This thread triggered my curiosity about V-Console and so I read all that I could find any user reviews / opinion on this software.

After investigating the functionality of this software, I purchased the software only version at £399, or US$546.20.

I use Yamaha Genos as the upper keyboard (USB connected to Windows 10 laptop), 88-key hammer action Casio Privia PX560 as the lower keyboard (USB connected to Windows 10 laptop), and Roland PK5 13-note MIDI pedal as the bass pedal (connected through MIDI cables to irig 2 USB MIDI interface).

I place a 21.5-inch Dell S2240T touchscreen monitor on a standalone music stand at the back of Genos for V-Console display and control:

For some reason, the V-Console software does not like USB MIDI interfaces with multiple MIDI connections. My midiplus 8x8 (8 MIDI ins, 8 MIDI outs) did not work with V-Console program, and so I had to replace it with irig 2 MIDI interface (1 MIDI in, 1 MIDI out, 1 MIDI thru), which works well with V-Console.

My experience with V-Console on the lower keyboard is that V-Console works more reliably with USB connections. I tried a couple of older keyboards with 5-pin MIDI ports only but they did not work well with V-Console. This is why I now use the Casio PX560 due to its USB connection.

The V-Console talks to Genos through USB2 MIDI channel 8, the default MIDI channel for lower keyboard is channel 1, and the MIDI channel for MIDI pedal is channel 3. The Roland PK5 pedalboard has to be set at Poly mode in order to work with V-Console. The MIDI channels for the Genos, the lower keyboard, and the MIDI pedal have to be different even they are connected through different USB / MIDI interfaces.

Since my Lenovo Yoga 720 15.6-inch 2-in-1 laptop has only 2 USB 3.0 ports, I had to use a 7-port USB 3.0 hub for V-Console connections, touchscreen USB connection, and some USB 3.0 flash drives. I found that some USB 3.0 hubs have timing and stuck MIDI notes issues. I am currently using an Anker 7-port USB 3.0 hub which has shown very good timing and no stuck MIDI note issues with V-Console. I use a HooToo USB-C hub with HDMI out to support the display to the Dell S2240T monitor since there is no built-in HDMI out on the Lenovo Yoga 720.

V-Console for Genos not only converts Genos, the lower keyboard, and the MIDI pedal into an organ, it also enhances music contents by providing many more voices on the lower keyboard, which makes playing much more versatile and flexible, with much richer tones. V-Console comes with 16 banks of registrations (each bank contains 10 registrations, each registration contains settings for one particular song) named 'V-Console Showcase' registrations, which are very effective in showcasing its functionality. After playing with V-Console for a couple of hours, I am hooked, and cannot go back to playing with only the Genos.

John Beesley, the developer of V-Console, is an excellent organ / arranger player. He is very patient and responsive in supporting his software. I corresponded with him intensively on some of the V-Console configuration / setup problems, and he has been very helpful.

Currently, I only have 2 issues with V-Console for Genos:
1. The sustain pedals of Genos and PX560 work fine when not using V-Console. They currently do not work from within V-Console. I have contacted John Beeley for suggestion / solution.
2. The V-Console program exits with an error message "Run time error '76': Path not found". I consider this a minor issue.

V-Console for Genos is not cheap at £399, but it greatly enhances the playing of music to a different dimension. I consider this software as the best playing companion software for Genos and I hope John Beesley will keep on enhancing the V-Console software.

Thanks,
Paul

Great set up Paul, i love it..
Just some questions..

1) how do the switches on top of the PK5(guess the most versatile bass pedals ever made) work in your setup?
2) Does the PX-560 s act as a midi controller, or can you layer/split it with the V-console sounds?
3) can you display sheet music and text files from the Genos on the screen?
4) when and how will you add the Ketron SD90 on the desk to your setup?
5) are you the one making those great tutorials on the SD90 for IMMUSIC? he referred to it being a texan Musician?

i hope the pedal issue gets resolved soon..
Enjoy your setup mate..

Hi - sorry that I have been slow to get back to this thread - have been taking care of someone who had to be in the hospital for almost a week. Anyway, I'm back . . .

My setup with V-Console is single-keyboard (just the Genos). Although I have pedals and a 2nd keyboard available, I have not set them up in a while, I have moved to a simpler setup. As someone else mentioned, I had done some write-ups on PSR (and a bit here) on my experiences with V-Console ... they have been very good overall.

I updated to the Genos version of V-Console and due to other projects taking priority, I have not spent a LOT of time with it yet. But I have played with this new version some, and have not run into any problems. So for me, I use V-Console for adding to Left and Right of the Genos ... and now that Genos has more polyphony (than Tyros), and that is has more DSPs, V-Console works even better than it did on Tyros. I know that with more time, I can create registrations and settings that will give me a LOT more flexibility and potential variety and richness, since I can layer in additional sounds - sometimes in a subtle way, sometimes in a more "bold" way, than possible with just LEFT, R1, R2 and R3. I may even add a 2nd keyboard and use the 'pedal' channel in V-Console for that, so that I'd have Left, Right and "other keyboard" all with choices of sounds that I can set up on V-Console.

There is a LOT that V-Console can do, and as others recommended, I recommend actually going through the User Guide, there is a lot of useful info and details in it.

Jim

Hi Bachus,

I love the V-Console software and as Jim mentioned it has great potentials in making music and a lot of details in its included user manual (PDFs) that will take time to absorb and implement.

1) how do the switches on top of the PK5(guess the most versatile bass pedals ever made) work in your setup?
Answer: There are 8 buttons on the top of the PK5 - BASS, POLY, DRUMS, SOUND EFFECTS, MIDI CONTROLLER, OCT/PARAM FACTORY SET, MIDI PRG/USER SET, MIDI CHANNEL. I pressed the MIDI CHANNEL button, then pressed the D note of PK5 to set MIDI channel to 2 (equivalent to MIDI channel 3 of V-Console), then pressed the MIDI CHANNEL button to get out of the MIDI channel change mode. Then I pressed the POLY button, so the PK5 works with V-Console - it does not work in BASS mode. Then I pressed the OCT/PARAM button and the C/C#/D notes one by one, then pressed the OCT/PARAM button to get out of OCTAVE changing mode, to determine which octave sounded best with V-Console - I settled on C#, sometimes D, depending on using which V-Console registrations.

2) Does the PX-560 s act as a midi controller, or can you layer/split it with the V-console sounds?
Answer: Yes, the PX560 acts as a MIDI controller only. The V-Console software uses the computer outputs of 'Digital Workstation 1' and 'Digital Workstation 2', which refers to Genos itself, meaning all sounds come from the Genos. I did not try any additional configuration like layer/split on the PX560 to work alongside V-Console.

3) can you display sheet music and text files from the Genos on the screen?
Answer: Yes, the Genos can display sheet music and text files on the external screen. However, in my V-Console use case, this interferes with my V-Console Console display on the Dell S2240T touchscreen monitor. My solution is to use a 4-inch wood clamp (from Amazon) to clamp on to a portion of the keyboard stand, then clamp my "Gooseneck Tablet Holder Mount, BESTEK Fully Rotatable iPad Holder Clamp Stand" to hold an iPad Pro 12.9 and place the iPad slightly hovering above the left side of the Genos to display sheet music and lyrics through SongBook+ ios app.

4) when and how will you add the Ketron SD90 on the desk to your setup?
Answer: I already set up the Casio Privia PX560 to pair with the Ketron SD90, which is another combo with lots of potentials, especially with the Launchpad. I temporarily 'borrowed' the PX560 to complete my initial V-Console for Genos setup. My plan is to use another 88-key MIDI controller to replace the PX560 in the V-Console combo, and returned the PX560 to the Ketron SD90 setup.

5) are you the one making those great tutorials on the SD90 for IMMUSIC? he referred to it being a texan Musician?
Answer: No, I am not IMMUSIC. I just love spending time to play music as a hobby.

John Beesley replied me that I can activate sustain pedal on the Voice Set 2 tab/page of V-Console. I did that and could see the sustain MIDI events through MIDI Monitoring screen of V-Console, but the sustain pedals still do not work within V-Console. I will have to do more testing to see how to make them work.

Thanks,
Paul

I figured out how to activate the sustain pedal connected to Genos directly within V-Console by just pressing the "Sustain" controller button on V-Console 'Voice Set 2' tab/page. Now when I press the sustain pedal connected to Genos, the voices triggered by both the upper (Genos) and the lower (PX560) keyboards get sustained.

However, what I wanted is each sustain pedal works for each corresponding keyboard for flexibility in playing. There are situations when I just want to sustain the notes on the lower keyboard but not the upper keyboard, and vice versa.

I hope John Beesley will have a solution for me.

Thanks,
Paul

Update:

I finally figured out how to activate sustain pedal for lower keyboard only:
On V-Console 'Voice Set 2' page, press the "Sustain" controller button to activate sustain.
On V-Console 'Controller' page, press the 'Sustain' button so it turns green, then press the sustain pedal of the lower keyboard, the laptop/PC will give out a confirmation ring sound and the Sustain button returns to its previous color, then click the check mark on 'Link Exp.'. to memorize the setting.

Now I can play, within V-Console software, sustained piano notes on the lower keyboard, while the notes on the upper keyboard is not sustained. I will have to accept this compromise for now until John Beesley provides a solution/instruction for activation of separate sustain pedals for their corresponding keyboards.

Thanks,
Paul

Update:

From John Beesley:
I understand what you are trying to do but you can only assign a single sustain controller within V-Console. This is because the parts can be played from both upper and lower at the same time. Two incoming sustain controls would just override one another. So it's necessary to have a master sustain pedal that can be assigned on or off for each part. It's very straight forward to achieve musically what you describe by allowing the sustain to operate some parts and not others. All of which can be stored in each registration. I think the best configuration is to allow the sustain pedal of the lower keyboard to be the master for all of the V-Console parts. You can choose which parts will be affected in the voice set 2 page.

John mentioned that it is possible to still operate the sustain pedal for the Genos panel parts (Left, Right1, Right2 and Right3) independently there is a change the to MIDI template that can be done so that they will only respond to the Genos' own sustain pedal.

Thanks,
Paul

If thats the problem, i figure the way midi works, there will not really be a solution for this ..

V-Console for Genos Update:

The following 2 initial issues are fixed:
1. The sustain pedals of Genos and PX560 work fine when not using V-Console.

V-Console for Genos 'Controllers' tab - click sustain button, which changes to green when selected, then press the sustain
pedal to record it as the V-Console sustain pedal.
V-Console only allows one sustain pedal, but there is sustain option per each of the voices on the "Voice Set 2" tab.
To use Genos local sustain pedal on Genos local voices, Menu - MIDI - External Controller - CC#0/C#-1 set to "No Assign".

2. The V-Console program exits with an error message "Run time error '76': Path not found".

The exit code "Run-time error '76': Path not found" of V-Console for Genos on my Lenovo Yoga 720 15.6 inch 2-in-1 laptop went away 'silently'.

I was having fingerprint scanner not working after Windows 10 update on the laptop. So I searched for solution to this problem, and eventually fixed the fingerprint scanner. After that, the V-Console for Genos exit error messages on my laptop also went away and has not returned.

All I did to fix the Synaptics fingerprint scanner not working by performing the following steps:

A. Ran cmd.exe as administrator and ran the following 2 commands:
sfc /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
B. Entered the BIOS setup, Security menu, Intel SGX entry, enabled it.
C. Updated the Synaptics fingerprint scanner driver.

I suspect that my step A above fixed the exit error of V-Console for Genos on my Lenovo laptop.

The V-Console for Genos software version 2.1.4 is very stable. Once the hardware / software setup errors were ironed out, the software just works as expected. Midiplus 8x8 USB 3.0 to 8 MIDI in x 8 MIDI out worked for a while, but quit working after some Windows 10 update. I replaced it with a Roland UM-ONE USB 2.0 to MIDI adapter cable (1 in 1 out), which gets its USB driver directly from Windows update. The Roland UM-ONE works flawlessly with V-Console, with a minor disadvantage of not quite long enough connection cable.

Thanks,
Paul

Update: Microsoft Windows 10 update messed up my V-Console for Genos setup

Microsoft released a Windows update on November 2, 2018. Once my V-Console laptop got updated, the V-Console for Genos program started to have problems - the Genos (upper keyboard) and Kronos (lower keyboard) still transmitted MIDI signals to V-Console, but there was no sound from Genos. The V-Console for Genos did not receive any MIDI signals from the JG3 Tech 24-note pedal. Later on, V-Console 32-bit program ran and could be found in the process table of Task Manager, but V-Console is not showing its GUI on any screens - my V-Console for Genos was total broken at that time.

In order to debug and resolve the problem, I went through the following steps:

1. Uninstalled the latest Windows 10 update dated November 2, 2018.
2. Reinstalled V-Console 2,1,4 for Genos software, and replaced the bad version of V-Console.exe binary with the newer version that John Beesley gave me.
3. Uninstalled the Yamaha USB driver 3.1.4, and reinstalled it.
4. Uninstalled the driver of Roland UM-ONE mk2, reinstalled it (from Windows update).
5. Removed Logitech Brio 4K webcam from the laptop.
6. Removed the external touchscreen monitor.

V-Console then ran showing its GUI, but the JG3 Tech 24-note pedal still did not work with V-Console. The JG3 Tech 24-note pedal worked fine with direct hookup with Kronos and Roland XP30 synths, so it was working properly. The problem seemed to be caused by the Roland UM-ONE mk2 USB-to-MIDI interface after the Windows 10 update.

Then I installed the MIDIOX program http://www.midiox.com/ recommended by John Beesley to debug outside of the V-Console program, and found that there was no MIDI signals coming from the Roland UM-ONE mk2 USB-to-MIDI interface. I then replaced the Roland UM-ONE mk2 with the iRig 2 USB-to-MIDI interface, and also powered off / on the JG3 Tech 24-note pedal. After this I could see MIDI signals coming from the iRig 2 on MIDIOX program.

I then reconfigured V-Console to use iRig 2 for the connection of the JG3 pedal, then exited V-Console, and shutdown the laptop. Then I hooked the external touchscreen monitor back and set it as the primary display, booted the laptop back up, and now V-Console works fine as before. I wasted a whole day in debugging and fixing V-Console problem caused by Windows update.

Conclusion:

1. Windows 10 update messed up my laptop environment for V-Console. For now, I paused the Windows update till a month later, and will keep pausing Windows updates since I need WiFi to be on. For other V-Console users with the dedicated Windows tablet, I would recommend other V-Console users to turn off WiFi of the V-Console Windows tablets, or disable Windows Update Service, to prevent unexpected V-Console outage caused by Windows 10 updates.

2. The Logitech Brio 4K webcam might have caused some USB conflicts. I was using the Logitech Brio 4K webcam clamped upside down above the Kronos 2 88-key to continuously monitor the 8-inch touchscreen of the keyboard, and feed the signal to ManyCams for video left/right and vertical flips to pass to Windows 10 Camera app so I can see the very fine, almost unreadable fonts of the Kronos 2 touchscreen on the much larger 15.6-inch laptop screen. Now I will have to make do with the Kronos Editor software on the laptop.

Thanks,
Paul