Vintage Collection ROM Review
2004-05-05 by robotchas
I almost didn't get this, since I have a Virus which admirably covers most of the same bases and is more flexible than a sample player, but I'm very glad I did. It's now sitting in the second slot on my XL7. Some thoughts, very much filtered through the lens of my own personal needs: Electric Pianos The Yamaha CP70 was a revelation - if you want a realistic acoustic grand for solo use this isn't it, but I just wanted a good, recognizable piano sample, and this totally fits the bill. The CP70 isn't an electric piano so much as a small acoustic stage piano with piezo pickups on each string, and I like the slightly lo-fi rock-n- roll quality. Very pleasant surprise. As for the other electric pianos, I can't really comment, as I personally detest the sound of EPs, other than to say that as has been pointed out elsewhere, the volume levels in the presets are too low relative to other sounds. There are lots of them though. Some of the instruments (including the CP70) are recorded at different velocity levels, for improved dynamics. Organs and Clavs I'm not able to comment on authenticity, but there are plenty of them and they sound fine (though some could use a volume boost as well). Not something I have much use for, but the clavs could be handy for some arpeggiated synth lines. My guess is that anyone who wants lots of organ sounds is going to be more interested in the B3 ROM, and I don't know how many of these were taken from there. Electric Bass Guitar There are a couple of these - Fingers sounds like a Fender, and Pilot is probably a Guild Pilot played with a pick. Their inclusion is a little odd, considering the theme of the ROM, but they sound nice and should cover the rare occasions when I want a sampled bass guitar. I particularly like the Pilot sample. Analog Synths These are very nice, covering many of the classics from Roland to Sequential to Arp, Moog, and Oberheim. There are also some Yamaha DX samples (ep and bass, of course); but the only Korg seems to be the MS-20 drums. The sound of these samples is warm and rich, and there's a good variety of waveforms. This territory is well-covered by any decent VA, but textural variety is useful, particularly in a sample- based synth, and there's plenty of it here. In concert with the XL ROM I now have a wide range of raw material for the Emu filters, and the results both support and complement the Virus. Analog Basses My Virus has this nailed, so I wasn't too concerned about the number and quality of the bass samples. However, I couldn't help noticing that there are several good sounding instruments in this category, and I like the Vintage basses better, on the whole, than the XL basses. If I want to leave my Virus at home at some point I can count on the Vintage ROM to step in and take over the low end. Pads/Strings This was a primary consideration in choosing this ROM. As much as I love my Virus, it just doesn't have the high-end clarity of the XL, and the Emu synthesis engine is well-suited to complex, layered pads. The Vintage ROM provides lots of material for these, between the rawer synth waves and some Elka, Solina and Matrix-12 samples specifically intended for string pads. They sound warm and full, with ample detail in the high end, and thanks to the filters and mod matrix they can have as much animation as you like. Vox There are some choir-ish samples, primarily from the Mellotron; this is an area where the XL is a bit weak so it's nice to get some added options. The Mellotron samples have a distinctive, rough quality to them, but again, I can't speak as to authenticity. There's still no realistic choir sound though - for that I guess you need one of the pop ROMs, like the P2500 or ZR. Drums I figured this category would be redundant in a box containing both the XL and PX ROMs (more on that later), but there's less duplication of samples than I expected. The focus, of course, is on analog beatboxes - the 808 and 909, but also the MS-20, SP-1200, and even the Casio SK-1 (they don't sound much like drums, but they're cool). I do wish the sample names were more clear about their sources, and there's room for a more exhaustive collection of analog beatbox samples - the 505, 707, 606, DMX, Drumulator, LinnDrum, etc. don't seem to be represented - but I guess we won't ever see that. There's a decent variety here, the sound quality is good, and I'm pretty well covered now, drum-wise. In summary, the sound of the Vintage ROM is warmer and softer, on the whole, than the XL ROM, which has a cold, hard, modern techno sound to my ears. It's a good choice if you want to expand your sonic palette, since it complements the XL without much overlap. There aren't as many samples as on the XL, but there are still a good number and the quality is generally very high. It also may be a good choice even if you have a VA - it can augment the sonic range of the VA and take some of the polyphony load off as well. I'm very happy with it. Thanks to everyone who gave input on my decision, and to Matt Picone, a fellow Virus owner who argued in favor of the Vintage. I also picked up a Protean Drums ROM from a list member (thanks, Tom) and will be posting a review of that once I've had some more time with it.