Roland Synth Engine Conversions?

12 Jul 2012, 16:17

Hey guys

So Im trying to re-create some of my patches from my Fantom X and JV-1080 on to my other keyboards. I was wondering if anyone knows what "Roland Number" convert to "korg numbers" and "kurzweil numbers" For example for the filter cuttoff. What does "76" convert to Hz? or in "Korg numbers"? Not only cuttoff. But also Evelope Depth and Resonance.

Also Im assuming that the Fantom X and JV-1080 engines were the same in regard to the numbers? "70" cutoff on the Fantom X should be exactly the as "70" on the JV-1080 right?

I tried giving it my best guess on these synth im trying to clone the sounds of my roland synths on but its not really working out.

Any help is greatly appropriated!

Re: Roland Snyth Engine Conversions?

13 Jul 2012, 04:22

Hey Plisken,

I don't think you will get a 1:1 match. I've tried converting patches from my SH-32 and my analogs to my Fantom, and even with the "same" settings and playing around by ear there is never a complete match.

What I decided in the end was to aim for something close, then try to tweak it slightly so that it sounds good on the Fantom. That also means that depending on what gear I take to a gig I will sound slightly different, which keeps things fresh, but I can decide if it's really worth taking an extra synth for one section of one song.

Cheers
Andy

Andy

Re: Roland Snyth Engine Conversions?

13 Jul 2012, 10:31

Hello Plisken!

You're right about the Fantom X & JV-1080 synth engines. Patches created on the JV-1080 can be successfully ported into any XP-series synth as well as the Fantom FA76. Can't vouch for the XV-88 as I've never owned one but the others are good to go. The Fantom X-series is a bit of a bugger. Yes, it's the same synth engine with a few new bells'n'whistles but porting your old patches into it is a no-go. On top of that the original waveform set was dropped and replaced. Some of the old waveforms were kept, some renamed and some remapped to different positions. Some of the new waveforms are OK but some very strong waveforms were dropped and replaced with waveforms that lack presence. Subjectivity, eh?

Be prepared to set your old synth next to your X-series and manually program up each patch & performance. The good news is that the parameter values from the JV-1080 days haven't really changed so recreating your patches on an X-series is relatively painless but time-consuming. The hardest part is finding waveforms that approximate the old ones. Why Roland never released an SRX expansion card with the old JV-series waveforms in their original mapping is beyond me. Surely backwards compatibility can't be such an alien concept to them.

As for porting your sounds into other manufacturers' synths, Andy's on the money. You won't get an exact match and it'll stretch your subjective aural perception to its limits. On the plus side is that by the time you're done you'll know your new synth inside and out.

It's out of this world!

Re: Roland Synth Engine Conversions?

14 Jul 2012, 16:51

hmm but I have gotten my other sounds pretty much cloned. Like you cant really tell the difference between the original and the one cloned. Its just this sound that is giving me trouble. But I guess some sounds I just wont be able to copy very well.. =(