From anotherscott@hotmail.com Sun Oct 27 10:23:13 2013
Subject:Re: Question about Roland VR-09 & Hammond SK1

re: "looking for something to give me better organ sounds"


I think one factor is price. If you were just looking for a better organ, and the SK and the VR were the same price, I doubt many people would pick the VR. The SK is generally considered to have the better organ sound, plus waterfall keyboard, dedicated buttons for percussion and CV, more authentic drawbars, percussion that doesn't go through CV... as an organ alone, I think the only advantages of the VR are price and weight (and the SK is still quite light). If you are fortunate enough that you don't really need to figure price into this decision, that probably prompts you toward the SK, as an organ. But...


re: "as well as some additional sounds in case I 1) need some additional sounds while the Kronos is otherwise busy or as a good single keyboard option for a jam"



That does add another wrinkle! The Roland certainly has more sounds, including a full VA synth. The question might be what other sounds you care about most, and how those sounds compare on the two boards. For example, EPs and clavs might sway you more toward the Hammond, brass and strings more toward the Roland, or whatever. So then how the two compare as an organ has to be balanced by your need for these boards' non-organ functionalities, for this second use.


One more twist, though... If you're thinking about using them as single boards for jams, and again without regard to price, the Hammond is available in 73 and 88 key variations, the Roland is strictly a 61. That's something you might also keep in mind especially since you're replacing a 76. Personally, I would have a hard time even doing a jam on a single 61-note board, it just feels kind of claustrophobic to me. (And even if you're okay with 61, would the VR-09 necessarily serve that purpose for you better than the Kronos?)


Budget permitting, I think an SK1-88 under a Kronos 61 would probably be my favorite scenario here. And when using it alone, maybe put an iPad on its blank panel space, and use that for some additional sounds and split/layer functionality if need be. Though coming from the 76-key VR-760, maybe you'd be perfectly happy with the 73, too. The 88 does have a slightly different action from the 61/73 that I haven't had the opportunity to try yet. It is supposed to be better for piano, while still being fine for organ. Either way, you do lose the pitch/mod controls for single board use, but personally, I'd rather have more keys than those controls. As always, depends on your own priorities.


---In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, wrote:

One reason is the pianos on
My Kronos are far better than on the Roland VR-760. But I've used the Kronos CX3 organ in some jam sessions and even through my Vent found them totally uninspiring and did not cut through. So I'm looking for something to give me better organ sounds as well as some additional sounds in case I 1) need some additional sounds while the Kronos is otherwise busy or as a good single keyboard option for a jam to give a nice variety of sound options. Maybe I can tweak the Kronos CX3 organ to sound better but I was very disappointed last jam.


Also Current rig is Kronos at 28lbs & Roland VR-760 at 44. Either SK1 or VR-09 will be a big weight improvement.


Gene

Sent from my iPhone

--- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, wrote:
>
> re: "Would you prefer 10 fixed favourites.. and 3 button pushes to get any other sound, or do you prefer 25 banks with 4 totally different configurations available with one button push.. From my perspective I prefer the latter and the advantage goes to the VR-09. "
>
> I thought I'd replied to that, Craig, but I don't see it. Anyway, I agree that this is a personal preference. If you have your repertoire organized in (up to) 100 songs with up to 4 sounds per song, the Roland approach works well, although I would still be concerned about the time it takes to get from one song to another (outside of the first 16). Often I only have 4 beats to get to my settings for another song. If, OTOH, you often pick the sounds you need "on the fly" without having them pre-configured into song sets, having access to 10 sounds at a time OR being able to get to any sound with a few button presses, would offer the greater advantage. So it depends how you work.
>
> But actually, the Hammond isn't actually as good there as you give it credit for... where you say, "Would you prefer 10 fixed favourites.. and 3 button pushes to get any other sound" -- the way the Hammond works is that you set it up for 10 fixed favorites or 3 button pushes to get any other sound. If you're in the 3-button mode, you no longer have single button access to any sound. So there's a further trade-off.
>
> The best implementation I've seen of that is on some older Korgs with a "10's Hold" feature. You can use their numeric pad for direct 3-digit recall of any patch, but you also can switch it so that those ten buttons call up sounds with single presses, AND you can easily switch to a different bank of 10 for single-press access to a different set of ten sounds. In a way, a combination of the Roland and Hammond approaches.
>
> ---In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, wrote:
>
> Also, Gene, you may not have to bring a mixer, just the right cable. You should be able to go right out of the Hammond into the EXT INPUT jack of the VR-09, and be able to hear both through headphones plugged directly into the VR. Looks like you'd need a L/R 1/4" to a stereo mini. (The 1/4" side could be RCAs with adapters.)
>
> ---In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, wrote:
>
> Neither the VR-09 nor SK1 have aftertouch. That was a nice bonus on your VR-760, though you would still have it on your Kronos. The only lightweight "clonewheel" that also functions as a MIDI controller with aftertouch would be the Nord Stage 2-73. You might also look for an older Nord Stage/EX. And if you want "real" drawbar instead of buttons, you can add the Ocean Beach DB1.
>
> ---In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, wrote:
>
> Hi all. I'm the OP and again thank you for the in depth analysis. I'm digesting everything said and my next step is to go t my favorite music store and spend a couple hours with these two side by side. They will likely let me put them side by side literally and I'll bring a small mixer with my headphones and literally play them both.
>
> I've considered the joystick and/or jack of it. I didn't realize that the SK1 has downloadable sounds and they didn't sound bad on the you tube demos I've heard.
>
> One subject I didn't think about is the after touch. I have to look and see which of the two has after touch.
>
> Thank you again. I will let everyone know what I choose when I make the decision
>
> Gene
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Oct 24, 2013, at 2:45 PM, wrote:
>
> I would say that it's a matter of what you're controlling. If you're controlling a Kronos that has its own joystick, then pitch/mod controls on your other keyboard are less of an issue than if you are controlling, say, a Roland Integra, or a laptop running VSTs.
>
> But presumably the OP is well aware of the fact that the VR has those controls and the SK and Nord do not, and if those are what he is considering, I guess for his own use, he doesn't consider those controls essential. And that's what it comes down to, each person determining what they need. At least the functional difference between the presence or lack of those controls is obvious, and you either care or you don't. The difference in MIDI functionality is not so easy to discern without really spending some research time. So hopefully this thread has helped him.
>
> Personally, I would rather have aftertouch than pitch/mod wheels! Unfortunately, it's become a rare option. But iI was recently working with a setup where I used a pedal for pitch bend and used aftertouch for modulation, and that worked nicely for me, because I can rarely spare a hand for pitch/mod wheels anyway.
>
> It also depends on one's playing style and reperto ire. If you're mostly playing piano, EP, organ, and other non-synth sounds, you might not care much about a pitch or mod control in the first place. Certainly Nord seems to have sold a ton of keyboards without them. So I don't think you should assume that every player thinks they are as important as you do. I've certainly done plenty of gigs where I never touched a pitch or mod control!
>
> ---In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, wrote:
>
> AnotherScott,
>
> Again, practically speaking, if you're going to use your clone as a controller, I think its much more important for the clone to have a joystick rather than 3 different midi zones that can each send a program change... Why, because its likely that you'll be connecting it to a multitimbral device capable of creating its own splits an layers, and that's where you'll create the splits and layers... In the remote device not in the controller.. The exception to this is if you're using the clone to control multiple external devices.. In that case maybe the SK's 3 zones might be an advantage, otherwise I'll take the VR-09's joystick over the SK1's 3 zones!
>
> Craig
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> On Oct 24, 2013, at 1:07 PM, wrote:
>
> Yes, I think that would work... use the one Program Change in the registration to call up a Combi that responds or doesn't respond to whatever channels you want.
>
> The whole process of selectively triggering Kronos sounds or not from the second keyboard is still going to be easier on the Hammond (where it can be done entirely on the Hammond) than on the Roland (where it would have to be done through a combination of settings on both the Roland and the Kronos). It will also work better on the Hammond where you are actually disabling sending MIDI out. On the Roland, if you call up a "don't trigger Kronos" patch which depends on having the Roland call up a specific Korg Combi, you have the problem where, if you subsequently manually change the sound on the Kronos, the Roland could easily start to suddenly trigger Kronos sounds. Whereas on the Hammond, where your "don't trigger Kronos" patch simply sends no MIDI to the Kronos, you can continue to operate the Kronos independently without worrying about messing up whether or not your second keyboard is triggering it.
>
> But I agree, I'd be more inclined to try to use the Kronos to trigger the second keyboard than the other way around. Still, I could see where it could be convenient to also be able to hit a preset on the second board and have it call up something on the Kronos as well, and this is an area where the SK1 would be the stronger board.
>
> ---In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, wrote:
>
> Anotherscott..
>
> Yes, I think your correct, on the VR-09 one registration equals 1 program change (despite transmitting on two different midi channels), but can't these program change be used to select a combination? Assuming that's the case can't you set up your combinations on the Kronos to respond or not respond to different midi channels??
>
> BTW, I wouldn't be using the VR-09 to select programs on the Kronos, I would probably be do ing the reverse using the setlist functionality in the Kronos to control the VR-09.. so I'd set up with combinations, and in those combinations I would/could simply enable/disable midi channels as appropriate and transmit program changes to the VR-09... wouldn't that make more sense (perhaps I'm oversimplifying this)..
>
> Regards,
> Craig MacDonald
>
> From: "anotherscott@"
> To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2013 12:27:54 PM
> Subject: RE: Re: RE: Re: Re: [CWSG] RE: Question about Roland VR-09 & Hammond SK1
>
> Thanks, Craig, for the correction about being able to get to any VR-09 sound with the scroll wheel alone (as opposed to scroll wheel+button).
>
> Your point about sending on two different MIDI channels form the VR-09 (on either side of a split), actually adds a complication I didn't consider in my post. As mentioned, each Registration allows you to send a single Program Change command over a single MIDI channel (a specified Control channel). I was using that as a way to address the OP's concern about wanting the VR to sometimes trigger sounds in his Kronos, but other times not, by assigning either an audible or an inaudible Program Change to the Kronos from each of his VR-09 Registrations. (And I was assuming you can make your Control channel the same as your Upper channel, so that you'd be playing on the same channel you sent the Program Change on, which I'm actually not sure of, but hopefully is the case.) But I hadn't taken into account that, whenever you split the keyboard, the VR-09 is automatically transmitting on two different MIDI channels, but you can only send Program Change for one of the two channels.
>
> So again, the complication isn't one of getting the VR-09 to trigger the Kronos when you want to, but rather how to get it to stop triggering the Kronos when you don't want to. If I am putting this together correctly, any time you use the Split function on the VR-09, you will be transmitting on two channels to the Kronos, but you can only send one Program Change to the Kronos. So if you want the Kronos to be inaudible, it seems like there is no way to make it that way strictly from the VR... you'd have to somehow set your Kronos to not be responding to certain channels instead. So it's more complicated than I thought. It's certainly far easier on the SK1, where each zone can not only be set to send its own Program Change command, but can even be set to not send MIDI at all, so you don't even have to bother thinking about making silent patches on the Kronos.
>
> re: "I don't see the SK1's ability to have 3 different midi zones being that much of a practical advantage over the 2 zones available on the VR-09, certainly not compared to the practical advantage of the VR-09's joystick. "
>
> The advantage isn't just one of three zones versus two (and I would agree that, on 61 keys, two physical zones is often plenty), it's also other things, like that the three zones allow you to send three different MIDI Program Change commands per SK1 user preset, versus only one MIDI program change per Roland registration, and that each zone can be set to send MIDI or not. This allows you to call up different external sounds--or none at all--on either side of the split on the Hammond (to split or layer with its own sounds), that facility is missing from the Roland. And even if you don't care about having a third physical zone, that third zone control can still be used for sending out another MIDI Program Change (for example, to change the preset on your attached Burn). SK1 presets can also include other information for each external zone, besides separate Program Changes and enable/disable settings. For each zone, you can also specify things like octave shift and volume. Really, as a MIDI controller, I don't think the VR-09 is nearly as flexible as the Hammond. Except yes, you lose the pitch/mod wheel. But if your other board in your 2-board MIDI rig has them, I think you're covered there.
>
> ---In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, wrote: Anotherscott,
>
> Your description of the rotary knob on the Roland VR-09 is incorrect. You can get to any registration using just the knob.. as you turn the knob it advances through registration 1-1 to 1-2 to 1-3 to 1-4 then to bank two registration 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-4 then 3-1 etc etc.. you do NOT have to use the knob plus bank/registration buttons. Once you have selected any registration, the knob increments or decrements one registration at a time as you turn it right or left. The rotary control is very easy to use live on the VR-09, all you have to do is dial up your registration and no additional button pushes are necessary at all.
>
> I do see the Bank arrangement on the VR-09 as a slight advantage in one respect, and that is that you have one button access to 4 different registrations.. SO, it is quite easy to use this to move from one registration to another within a song, since it only requires one button push. So, I can have one registration for the verse of a song and a different registration for the chorus, and alternate between the two of them easily with one simple button push.
>
> The SK1 having 100 factory patches + 100 user programs is an advantage since the VR-09 has only 100 user registrations however, the SK1 has no advantage when it comes to dialing programs/registrations, using the rotary encoder. There is no inputting of numbers required to change registrations on the VR-09, you simply spin the dial!. Each bank has 4 registrations available with one button push and I see this as an advantage for the VR-09. It really depends on how you want to use the keyboard. Would you prefer 10 fixed favourites.. and 3 button pushes to get any other sound, or do you prefer 25 banks with 4 totally different configurations available with one button push.. From my perspective I prefer the latter and the advantage goes to the VR-09.
>
> Also, if I understand your comments correctly (and perhaps I've misunderstood), you've suggested that the VR-09 cannot create different zones and trigger multiple sounds on different midi channels on the Kronos, but this is incorrect also. The VR-09 can trigger sounds on two different midi channels by simply creating a split.. with different midi channels on the upper and lower parts. I don't see the SK1's ability to have 3 different midi zones being that much of a practical advantage over the 2 zones available on the VR-09, certainly not compared to the practical advantage of the VR-09's joystick. Again advantage goes to the VR-09.
>
> Hope this helps to clarify some misinformation.
>
> Regards,
> Craig MacDonald
>
> From: "anotherscott@"
> To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2013 10:22:50 AM
> Subject: RE: RE: Re: Re: [CWSG] RE: Question about Roland VR-09 & Hammond SK1
>
> re: "1) How many favorites can you save? (SK1 I heard 10. That's a bit limiting for me) "
>
> As has been mentioned, you can save 100 user presets, same as on the VR-09 (where they care called Registrations). To me, the bigger question for live performance is, how many of your custom presets can you get to with a single button press, or with 2-3 button presses? From reading the manuals (I don't have hands-on experience with these yet), it looks like this:
>
> On the SK1, you have ten recall buttons, which can be set to either get you ten of your user presets with single button presses, or as a keypad to call up any of 99 of your presets within 3 button presses (i.e. 9-9-enter for preset 99). (The 100th sound would require four button presses.)
>
> On the VR-09, you have four recall buttons plus a bank button. So you can get to only four of your presets with a single button press, or only up to 16 of your presets within 3 button presses (i.e. bank-4-4 to get to your 16th sound, the 4th sound in bank 4). To get to sounds beyond the first 16, you have to dial in the bank with the scroll wheel, which is not easy to quickly manipulate live.
>
> Though on the Roland, once you are in a given bank, you can switch among those four sounds with a single button; on the Hammond, assuming you want quick access to more than ten, virtually all your patch selections will require three buttons.
>
> The other way to navigate your 100 user presets on the Hammond is with the knob. I don't like scrolling with a knob live, but if you must, here again the Hammond has the edge. With the Hammond, you can use the knob to get directly get to any of your 100 user presets. On the Roland, you have to use the scroll wheel to navigate to one of your 25 banks, and then use a button to select one of the four sounds in that bank, so it is a two step operation, you can't scroll directly to any sound. In addition, I find scroll wheels more difficult to control quickly and accurately compared to a knob.
>
> So overall, I'd give Hammond the edge for built-in patch selection facility. Though in either case, you can also use some other device to get to patches, i.e. a MIDI patch select foot pedal, an iPad, or the MIDI control functions of another keyboard (like your Kronos).
>
> re: "2) Is there an easy way to activate MIDI on the keybaord so if for one song I wanted it to play sounds off my Kronos, can I do that relatively quickly or is it many button pushes if it can be done at all."
>
> On the Hammond, for each of your user presets, you can determine whether or not you want to send MIDI out (and if so, on what channel, and calling up which program). You can also specify which section of keys should transmit MIDI (you can split the board into up to three MIDI zones).
>
> The VR-09 is less flexible here, but you can probably do what you want. As far as I can see, your user presets (Registrations) always send MIDI, so activating it isn't the problem, DE-activating it is.Like the Hammond, each user preset allows you to specify what channel you want to transmit MIDI on and what program you want to call up, but unlike the Hammond, you can't seem to turn it off altogether. So I think what you would do on the presets where you do NOT want to trigger the Kronos is that you would set it up to call up some Kronos preset on some channel that, itself, is silent. Also unlike the Hammond, whatever Kronos preset you call up will be triggered from the entire VR-09 range, you can't split the VR's keyboard into multiple zones (i.e. if you wanted to layer a Kronos and a VR sound over just a portion of the VR's keyboard). Though if you had need to trigger a Kronos sound over just part of the VR's range, you should be able to set the sound up in the Kronos so that it would only play over a specified range of keys.
>
> Anyway, you happen to have picked two areas where I think the SK1 outshines the VR... patch selection and MIDI control. Though the VR does have one MIDI advantage over the SK as well, in that it has pitch and mod controls. But if you're using pitch and mod controls, it means you're playing a one-handed part, and that being the case, you could just play that part on the Kronos itself.
> ---In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, wrote: I'm not sure how you had yours set up but I don't think you had something set correctly. I have my SK-1 set up so that its keyboard usually plays the internal Extra Voices along with some of the Extra Voices in the XK-3c. Part of the lower manual of my XK-3c/System plays the upper manual of the SK-1's organ. I have the preset load parameters set so that pressing one of the Favorites buttons calls up the EV I want but none of the organ related settings change. The System expression pedal controls the SK' s volume and everything works as one large instrument. I also have an old Hammond M2 with a line out that I run into th e XK-3c effects return to the right of the System so I can play it along with everything else. It all works smoothly.
>
> ---In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, wrote: About question 2 - the SK responds either to MIDI OR the keyboard for the internal sounds to sound. So if you set the SK to MIDI you can play it from the Kronos. But if want to play the SK keyboard it will not sound. You will have to go into the menu and change it from MIDI to internal so that it will sound. I had a sequencer palying the organ part on some songs (sk set to MIDI) and on other songs I played the organ 'live'. I had to switch the SK to internal to do this. Main reason I returned it. Nice soundin g hammond sound and sim though.
> On Monday, October 21, 2013 11:06 AM, "jjmcs49@" wrote:
>
> The SK's have 200 Patches stored/available - 100 Preset and 100 User. The 100 Preset patches are locked and can't be changed, the 100 User Patches are editable.
>
> The 10 Favorites buttons have 4 modes of use - from the SK manual (Pg. 76):
>
> This is for setting the action of the Favorite Buttons. ASSOCIATE: Each number button usually calls the related patch. If you touch each number button holding down the [RECORD] button, it relates the number button to the currently selected patch.
>
> * Using this mode means a given patch is associated with each button ie: button 1 could be Patch 32, button 2 Patch 99 and so on. In this mode pressing a button and record assigns the currently active patch to that button (but does not actually save any changes to the Patch that have not been saved separately).
>
> OVERWRITE: In addition to above, if you touch each number button holding down the [RECORD] button, it records the current setting to the selected patch.
>
> * This mode works the same as above except that pressing a button and record assigns the active patch to the button but also saves the patch and any changes that have been made (but not already saved separately).
>
> LOCKED1-10: Each number button usually calls the corresponding patch, 1 ... 10. If you touch each number button holding down the [RECORD] button, it records the current setting to the corresponding patch, 1 ... 10.
>
> * This mode connects buttons 1 - 10 to Patches 1 - 10. If Patch 32 is active and button 3 is pressed plus record, Patch 32 is also saved to Patch 3 and button 3 will call up Patch 3.
>
> DIRECT: This is for directly calling the patch, using each number button. To call the patch, fi rst put in the 3 digit patch number and then touch the [ENTER] button. U001 ... [1], [ENTER] U010 ... [1], [10], [ENTER] U100 ... [1], [10], [10], [ENTER] P001 ... [1], [10], [1], [ENTER] P010 ... [1], [1], [10], [ENTER] P100 ... [2], [10], [10], [ENTER] You can not relate the patch to each number button.
>
> * This mode basically just turns the Favorites buttons into a keypad so any of the 200 Patches can be called up directly.
>
> The SK's have External Zones which are Patch parameters so you could have any number (up to 100) of Patches which can be set to control external devices as well as change the current setup of the SK.
>
> ---In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, wrote: 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
>
> On Oct 21, 2013, at 8:55 AM, wrote:
>
> Gene, I have both. I don't delve into midi that much so I can't answer that one, but as far as the first goes, there's a difference between presets and favorites on the SK, you can store 100 presets on the SK, the favorites are just quicker to get to under your fingers fast. I actually find the SK quicker to get to sounds in, the VR you have to do a few button presses, the SK I have the banks of presets loaded up so I go to the rhodes favorite, and if I twist the value knob after hitting the favorite I can sweep through all my rhodeses, so even though it's only 10, it's actually quicker if you set it up right. The VR you have to pick a bank, then a preset. I'm slower at that (although I admittedly use the SK more so I know it better). Bottom line, they both have great organ sounds, but the SK feels way more playable to me with the keys and drawbars. The no pitch bend is something to consider though if you do use a lot of synth, and also no port amento on the SK. The SK has some nice sounds as far as synth goes, but not having the bender makes it unplayable for me for the most part. On the other hand the SK's sounds are way better to my ear on a lot of things (like deep strings, rhodes, clav, etc.) What's really cool is I have both so with a two tiered stand you can bring both and be under the weight of your roland.
> ---In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com mailto:CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, wrote: HI Everyone. I'm still deciding between a Roland VR-09 and a Hammond SK1 to go with my Kronos X61. I currently use a Roland VR-760 for Organ and other Synth type sounds (limited but it works). But the VR-760 is getting to heavy for this back to carry.
>
> So a couple questions to you owners of these two rigs.
> 1) How many favorites can you save? (SK1 I heard 10. That's a bit limiting for me)
> 2) Is there an easy way to activate MIDI on the keybaord so if for one song I wanted it to play sounds off my Kronos, can I do that relatively quickly or is it many button pushes if it can be done at all.
>
> I guess I'd also consider the same questions about the Nord 4D. I haven't been able to find out by looking in the manuals athough I've not taked a deep dive in them, just read the basics. Your experience and knowledge would be helpful.
>
> Thanks,
> Gene
>