Front Panel Layout

The front panel layout is fairly consistent between the VS-880, VS-880EX, and VS-890. The front panel layout of the VSR-880 is completely different, but it does contain many of the same buttons found in the other workstations. Figure 3.1 shows the front panel of the VS-880EX, which consists of the mixer section, the recorder section, and the display section.

Figure 3.1. The mixer, recorder, and display sections of the VS-880EX

Mixer Section

The mixer section contains a series of faders, knobs , and buttons, which are used in conjunction with the various mixer modes. The mixer section is also used to configure your signal routings. The way in which these faders , knobs, and buttons work is dependent upon which mixer mode you are working in; therefore, we'll cover the details in the sections that discuss recording and mixing.

Recorder Section

The recorder section contains various groupings of buttons, the Time/Value dial (which I call the jogwheel), and the Transport Controls. At first glance, the number of buttons may seem overwhelming, but they are grouped into subsections on the front panel. Some of these buttons are used for recording, others are used when editing, and some can be used for multiple purposes. We'll cover many of these buttons in detail when we discuss recording and mixing, but let's take a quick look at some of them now.

Shift Button

The SHIFT button is used to invoke secondary button functions. The secondary button functions are imbedded within a rectangle, as shown in Figure 3.2. On the VSR-880, the secondary button functions are in blue text. The SHIFT button can also be used in conjunction with the jogwheel, allowing various settings to be changed in increments of 1 or 10.

Figure 3.2. Holding the SHIFT button and pressing the ZERO button invokes the STORE function

Play/Display

Pressing the PLAY button returns you to a home state, also known as the Play Condition. If you get buried in a menu and want to escape, press the PLAY button. When used in conjunction with the SHIFT button, the display will toggle through the four display modes.

Light Me Up

To quickly adjust the contrast of the display on the VS-880EX or VS-890, hold down the PLAY/DISPLAY button and turn the jogwheel. The contrast of the display can also be changed on all VS-880/890 models via SYSTEM SYS System PRM? SYS LCD Contrast.

Transport Controls

The Transport Controls, from left to right, are

• ZERO: Return to 00:00:00:00.

• RW: Press once to move back one second, hold for true rewind.

• FF: Press once to move forward one second, hold for true fast forward.

• STOP: Stop playback or recording.

• PLAY: Begin playback or recording.

• REC: Enable/disable record mode.

You'll also notice that there are additional functions listed above or below each Transport button. Holding the SHIFT button and pressing the Transport button performs the following functions:

• STORE: Save the current song.

• SONG TOP: Move to the first location in the song that contains recorded material.

• SONG END: Move to the last location in the song that contains recorded material.

• SHUT/EJECT: Shut down the VS workstation.

• RESTART: Restart the VS workstation after it has been shut down.

Edit Condition Buttons

There are five Edit Condition buttons:

• SONG: Perform song- related functions, such as Select, Create, Copy, and Delete.

• LOCATOR: Edit locator, loop, and Auto Punch data.

• TRACK: Perform track-related functions, such as Copy, Move, Insert, and Erase.

• EFFECT: Select and edit effects used by the effects processors.

• SYSTEM: View and change system-level or global settings.

Repeatedly pressing an Edit Condition button cycles though its available menu choices. The menu choices are listed below the Edit Condition button, as shown in Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3. The menu choices for each Edit Condition button are listed below the button

Locator Buttons

These is a series of buttons related to setting and recalling locators, markers, scenes, loop points, and Auto Punch points.

Preview Buttons

These buttons allow you to preview a small section of audio either before or after the current point in time. The SCRUB button allows you to see a representation of the waveform for a given track, and it can be used in conjunction with the preview buttons.

Parameter Buttons and Cursor Buttons

These buttons are used to change settings in the various display screens and to confirm or deny changes.

Display Section

The display screen, as shown in Figure 3.4, is your window to the inner controls of the VS workstation. Every function you perform on the VS will be shown on the display screen. Since it's important to understand what is on the display and, more importantly, what it means, we'll spend a bit of time exploring the various components of the display.

Figure 3.4. The display screen on the VS-880EX

Current Condition

The current condition is shown in the upper-left corner of the display. These conditions describe where you have navigated within the mixer modes or functions.

• PLY: Home state/normal condition

• INN: Editing parameters for a track in the Input Mixer

• TRN: Editing parameters for a track in the Track Mixer

• RTN: Editing parameters within the Effects Return Mixer

• SNG: Working in the Song Edit Condition

• LOC: Working in the Locator Edit Condition

• TRK: Working in the Track Edit Condition

• SNG: Working in the Song Edit Condition

• FX: Working in the Effect Edit Condition (N/A on VS-880)

• SYS: Working in the System Edit Condition

• CDR: Working in the CD-RW mastering room (VS-890 only)

Playing with Case

If the current condition is Ply instead of PLY, then the song is protected. When a song is protected, the song cannot be changed or edited.

When the current condition is anything other than the Play Condition, the display will correspond to the particular parameters of the function or mixer mode you are working in.

Current Marker

The current marker number is shown just to the right of the current condition. You can have up to 1,000 markers per song. If there is an asterisk (*) after the marker number, it means that the current marker is also an Automix marker. If you haven't placed any markers in the song, the display will show three dashes.

Navigating Markers

When in the Play Condition, pressing the PREVIOUS button will jump to the previous marker, and pressing the NEXT button will jump to the next marker.

Current Measure and Beat

The current measure and beat are shown below the current condition and current marker. A plus sign (+) next to the beat indicates that you are past the beginning of the beat but have not reached the next beat. By default, the current measure and beat are always displayed. You can change the display so that this information only shows when the metronome is playing. To do this, go to SYSTEM SYSTEM PRM? SYS MeasurDsp= and use the jogwheel to set the value to Auto.

Sync Mode

The sync mode is shown below the current measure. If you have configured the VS to synchronize with external devices via MIDI, the display will show EXT (external sync). Otherwise, it will show INT (internal). To quickly toggle between INT and EXT sync modes, hold SHIFT and press the SYSTEM button.

Flashing Play Button

If you press PLAY and the button flashes and nothing else happens, you might have accidentally changed the sync mode to EXT. This can happen when you attempt to change the display mode but press the wrong button. To change the display mode, hold SHIFT and press the DISPLAY button. To change the sync mode, hold SHIFT and press the SYSTEM button. Since the DISPLAY and SYSTEM buttons are next to each other, it's easy to press the wrong button. If the PLAY button flashes and the sync mode is EXT, simply toggle the sync mode back to INT.

Current Scene

The current scene number is displayed below the current beat. An asterisk (*) preceding the scene number means one or more mixer settings have been changed since the scene was recalled. If you haven't created any scenes in the song, the display will show three dashes.

Remaining Time

The amount of remaining recording time is displayed in the lower left-hand corner of the display. The remaining time depends on the size of the partition, the recording mode and sample rate of the song, and how many tracks are armed for recording. The display defaults to showing the remaining time in minutes and seconds. By navigating to SYSTEM SYSTEM PRM? SYS RemainDsp=, you can use the jogwheel to change how the remaining time is displayed:

• TIME: Remaining minutes and seconds

• CapaMB: Remaining megabytes in the partition

• Capa %: Remaining space as a percentage of total space in the partition

• Event: Remaining events for the song

Events

The VS workstations use a pointer-based recording architecture, and they use events to store information related to the pointers. For example, when you record on a single track, the start time and end time of that recorded segment are stored as two events. Each song can contain approximately 12,800 events. If you do an extreme number of overdubs or punch-ins, or you create a lot of Automix data, it is possible to run out of events. Once you run out of events in a song, you will not be able to do any further recording in the song.

Current Time

The upper right of the display shows the current time within the song. The time is shown in SMPTE time code, which translates to hours:minutes:seconds:frames. The VS defaults to having 30 frames per second, and each frame can have 100 sub- frames . If you are mathematically-challenged, that means you can edit down to 1/3 of a millisecond in time.

You can change the current time when the VS is in the Play Condition by using the jogwheel. By pressing the and CURSOR buttons, you can change the point of reference relative to how the current time changes. Lets run though how all this works.

When the current time is displayed in standard SMPTE format, turning the jogwheel will change the time in one frame increments. Holding down the SHIFT button and turning the jogwheel will change the time in 10-frame increments.

If you press the CURSOR button, the current time is displayed in sub-frames. Turning the jog-wheel will change the time in 10-subframe increments. Holding down the SHIFT button and turning the jogwheel will move the time in one-subframe increments.

If you press the CURSOR button, the current marker number will flash. Turning the jogwheel will now change the marker, and the current time will get moved to the marker location you select. You could also do this type of operation by pressing the PREVIOUS or NEXT marker button. If you hold down the SHIFT button and turn the jogwheel, the change will be in 10-marker increments.

If you press the CURSOR button again, the current beat will flash. Turning the jogwheel will now change the beat, and the current time will get moved to the beat you select. If you hold down the SHIFT button and turn the jogwheel, the change will be in 10-beat increments.

If you press the CURSOR button once again, the current measure will flash. Turning the jogwheel will now change the measure, and the current time will get moved to the measure you select. If you hold down the SHIFT button and turn the jogwheel, the change will be in 10-measure increments.

Numerics

When changing the current time or the point of reference relative to the current time, you can directly enter numeric data by pressing the NUMERICS button. Then, use the numbers listed below the LOCATOR buttons to enter the values. You can use the and parameter buttons to move around within the data. When done, press the YES/ENTER button. This technique can also be used when editing locator and punch-in data.

Bar Display

The lower-right section of the display normally shows the levels of the tracks, Aux Sends, and Master fader. By holding SHIFT and pressing the PLAY/DISPLAY button, you can toggle the display through four different display modes.

The PRE LEVEL display mode shows the levels of the tracks PreFader. When you are in the Input Mixer, you can use this display mode to view the levels of the signals coming into the Input Mixer. When you are bouncing tracks in the Track Mixer, you can use this display mode to view the level at which the destination tracks are being recorded.

The POST LEVEL display mode shows the levels of the tracks PostFader. When you are in the Input Mixer, you can use this display mode to view the levels of the signals as they are being recorded. When you are in the Track Mixer, you can use this display mode to view a graphical representation of the actual fader positions of the tracks.

The PLAY LIST display mode shows where recorded material exists for the currently selected track/V-Track. The vertical line in the display is in reference to the current time, and the display shows approximately 16 seconds of time before and after the current time. You can use this display mode to see where within a track you have recorded material.

The FADER/PAN display mode shows the relative positions of the track faders, Pan knobs, and the Master fader. When switching mixer modes or when recalling scenes, these fader and pan settings may not match the current position of the faders and Pan knobs. When the current position is different than the actual setting within the mixer or scene, the current position will show as a blinking bar.

In both the PRE LEVEL and POST LEVEL display modes, the levels of the Aux Master and Master fader are always shown as PostFader.