Epu,I got this board not knowing it is in fact called World Collection Latin.I thought it is called Latino,like in the Gloria Estefan stuff,so at start the great ammount of ethnical loops(salsa,etc)and the clear orientation towards real mariachi music dissapointed me.But as I listened more and more to the sounds I realised I could use those in dance music.The most part of it consists of percussion sounds and loops,as you know,and those are great at least compared to the ones I v heard and used before. The trumpet sounds are the best I have heard,and the brass section as well,but not the saxes which suck.Too many guitars in my opinion,but good.Some accordions,and vocals which are again great,you know fiesta arriba ole hiiha aso.If you use trumpet and percussion alot,you want it.
I will keep it for that reaso.

Hi OldSchool,

Yes, I have Orchestral 2. Personally, I love it. But I can't compare it to 1 whihc I;ve never heard. I went straight for 2 because I really wanted all the Celtic and other odd sounds it contains.

Someone here criticised it for that - which is fair enough - those sounds probably should live on a World Sounds card (how many orchestras have you heard featuring a bhodrum, aoelian harp and tin whistle?).

I love those sounds, and also the beautiful strings, brass, woodwinds and 'traditional' orhestral percussion sounds whihc abound on this card.

But in truth you should really get an opinion from someone who is familiar with both cards...

All the best.

Martin

(P.S. what did you do in the war?)

I may get a lot of disagrees on this one, but I was heavily dissapointed with the Orch II.
The story I was looking all over New York for an Orch I. At the time (Sept.), no one seemed to be stocking them anymore.

A guy at Sam Ash told me that the Orch II was better for the taking anyway as the sounds were recorded at 48khz which allowed more headroom than the original orch. He also said the sounds were richer and that this board had more variety.

I took it home and was immediately dissapointed. There is more headroom, but the sounds sounded to "sampled" to me and fake. Also, heavy vibrato was included in the samples (which can't be taken out) and that upset me a little more.

Then next day, I discovered that the store had a used Orch I board in their display XV88. This board is a killer. The strings sound so much better and IMO, had a much better variety.

It's hard to imagine that the Orch I board sounds better than the Orch II considering that the Orch I card debuted back in 1992.

If you already have the Orch I, I would say that the Orch II board makes a great compliment. This can be seen as you'll see patches like "Oboe 5-8", where the Orch I board has "Oboe 1-4".

Other people disagree with me on this. if you are into the Celtic sounds, then go for the Orch II board, IMO, there are too many celtic sounds. Perhaps they should have included these kind of sounds on a "World II" card.

BTW, there are some great Celtic sounds on the new Patch bank for the XV series (which are also compatible with the JV/XP series) from the Roland web site. All in all, the bank they offer sounds great!

The Infamous EPU.

Martin/EPU:
Thanks for your comments. Musician's Friend still shows the Orchestra I in stock, so it looks like it's still out there. I'm intrigued by the Celtic stuff, but it's not high priority at this point.

I am now going to display my ignorance - how does "headroom" translate as far as things sounding different?

p.s. I managed to avoid any participation in wars, though it was close - student defferment, high lottery number helped.

[This message has been edited by OldSchool (edited 11-28-2000).]

Well, headroom can be thought of (simplistcly) as a wider range of frequency and dynamics one could use to record a sound. Think of it as a limited amount of dimensional space one could put a sound in (again this is a simple explanation).

Imagine a 3D space that is 44,100 cubic feet as opposed to one that was 48,000 cubic feet. The larger space would allow you to capture more of the sounds artifacts and resonance - more character.

Just becuase something was recorded with more headroom doesn't mean that it will always sound better. There is less headroom on the Orch. I board, but there is also a larger variety of sounds that are related to the Orchestra.

Also, while there is more headroom on the Orch II board, there are less Solo strings and as I said earlier, the strings on the Orch II card have a more prominent vibrato which is a little more irritating to me.

Remember, this is just my opinion. You should really try to audition them yourself as I did to come to that conclusion. You may find that you end up believing opposite of what I do.

The Infamous EPU.

Hi all,

I'm using a Roland A-90Ex, an A-70Ex (both with VE-RD1's), a MBD-1 bass module, an XV-5080 (with Orch II, Keys 60's/70's, Piano, Vintage Synth, SRX 1 & 2 boards, various sample CD-ROMs), a set of V-Drums (TD-10 and TD-8) and various older rack synths (Alesis QSR, Yamaha TX802) and effects units.

I just got a Roland VS-1880, which I'm learning to use.

I guess you could say I like Roland gear...

See ya,
Chris

[This message has been edited by feefer (edited 11-28-2000).]

Hello, I'm Joel from Australia.
I have recently bought an XV-88, which I am very happy with. I still don't know half the stuff it can do, but I'm learning. The onboard sounds are awesome, although the D-Beam is still confusing me. Anyway, See you later.



[This message has been edited by arnold (edited 11-29-2000).]

Chris:
I hope you have a spare bedroom, 'cause I'm bringin' my toothbrush and my Guild for an extended stay . . .

[This message has been edited by OldSchool (edited 11-29-2000).]

Hi!
Sorry about being so late in posting this - I have been away for 2 weeks. Anyway, I am Magnus and I have a JV1010.
All the best,
Magnus Nordén

Hi!

I have a Roland Xp-30. This is a very powerful machine. I recomend it to everybody who want a high quality all around synth.

Tomi