Internal Vs8F-1 Effect Expansion Board; Important Concepts To Understand; Understanding The Mixer - Roland VXpanded VS-880 Application Manual

Internal VS8F-1 Effect Expansion Board

The optional VS8F-1 Effect Expansion Board for the VS-880
provides two independent, stereo effects processors inside
the VS-880.
All other effects processors will be external
and must be connected to the VS-880 through
the rear panel connectors.

Important Concepts to Understand

Understanding The Mixer

In order to make best use of your VS-880, an understanding of the built-in digital mixer is required. This
will save you valuable hours later when you are trying to figure out why you can't hear the reverb, why
there is EQ on the bass drum, and why you cannot hear anything in your headphones.
The term 'MIXER' is normally applied to any electronic device that 'mixes' one or more audio sources and
routes them to one or more destinations.
Signal Flow
What is signal flow and why do you need to know anything about it? Signal flow describes how your
music (the signal) flows through the VS-880.
There are six important signal flow concepts to understand:
DIRECTION – In order to understand the signal flow of your VS-880 or any audio device, you
should first understand that the audio signal (your music) is always traveling in one
direction. It might travel from point A to point B to point C to point B to Point D to Point A,
etc.; however, it is always travelling FROM one place TO a different place. It may even
travel to one or more destinations at the same time, but it is always travelling FROM > TO.
INPUT – Where your music travels 'TO' is called an INPUT. Every audio amplifying, processing, or
mixing device has one or more inputs. You "put a signal IN" to an INPUT. Many terms are
used to describe an audio signal going IN to an INPUT. e.g. You 'feed' the guitar into the
guitar amp. You 'send' the signal to a reverb device. You 'buss' the piano track to an
equalizer. Whatever term you use, you will notice that your music is always traveling
towards an INPUT. Even when the music is played through a speaker, it is traveling to your
ear - an INPUT. Some devices have multiple inputs, some have analog and digital inputs,
and some have different 'level' inputs (discussed later).
OUTPUT – Where your music travels 'FROM' is called an OUTPUT. You receive an audio signal
from an OUTPUT. For example, the speaker terminals on the back of your Hi-Fi amplifier
are the OUTPUTS of the amplifier, the phone jack on your guitar is the OUTPUT of your
guitar, etc.
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VS-880 Application Guide