Don’t be so quick to sell your old Roland
VS-workstation!
Back
in 1995 Roland made history by introducing to the music scene a new DAW (digital
audio workstation) that was advertised to have 64 tracks of recording with multiple
effects all in one small unit. I bought my first 
Roland VS-880 in 1997 after
reading all the rave reviews. At that time the only track recorders on the
market were the tape based analog machines. Recorders then used cassettes, VHS
tapes,
or dat (adat). Anything digital at that time; especially with 64 track capabilities
would have easily cost you $20,000 or more. So when Roland came out with the VS-880 for
around $2,500 in 1995 they were making history.
When
I got my VS-880, I was the first in my area and my head was
super-sized. I immediately began to advertise that my studio had 64 track
capabilities and I was an official “Big Boy.” It wasn’t long before other
companies put out their versions of the VS-880, which made Roland come out with
the VS-1680 and the battle of DAW’s began!
I
quickly found out that my 880 could only play 8 tracks at a time and the other
tracks were just track banks. Even more, I really had 6 tracks because 2
tracks had to be saved for mix-down unless you spent all day bouncing tracks!
Going to bigger studios to dump the tracks wasn’t a smart move either if you
were paying by the hour. The tracks had to be dumped one at time because the 880
didn’t have any bus-out ports channeled for each track. So I started feeling
that although I loved my 880, it wasn’t all that practical as a track recorder
for professional applications.
Why
should you keep your Roland VS or other DAW?
Now think outside of the box! If you use these workstations as professional samplers, you’ve got one mean machine!
Most
of the top samplers on the market come with about 256 megs of rams for sampling
time (if you’re lucky). For more money, you can probably expand that; in some kind
of upgrade package. The VS-880 can record hours of sound at 44.1 (CD quality). We're
talking HOURS of samples! Plus with the VS-880, you have those 64 tracks you can use as banks. You also
have locate banks and 999 markers you can use as sample banks per song! You can: cut, copy,
paste, move, bounce, undo, and scrub all samples. You can take advantage of playing an
eight-track sampler. You also have about 250 effects that can be applied along
with EQ per track! When it comes to LOOPING....you can set it to loop for
hours using "Start" & "End" markers or "TO"
and "From." What
sampler on the market has all of that?
I now use my VS-880 to store thousands of samples! Keep in mind that it also has midi connections. I work on long complex samples and sounds, then I put them in different tracks according to the feel I’m looking for…add a few effects and all that's left is to midi up to my keyboard, sequencer, or straight to ProTools! The VS-880 and later models even have compression/ expansion tools. Once all the work is done I can back up samples the same way I did my old songs! I have one disc of samples that's probably has about 8,000 samples on it that I can pull up in minutes. If I did, it still would have every sample in the track and bank I left it in and with all of the effects. It will even restore all of my locate points and markers. No sampler on the market can pack that punch pound for pound, or for the money! If you're lucky, you can probably buy one in good condition for around $250-$450, but a professional sampler with these features (minus hours of sample time) will probably hit you for 5 grand or better!
* Please Note: All examples were based on the Roland VS-880 EX. Later models starting from the VS-1680 and up have more tracks and other expanded features.
