Two Effects Cards at Once

Of concern to the VS-880 user was that machine's inability to use more than one VS-8F-1 effects card. That meant you could only use two stereo effects at once. Unlike its little brother, the VS-1680 can hold two effects cards at once. It uses an upgraded effects card called the VS8F-2, which was specifically designed for the VS-1680/1880/2480 series.

On the new card, you will find all the same effects that you loved on the VS-880 effects card. With two VS8F-2 cards installed, a total of four high-quality stereo effects (or eight mono effects) are available for use during recording, bouncing, and mixing.

In January 2004, Roland introduced a brand-new effects card (appropriately named the VS8F-3) at the Winter NAMM show. The new card is available for the VS-1680 and higher models. With the release of the VS8F-3 effects card, a VS owner could add powerful third-party plug-in effects to his VS recorder. Roland includes five free plug-ins with the purchase of the new card. These are:

• Enhanced Mastering Tool Kit

• Stereo Reverb

• Tempo Mapping Effect (Delay)

• Vocal Channel Strip

• Mic Preamp Modeling

The list of third-party effects include powerful plug-ins such as Antares Auto-Tune, Massenburg DesignWorks Hi-Resolution Parametric EQ, Universal Audio VS-1176LN, McDSP Chrome Tone Amp, Universal Audio VS-LA2A, and IK Multimedia T-RackS VS. Each third-party plug-in is specifically designed for use with the VS recorder and sold separately.