User Reviews at zZounds

"VF160 - What COULD Have Been, What SHOULD Have Been..." submitted October 5, 2003

By Stephen

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Sound: Excellent quality uncompressed sound. Relatively poor EQ. 2 Mic pre-amps are a bit noisy, not the best. Better to have your own quality board to get quality original tracks into this recorder. Smooth, quiet faders slide nicely, do not feel cheap. Feature: Misleading advertising as far as "records 16 tracks at once!" - you need at least one additional expensive piece of equipment to do that (so much for the under $1,000 price tag, now!). No direct outputs on individual tracks. Can not record with EQ on all tracks. Can not record with compression on all tracks. Comes with its' own cd burner (and today, they all should!), a flimsy partial tray that is supported so poorly, the manual has a reminder that you must hold the underside while you snap a cd into the tray. Also has the requisite teeny-tiny LCD screen that is extremely hard to read. No "pan" knobs, panning (left and right placement) is done internally, so no Jimi Hendrix guitars flying from left to right during mixdown. Quality: Seems to be made pretty well, althought the knobs along the top seem like they could break off easily (especially with all of the input busses right there - a lot happens at that top edge!). I do take the unit out in the world to record, but I am extremely careful with it - would not consider it to be "road-worthy". Could use a bigger screen, and at a better angle for viewing. Value: This is definitely the best unit for the price, tho I would certainly be willing to pay more to cover my "nitpicks" listed above. Manufacturer Support: I have not needed any support from Fostex. The unit has worked well, and has had no problems so far. The Wow Factor: Very practical piece of equipment. 16 tracks is always better than 8. 24 tracks will always be "sexier" than 16, by the way (and so on, and so on). Overall: I like the Fostex brand (the VF160 is my 3rd piece of Fostex equipment). I'd like to see the same type of unit, but with more features (true 16-trk recording, record EQ /compression /limiting /gating on every track, a bigger screen, better internal effects, etc). Maybe the capability to chain units together like ADAT (I'd certainly spend another grand to have 32 tracks of digital multitrack!). Probably be looking for my next recorder in a year or so.

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"It's a great start!"

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Value

Music Style: Rock/blues/r&b/boogie/perimeter country

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Sound: All in all, you get quality digital reproduction with this machine. The fact that you only have 3 band, sweep eq, limits your ability to shape the tracks post recording. In other words, work to get the sound you want as close as you can get it, on recording before mixing. Feature: I think the effects processors, (2), are good. Plenty of selection and editing capabilities. After 6 months of use, I would say that faders & pots seem to be of good quality. Quality: Everything functions well so far. I haven't subjected it to "the road" yet. We'll see........ Value: For someone looling to get into 16 track digital recording, who has no concerns about amp modeling and drum tracks, you can't beat it. With the price in the $900.00 range with some of the financing options available, it's a great value. Manufacturer Support: n/a The Wow Factor: whatever........... Overall: I will use it as long as it suits my needs. I do plan to use it in a live setting in the near future as a combination mixer/recorder. We'll see how it holds up.

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"time to go digital ,you will not believe your ears and how much money you save!!!!!" submitted January 29, 2004

By a customer from yahoo.com

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Music Style: r+b/soul,funk

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Sound: no compression,16 bit recording. for the price,i cant complain. sounds pretty damn good! Feature: liked all of the features, for the price, who can complain!! Quality: i have owned my vf160 for a year now. so far no problems Value: excellent value for the money Manufacturer Support: never had to deal with them?

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"Fostex VF160 Don't just look at it buy it already!!!!!" submitted October 4, 2003

By a customer from wightman.ca

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Music Style: Anything that sounds good.

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Sound: All I can say is . To the company Fostex bravo and thank you for the wonderfull VF160.I have a small recording studio in Ontario, Canada.Since I first plugged the unit in I knew I had beutiful and well built peice of equipment.After the fist tracks where laid down I was amazed with the sound quality,the eas of use and the fact that you can record up to 16 tracks at once a must option that I was looking for in my search for a new machine. If any one is looking for a muilt track unit there is alot on the market but in my opinion for the money this machine has great sound no kidding it made me want to jump up and down.As for tips .Get in you car or walk, go to your locl Fostex dealer,by a VF160,take it home,unpack it,plug it in,get your guitar or what ever and just record you'll love it . Feature: The VF160 What you see is what you get very conveinient.A very good mix of components and features in which I am completly satisfied. Manufacturer Support: I have had Fostex machines in the past and have had no problems with their products what so ever.Therfore I have not had to deal with them. But If their reputation compares to the quality off the products that they offer I'm sure that they will pull their weight with the greatest of eas. The Wow Factor: Very sexy, nice appeal,very proffesional.It is a pleasure to own one. Overall: Fantastic job goes to all the people at Fostex. Thank you for such a wonderful product.

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"16 Track recorder, built like a tank." submitted November 18, 2003

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VERIFIED BUYER

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

Sound: Pristine audio quality. Faithful to what you put in. Feature: This is a very capable machine. A full 16 tracks, no stereo pairs. Options to use external processing, but has most everythig you'd need onboard. Quality: Solid and VERY stable operating system. These machines rarely if ever crash, rarely if ever need reformatting -- very smart software design leading to rock-solid reliability. Value: The best value out there. Manufacturer Support: Matt at Fostex has been great in answering questions -- but I haven't had any problems requiring service.

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"Big bang for the buck." submitted May 10, 2003

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Sound

Music Style: gospel

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Feature: The most useful parts for me are the pair faders, and the interal mixdown mode, it is a very simple piece to operate. Quality: I haven't used it on the road yet. I will see soon though. Value: Great price for what it offers. Manufacturer Support: It sucks trying to contact someone from Fostex. I always end up talking with some guy with an undesirable accent and I have a hard time understnding him. Overall: maybe about a year or so it depends on what I am doing at the time. Although it is a convenient product to have, I may look for something else soon.

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"VF160 is a pleaser!"

Overall

Sound

Features

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

Music Style: Jazz/folk/fusion

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Sound: Superb quality - as good as any CD you'll listen to. Feature: Low end EQ is limited - otherwise, the features are considerably more than any home recording user could want. An external compressor and/or reverb and/or EQ are normal extras for any recording unit, so naturally these will help you get even better control over your production - but there are integral versions of each if you don't have outboard units instead. Quality: No problems whatsoever. Value: I thought it was a great eal at $1200 - now it's a lot less! Manufacturer Support: Got emailed patch upgrades for software. Very friendly folks. Overall: Nothing's a 10 - but this is close!

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Fostex VF160 Digital Hard Disk Multi-Track System

User Ratings

"VF160 - What COULD Have Been, What SHOULD Have Been..." submitted October 5, 2003

"It's a great start!"

"time to go digital ,you will not believe your ears and how much money you save!!!!!" submitted January 29, 2004

"Fostex VF160 Don't just look at it buy it already!!!!!" submitted October 4, 2003

"16 Track recorder, built like a tank." submitted November 18, 2003

"Big bang for the buck." submitted May 10, 2003

"VF160 is a pleaser!"