new Vox Continental - Some thoughts

[AnotherScott]

I did hit a disappointment here. Yes, you can switch among 4 saved sounds within a single scene, but unlike when you switch scenes, there is no seamless switching among these four sounds... a held/sustained/decaying sound will immediately cut off when you switch to another sound. :-(

Good news and bad news...

 

Good news: If you want to seamlessly switch to another sound in the same scene, just hit the current Scene button again, and then you will (usually) be able to switch to another one of its sounds seamlessly. (It doesn't work 100% of the time, there are some times where it won't work, but I haven't figured out what the pattern is.)

 

BUT... You have to be careful... if you re-hit the current Scene button and then another category button really quickly (I think before the scene's default sound's indicator lights up), the keyboard hangs (often with a loud droning noise) and you have to restart. So use this ability with caution! As long as you "take a beat" between the first and second button press, it seems to work fine. Those kinds of small sound change delays happen all the time on the Vox, but the particular problem here isn't the delay in activating the new sound, but the fact that the board hangs and has to be re-started.

[AnotherScott]

Let's say you save a scene that has only an Organ sound active. Can that scene also include a silent but specific piano sound, and EP sound, and key/layer sound, from which you could subsequently select from within the same scene? IOW, recalling the scene would immediately give you an organ sound, but the same scene is also programmed so that hitting the Piano button will give you, say, an Upright, EP will give you Reed piano #6, and Key/Layer will give you its Tape Strings sound, if that's how you set it up?

yes

I hit another gotcha here... any effect you have enabled for a sound is enabled for all four sounds. So if in your set-of-4 you were to (for example) put a chorus on your upright piano sound in that example, that same chorus will be applied to the organ sound, the reed piano, and the tape strings. So practically speaking, if you want to switch among 4 sounds within a set, you probably don't want to use effects on them, unless I missed something here.

 

This also becomes another reason one might want to select some of the sounds that have effects baked into them. I remember some forum member complaining about sounds that had baked in effects, but there are some places where it can make sense to go that route rather than relying strictly on the front-panel accessible effects.

[niacin]

any effect you have enabled for a sound is enabled for all four sounds. So if in your set-of-4 you were to (for example) put a chorus on your upright piano sound in that example, that same chorus will be applied to the organ sound, the reed piano, and the tape strings. So practically speaking, if you want to switch among 4 sounds within a set, you probably don't want to use effects on them, unless I missed something here.

 

This also becomes another reason one might want to select some of the sounds that have effects baked into them. I remember some forum member complaining about sounds that had baked in effects, but there are some places where it can make sense to go that route rather than relying strictly on the front-panel accessible effects.

 

Yes you're right. So if you want an effect on one sound and another effect on another you have switch between presets, not within a preset, although if you have one sound with fx and the other without you can just turn it on or off when you switch. The baked in effects are particularly good imo for electric pianos, so I can have a wurli with tremolo (that can actually be switched on or off using the mod pitch lever) and strings with no multi-fx on the other side of a split. The board was really designed to be basically monotimbral so you find workarounds for layers and, since the OS update, splits, but the choices such as the baked in effects have been really well thought out imo and make the board's limitations less of an issue.

[AnotherScott]

if you have one sound with fx and the other without you can just turn it on or off when you switch.

Yes, that's at least something. Though in my case, when the Vox is part of a multi-board setup, my intent is to cover up all the Vox controls except for those 2 inches of patch select buttons at the bottom, so as to keep the keys of the two boards close, so I won't have access to turning effects on/off (see the pics in my post #3078467 earlier in this thread). Admittedly, this may not be a common setup.

 

I can understand why each of the 4 sounds in a setup can't have their own effects, but I think a better design decision would have been to have the multi-effect apply to only the sound that is active when the Scene is first recalled, and have no such effect on any other sound in the same scene. The way I see it, if you want to switch among the sounds in a scene, the odds that you want your chorus/phaser/flanger effect on all of those sounds as you switch among them is probably remote.

[niacin]

yes

I can understand why each of the 4 sounds in a setup can't have their own effects, but I think a better design decision would have been to have the multi-effect apply to only the sound that is active when the Scene is first recalled, and have no such effect on any other sound in the same scene. The way I see it, if you want to switch among the sounds in a scene, the odds that you want your chorus/phaser/flanger effect on all of those sounds as you switch among them is probably remote.

 

True. I assume the limitation is due to the way the fx routing is coded. It would be great if you could select whether the mutli-fx apply to each of the four sections in the same way you can select sustain pedal to function or not for each section. I've found that with the baked in effects (tremolo or phaser or chorus or drive) on various electric piano presets, and with delay being separate from the mutli-fx, it would work fine for me if the multi-fx was just for the key/layer section, but that may not suit everyone.

[AnotherScott]

Something I haven't seen discussed is patch management for rapid sound switching, so I thought I'd share what I came up with.

 

For my main usage, most of the time, I simply need to quickly select from a bunch of common sounds, none of which are specific to any one song. So I have set up "Scene Set 1" to give me very fast access to 29 common sounds, and labeled the buttons accordingly so no memorization is required. It looks like this:

 

 

The most obvious part is that the labels under the Scene buttons (rows A to D) tell you want sound each of the Scene buttons will call up (in banks A to D), which is determined by the KEY/LAYER sound for that Scene (the active sound when that Scene was Written), with just one exception: Location A1 is a combination of Piano and my Dark String sound (which I typically use as a pad), and when I invoke that one, all I get is Piano, and I'd need to then hit the KEY/LAYER button if I wanted to switch to that string sound or add it as a pad. So that one is mostly my Piano button, but other than that, the rest of these 16 locations are labeled with (and bring up) the associated KEY/LAYER sound.

 

The less obvious part is how the sounds displayed under the ORGAN, E.PIANO, and PIANO buttons were set up. The numbers (1 to 4) refer to which Scene a given sound is located in. The trick here is that these sound assignments are identical in all four banks (A to D). IOW, I copied those same 12 sounds into each of the four banks, The basic premise here is that, while I need fast access to a bunch of commonly used sounds, I don't need such on-the-fly access to more than four organs, four electric pianos, or four pianos. That's what makes this arrangement work.

 

In short:

 

* The 16 sounds on the left are a matrix that clearly lines up to Scenes 1 to 4 in Banks A to D.

* the 12 sounds on the right ALWAYS work when you select the properly numbered Scene (1 to 4 as labeled), no matter what Bank you're in. So those sounds can alway be selected within a maximum of two button presses (Scene number, and the desired Category a sound is listed under).

 

So each of the listed sounds is very quickly available, and easily locatable.

 

The only thing this doesn't cover are the "rare birds" that have a particular sound for a particular song. I could put these in one of the alternate Scene Sets, and they could either be listed elsewhere on the front panel, or have their locations included as part of the song name in my set list. So for example, if all my "custom song settings" were in Scene Set 2 (locations A1 through D4), and in B2 I had my special patch for "Lucky Man" (a synth sound I'd likely use for no other song and so too wasteful to make part of the core set), my set list could call it "Lucky Man B2." Though honestly, that's more theoretical at this point. As a "bottom board," the 29 sounds I can easily get to and call up on the fly is really all I need. In fact, it's already more than I've often had available in my bottom board.

 

Here's what the setup looks like with this board as a "bottom."

 

 

You can't tell from the pic (because the boards aren't powered up and the shot is from straight above rather than playing angle), but it is still easy to tell which Bank, Scene, and Section lights are illuminated.

 

I've made a couple of slight changes since the pic... most notably, I eliminated the DX7 EP (really, I never use it and won't miss it!) and am making that a "blank" (volume down) sound. The idea is to call up that silent patch and hit the "Dual KB" button on the Nord above whenever I simply want to use the Vox as a lower manual for the Nord. This could work with other top boards as long as they have some quickly available setting that will enable reception for some sound over some specified MIDI channel.

[ProfD]

It looks like a Konti might become my 73-key semi-weighted KB of choice without going to that red.

 

Let me know if owners have had any quality control issues with it. Thanks.

[jejefunkyman]

No quality issued with mine so far (I own one since 2 years now).

 

Works smoothly!

[Adan]

Been thinking lately about getting one of these again. I've said it before -- it has significant flaws and shortcomings, and its strengths are oddly disjointed from its intended purpose, but feels more like a real instrument than just about any digital keyboard I've played. And I've always loved how it looks. Now that it's drawing the attention of ProfD's discerning fingers, that's another strong endorsement.

 

I think may main dissapointment with it when I owned one was that it, in my mind, weighted keys would have better suited its strength in the EP department. But on the other hand, if your goal is to have something light and portable that shines on EPs, the Conti rocks that narrow niche like nothing else.

[jejefunkyman]

I think may main dissapointment with it when I owned one was that it, in my mind, weighted keys would have better suited its strength in the EP department. But on the other hand, if your goal is to have something light and portable that shines on EPs, the Conti rocks that narrow niche like nothing else.

 

Indeed ;-) Personally, I think that semi-weighted are ok to play EPs. For APs, that's of course a different story.

 

However, the Vox APs work also well in a band context. The CX-3 engine is a bonus and can also work on some stuff.

 

Look and weight are top notch.

[Doerfler]

I've had my 61 for 2 years now. It's a keeper. Myself, I cannot use it as a bottom board, even if it were a 73. I am not talented enough to hold back, I need weighted keys. Kronos sounds for not Kronos money, cool retro vibe. Everything has plusses and minuses.

If I came across a 73 for the right price (don't even know what that is, just a thought) I would seriously consider adding that to my existing supply of keyboards. If it had an internal power supply it would be perfect.

[AnotherScott]

If it had an internal power supply it would be perfect.

I wouldn't go that far. ;-)

[stoken6]

The labels under the Scene buttons (rows A to D) tell you want sound each of the Scene buttons will call up (in banks A to D), which is determined by the KEY/LAYER sound for that Scene (the active sound when that Scene was Written), with just one exception: Location A1

So Scott, if I understand correctly: the 16 labels on the left under the Scene buttons all seem to refer to the contents of the "Key/Layer" slot for that Bank/Scene combination (Vibes, Brass, Flute, Choir... except that A1 references AP as well as strings). And then the labels on the right allow you to pick Organ/EP/AP which are programmed in to each patch (but not active - with the exception of A1). Which is why there are no labels under the "Key/Layer" button - they're already listed under the "Scene" buttons.

 

Is that correct? It sounds just like something I would have come up with.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[AnotherScott]

So Scott, if I understand correctly: the 16 labels on the left under the Scene buttons all seem to refer to the contents of the "Key/Layer" slot for that Bank/Scene combination (Vibes, Brass, Flute, Choir... except that A1 references AP as well as strings). And then the labels on the right allow you to pick Organ/EP/AP which are programmed in to each patch (but not active - with the exception of A1).

Yes

Which is why there are no labels under the "Key/Layer" button - they're already listed under the "Scene" buttons.

Indirectly, yes, but more directly, its a consequence of that fact that that location is simply not fixed to a specific sound in the first place. For example, take line #2. The first three spots are "All Bars," "Wurly," and "Piano-M" which works because those buttons always invoke those sounds (because I copied them into each of the four Banks). But the fourth spot, under Key/Layer, could bring up any of four sounds ("Clav Fnk," "Brass," "Harpsi," or "Oohs") depending on which Bank you're in. So there's no single sound to list there that would always be right. You could make the column really wide and have it say "A=Clav Fnk, B=Brass, C=Harpsi, D=Oohs" but that would be messy, and not so useful since, yes, that's exactly what you can already tell from the legends on the other side.

[ProfD]

I've had my 61 for 2 years now. It's a keeper. Myself, I cannot use it as a bottom board, even if it were a 73. I am not talented enough to hold back, I need weighted keys. Kronos sounds for not Kronos money, cool retro vibe.

My primary KB has to be a weighted 88-note KB. I'm less picky when it comes to the chief 2nd KB.

 

I think a 73/76 hits the sweet spot as I can use it to play LH bass and synth parts.

 

In a pinch, I can use the 73/76 as a portable KB for those situations when moving the 88 is impractical.

 

The Vox 73 has become an attractive proposition because it contains enough of the "Kronos-lite" soundset to cover the "other" sounds with basic editing (ASDR, Cutoff, Resonance).

 

As I'm not a Hammond purist, I've always been fine with the CX-3 when it comes to organ sounds.

 

I'm glad version 2.0 expanded the split/layer capability of the Vox Continental.

[jejefunkyman]

In a pinch, I can use the 73/76 as a portable KB for those situations when moving the 88 is

 

The gig bag allows you to carry it on your back ð In fact I use the Vox mostly for rehearsals, and sometimes for gigs.

[niacin]

Usually I have a Hammond SK1 on the top tier, but the last two gigs I"ve done have been Vox 73 only. The first an awards night function, single trip in with the Vox on my back and folding stool and stand in either hand (PA supplied), fill-in-gig, band loved the sounds. Second, last weekend, was 3 hours of old-school jazz, mostly full stride piano. Yes you read that right. I"ve become very used to the keys and (with the dynamics knob all the way up) can get good dynamics and my accuracy has become pretty good. Upright #8 (from the latest OS) is a great patch.

 

But the thing that has really blown me away is the quality of the synth section. Since I bought the Vox I"ve used it not just for function gigs but also for a range of tribute shows, often synth-heavy affairs where the Vox is supplying the synth sounds as well as strings and electric pianos, and the touch strips make for fast editing. A set of Cyndi Lauper? Tick (synth #1 is the Oberheim, really love this patch). Roxette? Tick. No Doubt (Tragic Kingdom)? Tick. Early synth-heavy Eurythmics? Tick. Whitesnake? Tick. And right now Pink Floyd. Surely I need a proper synth? Or so I thought. But with a bit of tweaking the Vox gives me the Moog leads for Shine, Welcome to the Machine, Have a Cigar â¦, as well as the electric pianos (the SK1 covers Hammond and Rick's ARP String Ensemble).

 

I recently picked up a Midi Solutions Pedal and have it programmed to send filter messages, doubling touch strip #4, but where the touch strips send a series of 8 values, the Pedal gives me a smooth filter sweep. Just ordered an Expressive E Touche, it will sit on the left end of the top panel perfectly and open up some possibilities for synth solos.

 

Yes it's a very niche board, not for everyone, has plenty of limitations, but I find it a joy to play and tweak and it really puts a smile on my face.

[Doerfler]

Yes you read that right.

When I grow up I wanna be like you.

[niacin]

Yes you read that right.

When I grow up I wanna be like you.

 

lol. During the set breaks I'm off stage looking at it thinking "Man that looks so wrong on a jazz piano gig." With it's Vox Continental looks I'm sure it'll leave a few folks thinking wtf. I should put a Marshall badge on my DBR-10 just to complete the joke.

[stoken6]

Usually I have a Hammond SK1 on the top tier, but the last two gigs I"ve done have been Vox 73 only. The first an awards night function, single trip in with the Vox on my back and folding stool and stand in either hand (PA supplied), fill-in-gig, band loved the sounds. Second, last weekend, was 3 hours of old-school jazz, mostly full stride piano. Yes you read that right. I"ve become very used to the keys and (with the dynamics knob all the way up) can get good dynamics and my accuracy has become pretty good. Upright #8 (from the latest OS) is a great patch.

 

But the thing that has really blown me away is the quality of the synth section. Since I bought the Vox I"ve used it not just for function gigs but also for a range of tribute shows, often synth-heavy affairs where the Vox is supplying the synth sounds as well as strings and electric pianos, and the touch strips make for fast editing. A set of Cyndi Lauper? Tick (synth #1 is the Oberheim, really love this patch). Roxette? Tick. No Doubt (Tragic Kingdom)? Tick. Early synth-heavy Eurythmics? Tick. Whitesnake? Tick. And right now Pink Floyd. Surely I need a proper synth? Or so I thought. But with a bit of tweaking the Vox gives me the Moog leads for Shine, Welcome to the Machine, Have a Cigar â¦, as well as the electric pianos (the SK1 covers Hammond and Rick's ARP String Ensemble).

Love this story/review. This board is quite the dark horse. When it was launched I thought "this is a failed Electro competitor". But it's not. It's a stage keyboard disguised as a clonewheel.

 

I still think it's a shame that they left key organ controls off the panel. And I believe there's no way to play one of its sounds locally, and a different sound via MIDI from a controller? But as a rehearsal/lightweight/"festival" board, it seems ideal.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[ProfD]

My local dealer claims the Vox didn't sell well so they stopped carrying it.

 

Brotha Dave Doerfler has offered to let me take his Vox for a spin. If my curiosity grows,,we'll find a way to make that happen.

 

Otherwise, I may have to look in another direction for my 73-note chief 2nd KB solution

[Fleer]

What can I say. At first glance I found it an odd looking thing. And expensive at that.

A year later I got my first 73. Then my second. Then a 61. I"m an addict.

[Nicky]

Question for the Vox owners...can the Leslie be put in stop or break mode?

[Doerfler]

Question for the Vox owners...can the Leslie be put in stop or break mode?

 

No

[Hendrik]

Hello fellow Voxians,

 

in the last days I took this thread as a nice evening lecture, till I made it to the very end, very informative!

 

So I will add my experience with my 61-key Vox.

 

Last year I was looking for a lightweight 61 key-board with some distinctive organ-features, as well as some E&A-pianos, B&B-Sounds like synth leads and maybe from time to time a layer or split and a nice waterfall action.

I own a Nord Stage 3 88HA, so I was always very sure, the electro 6D was going to be a no brainer, but I didn"t want to go down the fanboy alley unreflected and so I visited my trusty Musicstore in Berlin, just to give the whole competitor-keyboards a try.

 

Nord Electro:

 

Nearly perfect, I"m a big fan of Nords intuitive interface as well as the Nord Sound library and the possibility to build an instrument exactly to your needs.

But: the missing pitch bend is a horrific thing, I"m very spoilt from the NS3, synth lines without pitch bending⦠uff tough thing.

 

Roland VR 730:

 

Nice board, good action, lots and lots of sounds and possibilities (+ Software editor, wow!!)

but: the board is huge, 76 keys + the big pitch lever to the left, it"s nearly as wide as the stage, doesn"t make sense for me as well as the lacking nobs to adjust the volume of each layer - pressing buttons isn"t just the same. The very slow display is also an unfortunate downside.

 

Yamaha YC61:

 

This was (and still is) an amazing board, from time to time when the GAS is kicking in I regret that I did"t buy itâ¦

Amazing Keybed, awesome functions, built in audio interface, the drawbars, super versatile split function, Yamaha SoundMondo-App with a trillion of sounds to tryâ¦

But: as all Yamaha Instruments I tried, the sound did not really convince me. I was playing the Vox against the YC - and I liked the sound of the Vox better.

The very neutral, maybe even sterile Yamaha sound (I also own a MODX 6, so I know and appreciate this way of sound) could not convince me this time.

Although the YC is the better all-round instrument.

And the price is of course also worth mentioning. The Vox + the nice bag was little above 1000 where the Yamaha + the original Bag costs around 2000.

 

Conclusion:

 

After half a year of voxing around I really like this quirky but lovely instrument and it has a solid position in my setup.

 

If I need big Piano, 88 Keys and some magic: Nord

If I need lots of synths, crazy soundscapes + realistic covers of top 40 songs and I don"t care that the keybed feels like a toy: MODX 6

If I need funky clavs, dirty organ, soulful Rhodes and a full-bodied Piano with a shimmer pad as layer: Vox all night long.

 

Currently I"m just playing church services and besides that I"m playing in a Rock/Mariachi/Punk band, where I don"t need splits at all, so one of the downsides with the Vox is no issue at all.

But the ability to crank up the Nutube, and use the awesome dynamic knob for the keys to cut through in a tough mix with two angry trumpets is just amazing.

And being able to carry this setup in a light bag pack - nice! Especially in Berlin last year, where we were struggling to find a rehearsal-space. Nearly every rehearsal took place in a different location. Always some back alley rooms or basement weirdo-spaces, where I would not like to bring my heavy NS3 in the glowing red color bag. But the subtile black Vox Backpack - no problem

 

My next small addition is going to be the original hammond rotor-pedal to switch the rotary speed, so I can leave my DP10 at home and slim down the rig even more.

This thread really affirmed my decision towards this nice piece of gear!

 

So long, have a nice day!

 

Hendrik

 

PS: Thats my current rig, the cables may look a little messy but this might be the task for a rainy day

[Morrissey]

Nice post. You snuck this detail in there, though, as though it were a common genre!

 

I"m playing in a Rock/Mariachi/Punk band

[Doerfler]

Hello fellow Voxians,

 

Welcome to MPN

[AnotherScott]

Yamaha YC61:

 

This was (and still is) an amazing board, from time to time when the GAS is kicking in I regret that I did"t buy itâ¦

Yeah, the YC61 is a temptation, it has so many nice attributes. In the end, my feeling about Vox vs YC61 is that the YC is way more flexible, but *if* you can do what you want on the Vox, the Vox is the more satisfying instrument. Or to put it differently, after trying a Vox, I ended up buying a Vox; after trying a YC61, I passed on it. (Though now, in fact, I may sell the Vox, because as much as I like it, I'm not sure it really has much of a place among my new acquisitions, we'll see. But that's a story for another post.)

 

I am encouraged about the possibility of some significant enhancements to the YC61, since ideascale has recently shown a whole lot of ideas moved into the "assessment" or "refine" category, which tells us they are actually looking into those possibilities. How many of those things they implement, and how well, and how soon, is all unknown... but it is at least an indication that something is in progress in terms of an update.

[stoken6]

Nice post. You snuck this detail in there, though, as though it were a common genre!

 

I"m playing in a Rock/Mariachi/Punk band

 

My favourite Rock/Mariachi/Punk collaboration technique!

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Fleer]

Great first post, Hendrik. And welcome to the Vox mariachi crowd.