Roland's Boutique line has a new wavetable member, and the first full review landed on October 26. Synth Anatomy's n/vision review covers the sound engine in detail. For MPE players, the interesting part is what it says, and does not say, about expression.
The headline specs
The n/vision is a bi-timbral digital wavetable synthesizer with up to 56 voices, though raising the oscillator "spread" reduces polyphony. Each part has two layers, each with its own wavetable chosen from 63 factory tables. Custom wavetable import is not available.
The filter section includes 24 dB and 12 dB low-, band- and high-pass modes, plus models of Roland, Moog ladder and Sequential Prophet-5 filters. Modulation comes from a multi-wave LFO, a 16-step modulator, three ADSR envelopes and a random source. There are 20 internal effect types, an arpeggiator per part and a two-track step sequencer with up to 64 steps.
Connectivity includes USB-C for data, power and 8-channel audio (with a proprietary Roland driver on macOS and Windows), 5-pin MIDI in and out, headphone and main outputs, and AA battery power. The review gives the price as $549.99 / 689 EUR, including the K-25m keyboard, and the synth is sold only as that bundle. See Roland for official information.
Aftertouch: present, but limited
According to the review, the n/vision supports mono (channel) aftertouch, but it must be enabled in the menu and cannot be assigned to any parameter. A reader comment in the review also says the manual documents a basic, CC-only MIDI implementation, though the article itself does not confirm this. The review does not mention MPE support.
Taken together, the safe reading is that you should not expect MPE from this instrument.
Mono aftertouch versus MPE
The distinction matters for anyone planning a rig:
- Channel aftertouch sends one pressure value for the whole channel. Press one note in a chord harder and every note changes.
- MPE gives every note its own MIDI channel, so pressure, slide (CC74) and pitch bend apply to that note alone.
- A synth that ignores per-note channel data will usually treat an MPE stream as plain multi-channel MIDI, and may only respond on one channel.
In practice, an MPE controller connected to a non-MPE synth often falls back to simple note playing. If you want to push further, our guide to MPE channel zones explains how the channels are laid out, which helps when troubleshooting.
How to use it with an MPE controller anyway
If you love the sound, there are sensible workarounds. Set your controller to a single channel (most MPE devices offer a non-MPE or single-channel mode), and treat pressure as channel aftertouch. For parameters that the n/vision cannot receive from aftertouch, a DAW or hardware sequencer can translate pressure into CC messages, if the synth exposes those CCs. Check the manual for the real MIDI implementation first, given the comment above.
Who it suits
The n/vision looks like a good fit for players who want a compact, battery-friendly wavetable voice with Roland's filter models and a built-in sequencer. It is not a per-note expression instrument. If expression is your priority, pair it with a dedicated MPE synth in the same rig and use each for what it does best.
The takeaway
Reviews rarely open with MIDI details, yet that is where expressive players should look first. Before buying any new hardware, find out three things: whether it receives channel aftertouch, whether that aftertouch is assignable, and whether MPE is documented. With the n/vision, the answers from the review are "yes, with limits", "no" and "not mentioned".
Source: Synth Anatomy.