Roland VS PREAMP

When choosing an audio interface, preamps are often overlooked despite the significant role they play in determining what a recording actually sounds like. A well-spec’d audio interface with bad preamps will result in a bad recording. Why?  Because preamps are the ears of your DAW. How well a preamp performs determines the sound quality of your recording.

Check out these 5 tips for choosing an audio interface

Ever since digital multitrack recording became accessible to the “everyday” musician in the nineties, Roland has been developing ground-breaking products, starting with the DM-80, the VS-880 and the RAP-10. This deep knowledge and long-term experience of creating digital recording products is evident in Roland’s three latest audio interfaces, the STUDIO-CAPTURE, OCTA-CAPTURE and QUAD-CAPTURE. All three interfaces feature VS PREAMP technology to ensure your music has the best sonic clarity possible.

Roland STUDIO-CAPTURE featuring VS PREAMPs

Preamps are one of the most important components in an audio interface. They provide the ability to connect dynamic and condenser microphones and can supply dedicated phantom power to mics that require it. Basically, a microphone’s signal level is very limited and needs to be amplified to achieve suitable recording levels.

In addition, the preamp has to minimize noise which can be introduced during the amplification process. Preamp design that provides proper gain and avoids noise requires long-term and precise knowledge of circuit design. Quality preamps are essential for high quality recordings.

What are VS PREAMPs?

Roland’s VS PREAMPs are widely acclaimed for their pristine and transparent sound. Developed from the same class A preamp circuitry found in our V-Mixer series of professional mixing consoles, these premium-quality mic preamps deliver an accurate, neutral sound across the entire frequency spectrum, with no bias toward any particular frequency band.

VS PREAMPs also deliver lots of headroom. Increasing the headroom in mic preamps typically results in problems with the signal-to-noise ratio; however, with our latest power supply circuitry, we’re able to minimize noise levels while providing a wider dynamic range. With huge headroom and top-level sound quality, you can easily record sources with a wide dynamic range, such as acoustic drums and percussion instruments, with professional results.

Quality preamps are absolutely vital to quality recordings and an essential part of any audio interface. Roland’s VS PREAMPs provide low noise with high-quality, class A circuitry and huge headroom, bringing pro-quality recording with stunning clarity to your studio.

Roland Capture Series with VS PREAMPs

Related links and articles:

• Recording with AUTO-SENS Technology
• 5 Tips for Choosing an Audio Interface
• See What’s New In SONAR X2 Producer

Have you ever been frustrated setting the input levels for a recording session? Getting the levels “just right” can be time consuming and gets in the way of the creative process. To solve this problem we developed AUTO-SENS technology for our audio interfaces. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or new to recording, this technology will save you time, headaches and even stream line that all-so-coveted creative process. Roland’s STUDIO-CAPTURE, OCTA-CAPTURE and QUAD-CAPTURE all feature AUTO-SENS technology which automatically sets the recording levels for optimal recording into your DAW.

5 Tips For Choosing an Audio Interface

Before AUTO-SENS you had to manually set the level of each individual input prior to recording. This was both tedious and time-consuming. Now, you simply activate AUTO-SENS and play the connected instruments. AUTO-SENS will automatically set the optimum input levels for each source.

AUTO-SENS on QUAD-CAPTURE

Here’s how AUTO-SENS works…

Initially the level of each input is not adjusted to match the input signal.

• Press the AUTO-SENS button on the front panel or in the software Control Panel, and then select the input channels you want to set.
• When you play the instruments or sing into the mics, the input levels are set automatically. This unique and innovative function is a real-world time saver and makes getting ready for a session quick and easy.
• The latest model STUDIO-CAPTURE has a graphical AUTO-SENS window that lets you adjust 16 inputs simultaneously.

So there you have it; one push of a button eliminates the tedious effort of setting input levels, which allows you to get recording right away with any DAW. Roland strives to develop gear that will work hard for you so that you can worry about more important things like finding your groove. What do you think about this technology? Is it something you’d find useful?

Related links and articles:

• See What’s New in SONAR X2 Producer
• New Product: STUDIO-CAPTURE Audio Interface
• Windows 8 Drivers for OCTA-CAPTURE
• Roland Synth Chronicle: 1973 Through 2013

If you’ve outgrown your audio interface and want to replace it with something more flexible, you’ll need to look beyond the number of inputs and outputs offered. To help you choose the best audio interface for your needs, we’ve put together a list of five things to consider.

1: You’ll need more than eight inputs
How many inputs do you need? This isn’t as simple as counting your audio sources and making sure you have enough inputs:

• Many musicians consider an eight-input interface to be sufficient. But this is actually the minimum number of channels needed for recording a live rock band: four mics for your drum kit plus guitar, bass, vocals and a mono keyboard.
• If you want to record with maximum clarity and control, a drum kit could easily require eight inputs. So it’s much better to have the extra inputs if you can afford them, so you can expand when you need to (and that point always comes sooner rather than later).
• Remember that although some recording audio interfaces advertise a lot of inputs, they often only include two preamps. If you want to record with microphones you’ll need as many preamps as you have microphone sources – leading to additional cost, cables and connection headaches.
• Check the phantom power situation. Many interfaces have a ‘global’ phantom power switch that either applies to all channels at once or applies to groups of four. Ideally, individual phantom-power for each channel gives you more flexibility, so you can use different mixes of condenser mics, ribbon mics, etc. without accidentally torching a ribbon microphone with phantom power.

Roland STUDIO-CAPTURE

2: Multiple outputs: can you send sound to different parts of the room?

The ability to hear your mix on different speakers (or monitors) is one of the most common reasons for having multiple outputs, but there are many other uses too:

• If you’re recording a band, you’ll need to route a click track to a pair of headphones, while playing the music out of your main monitors.
• Most interfaces with two outputs also feature a headphone output, but the headphones will usually receive the same signal that goes to your speakers. If you send the click track to headphones only, you’ll need an interface that can route independent channels to the headphones.
• For live work, you may want to route the music to a number of different PA speakers, some angled towards the crowd and others used for on-stage monitors so the band can hear their playing.
• To sum up, if you use more than two speakers, you’ll need an interface with more outputs.

Related product: OCTA-CAPTURE Hi Speed USB Sudio Interface

3: Portable audio interfaces are far more practical

If you’re recording or live mixing a band, you’ll need an audio interface that is easy to carry and easy to use once the session begins.

Many multi-input interfaces are designed to fit into a 1U rack – not particularly easy to carry to a gig or put down on a table once you get there. Audio interfaces which are more compact, such as Roland’s STUDIO-CAPTURE, have a smaller footprint so can be carried around easily and are far quicker to set up.

You should also choose an audio interface with level meters, so you can see the level of incoming audio signals and prevent clipping.

4: Flexible monitoring gives your band members their own monitor mix
Separate monitor mixes are essential for studio and live recording. Imagine having different cue mixes for different musicians – more vocals for the vocalist, more bass for the bass player or different monitoring for wedges or in-ear monitors.

Some audio interfaces can even send the sound coming from your DAW or instruments to as many as four separate mixes, which can in turn be sent on to any pair of outputs. This handy feature essentially means you have four separate mixers built into your audio interface.

Related product: DUO-CAPTURE EX USB Audio Interface

5: Build quality matters – the cheaper option can be more expensive
If you plan on taking your interface on the road, it’ll inevitably get knocked around.

Make sure you look for an interface that is well built – cheap plastic casing smashes easily when dropped.

Likewise, poor quality knobs and switches are unlikely to cope with life on the road, so it’s worth paying a little extra for a quality audio interface that is built to last.

Finally, remember that an audio interface will be constantly hooked up to all manner of different input sources. The housings supporting the various inputs and outputs need to be robust and sturdy, and they also need to facilitate high-quality, low-noise signal transfer, ensuring that the audio is of premium quality – which is what it’s all about.

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• See What’s New In SONAR X2 Producer
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