Hello, any suggestions for the "Souvenir of China" synth sound from Jean Michel Jarre? I have tried many sounds in this 730, not 100% convinced so far. Any help much appreciated.
Are the keys normal size or they still like the VR-09 or Juno ds keys? I have a Juno ds and I have gotten used to it but if I’m going to pay $1500 I hope the black keys are a bit longer. I appreciate it you could clarify key size. Your videos are amazing as well as your chops. Cheers
This looks/sounds amazing. Pity it's not an 88 Key, synth 😢 I've recently started using my old Alesis QS8, after years of playing just a Roland Stage piano. The Alesis was amazingly easy to programme splits and multilayered sound combinations which you could call up at the touch of a button *and* you could move them around, so that they could be called up instantly in a Gigging situation. But it's *so* damned heavy! I'm really looking for something lightweight with the same capacity, however, the Roland Stage piano I use is very limited sound wise and nowhere near as good, nor intuitive, as the Alesis in terms of ease of programming. Does anybody know of anything similar in this day and age, please?
Yep, thanks very much. I've been looking at the MX88, as it seems amazing, but from all of the videos I've seen, only seems to have the capacity for a 2 layer/split, when programming the keyboard itself and I'd be looking for multiple options, like the Alesis could do. I'll definitely check out the MODX-8 and thanks again for the tip..😉👍
@@richardornelas3995 He answered your question already.. NO AMP was used... it's called "Going Direct". Output of the VR730 straight into the camera doing the recording. You're hearing the 730 and nothing else.
They are the same waveforms of JV ... JD ... XV ... Fantom ... Jdxa ..... they are excellent ... but ... I really think we are in a loop! And I say this to almost all manufacturers! Nord, Yamaha, Kurzweil ... The great innovation ironically is the rebirth of the analogue! Have we reached a limit with the synthesizers? Tip ... Roland should re launch Jupiter 8 before Behringer, and cheap, and with good sound, and beautiful!!! I'm dreaming of the Behringer's!
so how easy is it to switch voices quickly? does the user have to peck through a tiny menu display that people who are somewhat vision challenged (like me) will have a difficult time reading?
Great! I just bought the keyboard "Roland V Combo VR-730". I wanted to ask if you could give me some advice. I have to play the song "Shine on your crazy diamond" from Pink Floyd and cannot find the right sound for the chords and the solo. It would be great, if you or someone could tell me the right sound-selection. Thank you so much!
Pastoral is the sound you're looking for! I found out by accident that it sounds remarkably like Crazy Diamond. Just hold an open chord in the lower register with your left hand, and play the lead solo in the upper register with your right. Just a simple minor chord.
I have the VR-09 and one deficit is the inability to change the key/octave and have it saved. Right now I can transpose a step, but if I switch patches, it reverts to the default. Not good in live play. Has this been changed with the 730? Thanks
Hi Rich. The Transposition and Octave setting is saved per patch. So, if you want the Transposition saved you have to save the patch while it's in the desired Transposition. This ability is important as each part of a Split/Layer of every patch can have its own Transposition and Octave setting. Thanks for watching!
Daniel (or anyone else who can chime in here), are the sounds being played coming straight out of the keyboard, or are they only available on the Sweetwater Exclusive Sound Library expansion thumb drive mentioned in the worded description?
Hi Rick. The sounds I played on this video are built in and exclusive to the VR-730. All of the sounds of the Sweetwater Exclusive Sound Library expansion thumb drive are played on that separate video. Thanks for watching!
Got one of these a couple of weeks ago for a cover band. Very good sounds overall, but many of them are not real bright, and you have no way to adjust the EQ. There's a "Tone" knob, which is really more of a contour control - all the way left gives you a big bump in the midrange (but you cannot adjust the frequency or the 'Q'), all the way right gives you a classic scooped sound. If you want to fine tune EQ, you'll need to either do that in your amp or with a portable mixer (which is what I use). The organ sounds are really nice - just your basic B3 emulation with traditional harmonic bars, of course.Split the keyboard and/or add a bass pedal and you can give your audience that classic B3 vibe. That said, some B3 snobs (and/or Nord snobs) in the audience may notice that it's not 100% true to a classic B3, but this this is the closest you're going to come under $2K. There are 3 different Leslie emulations, and you can adjust all the traditional Leslie sound parameters such as acceleration, woofer speed, tweeter speed, etc. You can trigger the rise/fall of the Leslie sound with either the damper pedal, or the more traditional lever using the pitch bend lever. There are a host of very nice EP and Clav sounds, so in my opinion this is currently the best general board on the market for use in a classic rock cover band. This thing is a time-warp to the 60s and 70s! The other sounds, such as synth, acoustic piano and strings are mostly icing on the cake for my use. I have a couple of other 88-key boards I use for those sounds.
Hi Vanessa. Thanks so much for your excellent information. So DOES the 730 accept the 'value add' patches that Daniel mentions? He never really answers that. If you are not familiar with the value add patches he is referring to ... these are custom patches that he created for the 730's predecessor. They are excellent patches by the way. Kindly advise and thanks so much!
It should accept the value add patches. The sound engine and basic program architecture are exactly the same as the 09, just with more sounds (and more keys, of course). You just plug in the thumb drive and follow the instruction manual for downloading new registrations or registration sets. I think in another Sweetwater video they talk about offering that thumb drive with the purchase of a new VR-730.
Thank you, Vanessa! So in the middle of all of this ... Yamaha rolls out their new MODX line last Thursday, Nov. 27th. I was literally hours away from ordering the 730 when I heard about this. I did my usual deep dive research and now am leaning toward the 76 key model ... the MODX7. It has most of the sounds I was after from the 730 and many more I never expected including a killer choir (great for Stones, Genesis, etc.), acoustic guitars, and several acoustic pianos. As I love both Roland and Yamaha ... I could easily flip a coin and be happy with either keyboard. Thanks again --
Hey Stephen, I've been lusting after the modx7 but I've heard the organ sounds are not the best? I'd like to get a better keyboard after using the ds-61 which is great but looking for better sounds and more keys.
Hi fourthtunz. I was looking for a keyboard in the $1500 price range. Interestingly … the Roland VR-730 and the MODX7 are exactly the same price $1499 from Sweetwater! I think either will fit your needs very nicely. The Roland VR-730 has much going for it-really great organ and electric piano sounds. I have checked out numerous UA-cam videos on the 730 and can’t find many examples of its acoustic piano sounds, which is a priority for me. I believe the Daniel Fischer (Sweetwater’s keyboard ‘guru’) sounds are exceptional-very musical and very usable. Definitely check out his excellent videos that include sound demos and don’t miss the first video he produced on his bonus sounds for the VR-09, which are included and will work on the VR-730. For me the MODX7 covers more of the priorities I need for my band as well as my songwriting and recording. As mentioned in a response above the acoustic (and electric!) pianos are great and there are some very unexpected cool sounds-choirs, pads, acoustic guitars. Since the time of my original post I found a gentleman in Australia who develops sounds, songs and keyboard setups (called ‘live sets’) on the Yamaha Montage (MODX’s bigger brother)-all sounds and ‘live sets’ will work seamlessly on the MODX7! This includes songs our band is already doing or will be doing soon-‘Africa’ by Toto, songs by Bruno Mars, Michael Jackson, Zeppelin, etc. etc. Another huge bonus for me is the weight of the MODX7 … just 16.5 pounds! NOTE: If you are classically trained the MODX8 with weighted keys may be your preference. It is a bit more expensive but has 88 weighted keys. You mentioned that better sounds and more keys are priorities. I believe the Yamaha MODX7 or Roland VR-730 will work beautifully for you. My suggestion is to check out every UA-cam video you can find on both keyboards to help support your decision. Best of luck on your ‘tone quest’! My MODX7 arrives tomorrow! … maybe I can offer more insight once I unbox it. Can’t wait!
What would be neigh ideal would be this model supplemented with the vocal input of the Juno DS synth models. That in itself would be worth the additional $500 USD from what the -09 set me back.
In short - you get what you pay for. These sounds are really good for the local gig circuit, but Nord is just a bit better overall. The question, though, is: Will a typical audience notice the subtle differences as much as you will?
hey Vanessa P, have you had the chance to compare the sounds of the 730 to the Roland ds-61 or the FA-06? They say the keyboard feel on the 730 is superior to those as well as the vr-09, thanks!
Hi MrPonkine. The Bonus Bank, the Factory Bank, plus manuals, drivers, tutorials, etc, all come on a USB thumb drive, along with a cover letter explaining the button pushes that load the bonus sounds on to the VR. But... the additional built-in ROM samples (demonstrated in this video) are simply part of the VR-730 hardware. Thanks for watching!
Hi Peter. Everything you heard was coming directly from the VR. I made the backing tracks on a DAW and saved them as .WAV files, which were then dragged to the bonus thumb drive. So there were no MIDI or USB connections of any kind in this instance. Thanks for watching!
When you said you dont care about keybed/ keyboard feel ... you lost me... Ive been playing Hammond for 50 years , Rhodes , and synth - the keybed is the most important thing for feel and how you play other that response and tone... Waterfall keys are a must for B-3 performance
They are kind of pricey aren't they. Although, I've been seeing used VR-09's for around $700 or less. They're not quite as sophisticated as these are but it's the same basic keyboard.
Hi Marco. The VR-09 and VR-730 have a Rhythm Pattern section for Drums, a Looper, and an audio Song Recorder. But they do not have have an arpeggiator. Thanks for watching!
This instrument has glitches: pitch bend does not bend the pitch the first time you use it, that is whenever you change the patch you are playing, And you cannot change the register using MIDI, so forget about live performances using Set List Maker and such. Also, the organ drawbars move in steps, not smoothly, so fine adjustments to your tone cannot be made. Expect issues. And Roland support has not been forthcoming, they do respond but have no answers. Big disappointment. Yes it is cheaper than Nord electro-6 or Hammond SK1, but I returned it and paid the difference to get something reliable.
I respect you. But to say you don’t care about the keys is kinda ridiculous. As a Hammond player, you’ve got have waterfall keys to play any keyboard that sounds like a b. Your playing is great. You can place a lot more emphasis on the type of keybed. It’s super important for feel
Daniel it was my pleasure to listen to you play. Thank You. Not a keyboard player but you demo guys at Sweetwater are so much fun to listen to.
Mon clavier préféré. Un chef-d'oeuvre !
Hello, any suggestions for the "Souvenir of China" synth sound from Jean Michel Jarre? I have tried many sounds in this 730, not 100% convinced so far. Any help much appreciated.
Are the keys normal size or they still like the VR-09 or Juno ds keys? I have a Juno ds and I have gotten used to it but if I’m going to pay $1500 I hope the black keys are a bit longer. I appreciate it you could clarify key size. Your videos are amazing as well as your chops. Cheers
Wow, that thing is sweet. 👍
Agreed! 😎
This looks/sounds amazing. Pity it's not an 88 Key, synth 😢
I've recently started using my old Alesis QS8, after years of playing just a Roland Stage piano. The Alesis was amazingly easy to programme splits and multilayered sound combinations which you could call up at the touch of a button *and* you could move them around, so that they could be called up instantly in a Gigging situation.
But it's *so* damned heavy!
I'm really looking for something lightweight with the same capacity, however, the Roland Stage piano I use is very limited sound wise and nowhere near as good, nor intuitive, as the Alesis in terms of ease of programming.
Does anybody know of anything similar in this day and age, please?
Maybe the Yamaha MODX-8?
Yep, thanks very much.
I've been looking at the MX88, as it seems amazing, but from all of the videos I've seen, only seems to have the capacity for a 2 layer/split, when programming the keyboard itself and I'd be looking for multiple options, like the Alesis could do.
I'll definitely check out the MODX-8 and thanks again for the tip..😉👍
Roland RD2000
Great sounds from the VR 730. The sounds are great. My question is what type if amplifier are you using in this demo?
Hi Richard. The stereo output of the VR-730 is going directly into the Audio In L/R jacks on the camera. Thanks for watching! -_Daniel_
@@sweetwater Thank you Daniel for your quick response but my question was.... What type of amplifier are you plugged into the VR-730?
@@richardornelas3995 He answered your question already.. NO AMP was used... it's called "Going Direct". Output of the VR730 straight into the camera doing the recording. You're hearing the 730 and nothing else.
GREETING YOU DAN......Thanks for your previous response. Very grateful. However, I wish it had 16 midi Channels embedded in this nice keys.
Hard to add to him drive for extra sounds joe
They are the same waveforms of JV ... JD ... XV ... Fantom ... Jdxa ..... they are excellent ... but ... I really think we are in a loop! And I say this to almost all manufacturers! Nord, Yamaha, Kurzweil ... The great innovation ironically is the rebirth of the analogue! Have we reached a limit with the synthesizers? Tip ... Roland should re launch Jupiter 8 before Behringer, and cheap, and with good sound, and beautiful!!! I'm dreaming of the Behringer's!
Sticky EP Nice!!
so how easy is it to switch voices quickly? does the user have to peck through a tiny menu display that people who are somewhat vision challenged (like me) will have a difficult time reading?
Does this have some type of flute sound or patch on here?
Marvelous yet expensive!
Great! I just bought the keyboard "Roland V Combo VR-730". I wanted to ask if you could give me some advice.
I have to play the song "Shine on your crazy diamond" from Pink Floyd and cannot find the right sound for the chords and the solo. It would be great, if you or someone could tell me the right sound-selection.
Thank you so much!
Pastoral is the sound you're looking for! I found out by accident that it sounds remarkably like Crazy Diamond.
Just hold an open chord in the lower register with your left hand, and play the lead solo in the upper register with your right. Just a simple minor chord.
I have the VR-09 and one deficit is the inability to change the key/octave and have it saved. Right now I can transpose a step, but if I switch patches, it reverts to the default. Not good in live play.
Has this been changed with the 730? Thanks
Hi Rich. The Transposition and Octave setting is saved per patch. So, if you want the Transposition saved you have to save the patch while it's in the desired Transposition. This ability is important as each part of a Split/Layer of every patch can have its own Transposition and Octave setting. Thanks for watching!
Daniel (or anyone else who can chime in here), are the sounds being played coming straight out of the keyboard, or are they only available on the Sweetwater Exclusive Sound Library expansion thumb drive mentioned in the worded description?
Hi Rick. The sounds I played on this video are built in and exclusive to the VR-730. All of the sounds of the Sweetwater Exclusive Sound Library expansion thumb drive are played on that separate video. Thanks for watching!
Thanks Daniel, and great playing in the video which was very informative. Appreciate it!
Walter Sobchak?
"V.I. Lenin!"
@@godisbollocks Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov!
There are rules.
Got one of these a couple of weeks ago for a cover band. Very good sounds overall, but many of them are not real bright, and you have no way to adjust the EQ. There's a "Tone" knob, which is really more of a contour control - all the way left gives you a big bump in the midrange (but you cannot adjust the frequency or the 'Q'), all the way right gives you a classic scooped sound. If you want to fine tune EQ, you'll need to either do that in your amp or with a portable mixer (which is what I use).
The organ sounds are really nice - just your basic B3 emulation with traditional harmonic bars, of course.Split the keyboard and/or add a bass pedal and you can give your audience that classic B3 vibe.
That said, some B3 snobs (and/or Nord snobs) in the audience may notice that it's not 100% true to a classic B3, but this this is the closest you're going to come under $2K. There are 3 different Leslie emulations, and you can adjust all the traditional Leslie sound parameters such as acceleration, woofer speed, tweeter speed, etc. You can trigger the rise/fall of the Leslie sound with either the damper pedal, or the more traditional lever using the pitch bend lever.
There are a host of very nice EP and Clav sounds, so in my opinion this is currently the best general board on the market for use in a classic rock cover band. This thing is a time-warp to the 60s and 70s! The other sounds, such as synth, acoustic piano and strings are mostly icing on the cake for my use. I have a couple of other 88-key boards I use for those sounds.
Hi Vanessa. Thanks so much for your excellent information. So DOES the 730 accept the 'value add' patches that Daniel mentions? He never really answers that. If you are not familiar with the value add patches he is referring to ... these are custom patches that he created for the 730's predecessor. They are excellent patches by the way. Kindly advise and thanks so much!
It should accept the value add patches. The sound engine and basic program architecture are exactly the same as the 09, just with more sounds (and more keys, of course). You just plug in the thumb drive and follow the instruction manual for downloading new registrations or registration sets. I think in another Sweetwater video they talk about offering that thumb drive with the purchase of a new VR-730.
Thank you, Vanessa! So in the middle of all of this ... Yamaha rolls out their new MODX line last Thursday, Nov. 27th. I was literally hours away from ordering the 730 when I heard about this. I did my usual deep dive research and now am leaning toward the 76 key model ... the MODX7. It has most of the sounds I was after from the 730 and many more I never expected including a killer choir (great for Stones, Genesis, etc.), acoustic guitars, and several acoustic pianos. As I love both Roland and Yamaha ... I could easily flip a coin and be happy with either keyboard. Thanks again --
Hey Stephen, I've been lusting after the modx7 but I've heard the organ sounds are not the best? I'd like to get a better keyboard after using the ds-61 which is great but looking for better sounds and more keys.
Hi fourthtunz. I was looking for a keyboard in the $1500 price range. Interestingly … the Roland VR-730 and the MODX7 are exactly the same price $1499 from Sweetwater! I think either will fit your needs very nicely. The Roland VR-730 has much going for it-really great organ and electric piano sounds. I have checked out numerous UA-cam videos on the 730 and can’t find many examples of its acoustic piano sounds, which is a priority for me. I believe the Daniel Fischer (Sweetwater’s keyboard ‘guru’) sounds are exceptional-very musical and very usable. Definitely check out his excellent videos that include sound demos and don’t miss the first video he produced on his bonus sounds for the VR-09, which are included and will work on the VR-730.
For me the MODX7 covers more of the priorities I need for my band as well as my songwriting and recording. As mentioned in a response above the acoustic (and electric!) pianos are great and there are some very unexpected cool sounds-choirs, pads, acoustic guitars. Since the time of my original post I found a gentleman in Australia who develops sounds, songs and keyboard setups (called ‘live sets’) on the Yamaha Montage (MODX’s bigger brother)-all sounds and ‘live sets’ will work seamlessly on the MODX7! This includes songs our band is already doing or will be doing soon-‘Africa’ by Toto, songs by Bruno Mars, Michael Jackson, Zeppelin, etc. etc. Another huge bonus for me is the weight of the MODX7 … just 16.5 pounds! NOTE: If you are classically trained the MODX8 with weighted keys may be your preference. It is a bit more expensive but has 88 weighted keys.
You mentioned that better sounds and more keys are priorities. I believe the Yamaha MODX7 or Roland VR-730 will work beautifully for you. My suggestion is to check out every UA-cam video you can find on both keyboards to help support your decision. Best of luck on your ‘tone quest’!
My MODX7 arrives tomorrow! … maybe I can offer more insight once I unbox it. Can’t wait!
What would be neigh ideal would be this model supplemented with the vocal input of the Juno DS synth models. That in itself would be worth the additional $500 USD from what the -09 set me back.
I really like these sounds. But how would you compare this Roland against the Nord Stage 3 compact? Thanks 🙂
In short - you get what you pay for.
These sounds are really good for the local gig circuit, but Nord is just a bit better overall. The question, though, is: Will a typical audience notice the subtle differences as much as you will?
hey Vanessa P, have you had the chance to compare the sounds of the 730 to
the Roland ds-61 or the FA-06? They say the keyboard feel on the 730 is superior to those as well as the vr-09, thanks!
Are these extra sounds ready to play if I bought this VR 730, or I have to install them first?. If so, how to do it?. Thank you!.
Hi MrPonkine. The Bonus Bank, the Factory Bank, plus manuals, drivers, tutorials, etc, all come on a USB thumb drive, along with a cover letter explaining the button pushes that load the bonus sounds on to the VR. But... the additional built-in ROM samples (demonstrated in this video) are simply part of the VR-730 hardware. Thanks for watching!
@@sweetwater Lovely!. And is it shipped with the latest OS? (1.12). Thank you
GREETINGS....... HI Daniel, was this unit set up for MIDI work with your DAW.
Hi Peter. Everything you heard was coming directly from the VR. I made the backing tracks on a DAW and saved them as .WAV files, which were then dragged to the bonus thumb drive. So there were no MIDI or USB connections of any kind in this instance. Thanks for watching!
Backup ?????
You should go to your "cable-department" an get a new output-cable :-)
Well it got the job done, didn't it?
@@nathanaelvalville9191 LOL! Maybe in a bedroom demo, but it is Sweetwater, a PRO shop. I noted it at the very first view.
He fixes the cable?
VR-730...Is that the preferred nomenclature?
Hi Dustin, I call mine Veronica :-) Thanks for watching!
Were you listening to the Dude's story, Dustin?
When you said you dont care about keybed/ keyboard feel ... you lost me... Ive been playing Hammond for 50 years , Rhodes , and synth - the keybed is the most important thing for feel and how you play other that response and tone... Waterfall keys are a must for B-3 performance
Sounds awesome, but it's way out of my price range.
They are kind of pricey aren't they. Although, I've been seeing used VR-09's for around $700 or less. They're not quite as sophisticated as these are but it's the same basic keyboard.
Is their a built in ARP?
Hi Marco. The VR-09 and VR-730 have a Rhythm Pattern section for Drums, a Looper, and an audio Song Recorder. But they do not have have an arpeggiator. Thanks for watching!
I have already thoght, that he is John Goodman).
"Mark it zero!"
This instrument has glitches: pitch bend does not bend the pitch the first time you use it, that is whenever you change the patch you are playing, And you cannot change the register using MIDI, so forget about live performances using Set List Maker and such. Also, the organ drawbars move in steps, not smoothly, so fine adjustments to your tone cannot be made.
Expect issues. And Roland support has not been forthcoming, they do respond but have no answers. Big disappointment. Yes it is cheaper than Nord electro-6 or Hammond SK1, but I returned it and paid the difference to get something reliable.
I respect you. But to say you don’t care about the keys is kinda ridiculous. As a Hammond player, you’ve got have waterfall keys to play any keyboard that sounds like a b. Your playing is great. You can place a lot more emphasis on the type of keybed. It’s super important for feel