Well of course it’s all about the Fostex VF-16 and VF-160 Digital Multi-trackers and those of us who have purchased them and are making good use of one in our respective home and project studios.
This web site is also for those people that are interested in buying this unit but would like to know more about it before laying down the bucks.
I hope this site is found to be an excellent resource for all VF-16’rs and VF-160’rs.
Happy Recording!
The Fostex VF-16 features no less than 24 tracks with simultaneous 8-track recording, (16 when using ADAT interface) to an internal (user upgradable) E-IDE hard disc. And having those extra ‘ghost’ tracks gives you real flexibility. For example, you’ve recorded a great guitar solo, but want to try another to see if you can improve the performance – no problem, just use another track for the new version. With this type of power you can record different versions of vocals, different drum grooves, different guitar parts, then choose which of the 16 tracks you wish to reproduce and mix. Once you’ve experienced this kind of flexibility it becomes a necessity. Two assignable recording modes are avaialble:
Direct Mode: If you want to record 8 inputs simultaneously to 8 recording tracks this mode routes the inputs directly to the digital recorder via trim pot, bypassing the mixer.
Rec. Buss Mode: Alternatively you can record multiple inputs to 2 recording tracks using the digital mixer to set levels, EQ, effects, etc. But all of this flexibility counts for nothing if it’s let down by the quality of the audio. No chance. This high specification machine records true, CD-quality uncompressed digital audio. Naturally, as the VF-16 uses a digital non-linear recording system, full Copy, Paste, Move & Erase editing with Undo & Redo is achievable. Ease of editing is aided by the ability to display scrubbed audio graphically, making ‘on-the-fly,’ intricate edit points simple and intuitive to designate. Plus, with clipboard data available to be pasted to the same, another, or multiple tracks and automatically repeated up to 99 times, you can become a re-mix wizard in a matter of minutes.
And if you thought that was cool, wait ’till you hear that the VF-16 can export and import audio (all tracks, one track or any part of a track) as standard .WAV files via SCSI meaning that editing, processing, and sound file conversion can be accomplished using popular PC music software.
VF-16 Digital Mixer Features
6mm stereo phone jack
Load Impedance: >16 ohms
Maximum Output: 20mW (at 50 ohms)
Digital In/Out: 2 x Optical
Format: ADAT optical / IEC60958 (S/P DIF)
MIDI: In/Out/Thru 2 x DIN 5 pin / MIDI standard
Punch: In/Out 1x
VF-16 Digital Mixer Specifications
Digital Mixer Section
Input: (A – H) 8x 6mm phone jack (unbalanced)
Input Impedance: >50k ohms
Rated Input Level: -50dBV – +2dBV
Input: (G/H) 2x XLR-3-31 type (balanced: 2-Hot) +48V phantom power
Input Impedance: >1k ohms
Rated Input Level: -50dBV – +2dBV
Insert: 6mm TRS phone jack
Load Impedance: >10k ohms
Rated Output Level: -10dBV
AUX: send (1/2) 6mm TRS phone jack
Load Impedance: >10k ohms
Rated Output Level: -10dBV
Stereo Out: 2 x RCA pin jack
Load Impedance: >10k ohms
Rated Output Level: -10dBV
Monitor Out: 2x 6mm phone jack (unbalanced)
Load Impedance: >10k ohms
Rated Output Level: -10dBV
Headphone Out: 1x 6mm stereo phone jack
Load Impedance: >16 ohms
Maximum Output: 20mW (at 50 ohms)
Digital In/Out: 2 x Optical
Format: ADAT optical / IEC60958 (S/P DIF)
MIDI: In/Out/Thru 2 x DIN 5 pin / MIDI standard
Punch: In/Out 1x 6mm phone jack (Model 8051)
SCSI: 1x D-SUB 50-pin (half pitch type)
Protocol: SCSI-2, unbalanced transfer method
Transfer: type Asynchronous
Equalizer Peak, Shelving, LPF: (HI) 500Hz – 20kHz variable ±18dB
Peak: (MID) 500Hz – 20kHz variable ±18dB
Shelving: (LOW) 100Hz (effective freq.) ±18dB
Frequency Response: 20Hz – 20kHz
Digital Recording Section
Recording Media: Internal E-IDE 3.5-inch hard disk (Includes 10 gig drive)
Recording format: FDMS-3 (version 1)(Fostex Disk Management System)
Save/Load format: SCSI, FDIO-1
Sampling Frequency: 44.1kHz
Quantization: 16bit linear (non compressed)
Recording time: Dependent of disk size eg: approx. 1,880 track minutes @ 16bit/44.1kHz on a 10 GB disk
Number of tracks: 16 + 8 additional tracks
Pitch control: ±6% (0.01% step)
Crossfade: 10ms
Dynamic Range: 92dB
T.H.D.: 0.01% (typical)
Crosstalk: > 60dB @ 1kHz
A/D converter: (20bit) Delta-Sigma 64x over sampling
D/A converter: (24bit) Delta-Sigma 128x over sampling
Physical
Dimensions: Height 98mm x Width 380mm x Depth 335mm
Weight: approx. 4.0kg
Power: 120V / 230V
Consumption: 15W