1998: The VS-1680

In January of 1998, Roland announced the VS-1680, a 16-track Digital Studio Workstation, shown in Figure 1.2. The VS-1680 was a new generation of VS workstation, providing many new features and overcoming some of the limitations of the original VS-880.

Figure 1.2. Roland VS-1680 Digital Studio Workstation

Highlights of the VS-1680

The VS-1680 offered 16 tracks of 24-bit audio, which was a major improvement over the VS-880. The VS-1680 also shipped with two important features: an internal 2.5GB hard drive and one of the new 24-bit VS8F-2 effect expansion boards already installed (with the option of installing a second effect board). Other highlights of the VS-1680 included:

• Eight simultaneous recording tracks, 16 simultaneous playback tracks

• Sixteen virtual tracks per physical track

• EZ-Routing templates

• Two balanced XLR inputs

• Dedicated Hi-Z guitar input

• Phantom power

• Dedicated display navigation buttons

• Hard drive usability: 8 partitions, 2GB per partition

• 20-bit A/D and D/A converters

Software Upgrades

In 1999, Roland introduced the V-Xpanded software upgrade for the VS-1680. The biggest feature in this V-Xpanded upgrade was the ability to do 18-track playback. This feature meant that users could now mix down all 16 tracks to two additional tracks for mastering ”a feature not found on any previous VS workstation. This upgrade also included Roland's new Mastering Tool Kit effects algorithm, as well as new COSM Speaker Modeling for use with Roland's new DS-90 powered monitors .