR Forums. I've peeked in over at the songwriting forum, but.... this place has a good feel to it; I'm still debating about the SW forum.

It's cool to see someone has some of the same pieces of gear as what I have. It's been a while since I've actually had everything set up, but as I recall, the i88x gave me heartburn when it came to the internal clock settings. As for recording, I'm somewhat of a novice. I have a lot of other skills pertaining to the craft of writing, voice, intellectual property law, and marketing, but heh... this engineering thing bumps me back down to my tagged name "NEWBIE" Well, not quite a newbie, but certainly not a Pro.

 

[sweetbeats]

as I recall, the i88x gave me heartburn when it came to the internal clock settings. As for recording, I'm somewhat of a novice. I have a lot of other skills pertaining to the craft of writing, voice, intellectual property law, and marketing, but heh... this engineering thing bumps me back down to my tagged name "NEWBIE"

Well, speaking for myself that's a good thing then because I've got a disease that causes me to know more about how gear operates and less about what you need to know to operate it and even less so wisdom on actually operating it...

So...do let me know if you need help with the i88x. Don't recall if you shared earlier if you are using a Mac-based DAW, or PC-based. Your i88x headaches would definitely be greater with a Mac-based system. That is one area I can think of where Yamaha has been disappointing as their mLAN driver development for the Mac-based system never followed through with promises...the i88x will only run at 44.1kHz sampling rate when set as the clock master in a Mac-based system.

But if you are running a PC-based DAW I can help when the time comes.

 

[Ani]

But if you are running a PC-based DAW I can help when the time comes.

PC, it is.

Just a quick question, do you run both your Yammie and your Roland through the i88x and into your PC DAW?

When I originally bought it, my main focus was to be able to run vox directly into Sonar 6 PE.

One of my critical concerns is the fact that while my studio was packed up prior to my move; most of it endured some extreme freezing temperatures. Some of my stuff I've tested and it seems to be okay, but others I've yet to try since the move because I've been working on preparing a room for everything. I do know that I lost "one" of my twin LCD monitors for my PC; I bought two of them as a pair, and it really stinks that one bit the dust before I ever got to use it. It was a $300.00 monitor, and unfortunately, I had lost the receipt during the shuffle of the move.

 

[sweetbeats]

Bummer on the monitor. Prices have come down tho'...consolation of sorts.

I think maybe I wasn't vlear about the VSR-880...I sold it awhile ago. It helped fund the purchase of the 01X IIRC.

BTW, conceptually everything goes through the 01X...it is the routing hub and when you have the 01X the i88x basically becomes an I/O expander. The I/O quality on the 01X itself is standard quality. Not bad at all but the i88x is a step up for sure. The 01X has 8 balanced mic/line inputs. Inputs 1 & 2 are on XLR's, inputs 3 ~ 6 are on TRS jacks. Input 8 has a parallel TS jack that is a hi-Z input with a switch to activate it. No inserts. Inputs 1 & 2 have phantom power. outputs are all unbalanced TS. There are 4. Two are tied to the stereo master of the 01X, and two are assignable. There is also S/PDIF I/O that is assignable. The beauty of it is when you pair the 8x TRS ins and outs (+ the two high quality pre's with inserts), additional S/PDIF and ADAT lightpipe I/O of the i88x with the 01X because all of those discreet signals can be connected to the 01X over one firewire cable. In my case I have the Digimax FS connected to the i88x over lightpipe. The Digimax has 8 inputs (which are available over a combination of 8 XLR mic preamps, two hi-Z inputs on TS jacks and/or 6 TRS line inputs) Phantom is switcheable in groups of 4, each of the 8 inputs has its own insert jack, there are 8 direct outs so the Digimax can function as a standalone 8 channel mic/line/hi-Z preamp, and there are are 8 DAC TRS line outputs which, like the i88x outs, become completely flexible and routable when pairs with the 01X and the mLAN graphic patchbay. Blahblahblah...you didn't even ask about that...

Do you use the Roland for location work?

How extreme was the "extreme freezing"?

 

[apl]

It was a $300.00 monitor, and unfortunately, I had lost the receipt during the shuffle of the move.

Try taking it back anyway, since you're wanting a replacement, not a refund.