Roland M-480

[ferretwrangler]

Ive heard good things about the Roland desks, a collegue swears on his M400.

 

We have recently disposed of our L (hiss) 9's due to horrific noise floor issues. I understand that external input amps can help but we dont want to go that way.

 

So, working on a budget I am seriously considering the M-480 - Ive got a demo lined up and before that happens I wondered if anyone could give me some comments from real world use?

 

We do a lot of corporate and a bit of old fashioned Rock and Roll - hence need a jack of all trades console.

 

I also assume the REAC multicores are a MUST HAVE?

[Stuart91]

I also assume the REAC multicores are a MUST HAVE?

 

You can run the desk without the multis but only using the desk inputs - maybe fine for a small acoustic gig if you are sidestage, but there is certainly little point in buying the console without buying some stage boxes too.

 

We have four of the older Roland VM systems in our hire stock, and love having a digital multicore. It saves us loads of time at gigs. Even if you currently use multipins and keep the console tails in a doghouse, by moving onto digital you are still saving lots of cable weight, whilst eliminating many ground loop issues. Plus there are plenty venues out there with CAT5 cabling installed already, so you can sometimes eliminate the multi run entirely.

[Cougar]

You'll get a variety of opinions on this desk, it seems to be a love it or hate it desk. Key points though

 

The M480 is a lot better than the M400 Roland have worked very hard on the processing between the two. It looks a little gimmicky (Fisher Price my first mixing desk comes to mind) but if you look past the pretty colours its a very solid well laid out desk. It is very quick to get around and to learn compared to most other desks in this price bracket (as always personal preference does vary this opinion slightly)

 

My personal opinion is its a great little desk and I love using it.

[Phill.Beynon]

Yeah - great desk. I don't think it can be beaten at this price point. It sounds great and works incredibly well as a system. The REAC system, of course, can be added to and added to as well. Perhaps, as has been mentioned, a little plasticky in places, but not in any way unreliable for it, and has some great features on board to make that overlookable. Roland support is excellent too.

[Gwion]

What kind of price does the desks retail at?

I'm looking at options, and my ears prick up when I read things like 'Can't be beaten at this price range'!

 

Cheers

Gwion

[Alec]

In our venue Toyah came in with an older M300 with a 16-in, 8-out REAC stagebox. I was very impressed with the whole neatness of the setup and user friendliness. Based on that, the M480 looks better still, as well as an obviously increased channel count.

 

I really liked the stagebox for being as small and neat as it was, compared with the rackmounted options most other vendors have. These ones seem to fit where you want them on a stage better, certainly in our kind of small club.

 

Without the stagebox, bear in mind that you're limited to just 8-in, 8-out on the M480's built in XLRs.

 

Price, around £7.5k for the desk, and another £3k for a 1608 box.

[peza2010]

It's a nice desk for the price point - in a fixed venue with no guest engineers.

 

I find it a bit fiddly to do an initial setup of a show on, but once you have made a "preset" it's nice and easy to get going straight away. Also the software for your laptop makes that Job a whole lot easier!!

 

User defined keys are great, the sound is great for the money, but because of the small footprint of the desk, not quiet everything you will need is to hand at any given point, hence using the UDK's...

 

I assume from your original post that it will be used by yourself and colleueges, don't expect any guest engineers to list it on a rider, or agree to use it.

[Gareth Owen]

Did a little mix in the Leicester Square theatre recently - they have a Roland as their in-house console. I was ready to hate it and pleasantly surprised by how much I didn't.

[TimmyP1955]

Do they have iPad remote control for this console yet?

 

 

(Never had any noise floor issues with an LS9.)

[Pete McCrea]

Nope. You have to use a windows pc via USB to access the desk, then VNC into the laptop off the iPad. I've done this a few times on the M400 and it works reasonably well - specifically on stage setting monitor levels and adjusting the mix when listening in the balcony areas of my church.

 

The choice of VNC client might determin your success. I've used chicken VNC on the PC and Mocha VNC paid edition on the IPad. The paid for edition allows you to lock the screen then drag faders with your finger, which you don't get on the free version.

[BlueShift]

Having used the Roland range quite extensively, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with these consoles.

 

From an Audio quality point of view, they are excellent. The beat any digital console anywhere near their price range, especially with the 0808 or S4000 input units which apparently have better electronics than the 1608 boxes.

From a budget point of view, they are hard to beat. Lots of I/O, great audio quality, and a good multicore platform for not a lot of money (relatively speaking).

 

However, they have a few issues which have become sticking points for me:

 

First off, the UI is not the greatest. Its not bad by any means, but there are a lot of layers to the menu system, channel copy/paste is a bit clumsy, and naming channels or presets is very dull.

Secondly, there are some omissions to the featureset, most notably the lack of crossfade on scenes.

Thirdly, build quality is not fantastic. Not as good as the Yamaha range as an example.

 

All in all, I would recommend them - but I would encourage you to get a thorough demo to make sure you are happy with the compromises in your situation.

[MarkPAman]

Just a heads up, which I'll put here rather than starting a new topic:

 

The OLe & remote software for the Roland desks is now available for Mac OS.

 

The day when I no longer need Windoze has just got a bit closer :D

[Pete McCrea]

Wooo Hooo!

 

Bet it only runs on 10.6+ and above...<skuttles off to check> Hazzah! 10.5.8! My ageing PowerBook lives to fight another day!

 

Edit: Intel chip needed :-(

[simonkenning]

Hi All,

 

We now support Mac OS X for all V-Mixer consoles and the software is available to download from our website at http://www.rolandsystemsgroup.co.uk

 

Also, in the next few weeks, we will be launching a Mac OS X version of the S-4000 RCS Software to allow support for M-48 Personal Monitor Mixers and S-MADI.

 

At launch of the R-1000 48 Track Recorder/Player we immediately made available the Mac OS X RCS Software. R-1000 is compatible with all V-Mixers and S-MADI.

 

Best Regards,

Simon

[cedd]

You know how to make life complicated for me don't you! There was me, decided that an LS-32 was the way to go, and now I've gone and downloaded the Roland software and can't decide anymore! Won't be for another couple of months yet anyway, but I definitely need to get my hands on one now and play!