Pro-Tools

[SweetSecrets]

Panamark and I are thinking about getting an M-box. Does anybody out there have one of these? Is there something better anybody would suggest for home recording?:p

[smaz]

Depends on what kind of home recording you wanna do

[Panamark]

Mainly guitars (electric, heavy and clean acoustic) and vocals.

I know a lot of people have given me advice on this, in fact I
got about 20 different solutions ! Im thinking Pro tools is the
way to go, but whats the best mixing desk or interface
box to get with it ? Mbox is looking like a good starting place.

[Hardrock69]

Lotsa peeps use M-boxes. I personally have a Roland VS-1680, and when not using it to record to, I use it as an interface when recording to Nuendo on my PC.

[Eyes of the Night]

Fuck MIDI!!! ... lmao but if you had to do it like me just so I can upload 30 second riffs of the TONE I have and wanted to share I'd use CUBASE ... simple yet effective even though I have the "bare bones" of what actual potential this program offers I barely flew under the radar of MIDI SHIT ...

Well that's the plan I saya, haven't actually done it yet ... about 225 bones for a bare bones package ... I wanted to take it back but you know how that goes ... I'm just draggin' cause I don't want to pull my puter out from under it's "bed of dust" to install a fookin' special soundcard or at least one with an "A" looking logo on the back of the box it's held in ...

[Hardrock69]

That was kinda why I got my Roland. I don't have to fuck with any PC shit. I can just turn it on, plug in an instrument, and hit record!

No Muss, no fuss. Won't crash, won't fuck up, perfect sound quality....

[ELVIS]

Cubase is nice...

[Hardrock69]

Yeah...ain't technology fun?

[Panamark]

Eyes ?? Do you really think I would be looking at MIDI ???????????

Fookin ell

[Panamark]

Originally posted by ELVIS
Cubase is nice...

Yeah, also Cakewalk is meant to be good, but Im thinking
Pro Tools seems to be the standard now ??

[jojo2371]

that roland vs-1680 is pretty sweet !!!

[Hardrock69]

ProTools may be 'the standard' but I know a lot of producers who have switched to Steinberg Nuendo or Cubase.

Yeah, man Roland Rocks....

[Panamark]

Originally posted by jojo2371
that roland vs-1680 is pretty sweet !!!

That does look sweet !!

But here is my question, are you better off with PC's with
Cubase/Pro Tools or dedicated devices like that roland vs-1680 ??

Surely with upgrades to software on a PC, its going to give more
flexibility in the future than a hard coded device like this ??

(I agree that it looks foookin cool !!)

[Hardrock69]

Well, here are some pros and cons.

Pros:

1. Easy to use - basically plug in and rock.
2. Learning curve not too terribly steep.
3. Due to the fact that it is dedicated to recording ONLY, ya never have to worry about it crashing or some component fucking up as with a PC. Some of the newer versions of Hard Disc recorders can be bought with built in cd burners.
4. It is portable. I have a flight case that came with mine, so I can just pack it up and take it where ever I want to go. It can record up to 8 tracks simultaneously, so it can be used for live recording.

Con:
1. IT only has 2 XLR inputs, all the rest are 1/4".
2. VS-1680 records in a proprietary format that cannot be converted directly to wav files. You either have to run a line out to your pc and record the output to the pc, or else burn to a cd as "songs" with each track being assigned to a song and then a left or right channel. Big hassle.
The thing is, the VS-1680 has been out of production for some time, and Roland REFUSES to release it's proprietary audio code so that somebody can create a software package to make a direct conversion to wav files possible.
See, this means if you were to just back up a project on cd, and then put it in your cd-rom drive in your pc, the pc will not be able to read the disc at all. Note I said if you do a BACKUP (the unit can burn audio cds as well).

I sure as hell wish I could directly convert the proprietary file system to wav files. I even wrote a letter to the president/CEO of Roland International in Japan asking if they were going to do anything to address this issue. To my surprise, he actually wrote me back, and basically said "No" in a polite manner. Other than that, I am VERY pleased with it.

The bright side of the above problem is that if you get a VS-2480, it has the capability to export wav files to your PC. I think the VS-1880 can, but I am not certain.

4. You cannot record backwards with it. So if you wanna do something like apply backwards echo to a track, you have to fly the track over to your PC, use a wave editor like Sound Forge to apply the effect backwards, then you have to fly the track back into the Roland.

5. And you cannot use any PC-type audio plugins. You have to get FX cards from Roland in order to apply FX to your recorded tracks.

SO....that is the deal with the Roland VS series. Oh, and the A/D converters on my VS-1680 sound great. Much better than the A/D converters used in some high-end Digital Audio Workstations I have heard.

Yes, having a PC-based recording setup does have it's pros and cons as well. Periodically, Roland releases upgrades to it's OS on it's VS-series recorders, but of course you ARE basically stuck with their OS, FX plugins, etc. (unlike a PC)

For further info, check out www.vsplanet.com and click on "forums". There is a HUGE user community there that can answer any question about the Roland VS series.

Of course, Roland is not the only company that makes stand-alone units. Several other comapnies make competing stand-alone units

When I had the opportunity to buy this from a friend of mine who is a record producer here in Gnashville, I went for it. It came with 2 FX cards, the flight case, and an external CD burner. All for $1400. This was 2 years ago. You can find them for cheaper than that now I think.


Another producer friend of mine was using two VS-1680s linked together to produce demos and albums (making it a 32-track machine). He once commented to me that 15 years ago, it would have cost him $250,000 to get the kind of equipment that would equal what the VS-1680 can do.

I love it. I now have a digital recording studio in my house. And one more advantage to digital is if ya have to bounce tracks, there is no loss of quality.

Of course, different models and manufacturers have different capabilities. I can only go into details about my 1680.

Once my album project is complete, I will announce it. There is one song I am doing that was directly inspired musically by CVH, as it is a slow double-kick shuffle.


Hope this info has helped.

Rock on!

[Panamark]

Thanks HR69, that does help.

I would never buy a hard coded device that had a proprietry file
system that couldnt be converted. So that rules out the 1680
immediately. But you say the later models will do it. So they might
be worth looking at. Ive also had people here tell me the Zoom MRS-80 and the BOSS (forget the model) are great too..

Too many fookin options !!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH