From carl@vanselman.com Sun Aug 03 01:21:16 2003
Subject:Rotor Sim on VR760

Hi all,
Found something out about the rotor sim on the VR760 last night. I usually play with the left and right balanced outputs straight into the bands mixing desk and stereo PA system. All the pianos and organs sound great this way although the rotor sim is not as good as the Electro.

Last night however one side of the power amp died and our sound man shifted everything to mono and we got through the night that way... but the sound of the VR760 went downhill bigtime. The rotor sim in mono sounds like a bad 70's tremolo with a very fast only speed, the lush acoustic piano (which I love in stereo) had some poor phasing problems just like the Electro. What I mean is that some notes sound ok but others are quieter or tonally weak, this is caused by taking the stereo sampled piano and putting both channels out of the 'mono' output. This causes some samples to be 'out of phase' (causing peaks and troughs, like waves on the sea). The Electro has the same problem on its acoustic piano in mono.

The power amp will be repaired and ready for the next gig this week and I'll be back to glorious stereo but it has also highlighted another comment made on the group. The Leslie sim on the VR760 is awful in mono, so if you are thinking of getting a VR760 you must have a stereo set up, don't even bother to listen to the rotor sim in mono. If you are taking organ into a real Leslie that would be better although you'll then need to split the signal in order to keep the piano in stereo.

I think the keyboard suits me as I always play straight into the band PA in stereo, I love hearing rotor sim swirling around the stage but as a gigging musician I have to use piano, strings, synth pads etc etc and the VR760 does it all. The SRX07 card is an absolute must for anyone using this keyboard as it gives not only Hammond sounds to use in your left hand but a fine selection of strings, pads, synthy whooshes, basses etc etc and makes it a complete gigging solution. Yes its heavy but I don't take anything else with me except this keyboard so on balance I probably shift less weight than most and I usually find our sound man (we call him Samson, long hair and very strong!) will help move it at venues. I should say that I'm in my late 50's and just physically unable to move heavy Hammond, Leslie's, speakers, amps etc any more but intend to carry on gigging 'till I'm carried off stage for the last time.

Carl

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