Will My European Multi-tracker Fry in America???

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pisces7378

pisces7378

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I live in Munich Germany but am an American. I will be returning to America in the not so near future (maybe 1 or 2 years from now). I am intrested in buying a Roland VS 1880 Digital Recorder and it is not so cheap. And I would hate to buy it here and take it home and it be useless. Can Anyone tell me if it is ok to use European configured gear in teh states. I know that the plug looks completely diffrent than the US. And I also know that you can buy adapters and all that shit, but are they dangerous and will my $2,500 piece of equipment fry or not get enough power in the states??? I am a beginner and I don't want to get burned (no pun intended). Thank you,
Mike
 
As I recall...

In Europe, you deal with 220 VAC 50Hz, and in the states, it is 110VAC 60Hz. In all actualality, converting European gear to work in the states is safer then the reverse. You would be either using a kick up transformer, or maybe utilizing two AC plugs to get the 220 you need, where as with US gear, you would need a kick down transformer, and THAT could be dangerous! I am not sure how the Hz are converted, but I can only imagine that reducing them would be easier then increasing them.

c7sus is the resident electrician here, and I know that there a few others on this BBS that are bench techs who could provide better details. Definately ask some of them if you can find out who is who....

Good luck.

Ed
 
Send Roland service an e-mail. Ask them how much they charge to convert from European to American. It won't be cheap because they would have to replace the transformer (I'm assuming this does not use a wal wart transformer)and possibly the power supply. I'm sure they would offer this service or give you the address of an authorized (key word)service center to do the work. Put a couple of bucks away each month and ship it to service center when you leave Germany. By the time you get settled in back home the Roland would be back in your hands. Don't even consider doing this yourself if you don't know electronics. And please don't plug 2 cords into a 110V outlet to get 220V. The 50Hz Euro to 60Hz American is a big deal too. You really can't get around it without the above service. I would think this would be an especially sensitive area when dealing with audio equipment with processors (clocks) and such.
Good Luck
 
taps

Some units come with multi tap transformers, so the idea would be to just change taps.When you think about it, it's cheaper to make one multi tap transformer than several different types. You need to call roland or a roland warranty station to see. It could be that moving 1 wire will do it.
 
Maybe this would help

I am from Istanbul, Turkey and we have the same plug and voltage configuration as most of Europe (220 VAC 60Hz). This summer I was in NYC and I purchased a Roland TD-8 drum brain (as well as pads and stuff but that's not important). I was quite scared that it wouldn't work back home or the voltage convertor would fuck it up.

So I walked into one of the billions of electronic shops in NYC and asked them if they had a dependable converter which I could use with my brain. One store suggested this tiny white converter for $20, and the other suggested a huge black box for $60. I ended up buying both since the black one works both ways (220-110 110-220).

Well anyway, it works like a charm here in Turkey now. I've been using the brain for almost 4 months and no problems yet.

As for using a device designed for 220 VAC in a 110 VAC system, it shouldn't be a problem as people have suggested. I used be quite into model R/C cars and the battery chargers for the car batteries (upto 2000ma) pull quite a bit of current and they require a solid electric source. (much like a digital mixer). I purchased a regular convertor for it and it worked like a charm too.

But I would still get an electrician to analyze the wiring in your "future home" in the states. To see if there is a solid foundation and maybe he could recommend you a good converter.

In the end, it shouldn't be much of a problem.
 
I live in Australia and a lot of the stuff here is switchable, as Stan said, it's a lot cheaper than making two units.

Brenton
 
reel to reel.

i had a problem. when i moved back to the US this summer i didnt know if my reel to reel would work here. im the end i found out it wouldnt. why?

if there are motors involved, then your mulittrack wont work. if it runs off of DC power then a simple transformer that will hold the right wattage will work, why?

AC is the electricity that comes out of your wall, it has hertz/cycles/ whatever. and this matter when using a motor.

have you noticed that ATX power supplies on computers work in either 110 or 220? it is because computers work on DC current. i am betting that the roland machines and basically any standalone recorder uses DC. If it does you are in the clear. just need a transformer to get 220 going into the AC/DC converter or else you will end up with half the current in the roland.
 
Oh Mr. Roland WHERE ARE YOU???

Can anyone on this earthe PLEASE help me find an e-mail address for a ROLAND electrician or technical support person? I have tried to follow everyone's advice and just look on the internet for an e-mail address to ask about weather the ROLAND VS 1880 Digital multi tracker has a switchable transformer. But I can not find the address anywhere. I searched the ROLAND official website in three languages and found no e-mail address. I found SONETHING, but you had to have an ID# etc... and there wasn't a "join free" button or anything. Just asked for a number. I need to ask SOON because I have found a REALLLLLLYYYY cheap store that has one for $1,698.05 After taxes and shit. E-mail address PLEASE!!!!!

Thanks for everyone's advice. Great bunch of guys and gals,
Mike
 
go to the store and have a look at the unit and/or the user manual........that should tell you. If not ask them for email/contact details.

Brenton
 
Pisces,

My sister's boyfriend is from England and bought a VS-1680 over there. He is now here in America and brought it with him. He had to get an external voltage converter in order to use it here, which you would probably have an easier time finding in Europe than here, as America for the most part refuses to acknowledge that other countries exist. :)
The converter is not specific to the VS-1680, they have generic ones that will work for any device, but you have to know how many watts of power the device uses (the 1680 draws 100 watts; don't know if the 1880 is different but the specs will tell you) and get a converter that will handle it.

Anyway, he's been using it here for 2 weeks now and there are no problems. Hope that helps.

--Lee
 
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