Roland VP-330 | This Synth Made Vangelis Famous… But WHICH Version?

video upload by Andy Whitmore

"🎹 This Synth Made Vangelis Famous… But WHICH Version?

The Roland VP-330 is one of the most iconic vocoders and string machines ever created — made legendary by artists like Vangelis, 10cc, and Vince Clarke. But did the MKI and MKII versions sound the same? In this video, I compare the two side by side — same settings, same riffs, totally different vibe.

From lush choir tones to robotic vocoded phrases, you’ll hear the subtle — and not-so-subtle — differences that make each model unique.

The Roland VP-330, or Vocoder Plus, is one of the unsung heroes of the late '70s to early '80s synth world, being used on hits by the likes of Queen, Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Vangelis, and more recently, Dua Lipa.

As the name suggests, the Vocoder Plus combined a vocoder with chorused strings and a synthetic choir sound. Its recent resurgence in popularity has seen an official Roland Boutique recreation, an unofficial Behringer clone, and software emulations try to recreate its classic tones.

The VP-330 was the last and most famous of the Roland string synthesizers, a line that started in 1975 with the release of the Roland RS-101. This early string machine keyboard utilised divide-down technology, meaning that a single oscillator could have its pitch divided down to play any note on the keyboard, allowing polyphony at a much cheaper price point than traditional polyphonic synthesizers. These kinds of synths were named paraphonic.

⚠️ While Vangelis famously used the VP-330, this video doesn’t analyze his exact recordings — it’s a deep listen into the synth itself.

🎧 Best experienced with headphones!

👇 Let me know in the comments: Which version do YOU prefer?

0:00 – Intro
00:36 Queen Radio Ga Ga
00:43 Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight
00:50 Stevie Wonder I Just Called to Say I Love You
00:58 - Vangelis Blade Runner
01:10 - How the VP-330 Works
01:52 - Roland VP-330 MKI – Vocoder Sound
01:56 - Roland VP-330 MKII – Vocoder Sound
05:30 – Roland VP-330 MKI - String Sound
05:54 - Roland VP-330 MKII - String Sound
06:17 - Roland VP-330 MKI - Choir Sound
06:42 - Roland VP-330 MKII - Choir Sound
07:07 - Outro"