Kicks ass. Discuss!

Yep.

Had an XT. Sold it. Miss it. Deep machine... maybe my favorite sampler. Crazy formant sounds. Nice effects and a cool arpeggiator/step sequencer. Definitely the best vocoder I've ever used. One of the best digital synths ever made.

I second that emotion

I find this synth to be very underated and it's wonderfully misunderstood. THis synth has much of that classic Roland sound, but it's also doing a lot of interesting things that I think get overlooked.

Now, I'm not as techy as some here, so I can't get into those details, but it seems like this synth does things none of my other synths do. It really is an AMAZING beast and I haven't even scratched the surface.

(I'm almost hesitant to hype so we can keep it to those of us who knowheh)

One aspect that I LOVE is the choir and vocal aspects of it. I even heard that Underworld ditched their Roland VP-330 (is that the right model?) because the V-sytnth did all that and more... and that's just ONE side of this thing.

It really offers a lot!

-andrews

V-Synth XT using here, fabulous !

xt here also sooo fun! any xt users als have the varios? how much overlap is there?

I think the only overlap would be the VC-2 options.

so would it be safe to say that if I were to buy a varios than I could sell the vc-2 card and not miss it?

also does the d-50 card work in both the xt and the varios? are the VC's in the XT even removeable?

AFAIK, the VC cards are built into the software. I might be wrong though. I'm sure Jim Stout would know.

I've not heard the VariOS, so i can't compare the 2 functionally. And i don't think the VC-1 works in the VariOS.

I'm not in love with most of newer synths (except Kurzweil).
I promised to myself never to buy new digital synth again, given the variety of VSTi and their easiness of use.
Frankly, I didn't find real feel of excitement with any digital synth produced last 20 years (I still use Virus rack, Motif ES and XS racks as sound modules) except Kurzweil (more for their fantastic libraries and VAST engine).
V-Synth changed that standpoint as it is very useful mix of capabilities and fresh in ideas. I like it very much and IMO it is only synth that Roland made in the last decades that made some real progress.
IMO V-Synth deserves very special place among guys who like to experiment and reach new sonic boundaries.
As it seems V-Synth might be the last digital keyboard I consider totaly worth purchasing, as it filled particular niche that remained empty for long time.

Yup, I've got both. The v-synth canes the varios. It's got more and better cosm effects. The varios is really cool for insane beat making. I only got the varios cuz you can pick them up for less than 200 these days. For that kind of money they are good even if you only use it for effects.

The v-synth is definitely the better of the two. I must say the v- synth might be the easiest synth to progrAm EVER!!!!! That's right I said it.

Effectively thevarios is the precursor to the v-synth. There is some overlap.

I'm pretty sure they are cards as you can add the d-50 emulation (vc-1) to the varios as well, have yet to open up the XT and check tho

yeah the varios has software bundled with it to use as VST correct? that is the big difference from the XT right?

well, a proud owner of an v-synth xt here. This is the digital synth that was worth buying for me, because its only concern is not emulating old stuff, but it is there to create new stuff. Just be careful, if you are not into learning your synths, programming them inside out, or if you shy away from steep learning curves, this is not the synth you should get. I know a lot of people who really couldnt use it and sold them. This is not a preset or just tweak the preset kind of machine. Hell, even before you start loading your samples and getting crazy, there are still millions of stuff to explore. It is deep!
oh and you get a d50 for free :P

I have the XT.

it's a synth that I can't imagine by using, would ever stop paying off.

any highly in-depth idea I get for concocting something, I usually always think about the V-Synth fo making it.

even as an external FX processor, it really is something.

There aren't many things I wish it had and the only thing I (really) wish it had is, layer-able zones.

I've been considering a V-Synth for a very long time now. It may be useful in a sound design capacity.

The prices are pretty low for the original. But I don't know how useful is can be if you can't layer zones.

Good point.. is the original V-Synth even worth it??

You can us the VC-1 and the VC-2 in the VariOS, obviously not at the same time.

More on the Varios... the so called "Jupiter and 303 emulations" in the VariOS is just the VA section of the V-Synth with a pretty interface.

The original V-Synth seems to be selling for around 650-1000 which totally worth it IMO.

I guess what I'm saying is ... what is the original V-Synth missing? Is it expandable like the others?

This is far from a limitation in respect to the V-Synth overall.

It would just make it immensely powerful if you could.

The GT i believe is essentially 2 original Vs in one unit. It also adds AP Synthesis and layerable zones (i think). And the color screen. =o]

But the cost of the GT is just WAY too high for me to justify. I have the original v.2 and at the $650 i paid for it, it's well worth it. They seem to average about $800-$900 now a days. And even at that price they're worth it.

The XT i don't think is expandable. It has everything in it already. V.2 OS, and both VC cards included.

A couple of wishes i have for the V-Synths:

Multi-Stage envelopes
Sample Start Offset as a modulation destination
Loop parameters available on a separate Loop Page

I have the original V, and both 1.5 and 2.0 OS/soundsets on the card. Now that I've pared down my studio, it's the only "niche" synth I have left that software synths just can't cover. VERY fun box...kind of like a grown-up Casio SK-1.

so theoretically if I had both the XT and varios then I would be able to sell the vc-2 based on the overlap of features between the 2?

i really really really want one! my girlfriend loves vocals in her music and it just seems like the most perfect machine


gotta get a gt 2nd hand though... not paying £2600 for a new one at all. just bought her a car

GT owner here. This very synth boosted creativity far more than any other. The whole variphrase stuff is just insanely more advanced than many of the other granular/wavetable/sampling stuff around.

The GT allows to use the vocoder along with the other kind of synthesis at the same time, which was the feature that decided me instead of the XT.

V-synth is SHIT! Please don't buy it! tutt






I don't want too many people to have one heh I'm selfish that way.

variphrase seems like the only real innovation we've seen since more than a decade, in the commercial synth market.

I went with a friend to an EXPO mainly to see some amigas and what some fanatic done with them, and threre it was ROLAND G and VSYNTH GT one next to the other. Being a workstation lover I tried the G first, it made me almost puke, the sound were plain awful , the worst I have heard anywhere.

And then of course I tried GT, I was not surprised that the electronic sound were eons ahead of G, but I was not prepared one tiny bit to be blown away in acoustic sounds department. Electric guitars, violins, pretty much anything was just phenomenal.

If I i did not own Alchemy, which is a soft synth, I would seriously considering purchasing VSynth Gt. But I feel with Alchemy have covered just fine the ground of sample manipulation.

However!

In the preset department GT just wins hands down, its clear the unlike Access VIRUS , Roland has actually bothered making some great presets for an amazing powerful va/ sample manipulation synth.

But who knows, maybe I will own one , one day.

kilon the GT is waaaay overpriced for anything it adds to the original.

other than the Vocal Designer stuff which I've not heard anything much about, there's nothing that can't be done on the basic V that a GT can do. it's just double, with the Vcards built in like on an XT.
the arch. difference is basically this analogy: JX8P->JX10 is ruff equivalent to difference between VSynth1->VsynthGT

Even a guy that used to work for Roland said in another thread that the GT was way overpriced at ~$3k, and recommended the original VSynth instead.

I found a VSynth+the D50 card for $800 a couple yrs ago - it's one of the best scores I've made, and the ONLY digital synth of mine that hangs w/ the A6 JP-8 2600 and modulars on a regular basis.

and wtf is a 'preset department'. destrooy all notion of reliance of that shit.

they're designed to 'sell the instrument', nothing more. they don't "help".
take the time to learn the fundamental nuts and bolts once and for all and don't look back.

presets have no creative merit, are conceptually useless and only serves to defeat you in the truest sense. <- make this thy mantra

I bought the XT years ago, returned it and got the Virus TI. Time passed and I missed the Vsynth... so I picked up an original for $600. It does all the important things that the XT did. The Vsynth is one of the few recent hardware synths that has "that sound".

I also have a Roland VP-9000, which is the sampling portion of the Vsynth. Great unit!