digital keyboard orchestra module

[walters]

digital keyboard orchestra module

Who makes rack modules keyboards with alot of ORCHESTRA instrumentals and sounds please?

Brass,woodwinds,orchestra percussion,harps,belltrees,panpipes?

[SonicAlbert]

Buy a Roland Fantom XR or XV5080 and load it with Roland SRX expansion boards. The boards to start with are the SRX-04 Symphonique Orchestra, SRX-06 Complete Orchestra, plus the Brass Ensembles board. That will get you going.

[walters]

The cheaper Casios and Cheaper yamaha keyboards have alot of orchestra sounds but they sound very cheezy plus they are not rack mounts modules too

Whats the cheapest roland rack mount unit that can load the SRX orchestra expand boards? I'm just going to BYPASS the synth sounds anyway and just use the SRX orchestra expand boards so i can i do this a cheaper way??

[SonicAlbert]

The XV-2020 and XV-5050 are the least expensive that take the SRX boards. You'll have to buy used, since they are out of production. But it should be no problem finding them.

The thing about the 2020 and 5050 is that they only take two SRX boards. The XV-5080 takes four, and the Fantom XR takes six I think. Depending on what you need, two expansion boards might be okay, but I personally like having four expansion slots in my XV-5080. They are all filled!

Of the 2020 and 5050 I prefer the 5050. For two reasons: I think it sounds better than the 2020, and it has a front panel screen for editing without a computer. The 5050 goes pretty cheap on eBay, between $350 and 450 usually, so it's worth spending the extra to get it in my opinion.

At one time or another I owned almost the entire XV module series. I owned a 2020, 5050, 3080 and 5080. The 5050 and 5080 are my favorites (I still use my 5080 a lot).

[walters]

Thanks for the help

Roland Fantom XR or XV5080 which ones better?

How are the orchestra sounds what kinds of orchestra librarys does it have ?

[SonicAlbert]

It's hard to say which is better. I've owned both, but ended up keeping the 5080. But for you the Fantom XR might be better.

What I like about the 5080 is that the LCD display is much bigger, making it easier for me to edit on the fly on gigs. Since I've owned the 5080 for a while, I also have a lot of my own patches for it, and I know how to edit the unit really well.

The Fantom XR sounds great, has a better piano built in, better fx, more waveforms, more SRX expansion slots, etc. Overall a very nice sound module, amazing really for it's size and cost.

If I didn't already have a 5080 and all my patches in XV format, I'd have gone with a Fantom XR.

You can find info on the various SRX sound libs here:

http://rolandus.com/products/product...px?ParentId=37

I use the SRX 04, 06, 10, and 11 boards.

[noisewreck]

I would also suggest the Kurzweil PC2R and K2600R with Orchestral ROM. The K2600Rs are now sold in the US with the Orchestral and Contemporary ROMs preinstalled.

But I am inclined to think that there are better but software based solutions out there. In fact if you think software your options go up exponentially. Miroslav, Garritan, VSL... at least those three I can think of off top of my head. There are tons more out there.

Kontakt now comes with a cut down version of the VSL samples that while doesn't have the width and depth of the "real" VSL is not too shabby either.

[SonicAlbert]

Some instruments of the Kontakt version of the VSL library is quite good, others are unusable.

You are correct though, the real action in orchestral libraries is now in the virtual instrument area. Far higher quality for much less money, assuming that you already have the laptop (for live work) and the audio interface.

[walters]

to run these Miroslav, Garritan, VSL

How much processor speed and RAM do i need and what kinds please?

[SonicAlbert]

If you go to their web sites I'm sure they have minimum requirements posted. I can't say off hand with any accuracy. Other than to say that faster CPU's and more RAM is always better!

[lumbago]

A Roland Sonic Cell with the SRX-06 Orchestral card will get you started.

http://www.chamberlainmusic.com/Prod...ctID=SONICCELL

[SonicAlbert]

Very interesting about that Sonic Cell, I wasn't aware of that product. If two SRX boards will do it for you, that's definitely another option. If you want more SRX sounds, then a Fantom XR or XV-5080 are the way to go.

Thanks for the link!