XILS Roland Vocoder VP-330 Plus - NEW SYNTH

[paulbreeze]

When I listened to the examples I tried to find the rougher ones, because they sounded "more analog" to me and I tough if I would do an emulation it should sound "more analog" then the real one ...

So the ones I guessed right were :
- Human Voices Tremolo
- Vocoder Single Note
- Layered Chords
- Strings Glide single

Interestingly I failed with both of the string chords ...

The last one was a difficult one as both were completely different tune and pitch.

Now the obvious disclaimer, I never had a real VP-330. So everything I did was blind guessing...

[Ingonator]

When I listened to the examples I tried to find the rougher ones, because they sounded "more analog" to me and I tough if I would do an emulation it should sound "more analog" then the real one ...

So the ones I guessed right were :
- Human Voices Tremolo
- Vocoder Single Note
- Layered Chords
- Strings Glide single

Interestingly I failed with both of the string chords ...

The last one was a difficult one as both were completely different tune and pitch.

Now the obvious disclaimer, I never had a real VP-330. So everything I did was blind guessing...

I had V+ for comparison at was not much better than you and others. The Betatesters did not have the solution before it was posted officially...


Ingo

[IrionDaRonin]

Congrats to the winners.

It was difficult to say the correct ones.

Have a nice day

[Ingonator]

Hi,

i thought it would be helpful to re-post my current V+ audio demos without the detailed explanations (those could be found at page 23 of this thread):

Xils V+ - Long Strings 1
Xils V+ - Long Strings 2
Xils V+ - Slow Strings
Xils V+ - Long Vox 1
Xils V+ - Long Vox 2
Xils V+ - Slow Vox
Xils V+ - Strings + Vox 1
Xils V+ - Vangelis Layer
Xils V+ - Strings + Big Rock Phaser 1
Xils V+ - Strings + Big Rock Phaser 2
Xils V+ - Strings + Phaser 1
Xils V+ - PPG goes V+ Part I
Xils V+ - PPG goes V+ Part II
V+ vs Slim Phatty - Part I
V+ vs Slim Phatty - Part II
V+ vs Slim Phatty - Part III
V+ vs Slim Phatty - Part IV

Many of those do not involve external FXs (especially the first examples).

External FXs used in some cases:
Arts Acoustic Big Rock Phaser, ValhallaDSP ValhallaVintageVerb, Stillwell Audio Bombardier Buss Compressor

Other synths/plugins involved: PPG Wave 3.V, Moog Slim Phatty


------------------------------

Here are the demos from the Xils Lab page:
http://www.xils-lab.com/pages/XILS-V%252b_Audio.html

More demos at the contest page:
http://www.xils-lab.com/pages/XILS-VPLUS_Contest.html


Ingo

[breakmixer]

wow i love those demos except for the vocoder (and another i heard yesterday of the vocoder) it really is completely intelligible.

This was done using the Roland SVC-350 and it is very (what's the opposite of intelligible?)

The Roland SVC-350 is a similar rackmount version of the VP-330 with a modernized look and graphic EQ section.

http://www.vintagesynth.com/roland/vocoder.php

[xavier]

I'm up to my eyeballs in VA synths but this might be too good to pass up. Would love to see a video demo of how Mathias Brüssel achieved those percussive sounds in "Hypnotic Cans". Are those using the vocoder as well? Are the demos using a built-in reverb?

Hi audientronic,

I asked Mathias about your question and here are some clues about how he did this track. Mathias kindly made some screenshot of his project (which can also be used as a tutorial about how to set up a vocoder project with Live, or how to feed one V+ vocoder with an other)
An other big thanks to Mathias.

==========================================

> Are those using the vocoder as well?
5 V+ instances all in all, no other synths were used.
2 V+ are used in vocoder mode.
One vocoder is used for the main "beatbox" effect, this one is rerouted to another V+ as well for a more athmospheric addon.
For the details concerning this routing, please refer to the following snapshots.
Pictures are from Ableton Live 8, the general setup needed may be different depending on your DAW.









The main sound "BeatBoxing" comes from a vocoder patch mainly making use of V+'s Vocoder "Water"-setting and the PitchTracking Feature. The same Midi-notes are used on one V+ instance as the "modulator" and another as the "carrier".
For details please refer to the pictures called "V+_BeatBox" and "V+_BeatBoxDriver"

> Are the demos using a built-in reverb?[/quote]
Yes, no external reverb. In addition only XILS LeMasqueDelay was used as an audio-effect on the "modulator" (BeatBoxDriver).
Apart from that, some MIDI-effects from Ableton-Live were used for "easy keying" some chords.

==========================================

We will provide the LIVE project, as a tutorial for the XILS V+, as well as the preset used (we are currently integrate presets, but to be sure all the preset involved in this project will be there, a specific Hypnotic-can tutorial bank will be available)


Best regards
Xavier

[audientronic]

Hi audientronic,

I asked Mathias about your question and here are some clues about how he did this track. Mathias kindly made some screenshot of his project (which can also be used as a tutorial about how to set up a vocoder project with Live, or how to feed one V+ vocoder with an other)
An other big thanks to Mathias.

...


We will provide the LIVE project, as a tutorial for the XILS V+, as well as the preset used (we are currently integrate presets, but to be sure all the preset involved in this project will be there, a specific Hypnotic-can tutorial bank will be available)


Best regards
Xavier

Wow, Xavier, thanks so much for all the info and a big thanks to Mathias as well. Looking forward to experimenting with this after the release. Even from the demos, XILS V+ sounds like it has a really unique quality. I'm a big fan of the PolyKB for the same reason.

Thanks again...

[xavier]

thanks for your kind words, audientronic !

We published a video which is showing two of the A/B comparison used for the contest (it was not exactly the same audio sample, but about the same purpose, glide and chords with the Strings)





More to come soon

Best regards
Xavier

[Ingonator]

I did already know that video from the Beta forum and was really impressed by it.
Maybe others will agree.


Ingo

[HunterKiller]

^ Great sound. But I do detect a difference.

All software string machines seem to have the same thing happening, ie when you play chords it doesn't sound as lush/modulated as the hardware. It is apparent on the bright patches, less on the filtered ones.

There is a musically pleasing movement happening on the hardware, while the software sounds more static.
Single notes however, sound indistinguishable.

[Ingonator]

^ Great sound. But I do detect a difference.

All software string machines seem to have the same thing happening, ie when you play chords it doesn't sound as lush/modulated as the hardware. It is apparent on the bright patches, less on the filtered ones.

There is a musically pleasing movement happening on the hardware, while the software sounds more static.
Single notes however, sound indistinguishable.

I guess i have an idea what you talk about. With single notes there does not seem to be a real difference indeed. Anyway i also like the polyphonic sounds of V+ very much.

I have tested the GStorm VSP-330 plugin and also got the Hollow Sun VP-330 Kontakt instrument.
I prefer V+ over the Kontakt instrument. The Strings in the Kontakt instrument do sound much too "clean" (or less "modulated" as you called it) compared to V+ and the real thing.
The Strings of the GStorm plugin are nice but the Choir sounds are IMO totally different to V+, the Kontakt instrument and the real thing.

V+ is the only one that also involves the vocoder and it also adds additional controls. I am usually a fan of 1:1 emulation like e.g. TAL U-NO-LX but the additional controls/features in V+ (for all 3 parts) seem to make really sense.
This includes some tone shaping controls for the Strings and Human voice sounds and additional controls for the vocoder.


Ingo

[ChiTown24]

Xils V+ - Long Strings 1
Xils V+ - Long Strings 2
Xils V+ - Slow Strings
Xils V+ - Long Vox 1
Xils V+ - Long Vox 2
Xils V+ - Slow Vox
Xils V+ - Strings + Vox 1
Xils V+ - Vangelis Layer
Xils V+ - Strings + Big Rock Phaser 1
Xils V+ - Strings + Big Rock Phaser 2
Xils V+ - Strings + Phaser 1
Xils V+ - PPG goes V+ Part I
Xils V+ - PPG goes V+ Part II
V+ vs Slim Phatty - Part I
V+ vs Slim Phatty - Part II
V+ vs Slim Phatty - Part III
V+ vs Slim Phatty - Part IV

meh...

so who won the grand prize ? were beta testers allowed to participate ?

[Nielzie]

^ Great sound. But I do detect a difference.

All software string machines seem to have the same thing happening, ie when you play chords it doesn't sound as lush/modulated as the hardware. It is apparent on the bright patches, less on the filtered ones.

There is a musically pleasing movement happening on the hardware, while the software sounds more static.
Single notes however, sound indistinguishable.

Exactly what I noticed too when watching the video. single notes are indeed indistinguishable, but when playing chords, there is very small difference noticable, especially in the beginning of the video with the filter (almost) open.

But overall very impressive emulation

[himalaya]

I hear that too.
Single notes = spot on
chords = V+ sounds more 'uniform' and less 'creamy'.

Still, V+ is going to be a beautiful instrument. As a great fan of the original VP-330 - and some of the iconic music it was used on - this new version is a great addition to the software synth world. Well done Xils team.

[HunterKiller]

I have no idea why that is happening, but I want to know.

Aside from that, yes, another step forward in analog emulation, another step closer towards zero point.