VS880 to CD

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ladell53

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I'm relatively new at this, but for a first cut I've managed to lay down about 30 virtual tracks, bounced to six, on my VS 880 (not the EX) and would like to drop the final product onto a CD. I've saved it to a zip, but my PC (which has a zip and CD burner) can't read the Roland zip code. Is anyone aware of a driver or conversion software that will transform the 880 language into MP3 or Wave files so I can burn a CD on my computer? Is there another alternative short of buying a dedicated CD burner for the 880?
 
I'm in the same boat! I own a VS880EX and have a PC with a Sony 12X CD burner in it.

This is going to sound amateurish (probably because it is!) but up until the past few days ago, I was polishing up my final mix and then sending the song out the headphone jack into my standard sound card's input and then, using my PC's standard audio software (Audioware), I would save the song and/or track backups as uncompressed WAV files or MP3s (done in real time). I would use the digital outs on the VS880 but I don't have a dedicated recording sound card.

Now I am experiencing problems with distortion and the song just plain not sounding good when it gets to the PC! I am not sure if it is an input/ouput level that's screwed now or that the cable is bad (I've tried another cable to no prevail) or that I am having a problem with the sound card or software itself!

By going this route I was trying NOT to spend $600 on Roland's dedicated CD burner. I believe that it is way to COSTLY when you compare it's specs with others on the market. But then again, maybe it doesn't take very long for Roland's burner to store data. I believe that the CDRII is a 4x.

However, I now cannot import the wav files on my PC back into the VS880. Pros and cons, huh?

So now I believe that I have to make a decision from two choices. Do I spend another boat-load of money on Roland's CD burner (which seems to work okay based on posts out here) or go with a new sound card/software package (like Motu 2408MKII or Echo Layla, etc.) to solve my communication problems? I've seen my 12x in action and it's got to be faster than the Roland! Sometimes faster is not better, especially now that I am spending all this additional time figuring out my problem!

I hate the idea of buying Roland's CD burner when I already purchased a Sony (which I waited and waited for price drops on 10x or higher burners - I got the Sony for $150 with rebates!!!) But then again, $600 as compared to a new card/packge that may cost twice that! If the Roland can truely help backup and then with relative success, import tracks later for re-mixes and the like, I might just bite the bullet and buy Roland's burner.

This is my first post. Sorry to be long winded! Hopefully you can weed through this and get an idea of where to go.
 
Found my problem with the the distortion. The sound card wasn't set on mic input! There are several places to look for this on the PC - in sound recorder in your standard wav and song player, etc.

So, I am back to dumping my songs to PC via the headphone out. Again, this at least gets your stuff over to PC as an uncompressed WAV file where you can use your PC's wav player or editor (cheap if not free software) to convert it to something else by using save as. Then you can burn them to CD.

This works OK but I can't dump the tracks back to the VS. You should probably have a sound card that accepts SPDIF out from the VS according to several posts out here. From there you would have to look at track or song import, I guess, to get them back to the VS. Check this out though!

Good luck.
 
Reply to VS-CDRII question

I ordered a VS-CDRII but sent it back before even hooking it up. One reason was, it was missing the SCSI cable - had an extra power cord instead - go figure. However, the main reason I returned it, I discovered the back up capibility is limited to unplayable archived data. I needed more working space. Worse yet, having to internally mix to 2 tracks before burning a CD was not user friendly - at least not to me. Once I have eight good tracks, the last thing I want to do is bounce them back and forth to make room for an internal 2 track mix. Sure, it's possible, but why do it? Every time I needed to adjust level or EQ on a specific instrument or vocal, once it's bounced, I would have to go back several steps and try again. No fun: too reminicent of my 4 track analog days. Plus, CDRWs made on the VS-CDRII aren't playable on standard CD players. That means trial burns to a CDRW, then a final re-burn to a CDR once you get everything right.

For back up I got an ORB 2.2 Gig drive (see my post on the ORB) which allows infinate space to work and back up songs, and I ordered a dual tray Marantz CDR 500, to which I should be able to mix my eight tracks directly. Plus, the CDR 500 will copy CDs, or any other audio source, be it digital or analog. I know that the Roland unit is designed to work with the VS88-EX, but it just doesn't seem to fit my needs. And, by the way, if the Marantz doesn't live up to expectations, like the VS-CDRII, it goes back to its maker too. I'll let you know how it works.

D. Larry Patterson
 
I've been out of town and just got your response - thanks. After fixing the distortion, can you tell if you are losing any quality by converting to audio and then back to digital? Maybe this is the only way to go - I'll give it a try. I had also thought about running a midi to parallel port cable from the 880 to the computer and see if I could get the computer to read the midi input and convert that. If I have any success I'll let you know.
 
ladell53,

I've recorded several types of songs. One with just one track of acoustic guitar, one track vocals, and then a lead guitar track - very quiet type of song - that didn't seem to lose that much quality if any at all. Going through the sound card you might expect more bleed from PC sounds, etc.

I've also dumped punk, pop, and thrash metal songs to the PC using the same method. Since these types of songs had several more tracks to them as well as distorted guitars and drums/cymbals, I definitley couldn't hear a loss of quality.

Right now, I currently use the Roland and my setup to complete demos and NOT mastered and completely finished products. I'm not shooting for primo quality, although I cannot complain with what I've achieved so far. Depends on whose ears are listening I guess.

I am not at MY PC right now, but I will try to give you some other info here: I record these songs in real time with the standard WAV editing software I got with my PC and save the file as a PCM (I think to 48khz and 172kbps). If I want MP3 I save the file as MPEG Layer 3 (around 40khz and around 120kbps). I also save the files at a lesser quality setting if there are just song ideas, riffs, beats in order to save on space. Again, I can't remember right now what the exact selections were for the file types but you may find that they differ from software to software but I'm not sure.

Let me know if that MIDI idea works.

Good luck!
 
CDRII

Hey Larry,

Great info on the CDRII! I was wondering if you could or couldn't just take a CD from the Roland unit and stick in a CD player or PC and have it work. Good old formatting conflict rises again!

I will try to visit your post on the ORB but in case I don't, can you tell me if you're able to send tracks back to the Roland for future editing using the ORB?

Also, I agree with the track bouncing and EQ difficulty. I already bounce just a few tracks but tend to NOT to go all the way down to two tracks if I don't need to. Depends on the song.

I prefer to leave each instrument or element in a song on its' own dedicated track. Unfortunately this is hard to do with the VS880EX unit if you're trying to really beef up a song with multiple layered tracks.

Thanks again for the info!
 
Reply to fanbagglia

The ORB works just like the internal hard drive. The songs (or contents of an entire drive (partition) are copied in a "Playable" condition to one of the ORBs drives (partitions), so you can work on the song on the ORB the same as if it were on the internal hard drive. You can also copy the song back to the Roland's hard drive if you want. If you copy it back to the same drive (partition) the original song is on it will not overwrite the original, it will be copied as a new song with the same name but different number. Then you have two versions of the same song. If you just want to keep the new version, delete the old one. As the 2.2 Gig disks only cost thirty bucks a pop, you can have unlimited storage space for cheap.

By the way. A CDR burned on a VS-CDRII will play on a regular CD player, it is evedently only the CDRWs that won't. I think (hope) the Marantz I have ordered will make CDRWs playable on a standerd CD player. If it won't, it is no sweat, as it is a dual tray machine and I will be able to easily dub one CD to another (CDRW to CDR)if necessary. Plus, I should be able to mix all eight tracks from the VS880-EX directly to the Marantz without having to go through an intenral mix down first. If I had 16 tracks, using 2 for mix down wouldn't be a problem. However, with 8, I don't want to do that (save 2 tracks for mix down).
 
UPS just delivered my VS-CDRII. I ripped opened the box and grabbed the literature and GUESS WHAT? My VS-1680 is version 2.0 and the VS-CDRII only works with version 2.1 or better. They included an upgrade CD that has to be run on a computer, then transferred to the 1680 via midi cable. What a bunch of crap! I don't have computers and cables to do this with. Roland tech support is "on vacation" until Jan 22. Does anyone know if the CDRII will work anyway without the upgrade to my 1680? Thanks ~~ tbolding
 
You are screwed

No, it won't work without the upgrade. I went throught the same crap. I spent over $70 bucks on a midi interface - I forget the name, but I got it from Guitar Center. The upgrade is on Roland's web page. You have to download a program that allows the interface to work, plus the upgrade. I did all this befor receiving my CDRII, so I was ready to go when I got it. However, I never even used the CDRII, as I discovered it wouldn't do anything I wanted it to do. It isn't the least bit user friendly. I sent it back and got and ORB 2.2 Gig drive for back up, and a Marantz CDR 500 for CD burning. Without going into a lot of detail, which is already on several other of my posts, I am exstatic with the ORB and Marantz. The ORB is like having an unlimited hard drive (the CDRII will only copy archived files, so you can't work off it. Using the Marantz CD recorder, I have already mixed down 34 songs to CD. It is easer than using an analog tape recorder. You don't have to mix down tracks on the Roland, and you can make any adjustment to the mix during mix down that is required. it is so easy I can't believe it. The end result blew my mind. I then copied (Dubed) the CDRW disk to CDR. It only took the push of one button, and in about thirty minutes I had a perfect copy of a full disk (22 songs). The entire process is automatic. Plus, the Marantz will dub copies of any CD, finalized or not, you stuff in the Play drawer. It ignores copyrights of comercial CDs.

My advice is to immediately ship the CDRII back and get something that will do what you need it to do. Don't live with something that is going to be imposible to use, and has absolutly no flexibility. It is definately worth the few exstra bucks it will set you back. The CDR is a one trick pony, and it doesn't do that very well (or at least very easily). A CD recorder like the Marantz CDR 500 (About $650, or Tascam CDR 700 (About $400) will do anything you can imagin. If I had kept the CDRII, I would not have been able do any of the things I wanted to do. The possibilities are limitless.


Larry Patterson
 
Larry-
Thanks for your response! I've kept up with your posts the last couple of days, in fact, I've been printing them off. They will become part of my permanent file. I didn't waste any time with the CDRII, it's on the way back. As soon as that was done, I headed for Oklahoma City, armed with your documents. I marched into Mars Music, handed the first salesperson I came to a copy of your excellent posts where you describe the Castlewood ORB, and the Marantz CDR 500, and stated, "I WANT THIS". We must be on the cutting edge or something, because no one there had a clue. They weren't sure who Castlewood was, they darn sure didn't know anyhing about the ORB, and although they had heard the name Marantz, they concluded the CDR 500 must be a proffessional model that they don't carry. This is not an unusual response around this part of the country, though. It doesn't matter whether I'm looking for toothpicks or cottonballs, no salesperson ever knows which end is up. Well, I'll keep looking. Thanks for your advice and please keep us informed of anything else you discover. Yours is the kind of information I am always searching for. Thanks!
~~ tbolding
 
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