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songboy
Published on 08/09/08 at 22:37
Going in there are 6 1/4" jacks (7 if you count the guitar hi-z, but if you use that, you can't use the 6th connection) and 2 XLR jacks with optional phantom power (nice!). It is a 24 bit sampler. You can store your files on an upgradeable internal hard-drive (6,10 or 20gbs).
The only synchronization I know are the midi in/thru and midi out. Well, you can record all 18 at the same time, but you only have 8 inputs all together, so really you can only record 8 different tracks at once.
UTILIZATION
The general setup is not, and I mean not easy. The manuals for these things are so convoluted and disorganized I have ever come across. I have literally spent hours looking in these things and struggling to find the answers, most of the time coming up with nothings. Very, very bad! I have to admit that I was using this thing to perform simple recording withing the first few hours of having it. But I haven't gotten much farther since then. Again, horrible manual, but you can call roland and talk to a real human and get some quick and good answers. They will get an extra point on the rating below for there stellar customer service.
SOUNDS
I feel a little dumb because I do not no exactly what a/d and d/a convertors are. I have to say that the overall sound quality of this unit is not that bad. If you are good at simple mixing (3 band eq per track) and panning, you can make a very usable demo with this. I would definitely recommend better equipment for an actual album. I did not purchase the internal effects card so I do not know its quality. The price on ebay for new efx cards has not changed in two years (about $125-$150) while the recorder itself continues to fall, if that means anything. You can run external effect loops, but you have to have a free track to send it to. Computer recording is the way to go in my opinion. The overall sound quality is good, so if you know how to use compressors and effects properly, the dynamics will sound good too.
OVERALL OPINION
I have been using this item sparingly for about three years. The best thing about it is its sound quality which is good, but not great. There are many horrible things about this unit, but the worst is the combination button pushing (hold this and push that at the same time kinda thing). There are just to many of those to remember and it ends up screwing things up pretty bad if you hit the wrong button. I have been using computer recording lately and have shunned the hardware recording units. When these were new, they were pricey (over $1200), now they are fairly cheap ($300-$450). I would go for a decent, up to date computer with a almost any music recording software over these hardware units any day.
I wish I hadn't bought this item.
The only synchronization I know are the midi in/thru and midi out. Well, you can record all 18 at the same time, but you only have 8 inputs all together, so really you can only record 8 different tracks at once.
UTILIZATION
The general setup is not, and I mean not easy. The manuals for these things are so convoluted and disorganized I have ever come across. I have literally spent hours looking in these things and struggling to find the answers, most of the time coming up with nothings. Very, very bad! I have to admit that I was using this thing to perform simple recording withing the first few hours of having it. But I haven't gotten much farther since then. Again, horrible manual, but you can call roland and talk to a real human and get some quick and good answers. They will get an extra point on the rating below for there stellar customer service.
SOUNDS
I feel a little dumb because I do not no exactly what a/d and d/a convertors are. I have to say that the overall sound quality of this unit is not that bad. If you are good at simple mixing (3 band eq per track) and panning, you can make a very usable demo with this. I would definitely recommend better equipment for an actual album. I did not purchase the internal effects card so I do not know its quality. The price on ebay for new efx cards has not changed in two years (about $125-$150) while the recorder itself continues to fall, if that means anything. You can run external effect loops, but you have to have a free track to send it to. Computer recording is the way to go in my opinion. The overall sound quality is good, so if you know how to use compressors and effects properly, the dynamics will sound good too.
OVERALL OPINION
I have been using this item sparingly for about three years. The best thing about it is its sound quality which is good, but not great. There are many horrible things about this unit, but the worst is the combination button pushing (hold this and push that at the same time kinda thing). There are just to many of those to remember and it ends up screwing things up pretty bad if you hit the wrong button. I have been using computer recording lately and have shunned the hardware recording units. When these were new, they were pricey (over $1200), now they are fairly cheap ($300-$450). I would go for a decent, up to date computer with a almost any music recording software over these hardware units any day.
I wish I hadn't bought this item.