Help a brother out!...

I've made a few posts over the last year and a half asking about the quality of the converters on the VS700R.  ...I may sound like a flake because I haven't pulled the trigger but... I aint...  I make a living with Sonar- I'm a full-time producer with almost 50 commercially produced albums (check my Facebook page if you'd like).  I'm currently using Mytek for the A/D chores and an RME MultiFaceII as my main interface. 
 
So here's the question- and I'll put it a different way:
 
"Are the converters in the VS700R as good as the converters on the Roland VS2480?  (I know Westside S has used the 2480).
 
I'm gonna buy either the VS700R or the new RME Fireface UFX. 
 
I tend to lean toward the RME because I've become very accustomed to the software.  The converters on the MultiFace aren't bad- at all- but I'd like to move up.  ...for whatever reason, I never get an 'excited' answer to this question about the VS- BUT, I've heard records recorded with the VS 2480 that sound stellar- clean and almost 'tape-like'.  
 
please feel free to express yourself

Sacalait


I've made a few posts over the last year and a half asking about the quality of the converters on the VS700R.  ...I may sound like a flake because I haven't pulled the trigger but... I aint...  I make a living with Sonar- I'm a full-time producer with almost 50 commercially produced albums (check my Facebook page if you'd like).  I'm currently using Mytek for the A/D chores and an RME MultiFaceII as my main interface. 
 
So here's the question- and I'll put it a different way:
 
"Are the converters in the VS700R as good as the converters on the Roland VS2480?  (I know Westside S has used the 2480).
 
I'm gonna buy either the VS700R or the new RME Fireface UFX. 
 
I tend to lean toward the RME because I've become very accustomed to the software.  The converters on the MultiFace aren't bad- at all- but I'd like to move up.  ...for whatever reason, I never get an 'excited' answer to this question about the VS- BUT, I've heard records recorded with the VS 2480 that sound stellar- clean and almost 'tape-like'.  
 
please feel free to express yourself

Sacalait,
 
I know what you mean.  I've searched all over the internet for some really positive comments on the converters and pre's on the 700R, but none one ever seems to get too excited about them.   Reviewers and users use descriptions like "good" or "quality".  But no one ever seems to say "great" or "outstanding", and it's always or 4 out of 5 stars, but never 5 out of 5.  So I've come to the conclusion that the 700R must be a solid piece of equipment,  but nothing too spectacular.  I have a Roland VS2480 and I want to upgrade to some type of Sonar system, so I believe that the 700R would be a definite upgrade in audio quality, but not a major one.  I hope some more real world users chime in. 

Hey by the way, would you want me to do a recording or test exclusively for you?

What would you like to hear?  Tell me and I'll se if I can be of any help!

Hi,

"Are the converters in the VS700R as good as the converters on the Roland VS2480?"

Presently, I work with one VS 2400 CD which is supposed to have the same converters as the VS 2480; everything is OK in these recorders; line inputs are very correct, but the inbuilt mic preamps  are not "sufficient" for a quality voice recording for example , and the use of external processors is highly recommended.
BUT, there is a curious thing that occurs with VS2400/2480 : their proprietary R-DAC algorithm (which consists in "compressing" the audio flux in order to save internal memory and processor, and so called inaudible by Roland engineers) gives a certain warmth to the sound which can be flattering.
However, I could recently perceived that this encoding format slightly degraded  the rich textures of my Yamaha workstation Motif XS performances! Less dynamics and "anemic" trebles in comparison with the original source. I tried to record in the other linear recording modes and I notice an improvement at the 88 KHZ ! More subtility and depht.
I think the VS700R has more "transparent"converters, but your Mytec converters which is famous for its performance and stability should be the prioritary reference. But my intuition says that we can rely on the good quality of the converters and audio circuitry of the V 700 R interface.

Sacalait


While both the VS and the RME seem to have 'very good' mic pres, I'm more interested in the AD/DA converters. 

Just to be shure, you're probably aware that you cannot bypass entirely the mic pres on the VS700R, so the A/D cannot be accessed without going through the VS pres, even if you use the 1/4 ins, they won't act as line ins since the 1/4 and XLR input are wired in paralel and then goes to the pres.


So that lead me back to the fact that you could try an Octa-Capture for a shootout, which should give very similar results.

You can bypass the pres using your digital ins and out though..

Sacalait


Well I made a decision and bought the VS 700R.  I appreciate all you guys help.

I'm getting it by Christmas Eve and know support is going to be closed all weekend.  There's a firmware update (I think that needs to be performed).  Anything I should know that any of you guys could share would be appreciated.

There are several now since the new updates for the octacapture came out. Make sure you study them and put them in, in the proper order. and there is one coming for X1 and the Pro Channel.

I would strongly suggest calling Ryan Munnis at Cakewalk support. He can talk you through it. As Craig said, the order of things is really important.

For what it's worth, I use a Presonus Eureka channel strip in front of the 700 for mics.  Sounds good to me and has plenty of level.

Ryan!  Thanks for responding bro but I've BEEN up and running.  ...might wanna do a case study on my setup as I'm not using the V700C controller.