V-Synth GT: what's the fuss about?

[Artemiy]

HOLY MY!!! The God himself re-packages the very same sun every morning!

[s.asad]

I strongly disagree with LivePsy and QuinnX posts about innovation.
Yes, we all expect more from V-Synth GT.
I was @ least expecting higher sample rates, more polyphony, more encoding options for wildly polyphonic material, and I'm not clear on hosting large USB HD yet(minor issue)
However, maybe your overall pessimism is rooted in stagnation.
I think we have achieved many ideas already.

There are many more innovations on the road to refinement and perfection of digital instruments. Perhaps not so many drastically new ideas, but numerous small refinements that summise to a greater whole instrument.

These may seem laughable to you, but I would like them all yesterday:

1. 5.1 Surround panning & modulation becomes standard on Sampler/synth

2. Zoom editing as standard on all sampler/synth
(one UI button labeled "Edit", when held, activates a fullscreen zoom edit window for whatever is pressed next, per key/function, touch again to resume prior)

3. Pseudo-Monophonic Release Trigger Program operation
(when a currently playing voice is replaced by a new voice in legato/porta/gliss/mono, the previously playing voice doesn’t cut off abruptly, but instead begins one of many alternate programmable facsimile of the given patches' standard release amp envelope settings, and all it’s subsequent release triggered modulations)

4. Supra-Natural realtime pitch transposition independent of time on both mono&polyphonic material
(higher rates and better algorithms will make any form of transposition sound extremely natural, even many octaves away, with wildly dense/dynamic polyphonic material)

Think realtime Melodyne Studio + V-Synth + some...

5. Advanced Digital Algorithms that do nothing to audio, but strictly control Analog circuitry that alters audio.
The Perfect blend of advanced digital synths like the V, and the smoothness and liquidity of Analog Synth, like Moog.

This would necessitate alot of close work with Electrical engineers, as well as some Nano-Technology to control the analog components.

Think Euphonix & Roland making a Z-Synth!

^These ideas may seem trite to many, but one idea that may meet your standard for "blowing out of the water"...I think is:

6. Drastic UI overhaul and re-thinking with Multi-touch technology to incorporate many graceful movements into the modulation process in a beautiful, human way, and overall simplicity and ergonomics highly valued.

I honestly cannot share your pessimism.
Or maybe I am over-estimating it:)
The future of synthesis/sampling is bright.

IMHO, I would love to see great improvements going both forward and back in time to both Roland Flagships:
Fantom X + XV/JV features + 8SRX/8MFX ---> Fantom XL
V-Synth GT +96Khz +64Poly +OutputStageAnalog filters/etc.-> V-Synth ?

Of course, it would also be great to see Roland Make an extremely expensive Flagship that summised them both in the Oasys Price range, able to blend all the Wave ROM of both boards + whole SRX library, with all V-Synth tricks applicable at 96K with 128+ Part poly on a much improved sequencer to it all inside one board....

Shame the best(IMHO) digital instrument company currently values anything @ all over the sake of helping advance music.

If I were Dennis Houlihan, I'd seriously weigh a change of heart, albeit strictly and exclusively for the companies' Flagships.........

...which is the real key to brand appeal in any market.

[LivePsy]

Hi s.asad,

These are great ideas and I love the enthusiasm you have for them. If only ONE synth manufacturer would show the same enthusiasm and courage to implement some of these ideas.

In my view, the fire and energy of the 70s to early 90s is gone. Small companies can't appear from nowhere with something so fresh that everyone stops and gasps. Maybe that's all moved to software, but I don't see that energy there either.

I share your vision of a bright future, but I don't see the manufacturer that will lead the way.

Cheers,
B

[dysamoria]

Yamaha's mLAN is a dead horse continuing to be flogged, behind the scenes, by its creator and the handful of users who got an mLAN setup to FUNCTION (i did not get my i88x to do SHIT because it totally takes over the Firewire bus, making the use of ANY other Firewire device IMPOSSIBLE).

Alesis tooted about how the Fusion was this great new platform and the manual promoted the further development by indicating that the physical modeling engine "has two models, currently" and there has been no further development on the device since the last bugfix OS release. NO NEW DEVELOPMENT will be coming, according to people on the forums. It's a nice bit of kit, great replacement for my QS8 (unless i need the QS8 sounds for my legacy music), but i was banking on it being an investment.

i think i should have saved my cash/credit/debt on getting the $10,000 Korg monster instead of the Fusion, the tons of software i bought (including Korg's Legacy products, which are being slowly integrated into the OASYS as new synth engine packages), etc...

[jachin]

Well i think its no longer 'safe ' $$$ to develope forward thinking synthesis methods.Oasys is so $$$$ yet sounds amazing . . .really..........wavesequencing user samples ? 1gb ram ?????????using karma in the wavesequencing. . . . its stunning really . . . and 21st century sound.Roland have i am afraid no longer the edge , variphrase was great but they lost the edge to my ears.I bought the access ti instead of the Gt , all i can say is its its own machine , granualted wavetables????? yes . . . .with some work it can produce sounds from 3000ad . . . its a stunning . . . . and i hate to say it but it leaves rolands ' new technology behind.Roland . . .a great company who i am afraid will more and more get left behind , take a look at the new technology coming out . . . .its ahead of roland by miles in sound synthesis and development i feel .

[Elektrobolt]

I agree with the previous statements. There seems to be a stagnation in terms of "new" hardware products. I mean, they are all "new" by definition, but lately it seems more like a new shell to intend a specific purpose. It also seem to me that they also target a successful model and re-creates it with just a different casing; however often with user wishes -NOT- granted.

MV-8000 was a pretty cool machine; however, one of the immediate issues was the extremely long loading/saving times; pretty much all users complained in forums about this. It was replaced by the MV-8800 which I cannot for the life of me find a difference, apart from the latter shipped with sounds on the harddrive and the VGA/Mouse adapter installed. Any software changes, I couldn't say; I don't own one (I DID own the first one).

V-Synth, then XT, which in my opinion was perfectly legit. A rack unit of the V-Synth with two cards preinstalled to complement a different keyboard setup. However, I totally support "kokocalamar on the GT (though one new cool invention).

You know what I wish for? (And this is a thing to "re-innovate"!) A MIDI sequencer with 8 (yes at least EIGHT) MIDI port I/O, and ONLY MIDI, no audio; 16 (or 24) step buttons like the old drum machines for easy programming. Some people still like hardware synthesizers (and I don't want to use a computer for music), but when even the hardware manufacturers don't supply a hardware sequencer... Yamaha has a MIDI (only) sequencer but use a floppy, not a flash or equivalent. And with all the devices having their own built-in sequencer, it is too much to remember how to use them... But anyways, that is me, and my personal wish! (Get on it Roland!!!)

[V-CeeOh]

Let me just point something I have already mentioned sometimes and that not all of you seem to be aware - specially non-european users.
The European Community recently adopted the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS). This means that every "electronic" product importedt to the CE should be RoHS compliant after July 1, 2006. All manufacters had to shift there production to meet this Directive what leaded to some products not beeing available after some time. It seems to be the case with the V-Synth, the MV-8000 and some other products, including the VS recorders that have not been distributed for sometime. So I believe that instead of just changing the production line to change some points of manufacturing, Roland decided to make a all "new" product in accordance. Now, we can argue If these are "really" new products or not . I personally tend to agree they are. We see this happening every hour in other markets, from cell phones to TVs. Just as an example, Yamaha is expert in this - take a look at their PSR line to get an idea

[Septimo]

Uh-oh....That sounds suspiciously like a "Everybody else does it!" excuse...Cell phones have not changed much, if at all lately in the past 4 to 5 years if not longer, besides trying to make them thinner and more gimmicky. People who change their cell phones constantly are doing it for 'trend' reasons and not really technological. alot of those tech advances are useless and have nothing to do with the cell phone, and the worst invention was/is being able to change your ringer to a stupid and 'annoying' song. People think it's cute, but they don't realise how silly and imature it is....A five year old (or older)cell phone has the same abilty as anything today.

But anyway, I think the point is that companies(so not to single out Roland) Don't think of the possibilities of current products and and dont care about current users and go off to try and convince new customers with the same repackaged and reorganised old tech. (a 'don't look back' motto)Cus they don't think of the possibilities , we do, and they think only $$$...You'd think they make something with a whole new outlook...But that only means one thing...That soon will come something totaly new, (they probably already have it in r&d and are using GT for the $ til then)and people who bought the GT , If your upgrading from an Xt or first gen V, are really gonna be pissed cus they spent so much money on something they already have thinking they were getting the latest and greatest...Like I said, , to new customers it's a good thing,(and that's who this is aimed for) to us current users, it's a financial suicide to pay close to three grand on a machine we already have to only get one new feature, cus I don't think duplicating an engine to have two qualifies as a new feature. For us Xt'ers, we'd be better off getting the first V-synth keyboard and for the V'ers, they're better off gettin an Xt module, or,,, just staying where they are with what they have and be content. Much cheaper, and more satisfying,,,,,for us..And I think Roland should keep their current users satisfied through upgrades even if we have to pay 25 to 50 bucks on a software upgrade.(this is the part where people have the problem, and say F... Roland, and I'm sure other companies as well.) But I also think we current users should be happy with this and not so uptight about Roland doing this, cus that means our V's and XTs will still be just as good and as valuable as whatever they have to offer today for as long as that machine is on the market, and that we have the choice and comfort to wait till something truely new comes along.

Septimo ,'^)
X6
XT

[Shimky]

I've just posted on two other threads - I've just joined - so I hope I'm not overdoing it, everyone...

I haven't kept up with music technology over the last few years, so when I read about the GT last month, it was the first I'd heard of V-Synth.

I'm sure I'll be blown away by my GT when it arrives, just like you guys were when you first got your V-Synths.

I can't wait!!! :O)

Shimky.