Roland Vs-1824CD

[operator_tape]

Unfourtunatly my band and I have no money and can't aford to do go to a professional studio, anyways my question is, has anyone else used the roland vs-1824 to track anything for pro recordings and used it for drums, guitar and bass. Also I want to get that singal from the Roland VS-1824 to my computer and it accepts S/Pdif in either RCA or Optical. Where can I get some kind of interface to get all the info from the Roland to the computer. Any ideas are welcomed. Thanks

[operator_tape]

I need some kind of interface, would a M-Audio Transit USB transmitt Digital signals to my computer? Do I need wordclock?

[operator_tape]

would any firewire (none audio) interface on my computer do the trick?

[Larsen]

Hi,

I have an older VS workstation, and they work on the same principals. I looked up the specs on your model, and there is no USB or firewire ports available for these models. Usually, the Roland stand alone recorders have a certain code in which they store the data internally to read it's "song" with effects, locators, etc... There is a SCSI connector that is mostly used to connect to a zip drive to store your songs in case you run out of disk space. You may be able to connect to your computer if you have a SCSI card, but I have never tried this.
.
There is no wordclock interface, and the VS unit has a dedicated clock, so I wouldn't really worry about that. What you DO need is a soundcard that accepts SPDIF. A lot of cards on the market have this, and they vary in price. The cheaper route would be to go to your nearest six string outlet and pick up an Echo Mia, or M-Audio thingamajig, or find a friend, whatever, with a SPIDF connector. (I think the Mia is like 200 bucks or something.)Then, go down to circuit city, or radio shack, and pick up a coaxial or optical digital cable.
.
*One cautionary note: Make SURE it's a SPDIF input/output on your card, NOT ADAT. They look exactly the same. It's a propriatarial thing.(don't worry about the optical/coaxial cables, they are fine) Some cards are switchable between SPDIF and ADAT, just as long as you can be in SPDIF land, you are cool.
.
Keep in mind that when you transfer your files via SPIDF, they will be audio files. They will not be pre-recorded data files. So, if you do it that way, you will essentially have to "record" each file individually into whatever program you are doing your mixes in. The best thing to do in this situation, is to put a click, by mic, or whatever, at the beginning of all of your tracks at the same mark. So, arm all of your tracks, and do a little click. Then when you record your files into the computer, they all have a marker when they should line up in the mix...dig? Since you are transferring the files digitally, they should all be playing at the same rate, and will play like they did on the Roland.
.
It sounds like a pain, but it's the only way I know how. There may be an easier way to do this. I have heard of forums for
I have an older VS workstation, and they work on the same principals. I looked up the specs on your model, and there is no USB or firewire ports available for these models. Usually, the Roland stand alone recorders have a certain code in which they store the data internally to read it's "song" with effects, locators, etc... There is a SCSI connector that is mostly used to connect to a zip drive to store your songs in case you run out of disk space. You may be able to connect to your computer if you have a SCSI card, but I have never tried this.
.
There is no wordclock interface, and the VS unit has a dedicated clock, so I wouldn't really worry about that. What you DO need is a soundcard that accepts SPDIF. A lot of cards on the market have this, and they vary in price. The cheaper route would be to go to your nearest six string outlet and pick up an Echo Mia, or M-Audio thingamajig, or find a friend, whatever, with a SPIDF connector. (I think the Mia is like 200 bucks or something.)Then, go down to circuit city, or radio shack, and pick up a coaxial or optical digital cable.
.
*One cautionary note: Make SURE it's a SPDIF input/output on your card, NOT ADAT. They look exactly the same. It's a propriatarial thing.(don't worry about the optical/coaxial cables, they are fine) Some cards are switchable between SPDIF and ADAT, just as long as you can be in SPDIF land, you are cool.
.
Keep in mind that when you transfer your files via SPIDF, they will be audio files. They will not be pre-recorded data files. So, if you do it that way, you will essentially have to "record" each file individually into whatever program you are doing your mixes in. The best thing to do in this situation, is to put a click, by mic, or whatever at the beginning of all of your tracks at the same mark. So, arm all of your tracks, and do a little click. Then when you record your files into the computer, they all have a marker when they should line up in the mix...dig? Since you are transferring the files digitally, they should all be playing at the same rate, and will play like they did on the Roland.
.
It sounds like a pain, but it's the only way I know how. There may be an easier way to do this. I have heard of forums for
I have an older VS workstation, and they work on the same principals. I looked up the specs on your model, and there is no USB or firewire ports available for these models. Usually, the Roland stand alone recorders have a certain code in which they store the data internally to read it's "song" with effects, locators, etc... There is a SCSI connector that is mostly used to connect to a zip drive to store your songs in case you run out of disk space. You may be able to connect to your computer if you have a SCSI card, but I have never tried this.
.
There is no wordclock interface, and the VS unit has a dedicated clock, so I wouldn't really worry about that. What you DO need is a soundcard that accepts SPDIF. A lot of cards on the market have this, and they vary in price. The cheaper route would be to go to your nearest six string outlet and pick up an Echo Mia, or M-Audio thingamajig, or find a friend, whatever, with a SPIDF connector. (I think the Mia is like 200 bucks or something.)Then, go down to circuit city, or radio shack, and pick up a coaxial or optical digital cable.
.
*One cautionary note: Make SURE it's a SPDIF input/output on your card, NOT ADAT. They look exactly the same. It's a propriatarial thing.(don't worry about the optical/coaxial cables, they are fine) Some cards are switchable between SPDIF and ADAT, just as long as you can be in SPDIF land, you are cool.
.
Keep in mind that when you transfer your files via SPIDF, they will be audio files. They will not be pre-recorded data files. So, if you do it that way, you will essentially have to "record" each file individually into whatever program you are doing your mixes in. The best thing to do in this situation, is to put a click, by mic, or whatever at the beginning of all of your tracks at the same mark. So, arm all of your tracks, and do a little click. Then when you record your files into the computer, they all have a marker when they should line up in the mix...dig? Since you are transferring the files digitally, they should all be playing at the same rate, and will play like they did on the Roland.
.
It sounds like a pain, but it's the only way I know how. There may be an easier way to do this. I have heard of forums for VS users, even model specific ones, so run a search and I'm sure something will come up. I think vstplanet? is one..
.
Anyway, it's a cool way to do mobile sub-mixes of things and them bounce them into the computer. You can also go out of the headphone jack, or the RCA's if you are desperate.
.

Regards,
j [/code]

[Larsen]

WOW....

uhhh. something weird happend and that copied all over the place.
.


so, I think here it is?


I have an older VS workstation, and they work on the same principals. I looked up the specs on your model, and there is no USB or firewire ports available for these models. Usually, the Roland stand alone recorders have a certain code in which they store the data internally to read it's "song" with effects, locators, etc... There is a SCSI connector that is mostly used to connect to a zip drive to store your songs in case you run out of disk space. You may be able to connect to your computer if you have a SCSI card, but I have never tried this.
.
There is no wordclock interface, and the VS unit has a dedicated clock, so I wouldn't really worry about that. What you DO need is a soundcard that accepts SPDIF. A lot of cards on the market have this, and they vary in price. The cheaper route would be to go to your nearest six string outlet and pick up an Echo Mia, or M-Audio thingamajig, or find a friend, whatever, with a SPIDF connector. (I think the Mia is like 200 bucks or something.)Then, go down to circuit city, or radio shack, and pick up a coaxial or optical digital cable.
.
*One cautionary note: Make SURE it's a SPDIF input/output on your card, NOT ADAT. They look exactly the same. It's a propriatarial thing.(don't worry about the optical/coaxial cables, they are fine) Some cards are switchable between SPDIF and ADAT, just as long as you can be in SPDIF land, you are cool.
.
Keep in mind that when you transfer your files via SPIDF, they will be audio files. They will not be pre-recorded data files. So, if you do it that way, you will essentially have to "record" each file individually into whatever program you are doing your mixes in. The best thing to do in this situation, is to put a click, by mic, or whatever at the beginning of all of your tracks at the same mark. So, arm all of your tracks, and do a little click. Then when you record your files into the computer, they all have a marker when they should line up in the mix...dig? Since you are transferring the files digitally, they should all be playing at the same rate, and will play like they did on the Roland.
.
It sounds like a pain, but it's the only way I know how. There may be an easier way to do this. I have heard of forums for vs users, even model specific ones, so run a search and I'm sure something will come up. I think vstplanet? is one..
.
Anyway, it's a cool way to do mobile sub-mixes of things and them bounce them into the computer. You can also go out of the headphone jack, or the RCA's if you are desperate.

sorry,
j

[operator_tape]

Wow, thanks, I got it to work. Since you have this unit, how do you find the converters sound? Also have you used any of the FX Inserts during tracking? I'm thininking more like Compressors, EQ's, Gates, etc... Thanks again.

[Larsen]

I don't have an 1824, I have an older model. So, I can't really speak for that particular unit. The on-board preamps on my recorder aren't that great but they get the job done. It's handy if you want to do portable recordings.
I didn't have any problems with the Roland converters, but I did feel that the overall sound was a little thin (of course I don't have a ton of nice mics or anything...)
.
Some of the effects are pretty cool. I found myself using a lot of the more sublte room reverbs, they aren't too intrusive, and feel pretty natural. I usually just track dry and insert them later. That way, if you decide later the effect isn't working, you aren't stuck with it. If I really want the effect, I just apply it, and bounce the track into the computer.
.
j

[operator_tape]

I agree the converters sound a bit to thin for studio recordings, but I guess that I have no choice in using it.

You have to use the tools that you have.