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• Review
• Manufacturer's Description

The second use for an audio source is sampling: the XT comes with 50MB of sample wave memory, of which 32MB is taken up with factory presets. Thankfully these can be overwritten and replaced by anything you care to sample or up-load via the USB connection (any WAV or AIFF files) and the acquired PCM waves can be used as a building block for a patch instead of or along with the internal oscillators -- a patch is constructed from up to two oscillators, of which more later.

Sampling is easy and much like any normal sampler: record, edit, loop, and so on, but the XT does more than a run-of-the-mill sampler, it encodes the wave with VariPhrase data relating to tempo and pitch that then enables you to play the sample in real time without pitch changing. It also makes tempo-sync'ing easy, adjusting the format of the sound across its key range to maintain a more natural tonal shift.

In practice the encoding is a bit hit and miss and can take a few goes with the different encoding types to get something useable; the more dynamic a sample, the more successful the process tends to be. The third use for an audio input involves vocoding using the Vocal Designer V-Card, which you can learn more about in the box below.

Superb usability

One of the most endearing things about the XT is its useability – it's so straightforward that there's very little need for a manual once you get started, and the touch-screen makes editing immediate. Along the bottom of the screen are a row of window tabs for the major synth sections (Osc 1, Osc 2, TVA etc) that run, more or less, in signal flow order -- depending on the structure you choose in the first 'Common' menu.

The structure defines the signal flow of a patch and basically relates to how the two oscillators connect to the two COSM (Composite Object Sound Modelling) effects processors. You can apply both COSMs to both oscillators in series, each individually in parallel, or variations thereof. On the left of the screen are a column of sub-window tabs for each of the major sections, so it really couldn't be better thought out.

Generally, the signal flow is the same as the original V-Synth: two oscillators each with a choice of 14 analogue waves, a PCM wave or the external input, followed by a modulation section and two COSM effects processors, and finally a TVA and normal effects section. All sections have their full complement of envelopes and LFOs.

COSM is Roland's proprietary effects system that applies processing to each and every note. The 16 available effects range from straight-ahead compressors and limiters through a bunch of interestingly odd filters, and on to amp and speaker simulators and lo-fi emulators.

This section blurs the line between synthesis and effects, it's here that things can really get happening: the Wave-Shaper, for example, wreaks havoc with the most polite sounds and the Side-band, Comb and Dual filters can bring a new angle to the dullest of sounds.

The V-Synth is primarily a performance piece: it isn't really designed or set up like, for example, Roland's JV series, where you have an orchestra spread across the 16 MIDI channels. You can call up different patches into each of the 16 parts but the XT is only 24-voice polyphonic, and even that gets reduced as patch processing increases, so you'd soon run short. Also, there aren't multiple outputs, only a pair of main outputs and a pair of direct outputs, for delivering the sound prior to the on-board effects processor.