I received my first VP550 yesterday from Roland for my store. My first impression was "quality" right out of the box. This is a keyboard made in Japan and it looked like it was made in the early 1980's......large switches, nice feeling keyboard and not too many buttons. I read the owners manual for a couple of minutes. Roland explains the history behind the vocoder (back to 1939) and where it's been through 2006. I am very impressed with the quality of the harmonies created and the ensemble sounds which combine with the vocals. The sound is full, rich and acurate. The vocoder mode is equally powerful. The final mode is a bass split mode which contains 4 different jazz and pop "scat" style bass voices. A very impressive product. It's not cheap! The retail price here in the USA is about $1595 and the street price will be around $1200.00.
George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California

[This message has been edited by George Kaye (edited 06-02-2006).]