Leh173

Hopefully it has that much grunt...

If anyone reading this is at NAMM can you hit Roland up and ask them exactly what the synth engine is technically?

That's all I'm asking for. And yes, plenty of Rolands have offered it before. But that ability was missing from the VR-700. And maybe from the VR-09... Really? Had no idea it the VR-700 couldn't do that. There's always something...

Usually on Rolands you can pan parts. Maybe you could just pan the one sound left and the other right. Not sure how the stereo nature of the sounds will be affected. On the Fantom G the Rotary sounds can be set to mono, and the organ should be anyway.

We need to clarify what the synth engine is. from the look of the iPad app its similar to the one in the JP80/50 ie a VA. It has parameters such as PWM, supersaw detune etc... Can anyone verify what it is? Looks very different to the XV ROMpler engine.

Usually each part on a Roland has it's own channel so in theory should be easy. I think the Jupiter 80 has a weird implementation though which each live set had it's own channel, not each tone, but the Integra and Fantom G are like the old way, which is way better. Hopefully this is like that. How many splits and layers can this thing do? Man this is why I like the Fantom G, it's powerful and straight forward. BTW to the A-800 question even though it doesn't automap, I'd hope you can set whatever CC's you want to any of the controllers. I can on the Fantom G.

After looking at the stuff that's come out about this VR this morning, I'm quite intrigued. After I got over the disappointment of no new Fantom. This little thing would have been a no brainer for me a few (like 8) years ago. I remember wanting to buy a VR-760 for gigs (or a nord stage) but didn't have 5 grand at the time. Since then I grabbed the Fantom G which covers all my needs, but still a 5.5kg board with decent organ and synth tones etc is quite appealing. Looks like the synth can be controlled from the drawbars. Looking at the the iPad app for this, it seems the synth parameters are almost the same as the Jupiters. It does PWM and OSC sync which the Fantom ROMpler (JV/XV) engine does not do. I wonder if it's the same? Be good to get the manual when it's released. I think this would be a great lightweight top tier board or spare rehearsal or gig board. Interesting stuff. I notice the RD-64 also has the SN piano/EP and clonewheel organ. If they're putting those sounds into these things, surely a new workstation can't be too far off....

I always thought that they tried to do with Dalton and then Brosnan what they totally succeeded at doing with Daniel Craig, but they couldn't quite go the full way in 1986 and 1995, though goldeneye got close. The reboot was a brilliant idea in retrospect, though before Casino Royale it seemed like they had gone mad casting Daniel Craig, but they were bang on the money. I think the Bourne films have a lot to do with it. Jason Bourne made James Bond look like a joke, and Bond was a joke by the time Die Another Day rolled around. I read somewhere that Pierce Brosnan begged them to do with his Bond what they did with Daniel Craig. I really hope they don't "revert to formula" with skyfall. They did that after Goldeneye and they ruined Brosnans bond.

Point 1: Connery and Craig are my favourites and I was born after Connerys Bond and well before Craigs Bond. Point 2: What do you reckon?

From Russia With Love Closely followed by Casino Royale (2006) Honorable mentions Goldeneye Live and let die The Living Daylights