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Roland V-Combo VR-09


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Yeah, the pricing on the VR-09 is all over the place. As of a few days ago, GC was still at 899, while their sister company, MF, dropped to 799. AMS, Zzounds, and Music123 also went down to 799. Sam Ash, Kraft and Sweetwater rose to 999. Crazy.
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I am a little late to the party here:

 

I am thinking about one of these as a casual rehearsal board, but am waiting until I try the keyboard action and feel---that will make or break it for me, even for this utilitarian purpose....

but I saw this quote from the late lamented Dana which I think sums up so much of what keyboard players face, so I am repeating it here:

 

"Compromising with these boards blows. Why do you think there's so much gear turnover on the forum? "

"I have constantly tried to deliver only products which withstand the closest scrutiny � products which prove themselves superior in every respect.�

Robert Bosch, 1919

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Just picked up VR-09 at a great price. Mainly for a practice board and portability for small gigs. Hope to mess with it this weekend!
Montage 7, Mojo 61, PC-3, XK-3c Pro, Kronos 88, Hammond SK-1, Motif XF- 7, Hammond SK-2, Roland FR-1, FR-18, Hammond B3 - Blond, Hammond BV -Cherry
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FYI, I have owned mine for Two years and have not broken a key! People can talk about the action and feeling cheap, but proof is in the pudding!!!

I break keys, it is what I do, lol, if I get another year in without a broken key it may be a new record!!!

I still dig this board, my only complaint is the (organ) distortion sucks!

Jimmy

 

Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others. Groucho

NEW BAND CHECK THEM OUT

www.steveowensandsummertime.com

www.jimmyweaver.com

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I achieved some very good results on my organ edits. To anyone interested, start with the organ (rock organ) button below the screen. Put the Overdrive around 9 o'clock, the tone around 3 o' clock, the compressor around 10 o'clock. Change the MFX to twin Rotary and put it around noon. Reverb (change to spring) and delay if you use it to taste. Then press menu and organ. Change the Leakage level to 14. On click level: 12 (or a little more). Off click level: 12 (or a little more). Organ low gain: 2. Organ high gain: 5. Go to the rotary menu and set the speeds: Tweeter 88 fast 9 slow. Woofer 72 fast 8 slow. Accel 10 and 4 respectively. Leslie TYPE 2! There you have it!

My drawbars go to eleven.

Gear: Roland VR-09, Nord Electro 2 61, Korg CX-3. Hear my music: facebook.com/smokestoneband

 

 

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I still dig this board, my only complaint is the (organ) distortion sucks!

Interesting... I had different complaints in my brief time with the board, but I thought the organ distortion was decent! Not Vent quality, of course (or even Roland VK8 quality, with its COSM), but far better than what's in the Roland FA-06, or some other clones like the Hammond SK1.

 

And I actually was okay with the action. The slightly smaller than usual size did not bother me, and the increased resistance toward the back of the key, while worse than in some other boards, was also not as bad as in some other boards. It was poor for piano, of course, but to me, not so bothersome for much else. To me, the main limitations of the board were in other areas.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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Ooh, can't wait to try out To B3's settings. THANK YOU!!!

 

I get pretty good crowd responses with my Jon Lord wanna-be tones. I've also gotta great blues/jazz preset that starts rather mellow and easily dials up to a scream by the end of my solo on Red House. Got back-to-back gigs this weekend, but will try to share my settings here during some possible downtime.

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Tell us if it worked when you try! Works like a charm on my default 888653000 C1 chorus go-to rocknroll preset! Leslie type 2, I forgot!

My drawbars go to eleven.

Gear: Roland VR-09, Nord Electro 2 61, Korg CX-3. Hear my music: facebook.com/smokestoneband

 

 

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:boing::2thu::keys:

Oooooooohhhhh good!! Thank you so much ToB3 & Brenner. I can't wait to try out your sounds. Will have a session next week. I too have had nothing but good reactions to my Vr's sounds from everybody. I am still getting on really well with it. Overall, it was an excellent purchase. I just wish I also had something to share with you in return, but sadly I cannot think of anything.

"Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" ;) Bluzeyone
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I noticed one major online retailer has dropped their VR09 price to $799. Am I correct that original street price was $999, then dropped to $899 after a few years, and now $799?

 

I don't really need one of these but it is getting harder to resist! Early pages of this thread talk about the value proposition of getting this board for half the price of a Nord or Hammond SK. Now, the price is about a third!

 

That was short lived. Looks like they are now back to $999!

Montage 7, Mojo 61, PC-3, XK-3c Pro, Kronos 88, Hammond SK-1, Motif XF- 7, Hammond SK-2, Roland FR-1, FR-18, Hammond B3 - Blond, Hammond BV -Cherry
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Hope you like these B3 settings. One more tweak that I like it:

 

Layer the Pure Wurly with the VR EP 2 (the first a wurly, the second a dark rhodes with a little bell), both on the same octave with max volume. Tone knob 9 o'clock, a tiny bit of compressor. Turn the overdrive knob slowly, until you hear a slight sizzle and an up in volume, about 8 o'clock. Leave it. Select the spring reverb on the reverb knob, put in about 9 o' clock. Select the tempo slicer as MFX, 135 bpm, then turn the MFX at 8 or 9 o'clock, until it appears a tremolo, not slicing the sound (much better than the stock tremolos on the VR). The turn the leslie on, select leslie type 1 and set all the speeds on the menu to 0. The result is a hybrid EP that barks on the mids and lows and retains quite a bit of the rhodes bell on the highs. Very, very versatile and the leslie sim as an amp sim rounds the sound quite nicely. Hope you dig it!

My drawbars go to eleven.

Gear: Roland VR-09, Nord Electro 2 61, Korg CX-3. Hear my music: facebook.com/smokestoneband

 

 

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The VR-09 is by no means perfect, but for some reason it has a certain quality about it, a "je ne sais quoi".

 

It's just such a fun keyboard to muck around on, maybe because you can just get right at it and experiment so easily. It has given me so many great ideas.

 

Try layering some of the Synth sounds with the organ, especially the sweepy ones. Very psychedelic.

 

Most fun I've had with a keyboard in a long, long time. It is what it is and there's nothing wrong with that. Some may think it's a toy, it's kind of a guilty pleasure for me personally.

 

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Would love to see them release a 73 key version.

Would have been nice, but I think the FA-07 will be a better board anyway for most people not satisfied with 61. Yeah, it's more expensive and lacks the immediacy of the drawbar controls, but to me, the best thing about 7x vs 61 keys is how much more useful it is for splits. If you're working with splits, the FA has much better functionality than the VR, and if you're not, 61 keys is usually enough (except for piano, but the VR action is pretty poor for piano anyway).

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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It's easy to create great sounds on the VR-09, not so good saving and recalling them...

Hi Marillo. What is your problem with saving them? I have always found it extremely easy to make new registrations...

 

Recalling them is straightforward BUT I don't like their system of having only 4 registrations in each bank. 10 would be much better. And I REALLY don't like having to use the wheel after bank 4. I find it fiddly and awkward. Worst of all, I hate the way that the VR wont accept midi programme change messages.

"Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" ;) Bluzeyone
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Has anyone downloaded the cover band collection of sounds for the 09, from the axial site?

I did. It is ok. I think i have played a few of those songs and used a couple of the sounds. However, I remember being warned here that there is a glitch in the software which means that you are not supposed to store those sounds on the same USB as ones which you have done 'deep' editing to, as apparently they can somehow affect the edits... :-(

 

I don't really understand the problem as I have never delved very deeply into the VR sounds, so It hasn't been an issue for me. But it is good to be aware of it. Some people have had problems with it.

"Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" ;) Bluzeyone
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The VR09 stores registrations in files ending in .UPG. These registrations describe how to use the sounds; basically, everything you can do from the front panel. You can have many UPG files on one USB stick.

 

The "deep editing" of the sounds is separate from the UPG files, and is stored in a .DAT file. There is only one DAT file per USB stick. They screwed up on the file naming and forgot to increase the number in it. Every file is name VRSYN_001.DAT.

 

I tried opening a support ticket on this in 2014 and getting more information from Roland so that I could finish my patch librarian, but I was given the brush-off.

 

Wes

Hammond: L111, M100, M3, BC, CV, Franken CV, A100, D152, C3, B3

Leslie: 710, 760, 51C, 147, 145, 122, 22H, 31H

Yamaha: CP4, DGX-620, DX7II-FD-E!, PF85, DX9

Roland: VR-09, RD-800

 

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I don't like their system of having only 4 registrations in each bank. 10 would be much better. And I REALLY don't like having to use the wheel after bank 4. I find it fiddly and awkward. Worst of all, I hate the way that the VR wont accept midi programme change messages.

Yes... whether from its front panel or via an iPad app, there is basically no way to quickly/accurately call up any presets after the first 16. That's one of the board's biggest irritations, of which there were too many, I ended up returning the board. But I have an FA-07 on order and am looking forward to playing with that, as it seems to address most of what bugged me about the VR-09. I do wish they had included drawbars on it, but at least I have an Ocean Beach module that I can use.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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The VR09 stores registrations in files ending in .UPG. These registrations describe how to use the sounds; basically, everything you can do from the front panel. You can have many UPG files on one USB stick.

 

The "deep editing" of the sounds is separate from the UPG files, and is stored in a .DAT file. There is only one DAT file per USB stick. They screwed up on the file naming and forgot to increase the number in it. Every file is name VRSYN_001.DAT.

 

I tried opening a support ticket on this in 2014 and getting more information from Roland so that I could finish my patch librarian, but I was given the brush-off.

 

Wes

:idea: That is a great explanation Wes - thanks! I think I properly understand at last. :) It is strange how Roland have created this quite nice little keyboard which has a few problems, but then taken almost no interest in it after releasing it. I am not knowledgable about computers, but I am guessing that it would have been entirely possible for them to fix this issue. I wonder why they wouldn't?

"Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" ;) Bluzeyone
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What cases are you all using for the VR-09?

I bought the proper Roland case for it. It is really good. Very well padded, weighs nothing, and SMALL. Perfect. :) I think it was a bit pricey, but my VR gets gigged all the time, so I needed something quite robust.

"Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" ;) Bluzeyone
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I don't like their system of having only 4 registrations in each bank. 10 would be much better. And I REALLY don't like having to use the wheel after bank 4. I find it fiddly and awkward. Worst of all, I hate the way that the VR wont accept midi programme change messages.

Yes... whether from its front panel or via an iPad app, there is basically no way to quickly/accurately call up any presets after the first 16. That's one of the board's biggest irritations, of which there were too many, I ended up returning the board. But I have an FA-07 on order and am looking forward to playing with that, as it seems to address most of what bugged me about the VR-09. I do wish they had included drawbars on it, but at least I have an Ocean Beach module that I can use.

I have made it work for me, but it makes things more complicated than they need to be. If they made another version of the VR without all these annoying issues then I would proobably buy it. I certainly enjoy using it and I love having the proper drawbars.

 

Congrats on your new FA-07. :)

 

 

"Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" ;) Bluzeyone
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I don't like their system of having only 4 registrations in each bank. 10 would be much better. And I REALLY don't like having to use the wheel after bank 4. I find it fiddly and awkward. Worst of all, I hate the way that the VR wont accept midi programme change messages.

Yes... whether from its front panel or via an iPad app, there is basically no way to quickly/accurately call up any presets after the first 16. That's one of the board's biggest irritations, of which there were too many, I ended up returning the board. But I have an FA-07 on order and am looking forward to playing with that, as it seems to address most of what bugged me about the VR-09. I do wish they had included drawbars on it, but at least I have an Ocean Beach module that I can use.

 

The FA07 is a very versatile and good sounding board for sure. But don't expect to get the same good organ sounds like from the VR09. I owned both for a while, FA06 and VR09. In comparison the FA lacks quite a few features of the VR09 in the organ and Leslie sim department. Anyway, the Ocean Beach drawbar controller works fine with it.

LIFE IS SHORT, GO GET THE GEAR YOU WANT ;-)

 

 

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Yes... whether from its front panel or via an iPad app, there is basically no way to quickly/accurately call up any presets after the first 16. That's one of the board's biggest irritations, of which there were too many, I ended up returning the board.

I have made it work for me, but it makes things more complicated than they need to be.

Here's what made it even harder to work with for me: The very limited patch recall function prompted me to look at the VR primarily as a "grab the sounds you need as you need them" board (reserving patch recall for a handful of special cases)... that seemed to be what the board was best suited for, and that can be a very useful paradigm as well. I tried using it that way, but switching to organ was problematic. It's been a while since I've had the board, so I may have some detail wrong (so maybe someone here will confirm), but IIRC, if I was playing an organ sound (to which I always added some overdrive, and the rotary effect), and then switched to some other sound, I couldn't switch back to the organ sound I had just been playing. The overdrive (and EQ) settings would be gone, and I'd have to turn the rotary back on. Roland did provide a way to store a default key click and leakage setting (I don't recall whether those could be altered for a particular registration?), such that you'd have those settings whenever you selected organ from the front panel, which was good. But there was no way to specify a default overdrive, EQ, or rotary-enable setting, so the organ didn't come up with a usable (to me) default organ sound, and it wasn't as simple as just setting those things once and starting to play because, as I said, if I switched away from organ to piano, and then switched back to organ, I'd have to make all those settings all over again, mid-song.

 

To work around that, I figured I'd use the first Registration button to call up an organ sound I liked, but that was still limited in this "real time sound creation" paradigm because, if I moved any drawbars, then switched to another sound, there was no way to get back to the drawbar setting I had just been playing (you'd have to move every drawbar again), and IIRC, you'd also lose some of the other features/flexibility that you get when calling up your sounds in "real time"... i.e. a registration sound doesn't instantly "mix-and-match" with the other front panel sounds, it resets everything. But my memory is hazy on the details, I mostly just remember not finding that a great solution either.

 

I have an FA-07 on order and am looking forward to playing with that, as it seems to address most of what bugged me about the VR-09. I do wish they had included drawbars on it, but at least I have an Ocean Beach module that I can use.

The FA07 is a very versatile and good sounding board for sure. But don't expect to get the same good organ sounds like from the VR09. I owned both for a while, FA06 and VR09. In comparison the FA lacks quite a few features of the VR09 in the organ and Leslie sim department. Anyway, the Ocean Beach drawbar controller works fine with it.

Yes, I know the FA lacks the C/V organ functions (which I guess was one way of addressing the complaints about the VR's percussion going through its C/V!), and its rotary/overdrive sound is different and (IMO) not as good. But I have a Ventilator, so I intend to send the organ out the Sub Out to the Vent. (The Vent is not nearly as usable on a VR09 because the lack of a sub out or even mono L/R sound panning means that you can't put it on organ without putting it on any other split/layered sound you may be using; plus you have to always remember to switch it in or out of bypass when switching to/from organ sounds.) The Vent won't address every organ shortcoming of the VR, but a least every time I switch to organ, I should have the rotary/overdrive effect I want, and it will be not just a better rotary/overdrive than what's in the FA, but also better than what's in the VR. Although (afaik) the FA+OB drawbars still won't give me a method to instantly read the "live" drawbar settings, I think I might be able to switch away from organ and then back to organ without losing the drawbar settings I had just been playing, basically by just switching the organ sound in or out within the current Studio Set, plus I can store a bunch of different drawbar settings for easy recall without the roadblock of not wanting to use up too many of the precious first 16 registrations of the VR. So all in all, I think it will work better for me as an organ than the FA did. (Plus, I also have the option of using the FA in conjunction with a better organ sound elsewhere in my rig anyway... unlike my interest in the VR, organ is only a secondary function within my intended use of the FA, which is ironic since the FA will probably do the better job of it.)

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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