The Vs-880 Mixer - Roland VXpanded VS-880 Application Manual

INPUTS
INPUT to house
from water line
Think of your home as the VS-880 mixer. The cold water coming into your home from the main supply in
the street is just like the audio signal from your guitar entering an input of the VS-880. As shown in the
plumbing diagram, the cold water branches into two directions, the kitchen sink and your water heater.
The same thing can happen in the VS-880. The guitar signal can be sent to a reverb device (water heater)
and a recording track (kitchen sink) simultaneously.
The water (guitar) that has passed through the water heater (reverb) is now very hot (has lots of reverb).
The original cold water (dry guitar) travels to the kitchen sink (recording track) by one path and the hot
water (reverb guitar) travels to the kitchen sink (recording track) by a different path or pipe.
We have faucets (faders) at the kitchen sink that can control the mix of cold and hot water entering the
sink. Just like a fader or volume control in the VS-880 controls how much dry guitar and how much reverb
guitar are mixed together and sent on to the drain (output).
Once the cold and hot water are mixed in the kitchen sink, they become warm water which flows out the
drain to the street (output).
Whenever you want to visualize the signal flow in your VS-880, think about the water flow in your own
home. If you can always think about "where is the signal coming from" and "where is the signal going
next", you should not have any difficulty navigating the mixer in your VS-880.
Sometimes it is also helpful to think about the audio signal as an actual wire (patch
cord) that you are holding in your hand. For example, plug a cable into your guitar.
Hold the other end in your hand. You are now holding an OUTPUT (the output of
the guitar). Every OUTPUT is always looking for the next INPUT. So I plug the
guitar cord into the INPUT of the VS-880. Now you visualize the guitar signal
flowing through the input amplifier, etc.

The VS-880 Mixer

As you can see from the front panel, the VS-880 provides 8 channel mixing faders. However, unlike a
conventional analog mixer where every fader is hard-wired to perform a specific function, the VS-880
digital mixer is virtual (assignable) – meaning that you can change the function of the buttons and faders
by selecting a different mixer mode. Each mode is designed for different configurations and exhibits
unique functions which provide the VS-880 digital mixer a high degree of flexibility.
20
VS-880 Application Guide
Your House
Kitchen Sink
OUTPUT
Water Heater
Cold Water (Bus)
Hot Water (Bus)
Bathtub
INPUTS
OUTPUT
INPUTS
Bath Sink
Toilet
INPUT
OUTPUT
to street
OUTPUT
Drain (Bus)