NAMM 2013 Rumors

[BobTheDog]

The VR-09 looks like Roland learned some from their crappy fist V-Combo attempt. Finally something making more sense, after years of really weird concepts.

If the sounds are great (further developed Roland B3 emulation??), and enough of them are available in all categores, this is even much closer to what I would call a useable performance synth, then the actual Jupiter 50/80 series with their funny UI. Still it seems rather something comparable to the Nord Stage 3, than to the Krome or Kronos.

Right with ya man. Some of the videos of the VR-09 I saw left me very impressed. And I consider myself a gear snob! I can find things to criticize (Always right?), but it just looks FUN. Grab and go, (judging by the demos) great sounds, and FAST access to do things in a cohesive package. For it's intended audience, I think it's gonna be a winner.

Regarding cohesiveness and the instant "fun" factor, this is where I think Korg needs to step it up. I'm not saying the Kronos isn't "fun" by any means, but (playing ability aside) a lot more preparation is necessary to unleash it's full potential on a gig.

The Roland videos really demonstrate this IMO:

First just grabbin sounds and jammin and tweakin the usual stuff on the fly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9k-NBb ... r_embedded


And Now here's another video which shows some sounds you wouldn't expect that are in there (I know I wasn't) and where you can do some on the fly sound design with very little effort. Who would have thought one could get so much out of a marimba sound???? I'm conflicted on the whole "iPad" trend, but still REALLY COOL IMO! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEIDKPF ... r_embedded

It looks and sounds pretty good to me!

[GregC]

The VR-09 looks like Roland learned some from their crappy fist V-Combo attempt. Finally something making more sense, after years of really weird concepts.

If the sounds are great (further developed Roland B3 emulation??), and enough of them are available in all categores, this is even much closer to what I would call a useable performance synth, then the actual Jupiter 50/80 series with their funny UI. Still it seems rather something comparable to the Nord Stage 3, than to the Krome or Kronos.

Right with ya man. Some of the videos of the VR-09 I saw left me very impressed. And I consider myself a gear snob! I can find things to criticize (Always right?), but it just looks FUN. Grab and go, (judging by the demos) great sounds, and FAST access to do things in a cohesive package. For it's intended audience, I think it's gonna be a winner.

Regarding cohesiveness and the instant "fun" factor, this is where I think Korg needs to step it up. I'm not saying the Kronos isn't "fun" by any means, but (playing ability aside) a lot more preparation is necessary to unleash it's full potential on a gig.

The Roland videos really demonstrate this IMO:

First just grabbin sounds and jammin and tweakin the usual stuff on the fly:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9k-NBb ... r_embedded


And Now here's another video which shows some sounds you wouldn't expect that are in there (I know I wasn't) and where you can do some on the fly sound design with very little effort. Who would have thought one could get so much out of a marimba sound???? I'm conflicted on the whole "iPad" trend, but still REALLY COOL IMO! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEIDKPF ... r_embedded

more dance music and 80's stuff ? Thats been around for quite awhile. I am hearing the same Roland sounds that have been around for a + decade. If your sets concentrate on that, I can see this being a useful board.

64 keys is a limiting factor so this is not striking me as a serious main board. If some have gigs with little room, it might make sense.

[jimknopf]

I still think it's the most useable thing they made in years. With batteries on board, it's even a nice keyboard to carry around for open air jamming among friends, with small, battery powered equipment or acoustic guitars, and supporting singing.

Though I am not at all impressed by it's piano and epiano sounds, it seems to have some well playable synth pads and solo synth stuff on board, and the organ engine (yes, I know, the Leslie sim has no Ventilator quality either, but seems to be on a par with the Kronos Leslie) finally seems to be well playable as well.

So, all in all, from my view that's the first Roland synth since V-Synth times, which makes some sense in it's overall structure, besides offering some nice sounds. A well useable, easy to transport bread and butter sounds keyboard at an attractive price tag is no bad thing, is it? I predict that it will sell a lot better than any other keyboard they offered during the last years.

[ccmacdon]

I'm really NOT a fan of the Roland VK organ but this VR-09 is a fascinating instrument.. 13 pounds, VK drawbar organ (with updated dual leslie sim), good quality acoustic and electric pianos, built in GM2 synth, and "juno" style virtual analog synth with free iPad editor apps for both the organ and the synth.. all for $999, wow.. Brand new price point for what looks to be a reasonable quality clone+...

By "clone+" I mean an instrument that is a hammond clone first but has other voices (AP/EP etc).. so Hammond SK1, Nord Electros etc.. all are what I consider clone+ instruments.

I'm excited about this instrument.. it has great potential and if the organ sounds good, it could be very popular.

[EvilDragon]

or worse, PC3.. The only way to pick sound fast AFAIK is by foot pedal from a pre programmed sequence of patches.. You cannot select your individual sounds by hand.. Well you can, but its like searching for a program in program mode on kronos..

PC3 has a QuickAccess mode which is functionally relatively similar to SetList. And you can program your own QA banks, however you want.


Kudos to Korg for miniMS-20, it looks like it's going to sell like crazy. People at GS are going wild!


Regarding the VR-09, I'm definitely not finding that Leslie emulation there particularly convincing. However the tonewheel sound behind it sounds pretty good. Piano... I'm not fond of Roland's piano sound at all...

[Saxifraga]

It looks as if the keybed is the same cheap design as all the recent Roland products. Even the JP-50 had this cheap feel to it. Why don´t they use something like the M3 61 or 73(6?) keybed?
But I like the Roland sound and playability. (No difficult menus!)
I wonder why they have to be lighter and lighter. Will they not fly from the stand in the heat of a solo on stage? I think you have to screw it to the standto have it stay in place.
JP 8000, JX-305 and such were built much better.

[NuSkoolTone]

It looks as if the keybed is the same cheap design as all the recent Roland products. Even the JP-50 had this cheap feel to it. Why don´t they use something like the M3 61 or 73(6?) keybed?
But I like the Roland sound and playability. (No difficult menus!)
I wonder why they have to be lighter and lighter. Will they not fly from the stand in the heat of a solo on stage? I think you have to screw it to the standto have it stay in place.
JP 8000, JX-305 and such were built much better.

Yes we can all nitpick and complain, but at $999 (probably even less) can you REALLY? I mean as long as it's playable (And obviously THAT guy could) it looks like new ground for grab and go. Sure, we'd all like waterfall keys, a bigger touchscreen without needing an iPad, more modeling (Which who knows at this point, it might have!) with V-Piano, supernatural articulations and all that stuff from the JP-80, and a built in vocal harmonizer for good measure, but I can't name ANYTHING at that price point that comes anywhere NEAR what was presented in those videos. That's the first thing I've seen from Roland in YEARS that I'd actually consider buying provided I had the need for one.

And..."It's not heavy enough"? said no gigging keyboard player EVER. My Kronos 73 is already light all considered and I'm STILL dreading the weight once I start gigging it and WISH it was half the weight. My M50 weight wise is a DREAM to gig with. All non-weighted boards should be that light!

[ccmacdon]

It looks as if the keybed is the same cheap design as all the recent Roland products. Even the JP-50 had this cheap feel to it. Why don´t they use something like the M3 61 or 73(6?) keybed?
But I like the Roland sound and playability. (No difficult menus!)
I wonder why they have to be lighter and lighter. Will they not fly from the stand in the heat of a solo on stage? I think you have to screw it to the standto have it stay in place.
JP 8000, JX-305 and such were built much better.

And..."It's not heavy enough"? said no gigging keyboard player EVER. My Kronos 73 is already light all considered and I'm STILL dreading the weight once I start gigging it and WISH it was half the weight. My M50 weight wise is a DREAM to gig with. All non-weighted boards should be that light!

I agree, give me a great keyboard that's as light as a feather and I'll glue it to my stand, this is much preferable to a heavy keyboard that holds itself in position.

[Scott]

It looks as if the keybed is the same cheap design as all the recent Roland products. Even the JP-50 had this cheap feel to it. Why don´t they use something like the M3 61 or 73(6?) keybed?

I own both, and I prefer the Jupiter 50 action to the Kronos 61! Wish it had aftertouch, though.

[Scott]

I like the VR-09. It looks like a much more versatile live board than the Krome, though I'm sure it will be closer to the JP-50 in price.

Both are $999 at Sweetwater.

[Scott]

The workstation market is small. I would imagine Roland , since they are behind the curve on workstations, lost share to Yamaha and Korg. With the Kronos and Krome , Korg is doing great and has revitalized interest in the workstation market.

I'd say that the workstation market is actually the biggest one for the most simple reason that workstations are the most versatile keyboards. You can use them anywhere, be it in the studio or on the stage. Live players who don't need a sequencer simply don't use it.

I think GregC is right. professional workstations are only for pro musicians..

I have numerous workstations (Korg, Yamaha, and Kurzweil), and have never used a sequencer in any of them. Unfortunately, the boards that have the best sounds and performance features often have all that other useless junk too. I've also never used a sampler built into a keyboard, I use the computer. But I do like to be able to load the samples into the keyboard.

I think Korg got the performance rompler close to right with the TR. Lightweight, aftertouch, assignable outs, and the ability to put RAM in it. While I really like the addition of the touchscreen interface in the subsequent M50 and Krome, the loss of aftertouch, assignable outs, and RAM has made them less desirable gigging boards than the TR was in these respects. But I don't need a sequencer in a live gigging board.

[jimknopf]

The funny thing about the VR09 is that it got a MUCH better controller interface than the three times more expensive JP80.
Seems like some guys at Roland finally grasped, how keyboarders use a "performance synth".