Stand alone CD burner

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Smokepole

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I just purchased a used Roland VS-840EX to start my recording (hobby) with. I’ve been playing a long time, but my recording skills are poor. I own a couple of mics., a 57 and a 58 and have just ordered some Yorkville monitors.

I was looking at some stand alone CD burners today, and thought that would be a good way to mix down to 2 tracks. Is that a good choice? If I get a double deck I can sort of make a master and then make copies off of that. Also will that type of burner duplicate other types of CD's or only music.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

After purchasing the monitors I thought I had better slow down and ask for some advice before buying things that I would regret next week.

Thanks in advance
Joe
 
I use a Denon DN-CR500 ( or something like that). It's a dual deck unit - great for making copies. Very fine unit.

Here are a few things to watch out for in standalones.

Can it disable SCMS ( copy management )? You want to be able to make an unlimited # of digital copies. Will it take data
CDR(W)s as well as music CDR(W)s? Music CDRs are more expensive. Does it have the same type digital input as the digital output on your recorder? Optical or coaxial? Make sure or you may have to buy a converter. Try to get one that will bypass the Sample Rate Converter when the signal is at 44.1. If you want to use the CD for backups, this could be important. If you will be using a lot of analogue input, get one with balanced inputs. This can make a lot of difference in your sound if you have the capability of sending the recorder a good balanced signal.

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck. I have really enjoyed my CD unit. Very simple to work with.
 
That helps a lot, thanks.

The only thing I know for sure is that the deck I was looking at had an optical input. I knew that my Roland had an optical output so I asked that question. The guy at the stereo shop recommended a Harmon Kardon that was about $460.

I copied your post so that I can ask the right questions now that I have some ideas.

My deck has the 250 Zip drive in it. An article I read about a studio designed around this deck said, "in the future, some sort of backup system would be a priority". Is that what you are saying in the part about the converter? Would I be able to back up work as data on the CD burner if I got the right one?

Sorry for all the questions.
 
I have a Korg D8. Some users of the D8 have been able to backup and restore to CDR with a standalone. My unit won't do it, I think because of the sample rate converter. The converter changes the data some even if the signal is 44.1. That makes Restore impossible. If you don't go through the converter though, you should (theoretically) be able to backup/restore to CD via the optical interface.

I looked up your unit on the net and it looks like your best bet for storage would be an external SCSI drive. However, I think you have to get an optional SCSI expansion card to backup/restore. You are also limited in the amount of data you can back up to the hard drive.

If you have a good computer, you might want to consider getting a good sound card and backing up or recording to your computer hard drive. This would expand your capablility and would also give you the option of editing your stuff with computer software. I don't know how much 250 zip discs cost, but if you record a lot of music, that could get exensive I would imagine.

If you will search a bit, I'll bet you can find a BBS forum that deals with the recorder you have. I found a D8 forum and got a lot of valuable information in there from some people who already had used the recorder. I can't be of too much help to you since I am not familiar with your machine.

Good luck with your recording. It is great fun when you actually start getting a mix together. Hope you get rich and famous !! : )
 
Joe:

go to the VS840 forum on the VSPlanet ...

You'll be able to find lots of info to answer your questions ...

I am not that familiar with the 840, I have a 1680.

"Would I be able to back up work as data on the CD burner if I got the right one?"

Roland officially advertises that only it's CD burners (CDR II and CD Rack, I believe) are able to backup data - at a cost of $500 to $700 or so ...

There are also some Plextor External SCSI CD burners (12/4/32s and 12/10/32s) ($150 to $250 range) that Roland users have had success with in backing up data (I am not aware of any other burners being able to back up the data). These CD burners can also be used to burn songs to although many users have opted for other CD burners for the many reasons mentioned above. Again, I don't know what the limitations of the 840 are. Go to the Planet ...
 
Thanks guys, you've been very helpful and patient. I posted again under the other heading.

Can I ask for your opinions one last time.

Am I going about this wrong? Do you think I'd be better off investing the money into a new computer that I can use along with the deck? If I deduct what a good burner will cost and apply that towards a computer with a burner, it won't hurt so badly.

Maybe I could also record onto it for backup as was suggested.
I could also loop some drums that way as another possibility.

Sorry for being such a pain, I'm really lost in this.
Joe
 
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