Roland VS2000cd or Korg d3200 or?

[mikelava]

I hate to bad-mouth gear, but I feel it's necessary to warn others of my problems with the Fostex VF-160EX. I bought it in May 2006 and so far it's crashed several times, I've had to have the hard drive replaced, its developed noisy preamps and so on. I finally got tired of it and sold it this evening. I would think twice before buying this unit if I were you. I've read many, many similar stories on Fostex message boards... caveat emptor!

[Slovenec]

Mikelava! Sorry to hear about your bad luck! .

I've always found the Fostex hard disk recorders to be a step behind when it comes to features. I've also heard about various problems with these machines which is a shame because they look ideal for someone not wishing to get their hands too wet when it comes to recording.

[garmonbozia]

This thread is pretty on-topic for my recent DAW deliberations, as I've been researching the Korg D3200 and the Yamaha AW2400 online all week (saw Traveler's review from last year on some site, and now here you are, still happy with your Korg, that's a good sign)...

I previously owned a Yamaha AW16G but after that unit kept crashing during intensive editing sessions (even after Yamaha replaced the hard drive at no charge though the warranty had expired), I got rid of it, and have been without proper recording gear since then (over two years ago) - Lately, recording live through my mixer into a two-track CD recorder just isn't cutting it, I need editing and overdubbing capabilities at least (not to mention parametric EQ, compression, etc)... So I am hankering for a new system

I definitely don't want to go with a computer-based setup, because I think the learning curve is too steep (I actually bought an Mbox w/ProTools last year and had to get rid of that because I couldn't learn to use it on my own), and at this point my PC is so loaded I would need to buy a new computer to record and process music on...

So despite my reservations with Yamaha, I looked at all the standalone DAWs out there in the $1K-2K range, and was ready to go for the AW2400... until I talked with Mark Bruhn here (ext. 1316) and he suggested the D3200 by Korg...

Well... everything I read about the 2400 sounded good, especially those 100mm moving faders... although the hitch was that to manage all my gear inputs I would have to spend another $350 over and above the $2000 street price to get an expansion card to add 8 analog inputs...

Then I started looking at the Korg, and wow... for $1000 less then I would pay for the Yamaha + expansion card, the Korg gives me all the inputs I need, PLUS:

• cool editing abilities like reverse, fade, noise removal (while lacking the pitch fix or pitch shift editing of the Yamaha)
  
• a tilting LCD screen (it's so hard to read those screens unless you're facing straight at them, I've found... I used to have to pitch my AW16G on a tilt to read the screen while I was mixing)
  
• more hardware knobs for ease of operation, compared with what Yamaha has
  
• 64bit internal processing compared to 32bit on the Yamaha (if I'm reading the spec sheets right)
  
• more simultaneous track capability with 24bit setting than the Yamaha offers
  
• and even though I'm not much of a beat-oriented musician (leaning more to ambient and experimental), the session drums feature looks pretty cool and more advanced than just a simple drum loop machine...

If I get the Korg (which I almost definitely will, unless I hear some bad things about the unit or the company in general), I will have to live without the dynamics processing on all channels that Yamaha offers, and accept those dinky 45mm faders which look so bad next to the 100mm moving faders on the 2400... but I'll save $1000, and that's enough money to buy a really good outboard compressor, or microphone if I wanted

What's really selling me on the Korg is not the 32 tracks (I would seldom use more than 16) is that it has effects sends to handle my two outboard processors and enough inputs to handle the stereo returns, and more analog ins than anything else in its price class (I'll be able to sell my Mackie and use the Korg as my live mixer for gigs)... and its editing menu is so much more versatile...

The only other thing I'll need will be some good monitors, and I am strongly leaning toward getting the Event Tuned Reference 8's, unless someone can tell me of another make/model for $500 a pair that would serve me better...

[Slovenec]

You seem pretty sold on the Korg and for the money it really is a great unit! Wouldn't it be great if Korg brought out a D3200 Mark 11 with 100mm faders, dynamics processing on each channel, say 16 insert fx at once, and ADAT I/O (even as an option) and an even larger display, (perhaps even a CRT out like you can buy for the Roland VS recorders!).

Saying that, this is not reality (at present!) and you won't go wrong with either the Korg or the Yamaha AW2400. Saying that, the AW2400 got a less than steller review in SOS magazine (and I rate their reviewing system very highly). They said that besides the 24 track increase and the 100mm faders, the AW2400 doesn't offer really much more than the older AW4416 and actually playbacks LESS tracks in 24 bit mode than the older model!! Whilst there are 4 dedicated fx processors, there are no actual new fx (including new amp simulations etc for guitar/bass) which even the lower AW1600 has!

I must say however, that the AW2400 looks like a mighty impressive hard disk recorder if you are used to the AW way of doing things or are used to using a Yamaha digital mixer.

If you can live with Korg's short faders and lack of channel dynamics, then the $1,000 saving will get you a very nice mic (and a nice external mic pre would be nice too- perhaps look at something by TC Electronics which contains a better mic pre than what is already in the Korg and has great sounding TC effects including pitch correction and shifting).

I really hope Korg don't give up on their hard disk recorders (from what I know they don't make the larger D32XD and D16XD anymore).

Bring on a D3200 Mark 11. Boy, mabey even I would be interested in one of those! .

[garmonbozia]

Yes, I read that review on SOS on the 2400... the writer also pointed out that the 2400 fails to include the pad sampler that the 1600 has (I used that feature a lot on my 16G)... when you look at the top panel of the expansive 2400, they certainly had room to put the pad sampler on there (I'd prefer that feature over the drum machine that is on the 3200)...

I'll see how the mic pres on the 3200 sound, from what I've heard they are decent enough... maybe someday get an outboard pre (I used to own a PreSonus)... right now I'm happy to save a thousand bucks

[Slovenec]

Yeah saving $1,000 for other gear is no bad idea! .

However, I thought perhaps one of those TC voice channels with the vocal fx.

I personally would not use neither the drum machine or the sampler and would love more insert fx (or in the case of the Korg, channel dynamics and dedicated vocal fx).

Anyway good luck with your purchase! .

[_Bosco_]

What really sold me on the Korg D3200 is the 4 band fully parametric EQ on the outputs as well as the inputs. And with being a 32 track it is also portable. I like to track some things on location and bring them into the studio project. There is much more than $400 worth of features "difference" between this and the Tascam 2488.

[GibsonJ50]

Its good to hear some discussion about stand-alone daws.........

You're getting a lot of good advice about these. However, I wouldn't eliminate the Tascam 2488mkii.....until you've looked into it. Tascam units are relatively easy to operate, and offer 24 bit recording on all of the tracks. Some units can only offer their full complement of tracks at 16 bits.......... you might want to check on that.

I've used a Tascam 788 (8 track digital stand-alone) for several years for demos, and I've gotten more than my money's worth out of it. The thing was built like a tank.

Some people had problems with the 2488 units initially, so I'd recommend that you only deal with a supplier that will stand behind the product. In fact, that
advice applies to whatever unit you end up buying.........

good luck........

[BlueRick]

This was a decision I had to make back last October. I went out and worked with every unit I could get my hands on. I tried the Tascam 2488, Yamaha and the Roland 2000 as well as the Korg D3200, which had just been released. I rather quickly came to the conclusion that not only did the Korg sound the best of the lot (rather analog like) but afforded the best on board effects and overall usability. The manual was superb to say the least, and easy to follow along. After having it now close to the year, and I've finished a half dozen projects, I must say I believe I made the right decision. It has excellent on board preamps, but I ended up getting several outboard units to use with it ( a TC-Helicon VoiceWorks and ART TPS-II). With some nice quiet mics this unit is indeed a powerhouse with few limitations. For it's current asking price IMHO you'd have to spend over $3k to beat it, and even then it wouldn't be by much.

How do you slow down a recorded track on a Korg D3200 so you can overdub a part at that reduced speed and then restore it to original tempo?