Roland VR-09 V-Combo B

I' d like to start this review by saying that this synth is really really great ! I can' t almost find a blemish on this gem !

The sounds : The sound samples are of true high pro quality. They stimulate the mind and the hands follow ! The electric piano sounds are fantastic ! So inspirational ! The piano sounds are alright. The brass, the strings and of course the organ sounds are of top quality. The rotary effect of the organ is great and the drawbars are giving lots of options !

FX section : The FX sounds are also fantastic ! I like all of them : The chorus, vibrato, tremolo, phaser, distortion etc, they all are of true high quality ! They really trigger the sounds and lead them to a whole new level of inspiration and joy ! The only negative that I find in this section, is that you can' t customize the settings of the FX such as level, rate, depth, time etc. There is just one knob that triggers all of these settings together. All the same, the FX unit of this synth sounds really great. The reverb is fantastic ! You can also choose which FX you want to apply on each sound !

The keys : The feeling of the keys is fantastic ! Not too hard, not too soft and even though it' s not a waterfall keyboard, the feeling is great and very comfortable to play. It helps you to bring out the utmost of your playbility skills !

The look : This synth looks fantastic ! It has an original vintage look and even though it is made of plastic, it doesn' t give a cheap impression whatsoever. The colour is black and white. really really great ! The quality of the materials is fair enough given the price.

The looper and drum section : This section is very easy to use and helps you create, practice and improvise at any style you want. It makes you want to play more and more ! But the duration of the loop is only 20 seconds..

The verdict : This review is based on a personal opinion and quality is in the eye of the beholder ! If you are a super pro, you might want to buy a more expensive synth such as a Nord, which can fulfill your professional expectations. But if you are a semi pro, this synth is a dream come true ! Everything is so hands on and you can easily create the sound that you want very fast, without having to dive into complex menus and make lots of actions. I also think that this synth can easily and decently perform in any true professional live, without having any problem at all. I can surely tell that the price is more than fair, if you consider the sound quality and the options that this great synth offers. I also recommend that you should buy a damper pedal, if you want to get the most out of it, especially in the piano and electric piano sounds.

So finally : This great synth is highly recommended ! It is going to inspire you and you will have a great time playing with it ! The only negative that I find, is that you can' t customize the FX settings. Everything else is really really great ! I hope that you will find this review helpfull, if you consider on buying this great synth made by Roland.

This has impressive B3 organ tones with the ability to tweak drawbar and rotary settings (especially at this price point, this makes it still unrivalled unless you buy a Hammond, Nord, Crumar or Viscount, each of which cost over twice the amount of money the VR-09 does). Overdrive is a little sudden (from nothing to quite a crunch), but this is perfect for the rock and prog sound I'm going to use it for 90% of the time.

Many of the other preset sounds seem worryingly mediocre at first, especially the pianos (and yes, this did make me briefly consider returning it). However, once you play around with the overdrive, tone and compressor dials (plus, for pianos, actually use a sustain pedal -- making sure that pedal's polarity switch is in the right place so it functions properly!) you can create some truly brilliant sounds, including for pianos. The fact you can so easily layer and split sounds too, and save these (and individual tweaked sounds) as 'registrations' for easy access later, makes this a stunning budget board which can do most things pretty well. I've even tweaked and layered the sounds to create serviceable patches for mellotron strings and flutes! Is the sound and build quality as good as the premier brands named above (add Markus Resch Mellotrons to that list!)? No -- not at all. Can this board create a range of very good bread-and-butter sounds from acoustic and electric pianos to miscellaneous stuff including accordions, guitars, strings, marimbas (etc.!), with extremely pleasing Hammond organ tones? Absolutely! And it's so convenient having all this sonic potential in one board.

This is without mentioning the portability of its light weight and 61 keys (unless you need more keys for specifically piano work, this isn't a problem), the drum rhythms, the looper, and the fact that you can easily access the most genuinely useful categories of sounds at the touch of a button.

The synth sounds are good, but I've yet to get a really gnarly lead or any crazy sounds out of it. A dedicated synth is probably needed for this (though the iPad editor, which I haven't worked with yet, might be able to summon up such sounds with a bit of work). Having said that, it has plenty of classic mono and poly synth tones. I'd just say it's missing the merry mayhem possible with a true synthesiser.

Overall, though, this is a stunning keyboard, especially at its price point, and if you want a range of useful sounds and the ability to customise them in the moment to fit the mix or your own tastes, all in a portable and affordable package, this is definitely the way to go. It's been around for quite a few years now, but the fact it's still in production is a testament to its continuing value. Just don't be put off by the uninspiring presets -- spend the time to explore, experiment and adjust all those dials, and you will be very pleased with what this board can do!