To buy or not to buy...used VS-880EX...

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netmosis

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A little background info to start...I'm in a rock band consisting of a drummer (7 piece set), myself as the lead guitarist, another guitar/vocalist, and a bassist. I also run my own little one man trance/industrial/trip hop type show and have been recording my techno songs using vegas pro and the maudio delta 44 and ending up bringing that into acid, using soundforge to get the loops right. I've been looking for an alternative to dragging my computer around to record and for the moment the 880EX seemed the perfect little box to suit my needs.

The question...Will the VS-880EX work for me if i want to record my entire rock band with maybe three (or four) mics on the drum set, two guitars, a bass, and vocals? What i mean to say is that is it well suited for the job or is say the newer Korg D16?

I have an offer to buy a used (mint condition and all original packing/accessories) VS-880EX (2.1 gig HD) at $800 plus the shipping costs from NY to CA. If I had never heard of the Akai DPS12, Fostex VF16, or Korg D16 this deal would be done but seeing as I have the deal ready to go, apparently Roland FX wipe the floor with the other brands, Roland's great sound quality (not to mention reputation), and many people seem to love the 880EX should i just go with it? I've also heard an equal number of horror stories involving it's "ease" of use. Are these just people whining or is it really hard to use? Any immediate advice would be greatly appreciated...first post at this forum by the way...

One last question, I was looking through the musician's friend catalog and i saw the DR-10 and DR-20 mic's that are supposedly made for use with the VS's...Can you just plug these mic's right into the 880EX and get good results? Right now the only mic i've got is a Audiotechnica DR-2000 dynamic Vocal/instum. mic that i use for vocals and micing an acoustic during practice...could i plug this right in and get respectable results?

Thanks
-j
 
By my count you have a total of 8 sources in your post that you want to record.The 880EX has 6 analog and 2 digital inputs,so you'd have to factor in the cost of an external A/D converter lika Midiman Flying Cow/Calf and maybe a mic pre or 2 to do it,but it can be done.I've had my EX since Dec.'98 and I would go for it in your shoes,BUT eventually you'll also have to ante up to get the CD burner to back up your Hard Drive when it gets full,but all HD based systems such as those you mentioned share this requirement.The Roland mics are designed for use with the mic Modeling FX algorithms in the 880's FX board but if you can swing it I'd recommend getting a couple of condenser mics and an SM57 or 2 to do what you want.Welcome to the Bottomless Pit!
 
First off, I've seen them in my local MARS music for under $700--but you say this one has a hard drive? I assume it's external.

If you can swing $800, find $200 more and get the 840GX which has the COSM guitar models and more importantly, the ability to convert a stero mix to .WAV files internally. That last feature is KEY. Once it's in .WAV, you can copy it ot a PC formatted Zip disc and burn it from a PC rather than needing a standalone CD burner.

As to whether the 840 is the right box for a whole band, I'm not sure. YOU CAN ONLY RECORD 4 TRACKS SIMULTANESOUSLY.

It's great for a guy like me, who works alone with a drum machine, but to record a whole band, or even a whole drum kit, it'd be somewhat limiting.

As to the mics, you can use any mic, but the mic chord must end in a 1/4 inch plug at the male end to fit the Roland's imputs. Those Roland mic are low-end mics, but probably fine for "room micing" a band. Micing is a whole "art" unto itself. Different mics have different uses.
 
I'm buying the 880EX...all the 880EX's come with internal hard drives (standard 2.1 gig) which is much better for recording than the zip drive as you can record 8 tracks at a time not the four that the 840 only offers...6 analog 1/4" ins and two digital (optical or coax)...the 840GX is limited compared to the 880EX...they both have wav file exchange...
 
Sorry, I misread your orginal. I thought you said 840EX.

as for the .WAV conversion, check and be sure. That's a fairly new feature on the Rolands. I am not sure the earlier boxes had that. You might also want to look at the 890.
 
I can't seem to find an 890 for the same price...24bit ad/da converters would be nice...but for now 20bit will have to do...16bit recording is fine to start with i guess...with the 880EX you can interface to a computer...
 
netmosis,

Visit Roland's site here http://209.144.99.11/SUPPORT/SUPPORT.HTM and you can get some free support documentation. I've seen this stuff advertised in music catalogs for $15. Keep in mind that the standard manuals aren't very good but I've managed to get some help from them. The best thing is to just dig into the deck!

Also, you might want to double check that you can record 8 tracks simultaneously. I have and 880EX and unless I'm an idiot (this could very well be) I thought you could only record 4 tracks at once. This is ok for me considering I play all the instruments on my demos, I can get away with recording 3 or 4 tracks on drums, bouncing them down and moving onto the next instrument.

I love the portability of the unit as well. I have a piano upstairs and I can take the unit upstairs to record and then bring it back down to finish my song.

I haven't spent the money on the Roland CDRII. I believe that it is a bit pricey, but from what I hear, the unit works well and it could save time in the long run. I currently go out from the VS800 to my sound card input and then store the song as WAV or MP3 and then use my PC's 12x burner. If you don't have a PC with a burner, sooner or later you'll have to get the Roland burner in order to back up your songs as well as keep the VS880's drive open and ready to go. I have experienced MANY times that I have run out of space even after I optimize all songs that I have on the deck. The best thing you can do is plan on finishing a project completely and then clearing it from the drive. Don't forget to BACKUP!!!

As for the learning curve, there is one. I've had mine for a year and a half and I still haven't learned everything there is to know about the unit (my fault). I would say give it 2 to 4 weeks (depending on if you sleep with it) in order to grasp navigating through the interface (things like copy, cut, move, adjusting the 2 or 3 band EQ, setting effects and so on). However, if you're used to messing with tape decks, stereos, 4-track analog decks, or PA mixers and such, you'll be ok.

I am impressed with the overall sound of the unit. My songs sound pretty good actually, even after dumping the song to a standard 60 minute tape. You'll like it if you get it! Keep in mind that the VS880 is a stand alone unit that will get you a great sound and offer good features for the price!

Best of luck.
 
netmosis,

I forgot to add to my previous post.

I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between 16 bit and 24 bit recordings. There are those I'm sure that will tell you different, but considering the human ear, I think spending more money on a 24 bit unit would be a waste, unless you can get more features that you can also use and the price isn't too much. Just think of all the killer songs that have been recorded throughout the past 20 years that were below the 16 bit barrier.

Not to offend any Korg users out there, but after using the VS880EX for over a year, I played with a Korg D16 at the local music store and I was unimpressed with how the sliders and knobs felt. They seemed cheap. I have never recorded with one so I don't know how easy it is to use or what the sound quality or other features are like. But, the Korg is several hundred dollars less and if it can provide a good sound, you may like it.

Peace.
 
The 16 bit barrier didn’t exist a few years ago because analog was still the primary format. As for data transfer from an 880EX, SPDIF is what you would use from EX to PC.
 
The 16 bit barrier didn’t exist a few years ago because analog was still the primary format

Exactly right monty! With all the hype of higher bit rate, you can still have great sounding stuff even with analog. I guess it depends on what you're shooting for.
 
thanks, fanbagglia, i've read the manuals thoroughly and you can record 8 tracks simultaneously in MT-1 mode...two of your tracks would have to be digital audio though...i've got a 10x sony burner on my PC and i've been planning to use the spdif to transfer, though i still need to get a sound card with spdif. I have the maudio delta 44 but it's the delta 66 that has the spdif, i'm wondering if i should just shell out for a soundblasterlive plat, maybe on ebay or something..the thing is that i don't an open bay, with two harddrives, and two cdroms your bays get filled up quickly...so instead i might try and find the delta 66 card by itself...or maybe that yahama card everyone's been talking about...
 
8 tracks simultaneous, huh? Goes to show you I need to go back and read through my manual!

Thanks for the info!

PS. Check out the pages on scenes. Pretty cool stuff.
 
880ex

Netmosis- How's it going. Did you ever get your 880ex? If not I'm selling mine with a CDRII burner and I would give you a great deal. I love the thing to death, but I just got a great new PC and I'm wanting to go the Pro Tools route. I have an internship in a studio as an engineer/producer and they use Pro Tools. Both units are in mint condition and I have a soft shell case for the 880ex. I have all the mauals, the original box, and the e-magic software for vs users so you can interface it with your computer. I have made some sick recordings with this unit. I have a ton of download tips and tricks to throw in too. I would help you with any questions you may have. Oh yeah, and I have the instruction video. I've posted it on the used equipment section on this site check it out. If your interested, post a reply, I'm sure we can work something out. It is fully loaded with 2 effects cards. Good luck too you. I used this unit on my band. A trio, but the bouncing of tracks is a piece of cake. Have a good one. H-man
 
880ex

Netmosis- How's it going. Did you ever get your 880ex? If not I'm selling mine with a CDRII burner and I would give you a great deal. I love the thing to death, but I just got a great new PC and I'm wanting to go the Pro Tools route. I have an internship in a studio as an engineer/producer and they use Pro Tools. Both units are in mint condition and I have a soft shell case for the 880ex. I have all the mauals, the original box, and the e-magic software for vs users so you can interface it with your computer. I have made some sick recordings with this unit. I have a ton of download tips and tricks to throw in too. I would help you with any questions you may have. Oh yeah, and I have the instruction video. I've posted it on the used equipment section on this site check it out. If your interested, post a reply, I'm sure we can work something out. It is fully loaded with 2 effects cards. Good luck too you. I used this unit on my band, a trio and the resulsts were incredible. The bouncing of tracks is a piece of cake. Have a good one. H-man
 
sorry, too late h-man. i'm just waiting for mine to come through shipping. thanks anyway...
-
j
 
Happy recording. Get yourself an art tube mp preamp and run everything though it. Bass, guitars, vocals, I have one and it really warms up your tone when you record onto the 880ex. Have fun and thanks for the reply. H-man
 
Well all in all the VS-880 is going to do the trick for you (assuming it is really an 880ex and not an 880 UPGRADED to EX). What you are probably going to want to do at some point is nab a small 6-8 channel powered mixer to mic the drums with. Bottom line is once you get all carried away placing mics all over hell to get what you want from the drums...you have used all your inputs on the roland. The independant mixer for drums saves a boatload of grief and editing in the long run.

The specific Roland mics are no big deal, not for the cash. You will get better results out of a quality mic and preamp. I was never overly impressed with the roland mics.

Folks are so excited over bitrate. What kinda cracks me up though is these are stand alone home recording units. You can get a great sound from them, you can burn terrific CDs..you can make stuff that gets you seen signed and heard. And as soon as that happens you are tossed in a three million dollar studio and you make records. I am all for the best quality possible...but for what it does as a home recording tool, it is perfect.
 
Even said:


Folks are so excited over bitrate. What kinda cracks me up though is these are stand alone home recording units. You can get a great sound from them, you can burn terrific CDs..you can make stuff that gets you seen signed and heard. And as soon as that happens you are tossed in a three million dollar studio and you make records. I am all for the best quality possible...but for what it does as a home recording tool, it is perfect.
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly! I use to record with a friend on a 4-track. We were pretty successful at creating some cool sounding stuff. When I bought my VS880EX, it made it easier to record with features like copy and cut, etc as well as the sound quality being stepped up. Impressive unit.
 
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