Roland VK8M Review

Roland VK8M

manufacturer: Roland
Model: Roland VK8M

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Number of Reviews: 1

Stability

8/10

Ease of Use

5/10

Sound & Character

10/10

Value for Money

10/10

Overall

7/10

On 07/16/2004, kbrkr from Hudson Valley New York wrote:

749.00 new

Stability: 8

Usabilty: 5

Sound: 10

Value: 10

Overall: 7

The VK8M is a great Hammond B3 simulator. The tonewheel and chorus simulations are top notch. The drawbars are nice and smooth.

However, I do have some pet-peeves with this unit. The leslie simulator is triggered two ways -- by pressing a button or using the D-Beam controller. IT CANNOT BE TRIGGERED WITH A FOOTPEDAL. This is bloody stupid!

Also, the volume know is directly above the D-BEAM controller. So, if you are not using a volume pedal, every time you change the volume, you tigger effects with the D-BEAM.

The other issue I have is the Equalization settings are for the entire unit - not for each manual or foot pedal. So if you want to punch up the left hand bass on the lower manual you can't without affecting the entire organ EQ.

Lastly, they have stereo inputs so you can mix in another instrument. There is a button to send the inputs to the expression pedal, mix or off. However, they do not allow you to shut the Organ. So if you are sending your synth through the VK8M and want to solo with the Synth without the drawbar sound, you cannot!!!

It's such a crime that the sound engineers did a splendid job, but the Ergonomics guys totally screwed up with this unit. Just a few simple changes to the design would have made this unit one of those killer "Must Have" instruments of every key player (IMHO).

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