First Impressions - HOT DAMN, or OH HELL NAH. So I have to be honest first impressions with out turning this thing on is it looks rock solid and the pads seem and feel dope but the matte black finish is a FINGER PRINT magnet, there's not much in the box with this and that's a big issue it's a portable production centre or is it? It's marketed as your production centre in the box but it's missing one vital piece of gear that's a sheer cheap oversight for Roland - USB Cable so sitting on a train I figured I would crack this open and try to make on a song of the flip side but I have so many different cables in my GRAB TECH kit that I keep in my bag, which I might actually make a blog post about to be honest. This USB cable not being in the package meant I couldn't actually make music on the fly :(
So what's actually in the box? The Unit, paperwork, a metal SD card protector door, Micron 8GB SDHC CARD in the unit and a AC PSU. - A oversight not to have the USB cable in the box to be honest with you and being a printer cable makes it unlikely like you would normally carry one which means a extra cable you need in your GO bag.
I think Roland has big dreams to take over from the MPC ONE but maybe Akai has seen the future to be quite honest, if you ain't sure what I am referring to MPC ONE (BLACK) FOUND SOUND.
I think the limit of 12 MINUTESS mono or 6 Minutes Stereo isn't ideal, also the SD card capping at 32GB kind of reminds of working with the old Zoom H1 recorder to be honest this is 2021 they could have expanded it to 512GB or something even the Zoom H8 supports up to 512GB cards the cost of memory is coming down but the size of the music and stuff we make is going up and that's a factor of life, I feel like the full size SD card could have been replaced with Micro SD card or even two Dual Micro SD slots for back up.
I think the Printer cable in 2021 is also holding it back to be honest, I know a lot of gear such as the Maschine MK3 and MicroFreak still rocks this connection but I think in the world we live in, USB C would have made sense like most of us possible has a power bank that has USB C in and out or a USB C - USB C cable in the bag or in our go kit. So that's the struggle.
Windows Drivers - tried four different computers and hit brick walls with this, I think the whole software and firm ware updates are done hella awkward to be honest and I think they would be making something that could automatically update the Verselab on the fly, cause if you put that metal SD card door protector on your getting to have to pop a screwdriver in your bag, and depending on where you suited this could be classed as a weapon without a valid reason :)
Overall: It seems powerful the workflow seems hella confusing and I think it's got a solid presence but it may need a better lot of planning behind it to be honest with you, I think things are early days for the MV1 but I think there's needing to be some improvements before it becomes something that I constantly carry in my bag which is what I originally intended it for. I am definitely going to create more content in relation to this product but this is just my first impression with it and aren't final thoughts I think I have already made my first beat maybe :D will need to check out what the go is with it in the computer when I find a SD card reader