From mate_stubb@yahoo.com Sat Oct 18 23:21:09 2003
Subject:Roland VR-760 vs. Electro shootout

(crossposted to the Electro group)

I returned my Electro to the store today due to a key contact
problem, and while I was there spent a couple of hours with a VR-760.
While I really like the Electro, it's sufficiently annoying that it
is not multitimbral that I thought the Roland worth checking out,
even though it is heavier and more expensive.

Disclaimer section: I played them through both headphones and a
Behringer keyboard amp. The VR did not have any extra sound cards
installed. This is a comparison of both keyboards used with internal
sims, no external preamps or rotating speakers.

What I liked:
The action on the Roland is sweet. Glisses nicely, and even though
the action is light, it is much easier to play pianistically than the
Nord. It is 76 keys instead of the Nord's 73, and the extra keys make
a difference. The Roland acoustic piano sample is also way better
than what Nord currently offers. It was nice to have the real
drawbars instead of the draw buttons, although the Nord's buttons
don't bother me too much. The layout of the Roland makes it more
versatile for handling all in one keyboard chores. It has a Roland
pitch bend paddle, one of my favorites. The overdrive on the organ
was musical sounding.

What was so-so:
The basic organ and electric piano sound. I had trouble getting any
bass out of the organ. With the onboard EQ flat, the bass in the
bottom octave was nonexistant through both phones and amp. Weird. It
sounded like some of the late model B-3s that I've heard that have
misadjusted generator pickups, and have no bass. Even if I cranked
the bass EQ up, it was just barely there. The top octave was somewhat
shrill unless I crack back the global treble EQ, but this might
affect any piano or synth sounds you have going at the same time. The
whole organ tone seemed lifeless to me. (I know that this is in
direct opposition to what another list member has found - weird how
perception varies). The percussion was too loud out of the box, even
on soft setting. This can be edited however. The tremolo effect on
the Wurli was not right - it seemed to either throb too intensely, or
disappear. I was disappointed in the leslie sim. It had the flavor of
the sim on my old Roland VK-1000, where there seemed to be some
straight sound bleeding through no matter how I tweaked it. It had
the sound of an effect being applied, not a device that the organ was
running through.

After I went through all the tweakable parameters on the organ, I
went outside and brought the Electro in for an A/B comparison. To my
ears, the Nord blew the Roland away. The organ had a solid bass that
I was missing before, and the actual tone was meatier and warmer. I
went through all the tonewheel and COSM amp models on the Roland
trying to get it to compete with the Nord's basic organ tone, but
didn't succeed. The Rhodes, wurli and clav also were clearly superior
on the Nord. Again, bear in mind that the Roland can be expanded, but
that's yet more money to invest.

The Electro was a big hit. All the keyboard salesmen crowded around,
saying that they had been wanting to hear it but hadn't managed to
get one in stock before.

This is just one person's opinion - I went in that day ready to be
impressed by the Roland, however I came home with a new appreciation
for the Electro. I swapped it for a replacement with a properly
working keyboard. For me, the telling thing was the fact that the
organ and electric pianos sounded so good AS IS - no it's not
tweakable to the nth degree, and no you can't play more than one
sound at once, but at least that one sound that you ARE playing is
musical and inspiring.

Moe