Roland VS-1824CD

I've had this thing for about a year now...bought it as an upgrade from the 1680 (which I still own & use after 10 years).....The portability,
great sound & quality construction is what sold me on the V-Studios...The onboard effects sound better than anything comparable from Akai, Yamaha, Tascam, Korg, etc...( well, to Me..)

Now I know you can Midi 2 of these boxes together to get more tracks but why? I mean, it's Digital recording, so you can combine tracks with no loss whatsoever & free up tracks for more parts ( Like Background vocals/ Harmony parts...) And if you're set up for MTC/Sync to a external sequencer like an mpc or a pc running Digital Performer, etc (midi production) then it's a moot point. More than enough room to do anything you want production-wise. After all, most classic Rock & 60's era Soul/R&B records were recorded on 4 & 8 track machines..I wish the 1824cd was set up for USB, though...

Right out of the Box? Instruments like parts off a Keyboard/workstation like the Fantom-x or a Triton recorded via the S/pdif( Digital ) input sound great ...As far as vocals/ Sax/ Trumpet
or Guitars & Basses go in a Studio enviroment, I would suggest using an external preamp and a decent Condenser Mic ( Focusrite, PreSonus, ART, AKG, CAD, Senheiser, whatever sound you're going for)..On the guitar tip I use a Line 6 Bass pod xt, and that warms up my thing very nice & crisp. ( and it helps to have Decent guitar or Bass playing Chops for your writing style...) The onboard Mic Pre's are alright for Live recording. I record a lot of Spoken Word performances at an Open mic that I co-host here in Cincinnati (www.myspace.com/spokenwordsoul)
and they sound good for that stuff...Surround sound? Nah; this is strictly a Project studio piece for my personal Productions..Strictly Stereo, Baby!!

AC powered, no adapter here...48volts/phantom ( I use an external Mic Pre for a front end, though...)

32k up to 96k in different Roland Proprietary operation modes...Direct Monitoring. Great sound!!

Stand alone operation only...My unit was used, so if there was some bundled software available I never saw it(Lol)!!

Like the 1680 this piece is built like a tank!( Although I may get a bigger HD for it..)The VS-1824CD does everything I want it to do, I didn't have much of a learning curve as I also own a 1680 that I bought new 10 years ago....Being influenced by 70's & 80's ol'skool Funk as well as a fan of the Nu Soul movement ( think Jill Scott, Goepele, Omar, Chaka Khan) and of Funk Rock like the music of the Chili Peppers & for you old heads, bands like Mandrill, Santana, Mother's Finest, Graham Central Station, Tom Tom Club, David Bowie( Fame, Golden Years), Kajagoogoo, etc., I have a thing about analog-fat sounding, organic Recordings, so I track All my stuff at 44.1k in the MT1 algorithm setting. This, along with my external preamp boxes gives me that "vintage warm" vibe on all of my recordings. Now I know some Audiophile Tech-Studio owner Snob is probably Laughing or Crying over my recording Anything under 48k, but Hey, I'm a Musician first ( 20 years playing Guitars/Bass/Synths) and have produced 2 Great CD projects since buying this piece.( See www.myspace.com/shantesings & www.CDBaby.com/shadesofJ )...Drawbacks? Roland could have included the ability to store the tracks as Wav/AIFF files...And USB was on the market by the time this V-Studio went on sale, so why didn't Roland include that capability?
...If this recorder was stolen I'd be mad, but that would also be an excuse to get a vs-2480CD or whatever Roland comes out with next( They're about due for a new Flagship recorder now..) If you're creative and know what you want in your writing style, whereever your muse takes you, you can capture it with this machine. It's easy to use once you get into it. And if you're doing Retail Ready CD projects, find a good, affordable Mastering engineer; don't do that on this machine. Take your "Final Mixes" to a professional, it's worth it.