PPG wave 2.3 through Roland RPS-550

video upload by synthlegends

"The PPG wave 2.3 from the german synth pioneer Wolfgang Palm is the last Synthesizer of the PPG wave series. It is mulititimbral and has allready factory Midi. With the newest firmware 8.3 it is capable of sysex. There is so much written about the PPG, so I don’t repeat all infos on the Web. I run the PPG through the quite rare Roland RPS-550 multieffect processor.

The Roland RPS-550 was a stereo signal processor from 1991. It was a mid range cost effect unit with quite interesting reverb and delay effects. The Dimension D Chorus replica is very authentic to the original.

The summary in a sound on sound review of 1991 states following:

„The RSP550's reverb algorithms sound much smoother, deeper, and less metallic than sub-£500devices, though the tangible sense of space found on top flight units is not apparent — for that you'll still have to pay at least £3000. The delay and pitch shift algorithms benefit from the 21 kHz bandwidth, the Multi Stage Phaser and Stereo Flanger are brilliant, and the Vocoder is unique in this price range.

The MIDI control facility is also worthy of consideration, since it's so easy to set up, offers so many possibilities, and in most cases operates smoothly. As with all Roland gear, the manuals are exemplary.

On the down side, I sometimes yearned for the ability to roll my own algorithms, and the omission of a noise gate and compressor might raise an eyebrow or two. Guitar players will search in vain for the overdrive and distortion effects found on devices like the Boss SE50 and the new Yamaha FX900, but then the 550 isn't really designed for them.

At £750, the RSP550 is competing against the £599 Yamaha SPX1000, the £1100 Zoom 9010 and the £1000 Lexicon PCM70. Each has its own sound and combination of facilities, so if you're looking for a quality main reverb/delay unit it's well worth giving them all a listen before committing funds.

With the RSP550, Roland have utilised the power of the their latest generation of DSP chips to improve the realism and sound quality of individual programs and provide a wide range of effects. Quality and quantity is a rare combination at any price, and at £750 the RSP550 is currently unique.“

I didn’t use any further processing in this recording. Thanks for watching!"