Roland VS-2000 CD User Reviews at zZounds

"Review the machine please......not your abilities" submitted August 11, 2006

By a customer from vista-express.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

Musical Background: Studio owner for over 25 years

Music Style: anything but "Rap or Hip Hop"

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Sound: My Daddy always said, "It's a poor mechanic that blames his tools". I have no problems with the VS2000CD. The manual is big (441 pages) with an addendum that deals with the VGA monitor and mouse board. Just read them as you go along when you need them. I've been recording since the old Reel to Reel days. It's still the same, just easier with more tracks. Get the PDF copy of the manual and put it on your computer and then pull it up on the monitor while you're learning to use the VS2000. It's faster than fliping pages and you can cut copy and paste just the instructions that you need to refer back to quickly and put them in a file folder for easier access. Don't know who the guy was that gave the first bad review about it being plastic junk, but don't think he gave it a fair shot. Babies don't get up and walk immediately. It takes at least 9 months. Take some time learning this machine and it will serve you well. I do music for a living and this machine is doing the job for me. It's a joy to record with. As for the sound it produces, read my first sentence. Recording is an art that has to be learned. Feature: Get the VGA monitor and mouse board, and then get a PS2 Y plug so you can use a computer keyboard too. It's well worth it. The machine comes with a good set of effects, etc. Buy more plug ins as you go. Ease of Use: Works like a champ for me. Quality: Wish the channel plugs were on the back instead of the top, but I've lived with worse problems. Value: Would be nice if they would have just included the VGA monitor board Manufacturer Support: Called them twice before I bought it, just to check. Got through and was talking to a real person within 3 minutes. Overall: Had my last stand alone multitrack (Fostex) for 10 years. If this one lasts, I'll probably keep it that long too.

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"Roland Gets it Right !!! Better features than the 2400/2480 dinosaurs." submitted January 2, 2005

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Features

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: 15 years

Music Style: Rock

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

Sound: Pristine and really excellent through good monitors. I am amazed that this inexpensive thing sounds soooo good. Feature: Great features, but should have a bass line loop available, flying faders would be nice too. Quality: Seems okay. Hate the plastic but that's life. It is a modern looking machine. All the knobs, faders, and inputs work fine. The unit seems delicate though; if it is moved at any time from a flat surface you can hear the drive. Value: These units are being "unloaded" all over the internet music stores for ridiculously low prices. Makes me wonder what is going on. Maybe Roland is discontinuing the model. Don't know...something's up. But mine works GREAT !!!! Manufacturer Support: Roland has a bad reputation for support and I have only called them once to find out where my free monitor was, and it was sad run around and very unfriendly people. The Wow Factor: Roland has nailed it when it comes to the features that users require, particularly the USB2, drums, and vocals; these things are lagging in the higher end models 2400 and 2480 (both are already becoming anitquated in terms of required features). Overall: As long as the unit "holds up" and Roland keeps the OS and provides fixes for things needing updates, then I should have this a long long while.

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"If you want to record your band but don't have millions of pounds to build a studio give this product some serious consideration" submitted December 28, 2011

By a customer from btinternet.com

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Features

Ease of Use

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Value

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Musical Background: Recording music for 12 years.

Music Style: Indie/Rock

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Sound: For me there are no issues with the sound, I have always managed to achieve excellent results. I would however recommend purchasing external preamps but then I would recommend this with any multitrack recording device. The compressors / expanders are decent and pretty flexible. It can provide both 16 bit or 24 bit recording modes however the 18 track become a 12 track when 24 bit is selected. For each track you get 16 sub tracks so this allows you to store loads of audio on loads of channels and when it comes to the mix you can bounce them all down to new channels for mastering. Feature: The sequencer is pretty conclusive and allows you to edit in the ways you need to. The channel edit screens & input channel edit screens offer basically all the options you'd need, you have 4 band EQ, choice of compression/expansion, phase reverse, Panpot, phantom power, 2 FX channels (which I believe can be upgraded to 6), it's pretty much all there. Ease of Use: Once you learn the basics it is quick and straight forward. The product works really well with outboard preamps and compressors. Quality: I have looked after my product to the best of my ability, I have had the product about 7 years and I purchased it as an ex-display model from my local music store. I have not used it every single day, but it has had some serious usage in this time. The only single issue I had came after a couple of years when a very unexpected thunderstorm caused a power surge which stopped the machine from working and it had to be sent away for repair. Value: I don't know how much you can pick one of these up for nowadays but I am guessing it must be less than the £1000 I paid for it. Even at £1000 I consider this excellent value in the sense that this machine gives you the opportunity to create commercial standard sounding recordings and the 8 mic/line inputs allow you to record drums too which is what I needed. I am guessing an 8 channel audio interface alone would be a similar price and then you'd need a sequencer and a bunch of other stuff, this does it all. Manufacturer Support: It's not great, I believe the only place these products can be fixed is actually in Wales, mine was gone for about 7 weeks before I got it back. I can't remember how long it took me to get through on the phone but the guy I spoke to sounded a bit depressed to be honest! Might just be an isolated incident though because I have not had to contact them a 2nd time. The Wow Factor: It's a great product to record on, I'd always be interested in products like these. Overall: Unless I come in to some money allowing me to build my system around Digidesign and Protools then I plan to keep this as long as possible. It has served me very well. ****If you do buy this product in my opinion it is vital you get the VGA expansion card with it so that you can use a mouse, keyboard and monitor.*** I could not imagine editing everything on that little screen, it would be dreadful. I have not upgraded the product with the VS8F3 card but I have heard you can install 3rd party plug ins on this. Overall, it's a really good piece of equipment and if you know how to record music you will be very pleased with the results you can achieve. If you are not prepared to take the time to learn about sound recording then this may not be suitable but if you were like me, willing to learn and wanting to achieve good recordings then give this product a go.

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"Moneys worth." submitted August 25, 2009

By a customer from yahoo.ca

Overall

Musical Background: Everything.

Music Style: Ambient/Symphonic/New Age

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Sound: Sounds is incredible, plenty of effects but nothing very good in the way of vocal compressors, but they are there if you have the patience to tinker with the patches. Low-end is a bit tricky, as long as you record bass guitar or any bass with a mic it sounds great. Feature: Excellent mastering tools and great for simple minded people that would rather record something that sounds great instead of recording mediocre stuff and fixing it up later. Editing features are nice, not complicated at all. Ease of Use: Very easy. Everything is basic and simple. Quality: So far so good. Value: I paid a bit more than I should have, $2000 in 2004, saw them a year later for half of that. Yikes. Manufacturer Support: Had to call twice now and had someone call be cack each time within a week. Once left a long detailed message explaining how to fix the problem involving bit rates. Never got my "free" monitor and I had to pay extra for the 2.0. The Wow Factor: Ideal for simple minded recording facilities. Great for soundtrack work and basic rock stuff. Lots of toys in the vocal layering areas, stick to recording with mics and taking your time in the recording process. In the age of Cubase and Protools, I will still use my VS2000 anyday over that stuff. Overall: Been using it since 2004 and I haven't found anything that will make me stop.

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"Great unit, now if I can just figure out how to use it." submitted January 13, 2005

By a customer from wolfgangs.org

Overall

Sound

Features

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Active Musician since 1957

Music Style: Gospel, folk, country

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VERIFIED BUYER

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

Sound: So far, I have no complaints and, I am sure my mixes will get better with time and understanding. Feature: No accessories and those avalable, significantly, raised the end cost of the unit. Quality: Outside of the prevelence of plastic in most electronics today, the unit seems solid enough. I would not carry this on the road but neither did I carry my 840 EX or 880. I don't look upon these as "road intruments". I found nothing extremely disappointing in quality of construction. Value: Compared to other equipment offering similar features, I found the 2000 CD to be reasonably priced. I expect, like other electronic equipment, better units will be produced and prices will come down but that is the nature of the beast in this field. Manufacturer Support: I am a little shocked at the negatives about Roland support. Although their web site is not very helpful, I have called them on several occasions over the years and "always" received prompt, personal attention and, with one exception, very knowledgeable tech support. They have never failed to respond quickly to any question and, in particular, personally followed up on my free monitor issue to be sure I received it. The Wow Factor: Having purchased other Roland studios, I find that I am, with them, like I am with the computers I build. I always want the best, biggest, and fastest I can afford. I was fascinated with all the bells and whistles on this machine even though I fully realize that, at 65 years of age and something short of hi-tech, I will never learn to use all the features to do all that it will do. Overall: How long? See above (till the next, affordable better unit comes out). It is not likely I will wear it out. I didn't consider any others because of past experience with Roland. I would replace it if lost. After the ease of the easy routing systems in the VS-840 and 880, I wish I had known how much more complicated this unit would be to operate and that the manual leans so much toward the technical descriptions of functions without the "easy, walk through" manuals included with their less expensive units. It is almost overwhelming to a novice old man. Even the simplest processes seem more complicated on this unit but, with advice from Roland and my sound guy, I will prevail.

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"Religious Conversion! from Korg to Roland. (Roland VS 2000 CD)" submitted March 16, 2004

By a customer from aol.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Music Style: rock, folk, pop, country, jazz, etc.

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Sound: Excellent,even at 16 bits. I recorded my Tyros synthesizer, (128 voices) and could hear no difference between the recorded sound and the sound of the instrument through reference speakers. Feature: Well, on top of eveything else most of the Hard Disk Recorders have at this level, they've included PCM drums and vocal harmony capability, not to mention the vs 2000 cd's ability to use software plug-ins. Quality: All seem outstanding. Value: With PCM drums and vocal harmony capability, not to mention the vs 2000 cd's ability to use software plug-ins, the video capability, the 8 phantom-powered XLR inputs, I'd say you're getting excellent value! Manufacturer Support: I have two Roland guitar synths, a hex pickup, and an amplifier (VGA-7), and have had zero problems with any Roland product so far. (Four years.) The Wow Factor: I heard about it, sold my Korg D1600/40/cd immediately, and bought it right away. Overall: It looks as if I'll love it for a long time to come. I would have liked an easier-to-digest manual, but I'm not as tch-savvy as I'd like to be. I think I have a long learning curve to get through, but maybe it's because the VS 2000 CD has so many features.

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"Roland is in the Dark ages....no online support" submitted November 14, 2004

By a customer from yahoo.com

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: drummer for 20 years. Local bands

Music Style: all

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Sound: I wouldn't know what this product can do because I can make it function properly. I bought this item on the advice of my music store. When I got it home, I learned that an English manual is 50 dollars. (I live in Japan) whereas most companies have manuals free online. Roland doesn't even have an email address. I am very frustrated and feel I wasted 2000 bucks. Should have bought a better brand. I imagine that if one knows what they are doing with this machine, it might sound good. But I have no idea. Feature: There are 3 components sold seperately that should have been included. Effects and mouse monitor support Quality: Unknown Value: I think that other products that are cheaper and easier to use are more desireable. Manufacturer Support: There is no way to contact Roland directly. Just keep getting sent to dealers.

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"As soon as the Roland VS2000CD hit the stores, I traded in (happily), my Korg D1600. No comparison!" submitted November 28, 2004

By a customer from aol.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Hobbyist, former pro.

Music Style: Rock, pop, folk, jazz, country-rock, New Age

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Sound: Excellent sound quality, no compression. I recorded a multitracked song digitally from a Yamaha Tyros. I couldn't hear any difference, playing them side-by-side. Perfect, and that was at the lower (CD) level. Feature: Everything the others do, plus vocal harmony, rhythm generator, and the options for third party plug-ins and VGA monitor and mouse. (Unfortunately, you must buy them separately. Value: I wish it were a bit cheaper, or the extras I mentioned above were free. The Wow Factor: I traded in my Korg D1600 as soon as the vs2000cd came out! Overall: I expect to keep it for a long time, because, with the third-party software plug-ins, it'll never get outdated. It grows with you. And there are so many features...

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"Run Away....from this Product." submitted January 10, 2005

By a customer from hotmail.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

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Sound: The sound is compressed beyond belief and evrything sounds like a bad "pop star" song. Very cheesy and not professional at all. Feature: The problem is that it is so loaded with features and bells and whistles; that the they forgot to make a recorder that produces "decent" product. Better off buying seprate plugins and a multitrack that actually records. Quality: Its all plastic....what can be said. Manufacturer Support: Yup. Called them. Still waiting for a return call. Just check the Roland User group site. Read a couple of posts and you'll get the idea. The Wow Factor: Not in the least. This unit is being returned. Overall: This looks like a Roland rip-off toy that will be discontinued and go the way of Roland CDX1 Lab, discontinued after 2 years..

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Roland VS2000CD 18-Track Digital Studio

User Ratings

"Review the machine please......not your abilities" submitted August 11, 2006

"Roland Gets it Right !!! Better features than the 2400/2480 dinosaurs." submitted January 2, 2005

"If you want to record your band but don't have millions of pounds to build a studio give this product some serious consideration" submitted December 28, 2011

"Moneys worth." submitted August 25, 2009

"Great unit, now if I can just figure out how to use it." submitted January 13, 2005

"Religious Conversion! from Korg to Roland. (Roland VS 2000 CD)" submitted March 16, 2004

"Roland is in the Dark ages....no online support" submitted November 14, 2004

"As soon as the Roland VS2000CD hit the stores, I traded in (happily), my Korg D1600. No comparison!" submitted November 28, 2004

"Run Away....from this Product." submitted January 10, 2005