Should I buy VS880EX?

  • Thread starter Thread starter nyaben
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nyaben

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I'm trying to build a home studio that will sound professional but not take up a lot of room. I already have a computer. Is the workstation from Roland the way to go? I'm a guitarist and the effects and mic modeling (a money saver?) sound good.
 
There's ups and downs to both sides. I got a 1680, and I send a stereo track to my computer for mastering. That might be a good way to go....best of both worlds. It might help if you specify more what u r gonna do: # of tracks, fx you need/have, midi, ect...
 
Hey man you already have a pc but want the vs-880ex you an use em together.... Edirol! its a company of rolands they have an integration kit or just get the componants you need and you can controll it all form you're pc and you get a few extras with it.
check it out:


www.edirol.com...
 
Thanks for the help. I'm not big into MIDI (though maybe I should learn it). I used to record with a buddy on an old Teac A-3440 4-track. I want something small where I can do all basics/overdubs myself. I want to be able to layer guitars, synths, drums and vocals. Bearing this in mind, Roland sounds good because it looks like it would save me some money w/ the mic modeling (unless it's no good), etc.

Also have heard that their powered digital speakers are really nice (they include modeling too...nice speakers, boom box, etc.).
 
The Roland VS workstations are great, and combining them with a computer makes them even better. The mic modeling isn't something to be all that excited about though. I wouldn't buy the machine just to get the modeling. The Roland digital monitors are good, but you don't have to have them in order to use the speaker modeling built into the 880EX or 1680. I'd listen to other monitors in that same price range before deciding.
 
It's a good machine - particularly for those who learn to maximize the capabilities of it. I agree with Jon X - combining with a computer is the best way to glean a professional sound.
 
If I have a 200megahertz cpi computer with 1 gig memory and 16ram memory what else would be needed to use a VS-1640EX with my computer and what types of things would you want to do using the computer verses using the Roland as a stand alone unit ?
 
At the very least you would need a way to communicate between the 880/1680 and the computer. There is software available that allows editing and control of the 1680 via MIDI from the computer. For that all you need is some kind of MIDI interface on the computer. Most sound cards, even cheap ones have some sort of MIDI implemented in the joystick port. A Sound Blaster Live (not the value version) is a good card for digital I/O between the computer and the VS workstation. I would also recommend upgrading the computer if possible. 300MHz (at least), 64MB RAM, and 10GB of drive space would be much better than what you currently have, and not that expensive. You'll also need some software to record the files into the PC, and to edit them with. Search the BBS, as there are lots of options. I use Sound Forge, but shareware is also available to get started with.

The advantages to having the computer in conjuction with the VS workstation are great. You can use software to visually edit the wav files instead of guessing at it in the VS workstation. Even the screen on the 1680 doesn't compare to looking at a much bigger computer monitor. You can also use software to manipulate the tracks, which is much easier to me than using the controls on the 880, combine tracks from multiple songs (not possible in the 880), and even master before burning to a CD. Of course, you would need a CD-R in the PC to do that, but they are not that expensive anymore either.

I have saved myself at least 50 hours of work in the past six months by transferring files to the computer instead of doing all the work in the VS-880.
 
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