All user reviews of 5/5 for the Roland VS-840

I purchased this VS 840 at Sam Ash in Columbus, Ohio in very early 1999 for around $850-$900. I was upgrading from a Tascam 4 TRACK 242MKIII MTR.

I think the sound quality is very good, although alot of that depends on how good you record, and mixdown,and what type of equiptment you are using to begin with. I feel that most of the effects are very good,with a vast array of editing options. I espically like the scene memory for storing different mixes, and the built in guitar tuner. The undo/redo feature is very handy,and the virtual recording tracks are great for recording different takes of a part without erasing the original take. The ability to Fast forward or back instantainiously makes recording much more enjoyable and saves tons of time. I aslo like being able to add effects after the part has been already recorded should I with to do so.

Originaly mine used 100 MGB zip disc. It wasnt enough time to record a complete song, so I upgraded the unit and had a 250 MGB ZIP DRIVE installed. I dont really care for the inputs being on the back of the unit, and wish it had a digital input jack. I feel that it is somewhat overrated as an eight track, and would consider it more of a four track or six track machine, as each track should be able to be mixed down at the same time rather than bouncing 1,2,3,4 to 5/6 and 1,2,3,4 to 7/8.
Some of the Guitar effects dont have reverb in the edit mode, and I wish I could use an effect on more than just one track at mixdown. The owners manual is not at all user friendly, espically if you have never worked with digital recorders before, as was my case. The fader distance seems short and the cut off is sometimes abrupt and cuts out before the end of the slide distance. The faders could also be bigger.

The housing of the unit seems too lightweight and should be heavier plastic. It seems to be a very high quality unit as far as the electronics, circitry and all that goes. The finished recordings are plenty adaquate for demos, and as good as some finished product that Ive heard.

I feel that with the 250 MGB Zip Drive installed it is well worth the money and would not hesitate to buy the larger units that they make. In fact,Im sure my next unit will be a Roland, just from my expierence and satisfaction with this unit.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this portable studio workshop from McMurray's Music in St.Louis because I was starting to get tired of the limitations of single-track recording on crappy, improvised gear. I paid approximately 1,000 dollars for it new.

It is amazing to think about all of the things this digital studio can do for a thousand bucks! Thanks to affordable digital technology, a band can use a relatively affordable piece of equipment to record songs with remarkable quality. With the Roland VS840, you have the flexibility of multi-track recording, complete with four "simultaneous" inputs as well as a built-in guitar preamp, onboard effects library, onboard graphic eq., 8 tracks, up to 64 "virtual" tracks, working faders, and every form of output connection they could think of. This unit can be plugged into a PC, any stereo with RCA inputs, or directly to a CD burner.

The simultaneous inputs allow for live recording, if desired, although you have to be creative on how you use each of the jacks. I've found that routing drum mics into an old PA head allows me to only use one track for all of the drums. This leaves a vocal mic, guitar mic, and bass mic open. If you run out of inputs for your performance, there are 4 more tracks available for overdubbing backing vocals, keyboards, extra guitars, etc. Effects can be attached either during the recording process (track by track) or during the mixing phase.

Mixing your recordings to tape (or CD) is extremely easy on this unit. You have full control of each track's level through the use of faders, as well as individual control over effects volume (per track) and panning.

Because the unit is digital, you can re-record parts of a song very easily until you get it right. If you only need to fix a small part of a solo, you can dial up the right part of the track and fire away. If you don't want to throw away an old attempt, just use one of the 8 virtual tracks available. The tracks can be started, stopped, moved forward or backwards with the ease of a CD player.

The Roland VS840 records the tracks on a 250MB ZIP drive. Be aware that 100MB ZIP disks and be used for duplicating songs (from one unit to another), but cannot be used for the actual process of recording. With all of the virtual tracks, each song can take up a large chunk of memory. A 250MB disk can effectively hold about 8-10 minutes of music. The nice thing is that, when you're done, you can always erase the disk and put new songs on top of the old ones. This is good because those disks aren't cheap.

Some of the controls are a little too small for comfort. Lots of tiny knobs. The arrays of flashing lights can be a bit intimidating at first, but Roland does a great job of making it easy for beginners. Even though there is a LOT that this little puppy can do, it is possible to make great recordings using pre-sets and a user-friendly manual. I was able to record a 6 track song complete with overdubs within a day of purchasing the studio. Very easy to learn.

The disks don't hold enough memory for me, and you can easily find yourself in the middle of a song and suddenly have the "Disk Full!" message appear out of nowhere. This can be frustrating. That's why I stick to only two songs per disk if they have very many tracks on them.

The onboard effects are of mixed quality. The guitar effects are on the cheesey-metal-cheese-whiz side of the spectrum. Lots of reverb built into the distortion effects, and not enough body if you have good amps to work with. For distortion, particularly if you have a good amp, I wouldn't bother with the onboard effects. The reverb options, however, are wonderful and very flexible. Everything from large-arena emulation to small room and everything in between.



A nice, sturdy, compact design. The unit seems very tough considering its sophistication. I've hauled it around quite a bit and I've never had a problem.

For anybody serious about making quality home recordings, this is a wonderful piece of equipment to have. Not only does it allow you to record your performances, but it also aids in the composition of songs. With common-sense recording techniques and a little research, I've been able to make recordings that have fooled non-professionals into thinking that they are store-bought. Of course, the recordings are only as good as your weakest microphone.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

2 MIDI inputs, 4 between which a jack between guitar.
64 tracks and 8 virtual tracks simultaneously record
Support utilisZip

All the comfort is present

UTILIZATION

Trs interface easy to use. I lost the manual and g mid managed to find .. Chapo!

SOUNDS

Then the BRAVOOOO !!!!. Qualit its excelente for the price of the unit !!!!! Really nice dynamics is Submitted and effect are worthy of a good multi purpose.

OVERALL OPINION

Under no circumstances will I turn to table.En effect is directly connect to my computer and I work with Pro Tools, Cubase, or Logic and dchir.Voila come see my music extract ke to say what you think: -)