I got a Roland VS-880

[bcgood]

This recorder was used to record what I consider to be one of the best sounding digitally recorded albums of all time, Sufjan Stevens invites you to: Come on feel the Illinoise.

It was also used by A Band Of Bees (As they're known in the U.S.) on their debut album Sunshine Hit Me. What's funny is that their next album was recorded at Abbey Road and I actually think that I prefer the sound of their first album recorded on the Roland 880 in a shed.

I've messed around with it a little already. I really like it, very tactile and it sounds great.

Now it's time for me to record my masterpiece.

Stay tuned...

[dub3000]

The preamps on the 1680 are horrible, you only full quality running that thing in MAS 8 track mode, and getting audio off it onto a daw is a screaming nightmare. But very handy box for remote tracking, I use mine a lot.

[bcgood]

I have the ability to transfer via spdif into pro tools so we'll see how that goes. I haven't tested that aspect of it yet. I'll post here after I've successfully transferred some files.

[dub3000]

problem is you can only go two tracks at a time like that. giant pain in the ass.

i pull the 1680 drive out, mount it in my PC and use some weird software to rip the raw session files. it's fully lossless like that, but it feels a bit scary. would be easier with an external backup drive, but old SCSI gear is getting hard to find...

not sure what the 880 uses for storage off the top of my head, is that the one that uses zip disks?

solid machines, though. i like mine.

[bcgood]

Originally Posted by dub3000

problem is you can only go two tracks at a time like that. giant pain in the ass.

i pull the 1680 drive out, mount it in my PC and use some weird software to rip the raw session files. it's fully lossless like that, but it feels a bit scary. would be easier with an external backup drive, but old SCSI gear is getting hard to find...

not sure what the 880 uses for storage off the top of my head, is that the one that uses zip disks?

solid machines, though. i like mine.

I'm pretty patient so it won't bother me. It will give me time to think and write my next hit while I transfer files.

It uses both RAM and an internal hard drive to save data. It is a very solid machine. Someone posted a video on youtube of an 880 that had gotten rained on from a person that lived in an apartment with a leaky roof. He let it dry and then turned it on after a couple of years. The thing still worked!

Here's a thread about the Sufjan Steven's albums made on the VS-880.

Sufan Stevens

[BlackBackDrop]

I use to have one and accidental killed it with orange juice?

I had some songs on CD burnt using the old VS CD Recorder.

What would you guys charge to help me get them in to DAW format? Wav's

[dub3000]

Originally Posted by Blackback Drop

I use to have one and accidental killed it with orange juice?

I had some songs on CD burnt using the old VS CD Recorder.

What would you guys charge to help me get them in to DAW format? Wav's

VSWaveExport

you can use this and reaper to open those old projects directly off the backup cd.

[sprouts]

Congrats, bcgood!

i love these machines, i've had one for about ten years now.

they don't get much respect nowadays, especially around here, but it fits my needs perfectly.

can't wait to hear what you do with it!