FAQ author: Artemiy Pavlov.
Contributions: Nathan Sheldon,
Stephane Pigeon.
Home URL: http://v-tribe.info/documents/V-Synth-FAQ.html.
Questions answered: 25. Last update: 08:53, 14 December 2005.
1.1 What polyphony is the V-Synth capable of?
Nathan Sheldon deeply investigated the V-Synth's polyphony capabilities,
including the different analogue oscillator types and settings, PCM oscillator with
VariPhrase on (different encoding types) and off, as well as COSM
units with different algorithms and settings.
You can read the results of his observations in a dedicated document which is
available at the V-Tribe web site: http://v-tribe.info/documents/V-Synth2.0poly.pdf
1.2 How much sample RAM does the V-Synth have? Is it expandable?
The V-Synth has 50 MB of RAM which is not expandable. It is not
that of a limitation though, because 50 MB is the max RAM that
can be used per project - and given that you can have a big number
of projects on a single (large) card, 50 MB is really enough for
most tasks.
1.3 What is the system boot time?
- V-Synth OS, no project: 4 s
- V-Synth OS, TweakBook project: 13 s
- V-Synth with VC-1 OS: 14 s
1.4 Is the V-Synth multitimbral?
Yes, you can assign individual patches to all 16 MIDI channels
and simultaneously control them from any external MIDI device.
Despite that the V-Synth itself can play only one channel,
if you set several parts to one channel, they will be played
simultaneously (layered).
1.5 Is the touchscreen reliable?
A real-life example: a real shop demo unit that had people
touching (and killing) it every day for over two years. The touchscreen
seemed to respond badly, but after calibration (MODE -> Calibration -> Touchscreen)
it worked perfectly, absolutely like new.
2.1 How do I check my OS version?
- Touch MENU.
- Select Info.
- Read the version number at the top of the newly-appeared window.
2.2 Where can I download the latest update?
2.3 How can I perform an OS update?
NOTE: in these instructions, [N] stands for the "N" Patch Pallete button for the V-Synth
and "N" button on the keypad for the V-Synth XT.
USB update
- Connect the V-Synth to the computer with a USB cable.
Power the V-Synth on while holding the [1] button.
- The screen will read "PROGRAM Updater [2] Update by USB Mass Storage".
Press [2].
- Depending on the OS type running on your computer, on the desktop or in
system devices list you should see a new removable drive icon
("Removable Disk", "Roland V-Synth", etc.).
- Open the V-Synth drive with a file manager.
- Copy the folder from the update archive to the V-Synth. While the display
reads "Accessing...", do not perform any operations.
- Unmount/eject the removable drive (menu option: right-click the disk icon
on the desktop or in system tray, depends on the computer's OS).
- Touch Exit on the V-Synth to exit the USB storage mode.
- Disconnect the USB cable.
- Press [8]. The update program will start.
- After the update is complete, the display reads "Complete! Please POWER OFF".
Power the V-Synth off and then back on, and check the updated OS version.
Card update
- Connect the V-Synth to the computer in USB storage mode, and select the
Card memory area.
Copy the folder from the update archive to the V-Synth.
Exit the USB mode.
- Power the V-Synth off.
- Power the V-Synth on while holding the [1] button.
- Update program will start.
- After the update is complete, the display reads "Complete! Please POWER OFF".
Power the V-Synth off and then back on, and check the updated OS version.
3.1 How can I import audio samples?
If you don't have a card reader:
- Connect the V-Synth to your computer in USB storage mode.
- Create a new folder on the V-Synth's drive (say, "import") and copy the
samples into it (linear WAVE or AIFF).
- Disconnect the V-Synth from your computer by touching Exit.
If you have a card reader for your V-Synth card type:
- Open this card directly from your computer using the card reader.
- Create a new folder (say, "import") and copy the samples into it (linear WAVE or AIFF).
Eject the card from the reader and insert it into the V-Synth.
And then:
- Go to MODE -> SAMPLE, and touch Import. Browse to the "import" folder
you created, and mark the samples you want to import, then touch "Exec". The
samples will now appear in the
- Choose Save, then confirm saving the project. Note that if the total sample
size you imported is more than half of the internal or card memory, you will need
to erase the original samples first; to do so, go to MODE -> Disk ->
Tools, browse to the "import" folder, mark the samples and Delete them.
3.2 How can I assign a sample to the keyboard?
Find a clean patch or initialise a patch that you do not need ("Patch Init" in
the drop-down menu). Go to OSC1, set OSC type to PCM and then assign the sample
you want from the List.
3.3 Imported sample sounds with clicks when played back from
the keyboard or TTP.
By default, the V-Synth encodes all samples with the Lite VariPhrase algorithm -
it consumes less size but gives less quality that other algorithms. Encode
your sample using other encoding types:
- Solo: spectrally simple sounds, like monophonic vocals, instrument and synth sounds
- Backing: spectrally complex non-melodic sounds - drums, percussion, noises, effects
- Ensemble: spectrally complex melodic sounds - chords, phrases
To encode a sample:
- Go to MODE -> Sample
- Select a sample to encode
- Touch the Encode icon
- Select encoding type
- Touch the "Encode" button
- Repeat for all samples to be encoded, then touch the Save
icon to save your project
4.1 How can I eliminate a click sound at the start of analogue OSCs?
There is an "Impact" parameter in the Waveform tab - just set it to 0
to get rid of the click.
4.2 When I switch the TVA block on, I can hear a drop in sound level. Is there a solution?
By default, the only block that has level velocity sensitivity switched on
is the TVA block. If you strike keys harder or turn the "Sens" down to 0,
the level will be as high as it can be.
5.1 How can I connect my V-Synth to the computer in USB storage mode?
When connected to a computer in USB storage mode,
Preliminary setup
- Press [MODE] and select SYSTEM.
- In the MIDI USB tab, touch USB setup.
- Make sure that the USB Mode is set to Storage. If usually you need
USB MIDI (audio) functionality, switch this back to USB-MIDI (audio)
after working in the USB storage mode.
Performing the connection
- Connect the V-Synth to the computer with a USB cable.
- Press [MODE] and select USB.
- Choose Internal or Card memory area.
- Depending on the OS type running on your computer, on the desktop or in
system devices list you should see a new removable drive icon
("Removable Disk", "Roland V-Synth", etc.).
- Open the V-Synth drive with a file manager.
- Perform the needed operations on the files (copy projects/files to/from the computer, etc.).
While the display reads "Accessing...", do not perform any operations.
- Unmount/eject the removable drive (menu option: right-click the disk icon
on the desktop or in system tray, depends on the computer's OS).
- Touch Exit on the V-Synth to exit the USB storage mode.
- Disconnect the USB cable.
5.2 How does the V-Synth treat patches and samples? What is a project?
The V-Synth organises all data as projects. Each project
contains up to 512 patches and up to 999 waves (samples).
Maximum total samples size per project is 50 Mb.
On the storage media (internal flash RAM or card), each project is a directory
named like My Project.prj with two subdirectories - Wave that contains
samples and Patch that contains patches (each patch is stored
in a separate file, just as samples).
5.3 How many patches can I store on a given memory card?
Each patch file takes around 5.5 KB. This gives the estimations
of that you can store up to around 1'900 patches in the internal flash memory,
or up to around 24'000 patches on a 128 MB card (of course these numbers are
given assuming that you have only patches, no samples).
5.4 What is the load/save speed when using a storage card?
As tested with a high-speed Compact Flash, the averave save/load rate is
500-600 KB/s. Load time sometimes is faster - 700-800 KB/s.
5.5 How can I import patches from other projects?
Using the Import Files function in MODE -> Disk, you can import
patches from other project. They will be imported to the free locations
in the currently loaded project. If the patches that are being imported
use PCM samples, these samples will also be imported into free wave locations
in the current project, and the references to them in the imported patches
will be changed accordingly.
6.1 How can I play the arpeggiator from a remote keyboard?
Go to MODE -> System -> Controller -> Kbd and set Remote Keyboard Sw
to On.
6.2 How can sync the arpeggiator to a remote device?
At first you need to make sure that your external controller is sending a MIDI Sync
Signal. Then, go to MODE -> System -> MIDI and set Clock Source to
External.
6.3 How can I make the V-Synth respond to control messages from other gear?
Since the internal synthesis structure vastly differs from that of a general
MIDI synth, the V-Synth has no MIDI controllers assigned to any parameters
by default (except for aftertouch and modulation). In order to make it respond
to control change messages, you need to go to patch Global section, Matrix Control tab,
choose a control source and route it to some destination. For example, to be able
to control cutoff of the first COSM block (if it is a filter, of course),
set control source to CC74, destination to CSM1-PRM1 and depth to +50-60.
6.4 How can I make the V-Synth to Fantom's controllers?
As in the Q/A above, if you want your V-Synth to respond to the controls of external MIDI gear,
you need to first set up Matrix Control. With Fantom series, here are two examples:
- For Fantom's D-Beam, look up which controller the D-Beam is set to (press SHIFT+ASSIGNABLE). Usually it's
CC02 Breath. So in Matrix Control section, in one of the empty slots,
set the Source to CC02, then select the destination(s) (these can be many OSC1/2, COSM1/2 parameters)
and set Depth to a desired value (30..60 usually is best).
- For the Cutoff and Resonance knobs (when Fantom's knobs are in FILTER/ENV mode),
you can use CC74 and CC75 in V-Synths's Matrix Control to make it respond to them as you want.
- For the knobs in ASSIGNABLE mode, use SHIFT + [knob roll] to see which controllers they
are set to and set up Matrix Control on the V-Synth accordingly.
7.1 When I transfer a MIDI bank dump, it is lost after powering off.
You need to go to MODE -> Data Transfer and copy the bank you transferred the
dump to into itself.
7.2 How can I back up (or share) my patches?
- Boot the V-Synth with no VC card inserted.
- Insert the VC-1 card.
- Go to MODE -> Disk -> Tools, choose the Card location. You will see files
vc1_i1.p10 through vc1_i6.p10 - these files represent the six internal user-writeable banks.
- Mark and then copy the needed bank files to "Internal" area (internal flash RAM).
- Now you can connect the V-Synth to your computer via USB, enter USB storage mode,
and download the bank files (alternatively, you can copy these bank files to a storage card
and then use a card reader to copy files to the computer).
7.3 How can I pan the tones to left and right channels?
In Patch Edit -> Output, set Output Type to 4. As you can now see from the displayed
diagram, lower tone is panned to left channel, and upper to the right.