ROLAND VS-2480 or PC & Software w/ Mixing Board?

[WinonasAlibi]

Greetings all - first time here and I'm hoping you can give me
some advice,
My situation is I've been slowly buying gear over the last decade with a view towards
building my own home studio. Well, needless to say that over time technology
has advanced faster than my studio plans have and now that I've finally found the time
and money to put the walls of the studio up -
I find myself in the situation where a lot of my recording gear is now
possibly obsolete or antiquated. What I currently have is a
Roland VS-2480CD (brand new in box, never opened or switched on)
with a variety of
Expansion Boards (Antares auto-tune, Universal Audio, Etc.) along with the matching DS-90 Monitorsand an
A.R.T. dual channel tube preamp.

The Roland supposedly will accept a Computer Monitor, Keyboard & Mouse
though I'm not sure about it's ability to interface/synch up with current PC based Recording hard/software.

I am basically an old school analog, Board in front of me with all the faders kind of guy
But I am wondering if it would be a better idea to just sell the Roland VS-2480& Boards for
what I could get out of them (probably no more than a grand ($1,000).
and jump right in with both feet and go 100% PC based recording with one of
THESE types of boards: http://www.phonic.com/en/mixers/nonpowered-mixers/impact-24-4x.html
http://images.miretail.com/products/optionLarge/Phonic/588389jpg.jpg

(Which is about all I'd be able to afford) and either Cakewalk, Steinberg or ....?I DO already have a 640 Gig Quad Core HP Tower that I plan on using just for recording
so I'm hoping the board and outboard gear are all I really need.

I don't mean to come off as an amater or novice,
but I've just been a hands on player (Guitarist) all my life and this technical stuff
has always been my weak point.

I thank you all in advance for any/all advice you can give me on this subject
because I sure need some mentoring when it comes to this end of it. :confused:
Sincerely,

Fred

(Winona's Alibi)

ps I am posting this in both the DAW & PC threads so I can get as many responses as possible.
thx

[WinyardPro]

Just found your post so I'll respond here too! This may be a way to bridge a gap while you decide to go PC or you may find that both the VS2480 and a low cost PC may meet your needs. Here's a thought.

You could use the VS2480 hooked up to a Windows PC using a third party Software/Hardware option called 'VirDIS'.

http://www.virtualscsi.com/virdis.htm

All your VS2480 recorded tracks can be extracted into .wav file in the PC. Roland VS users only got this option a few years back and the package has been steadily developed. Also, Korg, Yamaha and Akai machines are now about to be supported too!

A SCSI cable connects to the VS2480 to a VirDIS PCI Card and with this, most of the SCSI DATA ends up in the PC and can be used just as though you had recorded directly you the PC. The VS2480 is a very stable platform and this VirDIS application really opens the VS2480 up to a seamless world where PC and VS2480 can co-exist.

This is my first post so I don’t want to come across as a spammer so let me for the record state that, I helped develop this VirDIS tool however, no financial or kickbacks have I received or expected. I use two VS2480s and support Stand-alone DAWs so I have an interest in helping DAW users better integrate and perhaps even add life to their existing setups. I am also familiar with computer based DAWs also as I have worked in a number of studios.

I have been a member of another large Roland VS forum and happen to stumble over this forum yesterday. I hope this helps in some way!