Roland VR-760

It's very easy to use. I havn't tried to edit and save patches yet. Basically you turn it on and it's ready to go for organ, piano & synth sounds. Where I've needed to use the manual it's been fine.

Polyphony is fine - no idea what it is but no notes being lost with the sustain pedal down. There are loads of knobs and buttons on this which is just what I like - easy control - I've got two EV5 pedals for this as well one for the organ rotary sound and one for expression on the synth. The keyboard is very good for piano and organ/synth - nice quality and I like the yellowish colour (unlike the bleached white of my other keyboards). I use this as a midi master keyboard as it's velocity sensitive with aftertouch (the aftertouch is very good as you have to apply reasonable pressure). It's got two expansion ports for SRX boards and I've got SRX-06 Complete Orchestra on order for it.

The presets are OK but using the controls to shape the sounds you're after it wins. I'm impressed with the piano and organ sounds and the string / pad sounds are very good. The bass sounds are rubbish. There's a little beat box in this but I only use it for something to keep time. The master eq is especially handy to get the sound you're after. Having said this for #1450 they could have put some more exciting synth sounds in - but I guess they want you to buy the expansion boards - That's why it gets a 7 otherwise it would get 8.

I would think so - I'd never gig with just one keyboard. Other than that no experience so no opinion yet.

Never dealt directly with Roland.

If it were stolen then I'd probably get another one. I've only started playing again after a break of about 8 years. I've still got a 20 year old Juno-1 & Yamaha FB01 which still come in useful (but not as solo instruments, always layered with something). I also bought a microKorg which I'm pleased with.

I all I'm very pleased with this keyboard and I think it's very good value. It's a performance keyboard more suited for the stage but I like the immediacy of change you get with all the knobs and buttons even when using it at home.

I bought this after playing by the VK8, and being convinced that the VR760 would be all that the VK8 is plus decent electric piano and synth sounds. Well, it ain't all the VK8 is, and in retrospect, the piano and synth are best found on other boards or modules. While the VR760 has some killer drawbar organ sounds and electric piano presets, the other presets are pure fromage. Don't even go near the drums. Impossible to change patterns without going through the entire array. Alright to practice with, but might do well to take the drum knob off for gigs. There are a number of annoyances which others have noted in their reviews above. I'll keep this one short.

Most importantly for one who works with untunable instruments such as piano, there IS NO MASTER TUNE! Very annoying. Also, there is NO TRANSPOSE!! How many times have you learned a tune only to find another member can only perform it in a different key? What do you do? Relearn the whole tune? Call me lazy or musically inept, but if guitarists can TUNE and TRANSPOSE with their capos without giving it a second thought, I insist on being able to do this with my boards as well. I had to sit out a couple of songs when our vocalist got sick and was replaced at the last minute by someone who sang in different keys. The guitars could negotiate this reality. Not my 2000 dollar Roland 760. I grabbed a 15 dollar tambourine and clanged along. Humiliating. Yamaha and most other keyboard manufacturers have caught on to this reality and installed TUNE and TRANSPOSE, often in even their most entry level models. Roland has it on the VK8 so why not the VR760? Damn, that's annoying.

Like many other users, I also find switching from presets may too awkward and time consuming for smooth transitions at gigs. Also, the default settings on effects don't appear until you tweak them. What's up with this? This is quite annoying.

Clearly they've bit off more than they can chew with combining all the bells and whistles of three highly idiosyncractic instruments (organ/piano and synth).

Haven't tried the expansion capabilities, though I'd recommend contraction instead. A trade in for separate components: VK8 or VK8m, on any decent digital piano/synth module. Something that does what I want. Not insists on me doing what it cannot. No sequencer. Easy to use? Sorry. Typical Roland combobulation here.

Organs are about as good as you'll get. Even though the Leslie is not the real McCoy, when hooked up to a decent 15 inch whoofer PA, it ain't bad. I can see this model being good for any type of Hammond Rhodes context from funk, jazz, gospel, blues and classic rock.

Stay away from the classical piano sounds. There are only three and they are each crap at all frequencies. I've tried to play with the EQ and effects but there is nothing that is the least bit convincing about them. Unless you jack the Reverb up to the point of mimicking an Indian Bollywood soundtrack. Add to the crap 3 piano sounds the fact that this is not a weighted keyboard. The feel of the piano is not there at all.

The harpsichord is perhaps the most convincing of the patches I've spent any time with there. Great news for all you baroque rockers out there!

For the untunable and untransposable organ alone, ok. And maybe the rhodes. But is it worth the weight and bells and whistles that never seem to work as you'd like them to? Hmmmm. The more I sit here and write on this thing, the more I'm resolved to call my dealer and downsize to the VK8.

I'm going to see them for a trade in.
Go small and go right.
Go Vk8.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd like to see the back of the bugger who lifted it. This thing weighs a ton. Did i mention that?
Although I'd lament the cash loss, there are more effective models for what I want. Just hope the guy i try to sell it to doesn't read this review. :)
Good luck.

Its a roland - some obvious functions won't make sense.
drum section being next to the master volume! I turned it on in the middle of a song!
Not being able to exit the drum part to change register patches without pressing the one touch pad for organ ect.

Turn on midi clock to avoid the drum problem. You don't want to hear how f*%ked up it sounds and the confusion it can cause other players.
If it happens to you, blame the drummer. I did.

would be nice if it were multi timbral with any of the sections. It will rx on 4 channels but its a waste to only be able to use one hammond patch or one srx expansion sound at a time via midi or on the keyboard.
Real time control is fantastic!
It reminds me of a moog opus 3 or crumar trilogy with the three dedicated sections. the drums are pretty much in there for good measure & to demo the thing.
Global multi fx would be nice. with all the technology in this unit
you would think the routing could be better. ie, being able to used the leslie sim on other sounds.
I have an xp 50 and wished I had all the controller features of the perfomance section on that synth. It hads a great 76 note keyboard
that I could really put to use with just a few extra editing parameters.

I can feel it! like a rhodes or hammond or piano. Much better than any other combo board I have played. The rhode is one of the best I have heard. It barks like my old suitcase and the tremelo fx are dead on. The organ is great, nice tone even without fx. the overdrive is very good and leslie sim good. Leslie sim can be much improved with some tweaking in the register edit section. springverd would have been
a nice option. Piano sounded weird at first but is growing on me.
the middle range was the worst but came up with some patches with the mic/amp fx that sound great. Synth section sound great, but have a limited amount of sounds

knobs seem a little cheap. plastic posts that are sure to break if not handled with some degree of care. Other than that it seems to be
very well built. and my xp50 has been on the road for 4 years of rain,
dirt and drops off stands.

answered all my pre sale questions.

I hope roland does a software revision to address some issues that I like other players have with this board. You should be able to hard pan piano and organ to L an R outs, but you can"t. seems like roland relesed it forgt about it. Where is the update?

I really was thinking on a cx3 before I played the 760.
It packs alot of bang for the buck if you need a keyboard that gets the job done with vintage sounds.

Most of the techie info has already been stated so I'll just give my impressions.
If you have any knowledge of synths you could probably pop this out of the box and play. The manual is well done and explains things adequately although there are a few typos The knobs and buttons are located conveniently with controls for the organ piano & synth sections located in easy reach close to the keys while the display, preset buttons and global functions such as EQ and reverb are on a higher tier where they wouldn?t get changed accidentally while playing.

The keys themselves feel good and you can adjust how quickly the keys will trigger. The buttons light up when pressed and once you know how the different knobs and buttons work, it?s easy to know what functions are active when you?re playing. There is a built in drum machine that is fine for individual practicing - about two dozen patterns (even 5/4 and 7/8 time) where you can adjust the tempo. I use quite a few keyboard splits and they are easy to set up.

I think the variety of organ sounds obtainable is very good and the fact that you can change the parameters on the fly makes them fun to use. I have a Roland RS70, which has some of these sounds but you can?t change the rotary speed without changing the setting ? here you can use the D beam controller or the fast/slow and brake to make changes. Some people say that the Leslie sim is not that good but the audiences I play for wouldn?t know a ?Leslie sim ? from ?Lulu?s gym? so it?s more than adequate for me. The piano sounds are fine for what I need ? acoustics, Rhodes, Wurly and even a clav. You can play with the mic/amp modeling and add some FX to get the sound you want or at least close to it. The synth section has what I need (brass, strings) to do the job. The bass sounds are passable - Hefty Bass sounds like an episode of ?Seinfeld? while the Acoustic + Fretless bass sounds are OK. The lead synth sounds are not that great but I don?t use them much anyway. The fact that there is a master reverb control to add liveliness to the sound is a nice touch.

I?ve owned multiple Rolands and never had a problem. This is built like a tank so I?m hoping that it would be around for a while.
I would & do use it without a backup.

Never had to call them about anything and from what I hear it?s a good thing I never tried to.

A good investment - I'd buy it again. In my band, I switch off between keys and rhythm guitar so I need a real efficient setup. With the VR 760(V-Combo) I carry only one keyboard and it has the ?meat and potatoes? sounds that I need. If you?re a purist you may want an additional module or synth but for me less is more.
I wish:
1. I was able to download the manual online before I bought it so I could see what this baby could do
2. The synth section had more choices ? especially for lead synth and bass
3. There was a 61 key version but judging by all the controls, there would not be enough room on the machine
4. The price was bit lower (wishful thinking)
Bottom line:
You get great organ & piano but the synth section leaves a teeny bit to be desired. You could always get an expansion card.

I purchased this keyboard in hopes of finding an all-in-one general use keyboard with easy to use editing. I found it...This is a very cool keyboard. I haven't stored any registrations (presets) yet because I haven't had too. If a sound needs modification simply change it using a knob or a drawbar. The master 4 band EQ is global and cannot be stored in the registrations which I thought (at first) was a negative feature BUT I actually like it because the EQ is doesn't change from patch to patch and the knobs are the actual value shown. Both the VR-760 and the Nord Electro can be confusing when using presets as the value of the knob (on the preset) may be different than the value actually shown on the knob (as the knobs don't phsically move as you change patches BUT the values change). As far as the drawbars, Roland has included a VERY handy, H-Bar Manual button that switches the electronic drawbars to the the manual settings (of course moving a drawbar also does this)
The manual seems straight forward and not too bad for a Roland product. It covers all the basics anyway. The keybard is divided into 3 sections. One sound out of each section can be used simultaniously as well as the rhythm section. Very striaght forward, easy to use....

I like the action of the keyboard. Actually it's the best I've ever had in terms of dynamics. The VR-760 has numerous effects and the are all editable in real-time. Easy, the way it should be. I haven't tried any of the expansion cards but I'm considering the orchestra card. It has midi, but I have no experience with that either. It has XLR outputs that can be used to go directly to the PA and 1/4" outputs that go to the amp and both sets can be used at the same time. The Master volume/individual volumes does effect both sets of outputs. No on board sequencer. It does have a built in drum machine that has all the bread and butter beats necessary for practice (and perhaps some performances). The drum machine is very handy. A definite advantage over the it's main competion, the Electro.

One thing I have observed about sampler based keyboards, is that the sounds are often variations of the same basic sample (i.e one sound, countless variations of EQ, Effects, etc.) With the VR-760, you have the basic samples and you can tweek and save as you like. It cuts through the BS. The effects are great and can be added or subtracted as you like. At first, I was somewhat disapointed by the piano, but by boosting the upper mid and lowering the bass, I was able to get a piano I am quite pleased with. I have no problem with the rotary effect. Sounds good to me and beats lugging around a Leslie.....and synth brass is synth brass...always has been...always will be...Orchestra String patch is great...And Roland calls a Rhodes a Rhodes, not a 'dyno-tine' or a 'rhodz' or some other such nonsense.

so far...so good...I will use it without a backup.

I have dealt with Roland in the past but not regarding this product. Personally, I think their website could use considerable improvement as far as information. I would have liked to have downloaded the manual prior to buying this. IMO, that actually would have speeded up my decision and would have been to their advantage.

In closing, I like to say this is an excellent product and I'm not overly fond of Roland and their products. I'm very glad I purchased it although it is expensive. I also have a Nord Electro and a Yamaha Motif 6 which I like too, for different reasons. If could only take one to a gig, this would be it. I'd buy it again....

Very easy to use. I've only looked at the manual for things I couldn't do without help (which as it turned out, couldnt be done). The presets are fair, but can really be adjusted to your liking quite easily. You don't need a patch editor for this thing at all.

There is plenty of polphony. The keyboard action is excellent for Hammond-y playing. The built-in effects are adequate. The leslie sim needs some tweaking, and I'm not sure that after tweaking its all that much better. There is an inherent thinness to the sound that doesn't become apparent until used live. Takes 2 SRX expansion cards, but scrolling through the sounds is ardulous work: there is an Up and Down button, and that is it; no numeric key punch, or bank select or category search for the expansions. Very rudimentary midi implementation.

This is hard to evaluate. It's fun as hell to play, but live the organ just tends to appear and disappear. I much prefer the non-tweakable Electro leslie sim by far. The electric pianos in the Electro smoke this. This has more organ sounds than the Electro (because of the tonewheel selection and the amp modeling you get a variety of Hammond organs, as opposed the "one" you get with the Electro), but frankly the Electro sits better in a mix. In reality, when you buy a Hammond, you inherit that organ's quirks (not that model's quirks); each Hammond is individual, and that is the concept at work with the Electro. So, in this respect the Vcombo has an advantage. But again, the Electro just sits better. The Vcombo does react to your playing. Its keyboard will inspire some animated playing. The electric pianos on the other hand are VERY static and thin and really lifeless and are completely smoked by the Electro. At this point, I'm not sure that the acoustic piano here is all that much better than the Electro. But, the Vcombo is "multi-timbral".

Its a Roland; these things are indestructible, and this machine is a very well built and sturdy 37lbs. No worries.

They're fine if you have a day to wait on hold.

If it were stolen, I'd have to rethink the purchase. As it is, I'm rethinking it. The Electro is not as tweakable, but sounds better out of the box for organs and for electric pianos. The Acoustic piano edge is held by the Vcombo, but just barely. SRX Concert Grand card didn't really help that much. I love the way this thing plays, but am disenchanted with the way it sounds. If it sounded like the Electro and played like this, I would pay $500 more. I compared to the Electro (which I own) and liked the fact that I could do splits and have organ AND pianos playing. I just wish it had better sounds. It is inspiring to play, but not inspiring to listen to. So whether it helps or gets in the way of making music is VERY subjective. This is a very tough call, and can only be made by you.

By the way, to the reviewer after me, the SRX Ultimate Keys DOES in fact have a CP70, the BEST CP sound of any keyboard I have ever owned or heard. It's #4: Stage Grand. Guess you didn't look too far did you.

Nonexistant.

Great idea, LOVE having 76 semi-weighted keys, sturdy and roadworthy, nice sounds. A few flaws, though:
1. The yellowed keys are about the ugliest thing I've ever seen on a keyboard.
2. Isn't the wistful age of the faux-retro wooden end-cheek over? When will sleek and lightweight come back into fashion?
3. No CP70 sound? "That's OK, I'll shell out for the SRX vintage card. It's got hundreds of electromechanical keyboard sounds on it!" But no, not a single CP70 there, either. Criminal.

This keyboard is very user friendly, take it out of the box and play. This is a great live performance keyboard, big knobs, big lighted switches and drawbars. The three main sections of this keyboard are, Organ (same as a VK-8), Piano ( also Rhodes, wurly, clav, harpsicord) and Synth( 18 basic internal sounds and 2 SRX board slots). No need for the manual, it's very easy to split and layer sounds from the three sections.

The VR 760 has a vey well built steel case with wood end caps, everthing feels solid, a good road keyboard. There are stereo balanced XLR outs and 1/4' outs as well. The polyphony is 128, keyboard action is very nice, snappy Hammond like waterfall keys. The effects and EQ are great and easy to tweak, just grab a knob. 2 Roland SRX boards can be installed for more sounds. Can't split the organ for 2 different drawbar settings, but I found a good organ on a SRX board I could use for that.

The organ sounds great, same as a VK-8 but leslie needs a little tweaking. The pianos are very good, can be used solo, mike placement and attack and release can changed. Rhodes, Wurly and clav very real and can be tweaked. Of the 18 synth sounds, about half are useable. The synth can really be tweaked, Attack, Release, Cutoff, Resonance and Effects have there own knobs. It also has a D beam controller that you can assign to organ, piano or synth. A VERY simple drum machine is built in for practice or if the drummer is late. All settings can be stored in memory and saved to Compact flash cards. Overall this keyboard plays great and sounds great, the Leslie and piano need a little tweak out of the box.

This one of the most heavy duty keyboards I have owned, built like a tank. I have been giging without backup.

I have never had to call Roland.

I would replace it if stolen, nothing else like it. I've been playing 36 years and presently use a Yamaha Motif 6, P-120 and a Nord Lead. This keyboard is perfect for gigs you don't want to haul a lot of stuff to, one keyboard covers most sounds. I don't like the wood end caps because they scracth and ding so easy. Not being able to set different drawbar splits is my major complaint. I didn't compare it to other keyboards, nothing else was this easy to play live and could cover any gig on its own.

The keyboard is pretty intuitive to use (not including editing) for performance. It's all knob based so if you want to change something just turn a knob (or pull out a drawbar) and forget about menus, which is a great feature. Scrolling through menues to change a simple parameter like the depth of an effect is not my idea of a good time, so hats of to Roland for making this very easy to use. I haven't edited any patches yet (I just picked up the baby yesterday) but I've read through the manual on how to do it and it looks all very straight forward.

The keyboard action is a little light. When I first played it I thought the action was the perfect compromise for piano and organ, but as I've played it more I wish it was a little stiffer. Onboard effects are very good except for one major flaw: As others have noted the leslie simulation SUCKS! Well it is sadly true. I might have to pick up a Motion Pro now.

Organ is very good, but not earth-shattering. I give it a 7 out of 10, but this may be because I don't care for the leslie simulation.
The acoustic piano sounds are absolutely fantastic - 9 out of 10. Rhodes are good but I'm no expert there. Wurlitzer is a solid 8 out of 10 and when you add tremelo and chorus it is a 10 (I know I own the real thing). Now for the synth section, quite frankly Roland forces you to buy the SRX boards because the section is basically useless otherwise. Well you get some strings which sound okay and thats about it (okay you also get scat singing, basses, cheezy pads, and horrible brass ... none of which I will use). So do yourself a favor and buy an expansion card ... it's an absolute must. I picked up the SRX-07 Ultimate Keys which all I will say here is that it helps out a lot. I will also be buying the Orchestra card which has got good reviews.

I don't have a lot of experience with Roland gear but this thing is built like a tank! I will gig without a backup!

N/A

If it were lost or stolen I would buy it again as it is the only keyboard of it's kind. I think it is a little expensive for what it does, but hey there's no one else making a keyboard like this. Some of you might say Nord Electro does what this keyboard does and here are the reasons why it does not:
1. Nord Electro does not have real drawbars (a big big downfall).
2. NOrd Electro's acoustic piano is joke and was only added as an afterthought.
3 Nord Electro has no synth section. I guess you can just buy a module
but now that's not "all-in-one" is it.
4. Even if you did want to play synth parts with a module, Nord Electro does not have a pitch bender.

With all the stuff I don't like about this board, it still is the best live board I've ever had - and I don't see anything out there that compares.

As it has already been said, three sections to this keyboard:-

Organ - Killer Hammond sounds, drawbars, amp sim etc. All very usable but the onboard rotor sim lets it down. I sold an Electro to buy this and the Electro sim is so much better.

Piano - Absolutly stuning, I agree you have to tweek it a bit and you end up with one setting for playing quietly at home and another for giggin as the qualities of the piano sound undergo some sonic changes as the PA starts to realy give it some welly. Electric painos are OK but not as good as the Electro but I don't realy use them so thats not a problem for me.

Synth - Why they couldn't have included an organ bass alingside the very nice acoustic bass and fretless bass instead of this mushy thing called hefty bass I don't know. Not being able to split the organ sound either side of the split is a bit of a downer - more of this later.

Keyboard action is a dream. I have owned synths and organs for just about forever and this action suits me very much. It is a bit light in comparrison to many of the serious acoustic piano boards out there but try playing organ on a piano weighted keyboard, hello hurt fingers! I'm going to try a SRX07 board to boost the synth section and its nice to see there are a whole bunch of these cards available.

Back to the organ - On nearly every organ clone I've owned I've been able to split the keyboard and play organ bass in my left hand and go for it with my right with each side of the split being adjustable. You can do this on the VK7 and VK8 and these have the same engine so why can't I do it on the VR760? Yes, its lovely to have a fretless bass in your left hand when muching about at home but my band has a bass player and I want an adjustable organ sound for my left hand for a bit of comping and a louder organ sound in my right. This is the main reason for opting to get a SRX07 ultimate keys card. As this is assigned to the synth section I should be able to select any of the hammond sounds on the card and assign it to my left hand of the split. If anyone had done this let me know?

Roland gear is built to last. I just sold a Roland EP10 that 30 years old and still going. However it is just as well they build them well 'coz you'll never get them on the phone to talk aout it.

I bought this to replace a Nord Electro 73 because I had issues with the Electro's velocity response plus I found it hard to play organ (smeers, slides etc.) on the semi weighted Electro keys.