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ROLAND V-Synth

Jan 1, 2004 12:00 PM, By David Battino

The moment you turn it on, you get your first clue that the Roland V-Synth is different. For the next half-minute or so, a progress bar crawls across the big purple touchscreen, with the mysterious heading, “Processing….” Once those preparations are complete, the V-Synth springs to life, delivering unprecedented sonic control.

For the past few years, most breakthroughs in synthesis have debuted in software synthesizers. Drawing on the best of both worlds, the V-Synth combines the informative graphics and powerful wave-warping abilities of software with some exceptional hardware design. Instead of poking at pixels with a mouse, you can sculpt sound with a variety of expressive hands-on controllers, including dual D Beam infrared sensors and the new Time Trip pad.

At heart, the V-Synth is a sampler, but unlike a traditional one, it gives you independent control over pitch, duration, and formants (the characteristic frequencies in a sound). That kind of control lets you play chords with a sampled vocal phrase and have all the syllables line up, or twist a knob and accelerate a drum loop to twice its original tempo without changing the pitch, or transform male voices into female ones. Those sample-stretching features are an evolution of the VariPhrase technology Roland introduced in its pricey VP-9000 (reviewed in the May 2001 issue) — hence the V in V-Synth.

The V-Synth also features analog-synthesizer modeling and an updated collection of the Composite Object Sound Modeling (COSM) effects first seen on the VG-8 guitar processor. Consequently, you might assume (as I did) that the V-Synth is simply another “greatest hits” collection with the Time Trip pad and a few new COSM effects slapped on top. But not only have all those components been improved, they've been thoughtfully integrated into a greater whole. The V-Synth has some rough edges, and it definitely isn't the keyboard for everyone. However, if you want to twist sounds into startling new textures, play leads that are never static, or bring out the inner life in samples and loops, it offers a lot to explore.

GOOD SCREEN FUN

FIG. 1: The V-Synth is a DSP-based keyboard instrument that combines analog-synthesis modeling and VariPhrase sampling with numerous hands-on controllers.

The V-Synth's front panel is cleanly laid out, with performance controllers to the left and synthesis controls to the right of its large backlit touchscreen (see Fig. 1). The screen responds quickly to your touch and provides plenty of information, including graphic envelopes. Some areas are too small to hit accurately with a fingertip, but you can move to any field with the adjacent cursor buttons and adjust values with the Increment and Decrement buttons or the data wheel.

The front panel provides 20 rubber knobs for common parameters and 4 wiggly sliders for envelope segments. The sliders control whatever envelope is currently selected (pitch, formant, or filter resonance, for example) and not just the master volume envelope. When you move a knob or slider, the screen shows the new position but doesn't help you return to the original value. The knobs and sliders transmit SysEx rather than MIDI Control Change (CC) messages. However, the slick Modulation Matrix screen lets you map external CCs to adjust the same parameters.

Above the knobs are three groups of Structure buttons that light up to show the active components in the current signal chain. I could switch components in and out as I played, with held notes retaining the older settings. That let me start a drum loop with my left hand, then turn on a COSM block and add a radically filtered version of the groove (in perfect sync, thanks to VariPhrase) with my right (see Web Clip 1). Dedicated buttons let you switch the three effects processors (reverb, chorus/flanger, and multi-effects) on and off with one click. They sound good and have plenty of parameters.

PRODUCT SUMMARY Roland V-Synth keyboard synthesizer/sampler $2,695
FEATURES	4.0
EASE OF USE	4.0
QUALITY OF SOUNDS	3.5
VALUE	3.5
RATING PRODUCTS FROM 1 TO 5
PROS: Unique sound with extensive real-time control. Solid construction. Ergonomic layout. Expressive D Beam and Time Trip controllers. Drag-and-drop computer-file transfer. Automatic tempo synchronization. CONS: Significant aliasing on analog models. Zippering noise from controllers. Underbaked, awkward layering and splitting. No crossfade looping. Imported samples lose loop points. Editing knobs send only SysEx.
Manufacturer
Roland Corporation U.S. tel. (323) 890-3700 Web www.rolandus.com or www.v-synth.com

CONTROL TWEAK

At the far left of the panel is the novel Time Trip pad, a 3.5-inch-square sensor that detects the position and movement of your finger, though unfortunately not variations in pressure. You can configure the pad to control as many as 16 parameters from a list of 77 that affect the oscillators, COSM effects, main amplitude envelope, and effects processors. Pressing the Hold button locks the current parameter value. All 37 buttons that toggle features on and off light up when you enable them, which makes it easy to see what's going on.

In X-Y mode, each pad axis can transmit values from 0 to 127 or from -63 to 63. In Time Trip mode, dragging your finger in a circle scans forward or backward through a waveform, and pausing loops a short segment at the current position. With practice, I transformed a vocal sample from “Turn off” to “Honor, nonner, on-and-off” (see Web Clip 2). Trippy indeed! You can control two additional parameters in Time Trip mode by sliding your finger from the edge of the pad to the center.

Other controllers include Roland's signature D Beam (a proximity sensor), two assignable knobs, and the standard Roland lever that bends pitch when you move it sideways and sends Modulation data when you push it forward. Like the pad, any of those controllers (and any incoming MIDI CC) can be mapped to any of the 77 synthesis parameters. All but the lever can transmit CCs as well; in fact, the D Beam can send four unique CC streams per side. However, the pad has coarser resolution than the other controllers, producing significant stair-stepping — so much that I occasionally used it as a creative effect (see Web Clip 3). Unfortunately, the other controllers also suffer from zippering when pushed to extremes, which can make the sound rough.

The V-Synth's semiweighted keys are shorter than average, but have a snappy feel and a satisfying inertia. Aftertouch is controllable without being the least bit squishy. Octave and semitone transpose buttons are easily accessible. You can assign shortcuts for 64 patches to the eight banks of Patch Palette buttons. You can also view 16 patch names at once by touching the onscreen List button. The version 1.5 upgrade of the operating system (see the sidebar “One Point V”) lets you search for sounds by category.

JACK IT UP

FIG. 2: The PC Card slot offers flexible storage; with an adapter, you can add a variety of flash RAM cards or even a tiny hard drive. The USB port provides a MIDI interface or drag-and-drop file transfer to a computer.

One of my pet peeves with keyboards is when the jacks are labeled only on the back panel, forcing me to stand on my head to suss out the connections. Happily, the V-Synth's jacks are identified on the top panel as well. At the left side of the back panel is a PC Card slot for backup storage (see Fig. 2). With a commonly available adapter (about $20), you can use several kinds of flash RAM cards. Next door is a USB socket; in Bulk Storage mode, the V-Synth shows up as an external hard drive on your computer, making it drag-and-drop simple to back up samples and patches or import new ones. In MIDI mode, the USB jack functions as a MIDI interface, but switching between modes was awkward, so I found it easier to use the standard MIDI jacks and an external interface. Optical and coaxial S/PDIF I/O are both provided. The optical jacks have a clever shutter so you don't have to fumble with those tiny plastic plugs.

The rear panel also has jacks for a sustain pedal and two expression pedals, which can transmit CCs. Stereo sampling inputs accept mic or line-level signals. Rounding out the back are the main and direct stereo outputs. Strangely, to use the direct outs, you have to disable the multi-effects processor, though the reverb and chorus processors remain active.

HEAVY STRUCTURE

A V-Synth Patch contains six components: two oscillator blocks, two COSM blocks, a modulation block that mixes the oscillator blocks, and a time-variant amplifier (TVA) block, which contains an ADSR envelope and LFO that control the final output level. Those blocks can be organized into one of three arrangements called Structures. Which Structure you select determines whether the COSM effects are applied to one or both oscillators. The sound can then be routed through the three effects blocks.

Each oscillator block contains a single LFO that can control pitch, level, and, depending on the type of oscillator, either time and formant or pulse width and low-frequency emphasis. Those parameters also have four dedicated ADSR envelopes. The LFOs generate eight waveforms, which can sync to the internal tempo or MIDI Clock. Many of the COSM blocks include an LFO and one or more envelopes too, so you can craft some extremely animated timbres.

You can split each Patch into 16 keyboard zones, though the process is poorly described in the manual and unintuitive. (You have to enter Zone mode, set the keyboard split point, select the Zone you want to edit, then exit and either program the split sound from scratch or enter Patch Copy mode and copy components of a preexisting patch into the new Zone.) All Zones in a Patch share the same effects and controller settings (and transmit on the same MIDI channel), which means you can't pitch-bend or sustain just one side of a split; that is a major drawback.

The V-Synth is 16-part multitimbral, but layering isn't supported directly. You can kludge together a global layer by entering System mode and setting as many as 15 additional parts to the same MIDI channel. Like splits, they share the same controller settings as the primary patch, and the only way to adjust the relative levels is by reprogramming the component Patches. (When playing multiple channels on the V-Synth from a sequencer, you can adjust the levels of the different multitimbral parts over MIDI, of course.)

OSC AND RECEIVE

A V-Synth oscillator can use analog modeling, PCM waveforms, or external audio. Ironically, two of the simulated-analog waveforms alias like crazy in the upper octaves; most of the others also alias to a minor extent. Modulating the pitch more than a few semitones also creates some zippering noise, which is audible on pitch bends, for example. You can smooth and fatten the sound with detuning, COSM, pulse-width modulation, and even a parameter called Fat, but the V-Synth's analog section left me a bit cold.

The real excitement is in PCM mode. Thanks to VariPhrase's real-time pitch-shifting and time-stretching, you don't have to worry about multisampling; a single sample can stretch across the entire keyboard. (Indeed, it's not possible to create multisamples on the V-Synth, though several of the factory waveforms are multisampled.) In practice, shifting most sounds more than an octave up produces snarling artifacts; downward shifts are more forgiving. You can also switch VariPhrase off for traditional sample playback.

The V-Synth has four playback modes. Retrigger mode starts the sample at the beginning with each new keypress. The magical Legato mode starts each new sample at the point where the current sample is playing, which lets you harmonize each word in a vocal on the fly or emphasize individual drum hits in a loop by doubling them with a deeper version. In Step mode, each keypress triggers the next slice in a sample (during sample encoding, the V-Synth adds slice points to samples anywhere it encounters a transient — at the start of a drum hit, for example). In Event mode, chromatic notes trigger adjacent slices. Those two modes are especially interesting in conjunction with the arpeggiator, because they let you rearrange drum hits or syllables in a phrase.

SAMPLE PLEASURES

The V-Synth ships with 342 mono samples in memory (stereo samples reduce the polyphony slightly); you can overwrite them and then individually restore them later. With the factory samples loaded, about 18 MB of RAM remain, which will hold a maximum 214 seconds of custom samples. Samples encoded in VariPhrase format require additional data — the more complex the encoding, the larger the resulting file.

Importing WAV and AIFF files from my computer was a snap, though I was disappointed that the V-Synth didn't import the loop points. I got around that by writing down the loop points before making the transfer, and then entering them into the V-Synth with the data wheel. Imported samples are converted to 16-bit, 44.1 kHz resolution, and their names are truncated to 12 characters.

FIG. 3: The stereo waveform editor lacks crossfade looping, but automatic zero-crossing detection and bidirectional loop support help to compensate.

Sampling (or resampling) on the V-Synth is wonderfully straightforward. Eight presets for different tasks call up the optimum number of channels, input source, recording-trigger mode (manual, MIDI Song Start, level, or MIDI note), input effect (compressor, limiter, or noise reduction), and count-in. Editing goes quickly, thanks to a large waveform display and onscreen buttons that zoom in and find zero-crossings (see Fig. 3). A handy calculator button detects the selected area's tempo, which is later encoded into the file for sync. You can also extract a region and save it to a new file. Other editing commands include Cut, Copy, Paste, Insert (clipboard data or silence), Truncate, stereo-to-mono, Reverse, Normalize, and Trim, which applies a fade of up to 2 ms (100 samples) to the beginning and ending of the waveform.

I wish longer fades were available and that the keyboard weren't disabled during editing; it would be easier to audition loop points by playing different pitches. I was disappointed to find no crossfade looping, but I was able to make smooth loops by setting the loop points to zero-crossings and specifying alternating (back-and-forth) looping. I also wish the V-Synth could play the segment of the sample after the loop when you release the note.

After editing, you encode the sample to VariPhrase format on a screen resembling Propellerhead ReCycle. The V-Synth automatically finds slice points; you can adjust them, delete them, and add more, previewing each slice with a button. V-Synth offers four encoding algorithms; Lite creates the smallest files but the most artifacts. The others are optimized for solo lines, rhythmic samples, and ensemble samples. Picking the “wrong” type can generate some wild, bubbly textures, but encoding adds data to the samples rather than altering the original recordings, so you can go back and try again.

COSM, DAN-O

FIG. 4: You can record your own polyphonic arpeggiator patterns in this piano-roll window. Unfortunately, the notes aren't arranged from high to low.

Instead of ordinary filters, the V-Synth provides 16 mighty waveshaping tools such as amp simulators, guitar-body resonators, and frequency shifters. I counted about 37 filter variations as well, including ganged bandpass and dynamic lowpass models. The new sideband filters can impart pitch to drums (or even to noise) so you can play chords and melodies. It's like a vocoder effect, but easier to set up. Although the filters all sounded good, sweeping them sometimes caused zippering.

I had a lot of fun with the V-Synth's arpeggiator, which allows you to record your own polyphonic phrases (see Fig. 4). Each phrase can contain a maximum of 32 steps, with as many as 16 events (notes or Control Changes) per step. Mapping a CC to reverb depth or distortion can make an individual note jump out. The Swing parameter lets you alter the rhythmic feel of a sampled loop.

FACTORY FLOOR

Most synths include a few special-effect sounds in the last bank to show off their prowess. On the V-Synth, it seems like the majority of the 287 factory Patches are sound effects. Many have an abrasive, “digital” quality to my ears. However, quite a few of them turned heads when I played them at jam sessions.

The COSM-powered TopOfTheWrld is the most searing synth guitar I've ever heard, and like all the factory patches, it makes extensive use of the V-Synth's controllers. VoixBulgares sounded like singers, not a keyboard part. And the spacious pads and talkative Clavinets fit right in. You can also find scores of free new patches at www.v-synth.com, many with MP3 demos and programming notes.

SAMPLING EVOLVES

The V-Synth is one case in which a greatest-hits collection surpasses the originals. Computer users have grown accustomed to some of its features in computer programs such as Acid, Live, and Kontakt, but the V-Synth puts them into a hands-on instrument with keys. Its sturdy construction and clear, efficient layout reinforce the feeling of quality.

The primitive split and layer facilities are a drag, and for a keyboard with so many controllers, it's disappointing that the V-Synth transmits on only one MIDI channel at a time. Its sound can be harsh due to aliasing and zipper noise. Pitch shifting produces noticeable artifacts, so I hope Roland implements user multisampling. However, many of the most popular synthesizers have endured because of their sonic quirks.

The V-Synth lets you rip open samples and explore the exotic textures within. Being able to play chords with sampled phrases and have them stay in perfect sync is a revelation. It costs more than the average keyboard synthesizer, but the V-Synth is an instrument with extraordinary depth and personality.

V-Synth Specifications
Sound Engine	analog-synthesis modeling; VariPhrase PCM; user sampling with independent time, pitch, and formant control
Audio Inputs	(2) unbalanced ¼" TS analog (switchable mic/line); (1) stereo optical S/PDIF; (1) stereo coaxial S/PDIF; internal resampling
Audio Outputs	L/R main: (2) unbalanced ¼" analog; L/R direct (bypasses effects): (2) unbalanced ¼" analog; (1) stereo optical S/PDIF; (1) stereo coaxial S/PDIF; (1) ¼" stereo headphone
Keyboard	(61) notes; Velocity, Channel Aftertouch
Polyphony	(24) notes (program dependent)
Multitimbral Parts	16
Sampling Format	analog inputs: 16-bit, 44.1 kHz (24-bit, 96 kHz converters); digital inputs: 16-bit, 44.1/48/96 kHz
Audio File Import/Export	WAV and AIFF (loop points ignored)
Pedal Inputs	(2) ¼" control; (1) ¼" sustain
Memory	(512) RAM Patch locations; (999) RAM Wave locations; 50 MB sample RAM (32 MB preloaded)
Oscillators	(2) with analog suboscillator; types are PCM, external input, and modeled analog (saw, LA saw, square, LA square, triangle, sine, ramp, Juno, HQ saw, HQ square, noise)
Oscillator Cross-Modulation	ring, FM, envelope ring, sync
Filters/Waveshapers	(2) COSM processors with (16) types
Envelopes	(1) global level ADSR; (1) pitch, (1) Fat, (1) pulse width, (1) time, (1) formant, and (1) level per osc
LFOs	(1) per oscillator; (1) per COSM block; (1) per TVA; tempo sync (double whole-note to 32nd-note resolution); 8 waveforms
Effects	multi-effects (41 types), chorus (8 types), reverb (10 types)
Arpeggiator	(8) types; (32) steps; (16) events per step incl. CCs; programmable; adjustable gate and swing; 20-250 bpm or external sync
Controllers	(2) knobs; (2) D Beam sensors; Time Trip Pad (x-y/rotational/radial); pitch/mod lever
MIDI	In, Out, Thru
Storage/Interfacing	PC Card; USB
Display	320 × 240-pixel, backlit LCD
Dimensions	41.6" (W) × 4.4" (H) × 15.7" (D)
Weight	28.9 lb.

ONE POINT V

The free OS 1.5 update (a 17 MB download) brings 12 new features to the V-Synth. You can assign Patches to 1 of 16 categories, which makes it far easier to browse through them. The update provides 18 additional PCM waveforms (mostly vocal percussion, handy for adding catchy attacks). The analog section gains two new waveforms (the thicker LA square and saw) and a suboscillator. A TB-303 filter model beefs up the COSM section.

Installing the update was easy, but because I had inadvertently deleted some factory samples before updating, I had to do some convoluted file manipulations to get my custom Patches to point to the right samples. It's unlikely that Roland will be able to change the file system, but perhaps the company could release some companion software that will do a better job of maintaining the links between patches and waves.

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David Battino is hard at work on Crank It Up to 1, a book about digital music production based on interviews with groundbreaking artists, producers, and programmers. More at www.crankitupto1.com.