Cakewalk V Studio 20 USB Audio Interface User Reviews at zZounds

"Doesn't Get Much Better Than This" submitted December 13, 2010

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Hobbyist

Music Style: Rock

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Sound: Excellent. The built-in VS preamp actually provides a healthy dose of clean gain for any mic you plug in. The built-in effects are typical Roland digital and work in most situations. Feature: For being an audio interface, effects unit, preamp, AND control surface, the VS-20 does it all. For the price there are no competing products which makes this unit a gem. My only wishes would have been for Cakewalk to make either the L or R Line input a mono input as well. Also, the ability to mix ANY two inputs in simultaneous recording instead of just the guitar input and a mic input. Ease of Use: For the included Guitar Tracks software and the VS-20 effects editor, the integration is 100% seemless. Load the drivers, plug in the hardware, and launch the software. Those were the ONLY required steps in the setup. After that it worked EXACTLY as advertised. My only reason for not marking 10 here is that using the control surface aspect of the unit under other software is a little tricky to setup. But that might just be my level of knowledge getting in the way. Quality: Solid metal chasis. Built like a light-weight version of a Boss pedal. I'd expect this thing to last a long time. The knobs and sliders feel solid and the buttons even more so. Value: For $300 you could probably buy better control surfaces, mic preamps, audio interfaces, and computer effects units. But you'd be hard-pressed to find anything that performs all of those options at that price. The VS-20 is truly unique. Manufacturer Support: Haven't had to use it. The Wow Factor: Sleek, black interface that you can take with you if needed? Pretty much as sexy as audio equipment can get. Overall: It's the center-piece of my home studio. I will be using it until I can save up for the VS-700 in a few months. Even still, the VS-20 will be my first choice in portable interfaces.

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"Almost great!" submitted February 11, 2011

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Hobbyist

Music Style: Rock, Electronic

Back to Product Information

VERIFIED BUYER

zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

Sound: This unit sacrafices A LOT to include everything it offers. First up, you only get RCA main outs. So, no balanced signal to your monitors. Next, just like MOST of Boss/Roland/Edirol's interfaces you only get ONE mic preamp and one instrument input. There is also a stereo line input but the plugs don't have a mono-only single connection. If you plug an instrument into L or R line-in you only get the signal on that channel. This can be fixed from within Guitar Tracks by making your track mono but the process seems like a hassle. Next, there is NO WAY to route your output. The output signal is sent evenly to both the RCA outputs AND the headphone output. This means that if you track in the same room that you record, you'll need to unplug the monitors if you want to hear your track in the headphones without getting feedback from mic/monitor proximity. However, the quality of the recorded sound at 16-bit, 44.1KHz is good an despite some white hiss in the upper gain regions, it's pretty clean/transparent. The built-in stereo condenser mics sound amazing but pick up all handling noises from operating the unit's buttons. Feature: It is your audio interface, mixer, DAW control, and FX unit in one. It doesn't really excel at any one area but does an honest job performing for what you'd expect a piece of hardware in this price range to do. Ease of Use: The integration with the included version of Guitar Tracks is flawless. The knobs control software knobs in realtime and installation is a breeze. The recording process really can't get any easier than this. Quality: It's built from metal and the knobs/sliders are firm. Value: You won't find another product that does all the things the VS-20 can do for $300. The upcoming (2011) Zoom R8 may prove a worthy adversary but that's TBD. Manufacturer Support: Haven't needed it but the Cakewalk forums have lots of good info. The Wow Factor: Portable all-in-one unit. Overall: Some issues built into the hardware prevent it from being a '10' for the price. I would have liked to see two combo XLR and 1/4" inputs vs. one plus a dedicated guitar input. It would have added a LOT of flexibility. Also, the capability to simultaneously record ANY two inputs instead of just guitar+mic 1.

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Cakewalk V-Studio 20 USB Audio Interface

User Ratings

"Doesn't Get Much Better Than This" submitted December 13, 2010

"Almost great!" submitted February 11, 2011