Roland Verselab MV-1 Sonic LAB Review 

Stop talking with your hands

Im often left thinking this humble fella could be an electronic music god if he wanted to.

@@qu0ne Stop being a jerk. Create your own popular synth channel.

@@genx1144 cool man, thanks for the tip, but I think you forgot how the internet works.

@@qu0ne Nah, I know you have no manners.

I went from karaoke (with the worst "echo" ever) to portastudio but then onto digital portastudio ... I feel the same way after spending so much time with my Cycles for the past year. It reminded me of my 90's drum machines/g-boxes i.e. Dr. Rhythms and Electribes. I used to crank out a lot more "complete" sounding pieces back then but now I am prone to make loops. People want to complain about lack of patch editing but I've already got a load of gear that I can do that with and then play into this thing. What I don't have is a lot of piano/string type sounds and well, here they are? Hope you have been enjoying it so far/look forward to video.

​@@EnochDark Oh man, you had to mention that awful "echo" lol. I was just listening to an old recording I did with that echo on both the guitar and the vocal because well, that's all it had. I also used the portastudio but never tried the digital version. Those 90's drum machines are classic. My band in the 90's used to play with an Alesis drum machine. Programming entire songs into it was tedious but rewarding. As far as the sounds on the mv-1, the piano and strings I've heard so far are decent and usable. I'm not that much of a tone snob but so far I haven't had a hard time finding sounds I like. I spent the first day with it mostly learning all of it's functionality and quirks. There are definitely a lot of quirks but it's a really fun machine to use. I'll probably make a video after I spend just a little more time with it. I haven't even gotten to the vocal track yet. Were you thinking of getting an mv-1?

@@RobertDGMusic To make matters worse mine had this horrible ringing that went along with it too. And yes, much time programming the beats for sure! Been giving it some heavy consideration esp. now that I have a job again but seeing Nick's frustration with the OS here (particularly in regards to the sample/loop) is certainly off putting. Think I am going to hold until there's at least 1 or 2 updates to fix those "quirks." This will also free up funds for something like a Nightsky which I've been hyped about.

@@EnochDark I just checked out the Nightsky. Looks like some crazy reverb pedal or something right? I could see how one would have a lot of fun with one of those. So I spent the past few days doing nothing but working on the MV-1 and making a complete track. As expected, man was it frustrating! lol. But I knew that coming in and wanted some self-imposed limitations. As a result, I really like what I came up with and it forced me to produce in a different way. I came up with my own workarounds to ease the frustrations and create a decent workflow but I'm still getting the hang of it. So far my impression is that it has potential as long as they keep updating it and working out the bugs. If you know what you are getting into I think it's a pretty great creative tool. I still eventually brought the audio into Logic to do the final polishing but I finished about 95% of it in the MV-1 first. Although I am not recommending it to everyone, I think if you know what you're working with the MV-1 is a nice piece of gear for getting the ideas out.

@@RobertDGMusic Yeah it's basically an 'instrument' in its own right. I am also giving heavy consideration to the Dust Collector which is unfortunately mono.

Loopop has become my go to for technical/workflow reviews, and then other people provide the colour and second opinion. He is a bit of a master.

True. Tbh just newly into this side of techno i find the whole community positive unlike most socials nowadays. Starsky Carr and Andertons synths and keys are also worth a visit if you haven't already

Loopop's videos are kind of boring. they are really good and in depth but kind of dull.

@@Heathcliff_hensel I completely agree with this. He tends to get stuck rambling on redundant points, plus the monotone voice and poor vox processing don't help matters much either.

not gonna happen :-)

@@sonicstate The Notorious P.W.M

20:53 almost!

@@sonicstate what if we throw in a crate of ale?

Facts

@@_c_y_p_3 Yep!

He was - had a number one in the 90s with Tom's Diner

They’re obsessed with offering the vintage features nobody wanted and the modern features nobody cares about

Not Questions . So limite. Il this

Spot on, they need a box that has a user interface that is better and more guided and more integrated with a DAW when needed, as their own Zenbeats or/and works as a great controller for Zenbeats, Logic, and others, and again, all the tech in one box with as many hands-on knobs and ways to do work with all your settings without any menu diving, to set the vocals and change your vocals is far too confusing at the moment, and to do changes on your vocals in a good way is really hard and you can't do any automation in the box and no integration with Zenbeats yet either, it has super good potential to be the best in the market but Roland does not show any focus on getting there yet. I would love to understand how Roland looks at their hardware offers and how to take the next step to win the market share from MPC, Maschine, and others.

I would love to see Roland come up with something like the MPCX hardware.

Thought that's what it was. He hid it as soon as he realised.

Not really, tracks will send and recieve on MIDI channels, but it would mean you have to sacrifice one of the tone tracks to drive external gear which may not suit, although you can bring in the instrument via the stereo line in and sample

Yepp, I use to have a MV8800. It even had a vga out for a screen. Something that should have been replaced with a hdmi port by now, but no groove boxes, stand alone units/synths have that for some reason.

Now you can.

Only via a midi cable connection. There is no host mode

With free zenbeats you can use your iPad screen to view and interact with the MV1 parameters.

You can sample anything with this machine. MC line can't. It's very stand alone with something called Zenbeats. That's some software to help some things out. Can't reply to comments after this. Ya probably found out already. Answers to questions.

Agreed, the requirement to pay for a subscription service to get access to an offline editor is shocking. Especially as editing a full patch on the device is not an option. Really bad call by Roland.

Nope!! This workflow is perfect. I'm a lifelong MPC fanatic. Since the MPC60 to the recent LIVE II. Just get into your box! It's 🔥. Anyone who saying this is incapable... You don't reeaallly understand gear nor music production. No disrespect, but if you know your shit... MV-1 is genius! Facts! Big up the Roland team for this one.

@@philippeleblanc856 Yep but in the MPC you can do everything in the box. You can tweak all its available parameters without having to go near a software editor. If you'd actually watched the review you'd have seen you can't edit all MV-1's synth parameters from the device. If you're happy to use it as a preset machine then you could work away, but if you want to create your own patches from scratch then your point goes completely out the window.

@@philippeleblanc856 Ita the roland subscription service that they require and push that upsets customers. The dawless musicians like to buy a piece of gear and own it completely.

Sadly that’s the point and it will bite them in the butt

As if it already wasn't.

@@Jason75913 or even the op-z with case hoho

I picked polyend tracker over this

The akai force blows this toy out of the water in every area

@@christianthompson1473 including price

You plug a MIDI cable from the OUT of the Keylab to the IN of the MV1. Keep in mind you will have to change channels on the Keylab to play different tracks, so if you want to play the bass track, select MIDI channel 5 on the keylab.

Its a One Control MIDI cable: www.dv247.com/en_GB/GBP/One-Control-MIDI-Hammer-Cable-30-cm/

No I don't think it addresses the deep voice editing, but more the parameters you can access in the menu system such as mastering parameters and sample start / end

lol

ZOOM ARQ IS A FIASCO AND A PEACE OF SHIT

it's not aimed at beginners, it's accessible to beginners, there's a difference. But it's also loaded with advanced features and expandability for even professionals. The focus of the MV-1 is to help people create completed tracks, instead of just clips of partial projects.

@@ToRFlow accessible to beginners then..either way its difficult to like when there are better options out there. I'd rather spend a bit extra and get an MPC One instead as others have said.

@@ToRFlow YES. I am someone who has been making loops and "soundtrack" music for years and this is part of why I want. Also wanting to have quick and easy way to capture things like my sax without setting up microphone in limited space. These are just 2 of few reasons for me.

@@ToRFlow have a look at Polyend's Tracker. I feel you on the loops vs songs thing. Everything has been focused on loops/clips because of Ableton's ubiquity. I think that more and more people are putting it aside in favour of going DAWless because it is simply more fun. Or just, fun. Ableton is a huge pita until you become proficient with it.

@@ToRFlow helping me do that already. It’s difficult to explain... if I had Maschine+ I’d still be twiddling plug-ins....but this just sets you up... versalab is more limited but actually simpler...and fun...def supports a subtractive arrangement workflow, pushes you to write but the sounds really move it.

Hence all their hardware digital synths (Juno-DS, System 1 & 8, JD-Xi, FA, MC-707...) Fair enough, I say, I don't care for subscriptions either.

Subscription is free though?

@@PiriakaTrackwrecker Subscribition is not free. They have a free version of Zenbeats but it offer very little editing. Its basically a preset device

Oh? I havent got one so haven't been able to test. I don't think this was ever imagined as something woth deep sound design capabilities in mind, but good that there is an option if you want to get into the synthesis. I'm far less fussy about presets than I used to be, as long as they are pretty good. A smidge of cutoff, decay and resonance adjustment tends to get me there. So this speaks to me as a tool to develop song ideas, similar to how I use my Electribe sampler, and I can always route my midi back into Ableton if I want to get vst happy and try different sounds. It seems to be basically a groovebox with a 4 track, and I want one! I find myself wanting to lay down vocal takes or guitars on my beats, but I cant without firing up the computer, so this would be my perfect tool. The presets in the Electribe are no better, trust me, and whilst there is editing functions, also pretty limited. Maybe I'm just easy to please, but I dig it, hoping Roland will send one my way. I run inclusive electronic music production fundamentals courses, and this has the potential to supplement my JD-Xis, Volcas and Electribes nicely as core tools (we have plenty of quirkier stuff like Kaossilators and Thereminis), so very keen to have a play and make my own assessment.

I still love my Electribe, and the save to .als is brilliant

707?IS LESS FUN LESS CREATIVE

+1

What do you mean by that? I got the 101 and Mv1, I do not think a 101 and the black box would cover the things you can do with Mv1? Is that what you meant? Vocals are an important part with Mv1, 8 channels, the pads, the onboard controls, and the very different workflow that is much better than 101 if you ask me.

Well said! 👏🏼 👏🏼👏🏼

Though I agree with many of your points in principle I think they are unjustified when in relation to the MV-1 as a piece of gear that offers value for money. The target market of the Mv-1 is not the people who watch this channel as a rule. Its for young Hip Hop producers and vocalists and as you say beginners; this is partly the reason why you see so many disparaging comments. Roland are trying to compete with the Akai MPC, but it doesn't offer the functionality of those machines and costs virtually the same. If the Mv-1 was £500.00 not £600.00 it would be decent in the market place and also much more accessible to those beginners. Roland for some reason seem to think that their name in this market space means they can charge a premium relative to other brands. This is not the case in the guitar market for example where Boss (Roland's guitar brand) generally offers very good value for money and listen to what the market is telling them. A lot of the hate is actually because people really want Roland to create something that is great because of their heritage, but it's simply not happening under the present management and that upsets people. Oh and by the way I also know a lot of pro and semi pro musicians and most haven't a clue or are just not interested about anything technical so its not surprising you don't see comments from them. In addition if you are a professional musician it wouldn't be a good career move to slag off the product of a company that maybe in a position to offer you work at a future date. I agree that beginners should not be chastised for being beginners though, because we all have to start somewhere don't we?

EXACTELY IT IS DEAD EASY TO USE : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2mru8H_MelA.html

@@peterjessop1878 Correct.I havn't even begun to be a beginner yet .

Not sure if I agree. The sounds are essentially presets, with basic tweaking. Though you are right about MPC being more suited to sampling workflow

Yeah, it's just about strengths and weaknesses. I don't want to be that bloke who blindly defends something he's paid for. This thing is far from perfect, but it is portable, great sounding and fun. Anyway, love the videos. Always stuff to think about.

Thats a good point. I dont know if its still a thing, but that would make a lot of sense

I got the same offer with a mc-101.

That sounds great, except after a year of use you'll have the software editor you've become used to taken away from you unless you sign up to a subscription service. I'm not seeing that as a positive.

@@BecomingProductions The positive is that it's (currently) really cheap to keep up the subscription, and if you use the MV-1 with Zenbeats, you don't need to keep up the subscription (as far as I know). I'd like to see the same kind of integration Zenbeats has with the MV-1 happen on the MC707/101 too. I actually like not looking at a screen sometimes, but visual editing is easier.

I totally agree, the whole thing just stops creativity in it's tracks and the sound demo's I've heard from this machine appear so bland

You can now use your phone/tablet/computer as a screen extension through Zenbeats integration.

@@ripskip160 WELL SAID

You do have 720 seconds in mono, so that would give you around 8 minutes..

@@sonicstate I understand but -- "I'd like to double track that vocal please -- oh and we need 4 layers of BVs for the chorus" suddenly you're living in fear of memory shortage!! I understand, if you want to do serious vocal work, use a DAW -- but that leaves me wondering what this device is really for. Maybe they should have just called it a 'sampler' rather than flogging the vocal aspect. Either that or double the vocal memory.

@@annother3350 You don't have to record full takes each time, sections and triggering them at the relevant points in the song will save a certain amount of memory, but I get your point

12 mins mono, 6 stereo for vocal/sample pool you could load vocal take samples from saved WAV file on SD card onto Drum kit pads also.. all comes form that 12min sample pool 60 seconds for looper tack pool.

@@sonicstate 12 mins not 8

Sample from

Fair bit more sophisticated than a JD-Xis, in all ways. Every played with the envelopes or fx on a JD? I love em, but this is a whole other level, plus vox

@@PiriakaTrackwrecker the JD-Xi has full editing by button mashing, though, MV-1 requires that full patch editing be done elsewhere then brought into the MV-1 that's not too bad for 707 and Fantom users, or those with the Roland subscription, but anyone else is very out of luck in all other ways, MV-1 is on another level, yes

Not sure what you're on about there? The JD has about 4 editable parameters + 5 chained fx, and one of the parameters, the envelope, makes Bugger all sense.

@@PiriakaTrackwrecker the rest of the parameters are in the menus, everyone agrees about the botched front panel controls I basically don't use the front panel outside of messing with the filter cut-off or selecting patches/grooves (but once a patch is selected, they remain as I use my own custom patch designs and patches cannot be saved outside of the groove that you made them in). jD-Xi rocks the full-featured SNS engine (SuperNatural Synth), which behaves a lot like a rightful VA and rules at vintage sounds and some modern EDM sounds as well, if you know about sound design.

@@Jason75913 yeah fair enough

Zenbeats integration is supposed to help with that

@@ripskip160 serious question: for a product clearly marketed to be standalone production groovebox, how is an app going to make it better? This product makes 0 sense no matter what way you put it. Roland is DONE!

@@muhammedalitoya1505 I'm just stating facts, I agree that they should of included a large screen from the get go. MPC ONE costs the same and they included a huge touchscreen.

@@muhammedalitoya1505 I completely agree with you. It's like they made it and then realised they had omitted something basic and so had to shuffle everything around but released it before they had ironed out the enormous wrinkles that shuffle caused.

if you also have a mc101 for the sounds, yes, yes you do..(and i do..but this seems interesting)

If an MC101 was my introduction to sequencing, I would have taken up skateboarding.

@@ChrisP3000x 🤣 maybe we can all agree that these new roland boxes just cant touch the Akai and Elektron stuff out there. Really makes you wonder whats going on in the company?

@@muhammedalitoya1505 It makes no sense.

@@ChrisP3000x really? I have a 707 and I thought the UI was a work of genius. Even complex patch edits don’t feel like a chore.

@@AndyChannelle Who was talking about a 707?

There seems to be a real fetish lately for computerless production.

Exactly what "idea" is interesting?

@@nobel11 "lately" Well, trend has lasted a few decades, how old are you again?

Troll in training.

Their stuff in the 90's (like the VS1680 digital recorder) was way better than this junk.

I'm from the 90's and started out with a DR-5. I made more music with that thing than any of the half dozen+ drum machine/grooveboxes I currently own. I think this device would be a fun way to chop up a feed from my existing rig using the vocal track while being able to add sounds I don't have. On top of that I don't need to run it through my rack stuff to master... Quick&Easy.

I bought a TR8-S about six months ago and just sold it for an Analog RYTM 2. That thing was the biggest creativity destroyer I've ever used. I was so uninspired to program beats on it that I've barely made any music since buying it.

@@bobthesalesclerk sorry to hear this... i also have a TR-08 collecting dust on a shelf and a brand new TR-8 in an unopened box. thinking i might just leave it like that and maybe it will be worth something one day...

@@EnochDark I've moved passed it. My Analog RYTM 2 will be here next week. Can't wait.

Roland thinks the Jupiter X is exactly that.

Roland doesn't care that much for vintage fans, those little digital recreations were just a bone thrown out there, they chase the money of folks who don't care that much for vintage, their main money-making instruments are the usual romplers (Juno-DS, FA, JD-Xi) and especially digital pianos like the FP30.

@@Jason75913 yeah but they would make more money giving fans waht they want. who wants a behringer recreation over the real deal. put out a real juno with all three units in one. high quality like the og. people would go crazy. tons of money to be made. all of those indie bands and producers. the boutique juno is popular. the real deal is a gold. korg is selling high priced retro gear, arp etc. roland is just dumb af. neon colors and urban marketing. they probalby got bought out by some financial group who doesnt know anything except trends. ITS URBAN!

Thuahaha you mentioned the Beat Thang !!! I actually had that for a minute - sold that - then the mc 707 came out and I was like dope but in honesty I currently have and own the mv 1 Verselab and it’s actually all I need to make music now . I’m from the old school era of the mpc 60 mpc 2000 korg triton Yamaha motif Juno G Roland mc 303 mc 307 mc 505 and Roland mv 8000 so in a weird funny way it all comes back to a full circle ⭕️ -

@@chosensmusic glad ur happy. :) what u think of the sp404 mk2?

No the hell it isn’t 😂😂😂😂😂😂 My mv8000. Is shaking its head laughing at its crippled grandson MV1

@@Mikepepp2 Great I got it to

And an MV8800