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MGR/Tubedriver « Fostex VF80 Digital Recording Workstation with CDRW »
Published on 01/22/04 at 15:00I got this unit because basically the shop where I live gets very little gear in relation to recording and this one looked to be pretty good value. Back then I paid about AUD$2500. I think you can get it for about AUD$2000 with the CDRW now....sux. I got this unit because it had the CDRW, phantom power, 20gig hard drive.
It works, it seems pretty stable and it forces you to focus on your music, not stuffing about with screens and plugins and other crap. I use a computer all day and it's nice to not have to worry about using one for my music. The preamps sound good enough for now. I found it intuitive to use, but some people seem to have a hard time using it, and reading the manual....I dunno.
You can also record up to 24 tracks of audio for a single program (song). You can only listen to 8 at a time though.
The CDRW is slow but produces reliable burns with low error rates.
The fact it's advertised as an 8 track machine, but in reality it's 6 track because you have to reserve tracks 7/8 as your masters.
The effects are cheesy and limited. There is only one effects buss.
There is no compressor for tracking, only for mastering. I would rather have had no cheesy effects and a compressor available for tracking.
EQ is all presets (which you can adjust) but you have to have your manual handy for the EQ ranges.
Editing is cumbersome. But I dont use it for that anyway.
The gain pots crackle! That really sucks IMO. My unit is kept in a home studio dust free environment. Once set there is no noise but it doesnt sound flash when you have to adjust the gain!
16bit only.
It is a heavy little sucker! However, I have heard some reports that the buttons fall thru the faceplate. I havent had any problems yet and Ive had mine for well over a year. The CDRW gets very hot with continuous burns and backups. I try and keep things minimal here. It seems to run slowly, but that isnt always bad. Its reliable which is a big plus. You have to let it finish processing stuff before you start hitting buttons.
I like this unit for what it does. I like it because I can record up to 24 tracks of audio, burn them off as wav files and pop it into my laptop and mix/edit and construct backing tracks using ACID.
I can bung this thing into the car and go round to friends houses and record. It's good like that....phantom power too which the MR8 hasnt got.
There are other units out there that may possibly be better value. The Zoom ones for instance have 24 bit A/D converters (still only 16bit linear recording though) and feature a drum machine and separate master track.
For a no-nonsense machine though...it does it's job. Dont get one without the CDRW though!
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
It works, it seems pretty stable and it forces you to focus on your music, not stuffing about with screens and plugins and other crap. I use a computer all day and it's nice to not have to worry about using one for my music. The preamps sound good enough for now. I found it intuitive to use, but some people seem to have a hard time using it, and reading the manual....I dunno.
You can also record up to 24 tracks of audio for a single program (song). You can only listen to 8 at a time though.
The CDRW is slow but produces reliable burns with low error rates.
The fact it's advertised as an 8 track machine, but in reality it's 6 track because you have to reserve tracks 7/8 as your masters.
The effects are cheesy and limited. There is only one effects buss.
There is no compressor for tracking, only for mastering. I would rather have had no cheesy effects and a compressor available for tracking.
EQ is all presets (which you can adjust) but you have to have your manual handy for the EQ ranges.
Editing is cumbersome. But I dont use it for that anyway.
The gain pots crackle! That really sucks IMO. My unit is kept in a home studio dust free environment. Once set there is no noise but it doesnt sound flash when you have to adjust the gain!
16bit only.
It is a heavy little sucker! However, I have heard some reports that the buttons fall thru the faceplate. I havent had any problems yet and Ive had mine for well over a year. The CDRW gets very hot with continuous burns and backups. I try and keep things minimal here. It seems to run slowly, but that isnt always bad. Its reliable which is a big plus. You have to let it finish processing stuff before you start hitting buttons.
I like this unit for what it does. I like it because I can record up to 24 tracks of audio, burn them off as wav files and pop it into my laptop and mix/edit and construct backing tracks using ACID.
I can bung this thing into the car and go round to friends houses and record. It's good like that....phantom power too which the MR8 hasnt got.
There are other units out there that may possibly be better value. The Zoom ones for instance have 24 bit A/D converters (still only 16bit linear recording though) and feature a drum machine and separate master track.
For a no-nonsense machine though...it does it's job. Dont get one without the CDRW though!
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com