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MikePeloso
New member
Anybody have any Comments on this Recorder? I just sent for one
Thanks
Mike
Thanks
Mike
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G
gritzy
New member
VF16
I got a VF-16 about 6 months ago and I'm definitely pleased with it. The two (VF-08 and VF-16) are essentially the same in design. The biggest draws for me were that it offered a digital mixer/multitracker package with phantom power and had a SCSI port that I use with a Zip drive.
The biggest (and really the only) problem I've had with it has been the manual. Have you ever seen that bit that Jay Leno does on foreign translations in advertisements, etc? You know, where nothing makes sense and everyone laughs and it's funny? Well, the manual for the VF-16 would work great in such a setting. In fact sometimes it IS funny. But most of the time it's just annoying.
It could be that I am just bad with manuals or maybe its presentation just clashes with my learning style, because I have heard both criticism and support for this same manual. But I will say that I have personally learned a significantly greater amount about my VF-16 on this site than I have from the manual that came with it. Good luck and let everyone know what you think of it.
I got a VF-16 about 6 months ago and I'm definitely pleased with it. The two (VF-08 and VF-16) are essentially the same in design. The biggest draws for me were that it offered a digital mixer/multitracker package with phantom power and had a SCSI port that I use with a Zip drive.
The biggest (and really the only) problem I've had with it has been the manual. Have you ever seen that bit that Jay Leno does on foreign translations in advertisements, etc? You know, where nothing makes sense and everyone laughs and it's funny? Well, the manual for the VF-16 would work great in such a setting. In fact sometimes it IS funny. But most of the time it's just annoying.
It could be that I am just bad with manuals or maybe its presentation just clashes with my learning style, because I have heard both criticism and support for this same manual. But I will say that I have personally learned a significantly greater amount about my VF-16 on this site than I have from the manual that came with it. Good luck and let everyone know what you think of it.
G
gritzy
New member
R_tikul8,
Using a zip drive with the VF-16 has definitely worked well for me. If you ask me, the SCSI port should be standard on both machines. I mean, I know it wouldn't cost THEM $90 to include it on the VF08.
Let me tell you why it works for me. I record and mixdown on the VF-16 at home (no shit, right?) and save to a zip disk so that I can bring my tracks into work and burn them onto CD using my PC (or rather my employer's PC...shhhh). This is best for me because it is simple, fairly inexpensive, and mainly because my PC/burner access and homestudio resources are separate from each other. It all depends on your overall setup because there are a lot of options out there.
For instance, I believe that you can go direct from the VF-08 to a PC's soundcard or a CD burner using the S/PDIF in/out OR the SCSI port. It depends on what ports you have available on your burner/storage device or soundcard or whatever. I mean you COULD always use RCA cables to run to a receiver and a tape deck if you had to, although your material would be leaving the digital domain and all its conveniences behind.
If you were to decide on the zip drive arrangement, you would need to get the optional SCSI card, a zip drive, and a special cable to run from the SCSI port on the card to your zip drive. The zip drive has to be a parallel port as opposed to the USB connection type, but any brand of external Zip drive will do. I got mine (an Iomega 250...I'm not sure I even know of any other brand) along with the power supply adaptor off of eBay for around 100 bucks. I think that the cable you need is called a DB-25 to mini-50, as opposed to the normal cable that you would probably get with the the drive for connecting the drive to a PC's parallel port. In addition you will obviously need zip disks. If you had a 250mb drive you can use 100 or 250mb disks but a 100mb drive is restricted to 100mb disks.
In addition to what I've said here, the best advice I can give you is to do a search in this forum on something like "VF08 AND zip" or just "VF08". There are several people here who could give you other opinions/options.
There is a user who frequents this forum named micmac, who has helped my out quite a bit. He would know more and be able to verify the information I've given you here. (Hope you don't mind the referal micmac.)
Good luck and be sure to post your progess and any other questions.
gritzy
Using a zip drive with the VF-16 has definitely worked well for me. If you ask me, the SCSI port should be standard on both machines. I mean, I know it wouldn't cost THEM $90 to include it on the VF08.
Let me tell you why it works for me. I record and mixdown on the VF-16 at home (no shit, right?) and save to a zip disk so that I can bring my tracks into work and burn them onto CD using my PC (or rather my employer's PC...shhhh). This is best for me because it is simple, fairly inexpensive, and mainly because my PC/burner access and homestudio resources are separate from each other. It all depends on your overall setup because there are a lot of options out there.
For instance, I believe that you can go direct from the VF-08 to a PC's soundcard or a CD burner using the S/PDIF in/out OR the SCSI port. It depends on what ports you have available on your burner/storage device or soundcard or whatever. I mean you COULD always use RCA cables to run to a receiver and a tape deck if you had to, although your material would be leaving the digital domain and all its conveniences behind.
If you were to decide on the zip drive arrangement, you would need to get the optional SCSI card, a zip drive, and a special cable to run from the SCSI port on the card to your zip drive. The zip drive has to be a parallel port as opposed to the USB connection type, but any brand of external Zip drive will do. I got mine (an Iomega 250...I'm not sure I even know of any other brand) along with the power supply adaptor off of eBay for around 100 bucks. I think that the cable you need is called a DB-25 to mini-50, as opposed to the normal cable that you would probably get with the the drive for connecting the drive to a PC's parallel port. In addition you will obviously need zip disks. If you had a 250mb drive you can use 100 or 250mb disks but a 100mb drive is restricted to 100mb disks.
In addition to what I've said here, the best advice I can give you is to do a search in this forum on something like "VF08 AND zip" or just "VF08". There are several people here who could give you other opinions/options.
There is a user who frequents this forum named micmac, who has helped my out quite a bit. He would know more and be able to verify the information I've given you here. (Hope you don't mind the referal micmac.)
Good luck and be sure to post your progess and any other questions.
gritzy
R
R_tikul8
New member
Gritzy.
Thanks for your reply, kind of overwhelming as I'm new to the digital thing. As you said in previous post, manuel SUKZ, so am struggling through a lot of it, but having fun with it so far. One more question that may be dumb, is it normal to have a constant whining/hum sound from the unit? seems to pick it up in the recordings also. Thanks again for the help.
Thanks for your reply, kind of overwhelming as I'm new to the digital thing. As you said in previous post, manuel SUKZ, so am struggling through a lot of it, but having fun with it so far. One more question that may be dumb, is it normal to have a constant whining/hum sound from the unit? seems to pick it up in the recordings also. Thanks again for the help.
G
gritzy
New member
Yeah the hard drive on my VF-16 is pretty loud. Especially the little digital grunts it makes when actually recording. I think your best option is to just try and isolate your mic from the unit a little. Some physical distance helps and a barrier of any sort will make a big difference as well. When I mic my guitar amp for instance, I drape two comforters over it and the mic just to try and keep out any background noise. Are you using monitors or headphones? Cause if you are recording an acoustic through a mic, monitoring with headphones, AND operating the unit yourself, isolating the mic can present a bit of a challenge. I don't really have all that much trouble with noise from the hard drive on my recordings though, even recording my acoustic right next to it. Just think about your mic placement and be aware of the balance between the line/mic level of the input (the sensitivity of your mic) and the output from the headphones (volume) in terms of noise, both background and circuit noise. It's a real challenge doing all of it by yourself, particularly in the beginning. I started getting into it earlier this year and I now very clearly realize why people get paid good money to specialize in it.
G
gritzy
New member
oh....and if you try that comforter/amp/mic isolation technique, careful not to burn the house down. Gotta let the amp get some air, at least occasionally.
R
R_tikul8
New member
Thanks again for the help, I'm gradually getting it, but now have to take a 6 week vacation out west to the mountains, hang gliding, beer drinking, (not at the same time), so will be away from it for awhile, (waah). I'm doing all acoustic stuff now, guitar, (Martin of course), 12 string, mandolin, but am using electric bass, which seems to work well running straight into the recorder from an effects pedal. I'm using sound hole pickup in the guitar plus mic'ing it also on a second channel, sounds pretty good, but do need to isolate away from the recorder more as the mic is picking up the machine hum on the recordings. I'm just monitoring with some small JBL stereo speakers, but plan to get decent monitors when I get back. probably be checking back in with you for more advice after vaca. if that's ok, plan on getting into it full scale then. Cheers!