The Roland V-Synth: Why so underappreciated?

[MFXxx]

Thanks - probably a bit out of my reach unfortunately but thanks anyway

As I don't have anymore the original box it would be a bit of work for me to send it (which I don't really need, but I could make an effort).
Are you in the uk ?, not sure how much it would cost sending it over there, plus you would probably have to pay custom, even if it's a gift.
Not sure it's worth it, let you figure out / decide.

Edit: shipping in the uk would be about 130 $ (6-10 days), probably 50-100 $ for a good box ( guessing), for import duties, I have no idea. I don't have the bill anymore, but I could probably get a copy from the store.

Be jumping on this if the wife didn't have me on shut down financially with maternity leave and a recent spate of selling and expensive purchases if only

[aMUSEd]

Thanks - probably a bit out of my reach unfortunately but thanks anyway

As I don't have anymore the original box it would be a bit of work for me to send it (which I don't really need, but I could make an effort).
Are you in the uk ?, not sure how much it would cost sending it over there, plus you would probably have to pay custom, even if it's a gift.
Not sure it's worth it, let you figure out / decide.

Edit: shipping in the uk would be about 130 $ (6-10 days), probably 50-100 $ for a good box ( guessing), for import duties, I have no idea. I don't have the bill anymore, but I could probably get a copy from the store.

Yes I am in the UK, thanks again, this is awesome. Anyway let's take this to pm

[zerocrossing]

...Last week, I decided to buy one on a whim and nabbed a V-Synth v2 (not the GT or rack, the keyboard w/ OS 2 on it) for $676. Six-hundred and seventy-six dollars! That's less than what a Korg X-50 goes for, not much more than an Evolver, and about the same price as some high-end MIDI keyboards.

Yeah, for $676 I'd get one for the polyphonic aftertouch (I didn't know that!) D-Beam and XY pad, but to me it's sound engine never sounded that good to me. Well, maybe kind of good, but in a very specific way that I knew I wouldn't really use all that often, especially for the price they normally want for one.

Honestly, in modern times the V-Synth's sound engine doesn't cut it. Even for $676 you could buy a number of software instruments that sound a lot better and do more, IMO. Some that come to mind... (in no particular order)

For sample mangling/resynthesis:

Absynth
Alchemy
Iris
Poseidon

For subtractive/wavetable/VA:

Diva
Diversion
Synthmaster
Largo

[justin3am]

Honestly, in modern times the V-Synth's sound engine doesn't cut it.

Perhaps, in your opinion. I disagree. I think the V-Synth's sound holds up quite well to other modern synths. It does a lot of unique things (polyphonic combfilters and FM on incoming audio, I'm not even sure how the second one is possible but the V-Synth does it) and the sound quality holds up really well even under extreme modulation.

Perhaps I'm looking for different sounds but despite the fact that I have licenses for most of synths you listed, I still use my V-Synth a lot.

[aMUSEd]

Honestly, in modern times the V-Synth's sound engine doesn't cut it.

Perhaps, in your opinion. I disagree. I think the V-Synth's sound holds up quite well to other modern synths. It does a lot of unique things (polyphonic combfilters and FM on incoming audio, I'm not even sure how the second one is possible but the V-Synth does it) and the sound quality holds up really well even under extreme modulation.

Perhaps I'm looking for different sounds but despite the fact that I have licenses for most of synths you listed, I still use my V-Synth a lot.

Absolutely - it's an amazingly deep synth and still very relevant, such a pity Roland lost interest in its development. One of the greatest ever digital synths.

[Jace-BeOS]

It does a lot of unique things (polyphonic combfilters and FM on incoming audio, I'm not even sure how the second one is possible but the V-Synth does it)...

Got any tutorials on that FM trick? I have an XT. Need to put it to use.

[aMUSEd]

You just set OSC 1 to external input and OSC 2 to be the modulator by selecting FM in the Modulator Type section and turning the OSC2 pitch knob.

[electro]

Yeah, for $676 I'd get one for the polyphonic aftertouch (I didn't know that!)

I would double check that claim before believing.

[aMUSEd]

Yeah, for $676 I'd get one for the polyphonic aftertouch (I didn't know that!)

I would double check that claim before believing.

The V-Synth keyboard just has channel aftertouch, not polyphonic. The synth engine itself supports polyphonic aftertouch, but you'd need a keyboard that produces it (or equivalent such as iPad running Animoog with the Midi addon which is what I use)

Still well worth getting though - the V-Synth is unique.

[bobborries]

When Roland was king, I got a JV-1080. it's juicy, has high fidelity with boomy bass, super crispy highs, it just sounds great. The filter is good but it's not designed to manually sweep in a smooth way, like turning the filter knob on a Moog it's sweet and smooth, the 1080 not so much. So when V-synth came out I thought they finally got through the real-time manipulation problem, and since the V-guitar emulated different guitars and amps, V-synth must emulate different filters and synths.

Nope I was wrong, V-synth sounds thin and wimpy, WYF, what happened? Did they change the software? Are the D/A converters cheap? Did they hire bad programmers? What's the deal? They didn't stop the crappy sound at the V-synth, they kept going! The Fantom series, SH-201, Gaia SH-01, and Jupiter 60/80, all have junk sound, but great abilities. When is Roland going to address this sound issue? I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore.

[tehlord]

Honestly, in modern times the V-Synth's sound engine doesn't cut it.

*Tommy Lee Jones Implied Facepalm*

[aMUSEd]

Nope I was wrong, V-synth sounds thin and wimpy

No it doesn't.

[bvc]

Why underappreciated? Seems pretty well regarded to me, from what I've read.

[BBFG#]

Personally, I love my V. It plays like an instrument in a time where most play more like computers. Its Elastic Synthesis is the only thing I've seen from Roland that has been able to rectify their sampling philosophy of compress and truncate. And let's not forget its VP capabilities.

But if other players have no taste for it, it doesn't matter, becasue there is plenty of love from those that do and our listeners.

I belong to a couple of V groups where it is realized for the beast it is, (Although many of us want a next stage in evolution in it). And my biggest concern at the moment is Roland announcing they have no intention of making Windows 8/8.1 drivers for it. Even after they've been selling their warehouse stock off for the last year at premium prices. Hopefully, it won't effect much more than the editor?

[aMUSEd]

Personally, I love my V. It plays like an instrument in a time where most play more like computers. Its Elastic Synthesis is the only thing I've seen from Roland that has been able to rectify their sampling philosophy of compress and truncate. And let's not forget its VP capabilities.

But if other players have no taste for it, it doesn't matter, becasue there is plenty of love from those that do and our listeners.

I belong to a couple of V groups where it is realized for the beast it is, (Although many of us want a next stage in evolution in it). And my biggest concern at the moment is Roland announcing they have no intention of making Windows 8/8.1 drivers for it. Even after they've been selling their warehouse stock off for the last year at premium prices. Hopefully, it won't effect much more than the editor?

I thought they stopped making drivers at XP? Couldn't find any for my Win 7 system or OS-X Intel