The Roland V-Synth: Why so underappreciated?

[mbncp]

$4k? I hope that's not USD.

current EU pricing new is 3000 EUR or so, so could well be.

I just checked again, I payed about 3600 U$ (including 7.6% VAT) in dec 09, but normally it is listed for 4000 U$ +. Speaking of the GT2 not the original v-synth.

Anyway for that price I have a synth that has awful noisy jumping keys, that isn't even able to sync to MIDI clock , takes for ever to load and most patches are boring to death. And the worst is that most buttons/knobs don't send any MIDI data, so you can't even use it as a cool MIDI controller.

Now if someone knows how I could replace the original OS with Alchemy ...

[jedilaw]

I can't imagine why anyone would plunk down 4 grand on something without knowing if they actually were going to use it. That's what guitar center is for.

I dunno, I kind of think of my local Guitar Center as that place where I go to get annoyed by really loud drumming and random guitar shreddage while I'm trying to hear a f#$%@^g keyboard.

[zircon]

Ouch... you can get a GT for only $3k here new (USD) or $2k on eBay.

I've yet to figure out exactly what the V-Synth is....and this coming from a guy who has owned a ton of Roland gear over the past 30 years.

It's a flexible synthesizer with a VA engine, flexible routing, a lot of onboard effects + filters (which can be inserted in various points in the chain), and probably most importantly, awesome realtime control and a powerful audio engine.

[justin3am]

isn't even able to sync to MIDI clock , takes for ever to load and most patches are boring to death. And the worst is that most buttons/knobs don't send any MIDI data, so you can't even use it as a cool MIDI controller.

I've got the original sync'd to external midi clock, I'd be surprised if the GT can't do the same, the option is probably just buried.

The controlers do send midi data, just not common midi messages. You can only assign CCs to the TT pad D-Beams and other assignable controls but the rest still send NRPNs which can be intercepted and used in apps that can understand those messages (Max/MSP, Numerology, Reaktor, etc.).

I agree that the stock patches aren't much compared to modern synth sound design but it's capabilities go far beyond the presets. I love Alchemy and all but it hasn't replaced the V-Synth yet.

I use my V-Synth mostly as a sampler (which I sequence externally) or as a signal processor (the DSP blocks sound great on guitar and synth noodling). I don't play the keys much but I use the TT pad and d-beams all the time. It's a great piece, I thought I got a deal @ $800; $676 is just a steal!

[Aleatoriac]

I can't imagine why anyone would plunk down 4 grand on something without knowing if they actually were going to use it. That's what guitar center is for.

In theory, my friend, you are quite correct.

In fact, you may be, I don't know. However, the GC near my home is void of anything more expensive than... say... well they don't have an M-Audio 88 key "ES" or "lite" version even to try. Let alone a V-synth

I had to go about 250 miles away to try a Mesa amp, even after talking to them off and on for over a year about how I'd like to try one.

And they still won't stock 7-string packs.

And... well yeah they do have some nice drums here.

[justin3am]

I can't imagine why anyone would plunk down 4 grand on something without knowing if they actually were going to use it. That's what guitar center is for.

A lot of the modular synth and DIY stuff I buy isn't available to be tried in stores. Not only that, some of the more esoteric modules don't even have manuals to explain how they work. I think due diligence applies here though, which is probably what you were implying. The internet is a wealth of info for researching products from a variety of perspectives. You just need to know where to look.

[mbncp]

isn't even able to sync to MIDI clock , takes for ever to load and most patches are boring to death. And the worst is that most buttons/knobs don't send any MIDI data, so you can't even use it as a cool MIDI controller.

I've got the original sync'd to external midi clock, I'd be surprised if the GT can't do the same, the option is probably just buried.

The option is there on the GT but fx synced to clock like the delay produce some weird noises + the tempo gets out of sync after a while.
That's at least a year (probably much more) that Roland is aware of the problem, but they never fixed it, and probably never will.

The controlers do send midi data, just not common midi messages. You can only assign CCs to the TT pad D-Beams and other assignable controls but the rest still send NRPNs which can be intercepted and used in apps that can understand those messages (Max/MSP, Numerology, Reaktor, etc.).

I get the TT and D_Beams CC but other knobs don't send anything at all on the GT. It would have been nice to get all knobs when the V-Link button is on, and being able to configure which CC to send.

I agree that the stock patches aren't much compared to modern synth sound design but it's capabilities go far beyond the presets.

I was pretty disappointed given the spec on the paper.
I should spend some time creating my own patches but navigating thru that little touch screen is not what I call a lot of fun.
If I compare to the Virus(ti2 polar), almost every 2-3 patches I'm going thru I'll get something inspiring and will start to tweak these knobs.

I use my V-Synth mostly as a sampler (which I sequence externally) or as a signal processor (the DSP blocks sound great on guitar and synth noodling). I don't play the keys much but I use the TT pad and d-beams all the time. It's a great piece, I thought I got a deal @ $800; $676 is just a steal!

I'm not really into sampling and importing external audio is really painful.

It would have been nice to see the current XY position on the TT.
On the GT the D-Beam should be more centered and being able to move it so you could play it using the nose when all your 6 hands are busy.

Sure for $6-800$ it's a decent deal but for that price range I would go for a Blofeld first.

Maybe I should start doing some sampling and if the fun isn't there I could always donate it to the local church

[aMUSEd]

The controlers do send midi data, just not common midi messages. You can only assign CCs to the TT pad D-Beams and other assignable controls but the rest still send NRPNs which can be intercepted and used in apps that can understand those messages (Max/MSP, Numerology, Reaktor, etc.).

I've tried to do that in several apps (eg Bidule) but can never get it to work - it's like the nrpn's aren't there. Any clues how to get it working?

[zircon]

A Blofeld? Really? The problem I have with that (along with most any hardware synth) is that it doesn't offer anything I can't already do with countless softsynths. Between Zebra 2, Sytrus, Omnisphere, Massive, Sawer, Harmless, Synth1, Albino, Absynth, FM8, Reaktor and a dozen others, buying an expensive hardware synth that doesn't do anything new or unique (and isn't even analog) seems like a total and complete waste of money. The reason I'm so impressed with the V-Synth is that it does things that none of my softsynths or samplers can, at least not as elegantly.

[justin3am]

The controlers do send midi data, just not common midi messages. You can only assign CCs to the TT pad D-Beams and other assignable controls but the rest still send NRPNs which can be intercepted and used in apps that can understand those messages (Max/MSP, Numerology, Reaktor, etc.).

I've tried to do that in several apps (eg Bidule) but can never get it to work - it's like the nrpn's aren't there. Any clues how to get it working?

Hmm... not sure, it just worked for me. Pretty much every function sends sysex data out on mine, even when I'm just navigating the menus. I'm using the midi monitor in Max/MSP. Some functions don't like to receive sysex data in real time but I can intercept all of them for use elsewhere.

[goldenanalog]

The controlers do send midi data, just not common midi messages. You can only assign CCs to the TT pad D-Beams and other assignable controls but the rest still send NRPNs which can be intercepted and used in apps that can understand those messages (Max/MSP, Numerology, Reaktor, etc.).

I've tried to do that in several apps (eg Bidule) but can never get it to work - it's like the nrpn's aren't there. Any clues how to get it working?

Hey, aMUSEd!

These are going to be the stupidest questions/suggestions of the day, but here goes:

1.)Does it have version 2.0 installed?

2.)What about doing a hard reset?

3.) Sometimes, re-installing an OS can 'fix' or 'shock' a machine back into shape. It's possible that the OS (either pre-installed or downloaded) *might* be corrupted; seen that w/Access stuff on (adimmitedly rare) ocasion(s).

This, of course, is all suggested on the assumption that the midi capabilities that you need are inherently in there; they're just not working correctly.

-goldenanalog

[aMUSEd]

The controlers do send midi data, just not common midi messages. You can only assign CCs to the TT pad D-Beams and other assignable controls but the rest still send NRPNs which can be intercepted and used in apps that can understand those messages (Max/MSP, Numerology, Reaktor, etc.).

I've tried to do that in several apps (eg Bidule) but can never get it to work - it's like the nrpn's aren't there. Any clues how to get it working?

Hey, aMUSEd!

These are going to be the stupidest questions/suggestions of the day, but here goes:

1.)Does it have version 2.0 installed?

2.)What about doing a hard reset?

3.) Sometimes, re-installing an OS can 'fix' or 'shock' a machine back into shape. It's possible that the OS (either pre-installed or downloaded) *might* be corrupted; seen that w/Access stuff on (adimmitedly rare) ocasion(s).

This, of course, is all suggested on the assumption that the midi capabilities that you need are inherently in there; they're just not working correctly.

-goldenanalog

Yes to all - its working fine. I just haven't found how to pick up the data and make use of it to control stuff (except of course for what is assignable to cc)

[billw]

Ouch... you can get a GT for only $3k here new (USD) or $2k on eBay.

I've yet to figure out exactly what the V-Synth is....and this coming from a guy who has owned a ton of Roland gear over the past 30 years.

It's a flexible synthesizer with a VA engine, flexible routing, a lot of onboard effects + filters (which can be inserted in various points in the chain), and probably most importantly, awesome realtime control and a powerful audio engine.

So is it just a VA or is it also a ROMpler? I don't know why I just can't get this.

[justin3am]

Ouch... you can get a GT for only $3k here new (USD) or $2k on eBay.

I've yet to figure out exactly what the V-Synth is....and this coming from a guy who has owned a ton of Roland gear over the past 30 years.

It's a flexible synthesizer with a VA engine, flexible routing, a lot of onboard effects + filters (which can be inserted in various points in the chain), and probably most importantly, awesome realtime control and a powerful audio engine.

So is it just a VA or is it also a ROMpler? I don't know why I just can't get this.

Each oscillator has a VA, sample playback and external input option. It can also do sampling and editing internally. So it's a synth, a sampler and a signal processor.

[Scot Solida]

So is it just a VA or is it also a ROMpler? I don't know why I just can't get this.

It's hard to call it a ROMpler, even though it can behave like one out of the box. Nevertheless, it's entire sample bank can be overwritten. This is actually one of the things that appealed to me about the thing. I almost never use factory samples and never use factory presets, so its ROMpler abilities didn't float my boat at all. However, as a pure sampler and synth, it was pretty damned cool. I sold my GT last year (and the rackmount XT before that) and haven't decided if I regret it or not (I needed the space, and could do all of what it does in Kyma). It was great fun to play and very easy to create some crazy sample-based mayhem on the thing. There really isn't another dedicated hardware synth like it.