VariOS

[wouterz]

I remember investigating the VariOS when it was released in 2003. I think the reason that I didn't bought it was that I wanted to wait for more applications to become available for the platform. But after the V-Producer, the Jupiter 8, 303 and D50 no new applications were added. I think the V-Synth uses VariOS technology because you can also run the VariOS D50 on the V-Synth. If Roland was still developing VariOS there would be an upgraded system (the VariOS 8 Core or something like that) and the Scope platform would have serious competition, well, kind of

[dawman]

I was also interested as I used a D50 for years, but the sounds aren't quite there IMHO.
The D50 was like 8-12bit, similkar to a Sequential VS, it sounds brittle at 24bit.
JUst my personal thoughts.
Other sounds were pretty good but still not as good as Scope DSP stiff.
The rack they made though looked spectacular.

If you really want to surpass Scope or find it's equal, you should be looking at Solaris.
I will be making music with mine within a few weeks.

[wouterz]

...
If you really want to surpass Scope or find it's equal, you should be looking at Solaris.
I will be making music with mine within a few weeks.

I am

I have room for one more (big) synth. It could be one of the following:

Waldorf Q+ (if they build some more of them)
Waldorf Stomberg (if they are actually going to build them)
Nord Modular G3 (if that is what Clavia is going to show on Messe 2011)
Solaris (I love the vector/wavetable stuff from what I have seen on YouTube)

It is good to see some new big synths instead of those tiny plastic VA's.

[dawman]

You should go to Messe.
If you do tell JBowen you want to pound on JimmyV.'s unit.
I always jerk him off by telling him Im going to cover the Solaris logo with an Oberheim sticker.
Just kidding......
I did that on my KS88's and these guys in Vegas always tell me how nice the Oberheim sounds.............................Quack..!!!

[valis]

I used to be interested in VariOS and the rack unit in that mode (not in the emulation modes) until I realized that it wasn't quite up to what Roland was claiming after using it at a studio in N. California. From the marketing literature at the time the VariOS and Yamaha's FS1r were using very similar descriptions (formant & vocal bla bla) and I was disappointed to find out that the FS1r was 'just' an FM synth with non-resonant filters (formant filters.) However I've used both now and I actually own the FS1r and love it for what it does, while the VariOS has been largely left in the dust by various bits of software like Melodyne and of course Scope's emulations.

I'm very excited to see the Solaris btw, comparing that to the new synths being shown by the 'big boys' (Jupiter-80, Yamaha moX6, Nord Electro 3 HP etc) it's still not being touched by anyone but his peer Dave Smith (he & Lynn did the Tempest this year) and this analog that John Bowen sent into matrixsynth.blogspot.com: New Schmidt Analog Synth Debuts at the Musikmesse.

[wouterz]

I also use the FS1R, geat synth. With the right software you can even upload your own samples to it and make them sound extremely artificial. It's very difficult to edit, I use a combination of SoundDiver and this editor: http://synth-voice.sakura.ne.jp/fs1r_ed ... glish.html

[dawman]

That's the problem I have always had with Yamaha and Roland.
They will make a run on a synth or hardware keyboard, and if it doesn't sell 1000"s they just drop it, which immediately causes its resale value to drop like a hot potatoe....
I forgave them for my CS80 taking a plunge as it was a massive pricetag. They made up for that in the 80's with the TX816, DMP7, QX-1 and REV 7 which lined my pockets.
FWIW I still use the QX-1. That's a testament when a quality piece of gear lasts longer than the Floppy 5 1/4" Diskettes that are rare. I actually have a box that I bought brand new back in '92 and their shelf life was estimated at 10 years ( which usually means 20 ) and only 4 out of 20 would format.................Yikes..

I think their Poopiter 80 is going appease many even though it's a well dressed toy.
These days, if a synth can take its outputs and run those signals into the inputs and there's silence, it's a digitally perfect unit according to science and math musicians .........I am sure once bathed in effects it sounds GRAAYYYYYY888888............Quack.

[wouterz]

I just bought a brand new unit from a music store It was the last unit they had. It's going to integrate very well with my Scope system. Now I am going to search for a VC1 (D50) card for it. If Roland had made more applications for it like a modular, a couple of synths and drumboxes and a multi effect processor Roland would have sold more units I think. But I'm no expert and Roland thought otherwise so they started making things like the Juno-G and Jupiter 80.

In the future that empty rack space will be filled with an Xite1, an A16 MKII, and a Kyma system (Pacarana). I think my Scope PCI cards have started some DSP addiction

[dawman]

The D50 card from what I remember has the option for the lower quality sound which I found grungy and nice, or a newer high def quality.
It was in the VariOS 4U rack that had lots of cool stuff but way overpriced.
The 1U looks as if can do everything the 4U had.
But the 4U did have a snazzy GUI and heavy duty handles over insinuating it was hardware.
Great socre though, have fun.

[wouterz]

VariOS 4U rack? I think you mean the VSynth Rack

http://www.roland.com/products/en/V-Synth_XT/index.html

[wouterz]

Here is a drumloop that is mangled by the Roland VaiOS sound module. The dry loop is played at the beginning. The loop was created in the VProducer software and exported to Cubase as a MIDI file. During playback some parameters were tweaked in real-time using the VProducer GUI.

http://soundcloud.com/insanic4/roland-varios-experiment

[dawman]

Coolness.
Check back here for a chubby Solaris demo Monday.
Usual boring Fusion type stuff, but the kiddies are asking for the Analog Mono sperate glide tricks that actually go beyond Analog.
That was the priginal idea of this virtual stuff anyways. To enhance what we had already, not just emulate it in a half assed way with a pretty picture...

[wouterz]

The second Roland VariOS experiment. The first 14 seconds is the source material, after that the VariPhrase engine kicks in and completely mutates the signal while it is sequenced by Cubase.

http://soundcloud.com/insanic4/varios-experiment-2

[wouterz]

The VariOS 8 synth is also not bad sounding, I made a little demo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIZG3g8-Yiw

I just received a second hand VC1 card for the VariOS which is a D50 "clone".