V-Synth users?

The Lounge Other Gear
#1

So with the A4 going up an extra $300 I’ve decided to get something else and I am actually thinking about getting a V-Synth XT. There is a cheap one on Yahoo at the moment. It seems like it has good sound mangaling possibilities. and might be perfect for my final set up.

At the moment I have the OT as main sequencer, controlling a tetra and a shruthi with a few outboard pedals, but if I added a V-Synth I figured I could have my set up like this:

Axiom 49
OT
Tetra running through my pedals into the OT A/B
Shruthi running into the Audio in of the V-Synth (then the V=synth can be an effects processor for the Shruthi) and then V-synth outs to C/D on OT. Juno I figure I can just sample when need be as I don’t use it all that often.

With this set up I figure the tetra has bread an butter covered, shruthi is the weird mono and then v synth for all the weird synth sounds, blips and oddities between.

Anyone else using one of these? Is it likely to fit this bill?

#2

I have a V-Synth original keyboard which I should use more. I would think it fits any poly needs you may have. The things which might annoy you are:-

No real combination mode, its doable but ugly putting different sounds in keyboard zones. The actualy drum kits seem clumsy as well. But it can be done.

Realtime tweaking of knobs have severe stepping, but CC , mod stick and D-Beam are pretty smooth.

Fast (audio rate) modulation sounds terrible. Forget the ringmod for example.

But… it is amazing. Really dirty loops when you change the pitch or time stretch loops. Its pretty much a sampler with attitude. VA side is similar to JP8000. It is FUN to use,

B

#3

Thanks for the reply. I am really struggling to find any videos or audio demos online that are not pure cheese. It looks like an interesting synth but I am worried that I might just be better off with a virus or a nord. I’m intrigued by the v synth but cant find any demos that make me go “hell yeah”

#4

That’s OK, I don’t know of any good demos either. I treat it like a sampler as in it does nothing unless you loading sounds.

#5

I love my V-Synth XT, especially the Multi Step Modulator which gives you the possibility to assign 4 independent modulation sequencers to any destination you like.

The touch screen is a big plus and lets you access everything quick, no one screen clicking hassle, love it.

Cosm 1 and Cosm 2 is for filter, amps, resonator, frequ shift, etc.

You do not need to load samples to make sound , it is a synth!!, just use the build in synthese > Waveforms (Saw, Square, etc.). The most important are there and give you everything you need for synth sounds, especially bread and butter sounds.

CTRL is great and you can assign everything via the Matrix Ctrl and if you think of it as an old machine it is pretty straight forward to deal with.

I never used Rhythm (for drums much) as I have other options to make drums, but if you take the time to deal with it you have excellent options to treat your sound.

Importing samples need some time, especially for encoding loops as they need a special encoding to run as wanted for mangling (import>edit if needed>encode>save for each loop, one shots is less).

The V-Synth librarien, which was useful doesn´t run on my osx mountain lion anymore, neither does the driver (up to lion), but not really needed because you can use the DIN inputs for midi and the analog ones for audio.

Beside the Cosm 1/2 you have the Effect section with MFX (from multi delay/EQ/AMP/Humanizer/Tape Echo/etc.), CHO (Chorus/Flanger/short delay) and Reverb. You can assign all three effects via send/return or insert, which is enough for most scenarios (would be nice if MFX effects would also be accesable in the other sections but not a big deal for me personally that it is not).

The global knob (via menu) is also nice with 16 different presets for quick assignments of the 8 control knobs E1-E8.

…and you have the D-50 and the vocal designer too!!

You may want to check this:
http://www.rolandclan.com/media/17/V-Synth%20tips%20and%20tricks.html

I say grab one, especially for a good price, if it fits your needs:
Great, warm sounding machine!

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#6

reviving, another dreamsynth which I can now afford. Is it still usable/relevant? I think so…

Can you put samples in it via pc win10?

Any users here?

#7

Man, I don´t remember writing all the stuff… :rofl:
Still got mine, the only hardware synth I still have from my early days and I still love it :grinning:

Edit: Sample transfer with a Compact flash card, still works great.

#8

hehe, think I’m going to buy one. Seeing a few Vsynth 2.0. It just sounds so beautiful, and is cheap nowadays, think very underrated.

Do you know what that vocal card does?

#9

Yeah, they go for really cheap and V-Synth does sound really nice, the effect section is great as well. I also think it is quite underrated.

Grab one, I bet you won´t regret, you just have to deal with the fact that you can´t use USB audio and the V-Synth librarien anymore, but for me this was never a problem. You can also send audio through it and use the nice filter, effects, modulation sequencer.

It also has a drum section, especially made for drum design, which offers unique and great sounding possibilities.

The vocal card, I just been using it the last few days intensively for all kind of experimentations, is basically (like) a vocoder, but you can get nice less vocoding sounds out of it as well. Signal input can be anything (microphone/analog input), use a midi signal to play notes. You can change quite a few things and you also can use some of those nice roland effects with it, really fun playing around with :grin:

#10

Ah damn, but I have somewhere an old XP machine so the librarien still works? usb audio (at that time)?
So for vocoding stuff you need the card? Many ideas…
Can I sequence this monster with an Elektron MD or DN?
Is it great for getting into creepy/dark out of this world sounds?
Can you assign anything to the d-beam and time pad, modwheel? Also does this send out midi to other synths? I mean can I for example assign delay time of DN to D beam?
Also I see it takes wav and aiff, so I can basically make aiff files internally of 12 sec for my OP1?

Many thx

#11

XP should do it, never used the usb audio, I know you have options in confg. page to use USB as audio input, but I never tried it, but it is a audio interface.

Yea, you need the card, bought mine with a card, not sure how it is sold nowadays.

External sequencing is flawless and the cc modulation matrix is useable, but I personally never used it that much.
v%20synth

You can get pretty much anything out of this machine, two OSC, each assignable with either a sample or use of the synthese engine and check the modulation sequencer, you can assign almost anything to it.
patch

I think the modulation matrix is well done and easy to get around, not sure how deep you can go, but everything you mention should basically be possible, but don´t nail me on that :wink:

It has midi through and midi out. Not sure if you can do what you asked, maybe, but I would need to check that…

Vocoder:
vocoder

Internally? You mean wav/aif files made from your OP1 to feed V-Synth? RAM is limited, it is an older machine, check manual to know more. As I mention in my old post, converting stuff, especially loops, for the full use of time pad etc. needs a bit patience, but can be done.

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#12

Ok many thx to bad the vsynth is not coloured screen like your XT! But I mean the other way about aiff files, making a 12sec aiff on Vsynth, for example different drums/perc hits and then to OP1.
Can the Vsynth sample in real time on aiff format for about 12sec and save that internally to later copy that to Op1 with the use of a computer?

#13

No, you can not sample stuff in real time :sunglasses:

Edit: I was wrong on this, you can sample stuff:

“There are two ways to create new PCMs; you can sample, or you can import WAVs and AIFF files from elsewhere. Selecting the sampling mode and capturing audio is simple. Just select an empty memory location, press the Sampling tab on screen, choose an input and any input processing required, set up the metronome and the other bits and bobs, and hit ‘Start’. When you’ve finished, you hit Stop, and the XT will then guide you through sample editing and the necessary Variphrase ‘encoding’ prior to naming and saving the new sound in the working memory. Editing is simple, with a clear display and all the standard zooming, trimming, normalising, looping and zero-crossing tools. The Variphrase encoding process, which detects and/or allows you to identify events so that Variphrase can perform its processing tricks, is equally straightforward, with just four encoding options; one optimised for solo sounds, one for ensemble sounds, one for percussion, and one for general-purpose use.”

#14

aaahgrrr anyway still very interesting synth, even the card of the D50, def the vocal card. So d50 and vocal designer are the only cards made?

#15

Yes.
Nice article to read:
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/roland-v-synth-xt-part-2-vc1-vc2-cards

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/roland-v-synth-xt-part-1

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#16

Amazing synth. The VA engine is pretty good, though I hardly ever use it since I prefer to use this thing as a sample-mangler. The elastic sound concept definitely has a sonic fingerprint, but it works pretty well. COSM effects are useful, esp the filters. Love some (though not all) of the other fx and reverbs. The knobs, D-beams, and Time Trip pad really help make this feel like an instrument.

Tried controlling it externally using the Digitakt. Got interesting multitimbral results, but need to do further research. Has anyone really probed using Elektron step sequencing for program changes, esp with drums?

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#17

I bought a V-Synth XT a few weeks back. I’ve been dreaming of having one for years and finally made the jump. I’ve been really happy with the purchase. Can’t remember the last time a synth was this inspiring.

Despite the touch screen the UI is great, it sounds awesome, responds to aftertouch and modulation like a dream and there’s nothing else quite like it. Quite often I just sample my self speaking and then make it sing harmonies, it’s amazing, like a weird mutant combination of a vocoder and a speech synth. The effects are great and the two COSM processors make this truly unique by allowing you to use a resonator or an overdrive in place of the usual filters. A lot of thought has gone into this thing. I also love the way I’m able to tilt it in the rack to make it more user friendly.

Haven’t really dabbled with the built in VC-cards yet (except one night of playing Orinoco Flow furiously with the Pizzagogo preset on the D-50.) But this thing comes with a complimentary D-50 and a vocoder. Pure love for Roland for this.

A modern classic if there ever was one.

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#18

You’ve been AudioPilz’d

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#19

the one thing I regret selling

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#20

Bought an XT recently, and as an electro dude, the VariPhrase/Vocal Designer features “that didn’t age well” were some of the USPs for me :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Got it for €600 which I think was a good price. Just made space for it in the rack, excited to get into this behemoth.

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