Fostex VF160 bit the dust (Update 10-8-24)

[Farrell Jackson]

Well after 24 years of faithful/flawless service my VF160's hard drive has crashed and burned. So from this point on I'll be using the Tascam DP-32SD that has been "in waiting" for this day. I was putting the final touches (just needed backing vocals and harmonica) on a song for the Leslie Fest but it's all gone. So my first project with the Tascam will be a complete redo of that song. The two recorders do have some similarities but quite a few differences. So I started this morning refreshing my memory by reading the manual front to back. Hopefully I can get familar enough with it to complete the song for the Leslie Fest. RIP old friend, you will be missed.

[cuthbert]

Sorry to hear that, Farrell. Any chance the drive can be replaced?

[Farrell Jackson]

Sorry to hear that, Farrell. Any chance the drive can be replaced?

Thanks Cuthbert. The drive could be repaced if I could find the correct one. While researching, I read where some owners had replaced the original drives with SSD. It requires the right adapter plugs but they did work. But after 24 years, I'm ready to tackle the learning curve with the brand new/old Tascam. Thanks for the suggestion.

Farrell

[SteveB]

Sad to hear, but it seems that it was a worthwhile investment given its productive longevity. Good luck with the replacement machine by the way. I'm facing a similar dilemma with my BR1200 – which is possibly coming up towards the 20 years mark – still works ok, but I've noticed a bit of 'sticky button' syndrome creeping in. I've been looking around the music forums to see what the 'hot shots' are using to record and produce music, and then scaling back my expectations from there. Interestingly, there are quite a few 'Threads' bubbling away on different forums regarding tape machines and their usage, and the number of tape machines – in all formats – available on Ebay and the like is mind-boggling. I had a Tascam Porta 2 back in the day, and before that it was reel-to-reel jobs. Personally, I've never bought into the argument about the 'sound of tape' being superior, I've always thought the magic was in the purchasing and playing of vinyl – esp albums/LPs with the added liner notes lyrics etc. Ah, bliss. So back to the search. 

[Farrell Jackson]

Update on Fostex VF160 hard drive crash

Taking Cuthbert's advice, I decided to keep searching for a replacement hard drive. I found a used one on Ebay for $50. The seller said it was in good condition so I decided to take a chance on it. I received and installed it yesterday and it works! It needed to be reformatted to get rid of any junk and check for bad bits. That took about 4 hours but it came out clean and ready to go. So I'm back in business with my trusty old VF160 work horse and no learning curve to deal with. I'm a happy camper!

[cuthbert]

That's great news, Farrell!

I'm always fan of keeping the old gear that we love going for as long as possible, so I'm glad to hear your Fostex is back and ready for more.