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Here is some food for thought (for any Roland VS-880users).
I recently had one of my hard drives crash and burn on one of my (6) 880s---what a bummer----so I went shopping on ebay and found a 4gig h/d for what I thought was a good price,,$58.99 delivered.
The package arrive,,I opened it up---low and behild,the seller that sold me the h/d,accidently left the reciet from the other e-bay seller that he bought it from for a whooping $19.95----opps!.
Man did I fell like a total sh*t head!
I found out some IMPORTANT INFO!
A Hitachi DK227a-41 hard drive,fits the 880s and other rolands like a dream for half the cost!.
Apparantly,the hard drive is a basic lap top h/d.
As you can tell-----Im not really all that educated when its comes to hard drivesnow I am!.
:lol:

Comments

IIRs Fri, 12/16/2005 - 05:20

Wow, six 880s!

I've only got one, but it was one of the first ones on the shelves back in '96 (doesn't time fly when you're having fun!) I discovered your HD trick years ago.. good job too as the original drive is pretty tiny by todays standards!

Its a long time since mine formed the heart of my setup, but it still has two uses that have stopped me e-baying it:

Live backing tracks: I don't do that very often as I prefer to play with a real band, but when I do the VS is ideal. I edit the tracks into the correct order, place a marker at the start of each, and switch the VS to auto stop at marker points, so as soon as one song ends the next is cued up ready for playback (which can be triggered from a footswitch)

Recording rehearsals: I routinely take the time to put up some minimal mics and record band practises.. its really good discipline IMO as it makes it much harder to ignore things like sloppy playing, or sloppy songwriting (you don't want to discover that when you're paying for studio time do you?)

anonymous Fri, 12/16/2005 - 07:42

IIRs wrote: Wow, six 880s!

I've only got one, but it was one of the first ones on the shelves back in '96 (doesn't time fly when you're having fun!) I discovered your HD trick years ago.. good job too as the original drive is pretty tiny by todays standards!

Its a long time since mine formed the heart of my setup, but it still has two uses that have stopped me e-baying it:

Live backing tracks: I don't do that very often as I prefer to play with a real band, but when I do the VS is ideal. I edit the tracks into the correct order, place a marker at the start of each, and switch the VS to auto stop at marker points, so as soon as one song ends the next is cued up ready for playback (which can be triggered from a footswitch)

Recording rehearsals: I routinely take the time to put up some minimal mics and record band practises.. its really good discipline IMO as it makes it much harder to ignore things like sloppy playing, or sloppy songwriting (you don't want to discover that when you're paying for studio time do you?)

I know 6 880s slaved together sounds like alot of tracks (40) tracks,,,,but its not that many tracks----I used to think so----but when you start tracking and mixing,it malkes things so-so much easier.
Everybody is getting rid of there 880s dirt cheap----cant say I blame them,but the 880s have been the tool for me.
Im currenetly talking to friend who just happens to work at Best Buy,and talking to him about building me a computer specifically for mastering purposes.
I usually only use up to 24 tracks when recording.then Il;l use up to 16 when mastering(for now)
I know what you mean as far as playing with a live band------been doing it for 27 yrs....but for now.....redording has presedense.
I too have been using the 880 as a tool for the band as an aid to help me take out new songs---its a breeze!.
Theres a digital cd player out now,that lets you plug youre guitar into it,listen/play to the songs,repeat,even slow the tracks down without lower the pitch!
Man I wish that would of been aroung 10 yrs ago!

anonymous Fri, 12/16/2005 - 11:30

IIRs wrote: 40 tracks? That works out at 6.6666667 tracks per VS :?

I would say you had 24 track recording and 48 track playback, unless you use "Master" mode (no data compression) which would limit you to a maximum of 36 playback tracks.. did I miss something?

No---you havent missed anything,I usually dopnt use Mater mode.
I use MT2 a-hole lot.
I start using the virtual tracks when Im mastering,Im kinda lazy when I track and mix----I wont usew the V tracks----I just use another 880.
Shoot-----Im even considering getting another one----a buddy of mine is getting rid of his,and he only wants 2 bills for it!,expanded,with effects!
Ive never-ever has a problem with slaving so many units together,each one creats its own MTC,so youre right on the money every time.
The only draw back to slaving,is if you wnat to use the punch-in method,its too slow-----so what I do if I do have to use the punch in method,is I alweays use the Master 880 to punch in the music/parts etc....
You gotta ck pout e-bay and see how cheap everyone is selling them fore.
I knopw that everyone is going the DAW route,but for me-for now---its the good old fashioned 880

IIRs Sat, 12/17/2005 - 10:58

The difference is in the detail: the subtle little clues that give a sense of depth and stereo imaging.. I used to hear the same sort of difference when I drove the inputs hard, but then you risk overs.. these days I record at 24-bit with 12dB or more headroom if I want it, and it still sounds great!

The difference would be much greater if you needed to bounce tracks internally of course: something I always needed to do but you probably don't ;)

anonymous Mon, 12/19/2005 - 18:17

IIRs wrote: The difference is in the detail: the subtle little clues that give a sense of depth and stereo imaging.. I used to hear the same sort of difference when I drove the inputs hard, but then you risk overs.. these days I record at 24-bit with 12dB or more headroom if I want it, and it still sounds great!

The difference would be much greater if you needed to bounce tracks internally of course: something I always needed to do but you probably don't ;)

Ill set my 880s at Master mode for my next tune.
Buying high end gear ie: Manley,Avalon,Sebatron,Mics,etc.....---have made all the difference in the world.
In my opinion,it has simplified alot of things.
Guys think Im crazy for having so many 880s,but I cant resist!!!
I went ahead and got the other 880 I mentioned earlier from a friend for 2 bills!---expanded,and effects.
I will admit this; Im not all that smart when using a computer to record
,Im better at having things I can touch to control----I guess Im old school---------------but it does the trick for me.
I hate to have to spend hrs on end to figure out how to use really complicated gear,and loose the feel of the song.
If I had the money-----I would have someone else do all the tracking/recording/teching/mixing/tuning/cable routing/mastering,but the fact of the matter is-=--is that I dont!!!!.
So in the mean time----------------e-bay!!!!here I come!!!!!