From ccmacdon@rogers.com Mon Oct 21 06:09:50 2013
Subject:Re: Question about Roland VR-09 & Hammond SK1

You didn't confirm how many presets there are on the SK? I don't recall, I only owned one for about 48 hours.. Is it just 10 favourites?

I agree with you on most of your points but as far as the extra voices, I think that's really a matter of taste. However, one of the areas that you said you preferred on the sk1 was strings, but as far as I know the SK1 has no warm strings at all, and about the worst thin and harsh sounding strings I've ever heard on a keyboard.. Perhaps they've added some new downloadable strings but the ones I heard were awful. You can argue which has better EP/AP and clav sounds but as far as everything else goes the VR-09 is way ahead, including strings, and brass sounds.

One last point about the advantage of the VR over the SK.. VIRTUAL ANALOG SYNTH!
Basically this is the same synth that's in the top of the line Jupiter 80 (albeit limited to 3 layers). This thing has over 330 different wave forms to choose from, so if you can't find a sound you like in the VR-09, you can probably make it using the VA synth.. This is an outstanding advantage for the VR-09 but only IF you want/need synth sounds.

From my perspective if Gene likes the VK organ sound (many don't) then the VR-09 is almost a no-brainier here so long as he doesn't mind the keyboard...

Sent from my iPad