BLA and the VS700-R

Hi all!

In this not so good time where X2 makes us feel a little more pushed aside and the VS700 thread is slowly becoming a place to fuel a collective depression, I have a little story for those of you who have time to kill.

Everyone knows Black Lion Audio from Chicago, right?  These guys (specificially Matt Newport who is the owner and designer) became famous by modding the not-so-great digidesign's 002 rack and made it a very high-end machine that impressed, I mean REALLY impressed everyone who heard the before/after improvement. 

Check THIS

Also check thier website  to see what kind of improvements they make. Yes it's interesting and no I don't work for them!


Since then, they added to their line-up new interfaces that could be modified, based on their design's topology.

Recently they added the SSL alphalink, telling it was built around the AKM AK4620B codec for conversion.  Wait?!?! I've seen this somewhere else... 

Yeah! Sure I did!

Do someone remember the thread where Promusic27 was asking which converter were used in the VS700R? And then I opened the VS? And Sacalait made a reference to the Alphalink from SSL?

So, out of curiosity, I asked to BLA if they could mod the VS700R and they told me they never modded any Roland gear and that the conversion chip have very little to do with thier capacity to mod it and that it have more to dowith their design BUT, if I wanted to open it and take some high res. pictures they could take a look at it.... What nice guy.

Of course, the next second I was dismanteling the vs-r, reminding me how good I was at it now since I first opened it to see the converters and a second (multiple) time(s) to find the pres output for a direct out... ahh sweet memories...

So, I took everything apart, shot each parts in high resolution and sent all this to BLA via mediafire.

Some days after, nothing yet... 

I was sure they had no time for it or whatever, and THEN! I recieved his answer, here it is:

"Hey Olivier, We did look at the pictures and the unit looks like it could be a good candidate for modification. When we are evaluating a unit for modification we only charge the cost of the parts as well as shipping. Usually this is nor more than $200 + shipping and often times less. We would also need the unit for at least 4 weeks for the evaluation process. If you are still interested, let us know and we can send you a RMA form to fill out and include in the box with the unit when you send it in. Cheers."

It's what I've done today. My vs-R is gone for at least 4 weeks leaving me with my onboard sound card lol!  

I don't want to give false expectations to anyone since they will only evaluate it for now and I don't know what kind of price the mod will cost if they decide to do it but one thing sure I will let you guys know!

Actually, it's the first since X1 that I'm REALLY holding my breath for a significant improvement!

Can't wait to see how it will turn out!

Cheers all!

NB: For those who wonder, yes I asked for a post preamp/pre-AD insert jack (for splitting the pre signal, inserting a device, or accessing the A/D directly) but they are only interested in making the unit sound it's best, which is sufficient for me! Maybe next time...;)

So cool.... well done!

Zo


do you find the VS 700 r not sounding right ? good ?

Hi Zo!


Of course not, the vs700r does not sound bad! But does the Alphalink sound bad? I don't think so either but BLA succeded to improve it.


The reason I'm giving myself that much trouble (yeah, let's call it the way it is!) is because this interface is the center of my setup, and will be for the foreseable future, so I want it to be the best it can be.


SOS made a review of the system after its launch, and told that it was more constricted in depth and less airy than a Lavry AD10, making it an equivalent to the Focusrite saffire or TC Konnect.  Let's be serious, I don't expect it to sound like a 1K two channel dedicated converter but BLA can do miracles so I would not be surprised if it sound seriously close to it though... and for much less than an eight channel AD/DA lavry blue system.

I think it was worth the try. Just ask Stevee9c6 what kind of difference he found when he got his Hilo and I'm sure that BLA is capable of reducing this gap considerably. What excite me most is to know how much this gap can be reduced!

Anyway, not everyone will be interested in modding their interface but for those who'd like to, BLA will know how to do so you will be able to send it without having to pay and wait for the evalution process.

I'll let you know how it's going!

Well comparing the VS 700 to a saffire or TC , i don't think this can be right ...i compared it to my RME and heard no diffrence ....so i keep using it !!

of course dedicated convertor (i like the antelope and Hilo too) are good but the gap is so small no dat the investement is not worth of it .....BUT according to the price you gave us ....thsi might be great ... i do think that the Clock makes the biggest diff !

thks for keeping us informed ....and don't be biased , be fair when comparing .....

Just a quick update: my vs-r is with BLA's head tech right now and I will know what can be done once he finish the evaluation.

By the way, my motherboard built-in soundcard is a serious step-down (yeah, who'd have tought that!) and will make my VS the best thing ever once it'll be back...  anyway, I'm thinking of a way to do a fair shootout...

I think of taking a ripped song from a cd and record and record it again 10x times through the VS sub out - pres in to see how the converters/pres degrade the audio. Then someone here could do the same with an unmoded VS and see what kind of difference it makes...

If there are volunteers or better ideas let me know!

Hi John!

I don't have the individual pics but here is the bundle I sent to BLA:

http://www.mediafire.com/?7nt0p9ie7y7ejy4

Sorry it's pretty big but you'll have everything you need to know!

So looking at this, it appears to have just the one fan, is that right? Looks like it should be easy to replace that with something much quieter.

Hi Steeve,

The tech working on it was on vacation but he'll continue working on it and I should have news in the upcomming week, accroding to what BLA told me in a email.

I'll let you know what they can do with it for sure.

still waiting.... 

Like I explained to Kday in a PM, BLA will charge me only the price of the parts (the good news) but I have to wait for the tech to have time to work on it ( the less good news). They have it since september so either they broke it and don't know how to announce it to me or they are very busy with their "regular" schedule.
 I'll update AS SOON I have more infos, whatever they are.

I'm interested too man! 

Hi Dyonight,

Would you mind passing the question about replacing the VS-700 fan on to BLA?

Since these guys are taking the unit completely apart they might actually be able to figure out quickly whether it's possible to replace that thing with something more quiet. This might be in your interested, either, to get a fully revamped and quiet unit ...

Woahhh it's been a while....  No, I still do not have the interface in my possession but things are moving....

In fact, they explained me that they are not able to pass audio through the unit and that they thought they had to get a vs700c to make it work.  I answered they just need the vs700r editor (with the link of course) and the 2.0 drivers.

Now that should do the trick. 

It took forever but I understood that they changed ownership very recently and were busy with some new products and some new mods. Just a bad timing for me.

I didn't asked for the fan but I can't imagine that's a custom fan. We just need to know the required voltage and get a fan with a control connector.... ok I'll ask in my next email 


I'll keep you posted!

Moved too...

IF nothing else, this thread has made me reluctant to consider BLA for pretty much anything. They have had your unit since sept. In Feb, you were pretty sure they would be done soon. My honest best guess is that they have "bricked" your system and are trying to dodge the bullet.  Hope I am wrong, but this truly fails the smell test.

If you want to use the VS700r without the console you have to flip dip switch 2 to ON....
 
They're working on it right now.......