Today got to see the new Roland VR09, in India its at equivalent of 1000 US dollars, and at that price this is a very good piece of board I must say.

The Pros -

a) Knobs - Roland guys finally wake up to the fact that synths mean knobs, knobs and more knobs.... and the DBeam

b) Quite Decent organ sounds, and a new "transistor" base is adds grip to the tyre.

c) A MFX knob dedicated, and the drawbar keys double up as tweak knobs for the synth patches.

d) Just around 6 Kilos so no more lugging around taxing our backs

e) And the looper - 20 Seconds of loop recording can give a nice backing track on the fly.

f) Overall 230 tones, 100 drum patterns.

Now, before i write on the Cons, let me have a word of caution - this board is not an out-and-out synth. This is a performing person's "base" keyboard with decent piano, organ and synth tones. Also, please dont get disheartened by the low number of tones - each tone is easily tweakable to get a whole together new sound, with least efforts.

Now the cons -

a) What? No arpeggio?? I even looked beneath the board to find the knob, but to no avail.

b) There is an echo of the previous sound when changing the tone, this can be a disgrace in a live performance....

c) Plastic make makes me wonder whether i can throw it at the boot.

d) Keybed is shallow and irksome for those who want to "slide" on the keys.

However, all said, this synth(?) ( iwould rather call it a board) at 1K dollars is the most cheapest one out here that can do a WAV recording and also integrates some of Roland's genuine sounds.

I have a Korg Kronos and PA3X-76 - and I still have an ongoing need for a really good B3/Leslie setup. Couldn't afford a Nord so bought the Roland VR09.

Wow!! What an awesome keyboard - all the YouTube demos are completely accurate - this thing sounds fantastic. And all for less than $800!!! Still can't believe it.
I personally like the keybed feel - it has a nice level of resistance similar to my PA3X-76 semi-weighted. The Roland sounds are so so good. I love the Performance-Friendly control surface too. I use it directly and also as a sound source. This thing can be set up to accommodate a second manual as well as foot pedals.
The only little thing I don't like much is the "registration" only having 4 buttons although you can save many more than 4.

Odd - I don't experience this issue in fact in most case I get smooth sound transition (but not all I admit)
I prefer the tonewheel configuration and options in preference to my Kronos with its CX3 engine.

Hey, I know this is all personal preferences etc but hell, this thing is worth twice its price!!!

Pete

So I guess the Kronos CX3 engine was still lacking something.

Hi Nigel

I just love the classic B3 sound and have yearned for it (or similar) for a long time. I have DVD live concerts of the Korg CX3 (the real one) and thought it was awesome. I was so excited when I bought my Kronos and dived straight into the CX3 engine. I just cannot get it right - it is close but not really "B3" to my ears. Korg have supplied lots of CX3 configs (program settings) by known artists -very nice (thanks Korg) but still doesn't cut it for me. It seems to be a basic "tone" of the tonewheel issue plus the Rotary effect is not quite there>

I bought a set of configs for the Kronos from Ksounds called "Organimation" and this was a great improvement for me. However my Roland VR09 still leaves the KK-CX3 behind (again, for my ears).
I know this is all personal stuff but I have heard other KK owners also say the same (including my good friend and dealer).

I may now get slaughtered for bagging the lovely Kronos (which it is!!) but it ain't a B3 (or even an original CX3!)!!!

Cheers

Pete

Thanks so much Pete for your insight. I am on the edge whether or not to buy a Kronos for using with my band onstage for classic rock. But the B3 emulation is an important thing for me.

Hi Nigel

I must say that of course these are my tastes but to be honest, I love the Kronos but for what it's worth to you, here are my issues:-
It seems to be a lot about "tweaking" - and boy can you tweak - so so many parameters.
There doesn't seem to be any consistency regarding the control surface (sliders/buttons etc) in that you can really get used to a nice PROGRAM/COMBI and then switch to another to find that the control surface operates completely differently - this annoyed me even with the CX3 presets. So I repeat that the Ksounds CX3 configurations are not only great but their control surface settings are rock solid consistent.
It really isn't friendly - from a performance perspective then Nord Stage would leave it for dead, but it has AWESOME sounds - KARMA is so very inspirational - fabulous composer/song writer machine.

Seriously Nigel, I do love Korg gear (been many years now - mostly arrangers plus the KARMA, M3 and now Kornos) and am an administrator (like yourself) on the Korg forums.

I hope you can get your hands on one for some solid research.
As all this is under the Roland VR09 topic I can seriously say that the VR09's tonewheel & rotary is pretty damned great (and the low cost!!!) I am using it currently mainly as a "B3" sound module with my Korg PA3X-76.

I am far from a Kronos expert but I would be more than happy to answer any other questions you may have. It is an outstanding workstation.

Cheers

Pete

Back to the topic…
Roland VR09
My good mate loaned me his Nord Stage 2 (73) for a few days so I got the VR09 and the Stage 2 together and connected to my recording desk.

Yes the Nord is sturdy beast with lots of nice control surface knobs etc…
BUT, although I know this is always personal and in the ears of the beholder, I could not tell them apart in terms of the B3 emulation. The Nord (by default) has a slightly fuller EQ so I slightly adjusted the VR09 and seriously could not hear the difference.
HOWEVER, I found the "Leslie" simulation much nicer (for me) on the Roland.

The pianos and e-pianos on the Nord are superb - Roland is nice but this is where some of the tweaking ends like changing the speed of the tremolo on an e-piano.

I already have Kronos and found the "Other" sounds (synths etc) on the Nord very mediocre - in fact the VR09 is far more exciting in terms of "synth" and "other" sounds.

I know there is no arguing about this as it purely relates to one's personal needs and experiences but for what it is worth, if you are wanting "B3/Leslie" emulation, please check the Roland VR09 out - you may save yourself a lot of money!!!!

All the best

Pete