Roland AT900 Vs 900 Platinum Organ - Roland CM-220 Speakers?

[sweet melody 79]

I sent an email to a Organ store in CA regarding buying a Roland AT900 with Upgrade. They have a AT900 in stock but not a Platinum. I was told that the main difference between the two is that the 900 Platinum has Roland CM-220 Speakers to give more of a surround sound. I looked up the Roland CM-220 Speakers and they cost about $500. Would it make sense to buy them also and plug them into the AT900?. What do you guys reckon?. The last organ i had was the Roland 90SL American luxury so i gather the AT900 will be more powerful than that?

[sweet melody 79]

Actually, i just looked them up and i cannot find them for sale anywhere

[andyg]

I think they're telling you lies! There's a huge difference between the straight 900 and the Platinum. I wasn't aware of any difference to the amplification, though. What you do get is all the extra voices, rhythm styles, and so on. The 900 with a Platinum upgrade will have the same but you have to boot up into Platinum mode to get it all.

You can plug additional speakers into the Platinum, of course, and you have more options when you do this than on the 900. 'Surround Sound' is one, IIRC.

[sweet melody 79]

I think they're telling you lies! There's a huge difference between the straight 900 and the Platinum. I wasn't aware of any difference to the amplification, though. What you do get is all the extra voices, rhythm styles, and so on. The 900 with a Platinum upgrade will have the same but you have to boot up into Platinum mode to get it all.

You can plug additional speakers into the Platinum, of course, and you have more options when you do this than on the 900. 'Surround Sound' is one, IIRC.

I think i have just bagged myself a Platinum so the above doesn't really matter now!. Yeah Andy, i was told that the Platinum has extra speakers... On one of Roland's official advertisements on youtube i actually heard them say the same too?...


From what i understand even an upgraded AT900 is not the same as a Platinum?

[sweet melody 79]

I think they're telling you lies! There's a huge difference between the straight 900 and the Platinum. I wasn't aware of any difference to the amplification, though. What you do get is all the extra voices, rhythm styles, and so on. The 900 with a Platinum upgrade will have the same but you have to boot up into Platinum mode to get it all.

You can plug additional speakers into the Platinum, of course, and you have more options when you do this than on the 900. 'Surround Sound' is one, IIRC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weHP60QJKec

At 0.39 they state "Enhanced sound system"

[andyg]

An upgraded 900 will be the same as a Platinum if you boot into full Platinum mode. Hold down the Rotary Slow/Fast, plus rhythm variation buttons 1 and 4 while turning on the power to do this.

Looking at the specs, the power of the amps and the number of speakers and their sizes are identical in the 900 and the Platinum. I think the 'enhanced' must therefore mean that they've used some different speakers or they're referring to the extra options available in the 'surround sound' section.

Hope you get the Platinum!

[RogerM]

Probably not very important, but isn't there also some difference in the cabinet design - moulding detail?

[andyg]

Yes, the music desk is wider and the 'end caps' of the console incorporate the horseshoe effect rather than being straight with the horseshoe pieces set into them.

[sweet melody 79]

An upgraded 900 will be the same as a Platinum if you boot into full Platinum mode. Hold down the Rotary Slow/Fast, plus rhythm variation buttons 1 and 4 while turning on the power to do this.

Looking at the specs, the power of the amps and the number of speakers and their sizes are identical in the 900 and the Platinum. I think the 'enhanced' must therefore mean that they've used some different speakers or they're referring to the extra options available in the 'surround sound' section.

Hope you get the Platinum!

Thank you Andy. Yes!, deal is sealed, the Platinum ended up being a few $1000 more but considering what they were going for just 2 years ago i could not say no to this deal. After going full circle ( Having organs then switching to keyboards now back to an organ) I have done it all and honestly... i have never played a better organ than the Platinum. I had a 90SL which was great but not a touch on the 900P.

I like the idea that i will have the "newest" Roland organ out there. Am i right in saying the 900P came out in 2012 and the 900....2007?. I also love the look of the Platinum.. its a bit of a beast :-)

[sweet melody 79]

An upgraded 900 will be the same as a Platinum if you boot into full Platinum mode. Hold down the Rotary Slow/Fast, plus rhythm variation buttons 1 and 4 while turning on the power to do this.

Looking at the specs, the power of the amps and the number of speakers and their sizes are identical in the 900 and the Platinum. I think the 'enhanced' must therefore mean that they've used some different speakers or they're referring to the extra options available in the 'surround sound' section.

Hope you get the Platinum!

Also i heard some say that the 900P has a new DSP. I have no idea what that is but i am sure you will!

[andyg]

I think that's correct, it's the one that sorts out the surround sound, and of course, you also get the improved rotary sim - flip between the effects on Rock and Jazz drawbars to hear that very clearly! :)

DSP - Digital Signal Processor, meaning that effects like rotary and reverb etc can be added in the digital domain before the final conversion to analogue.

I think you're correct with the dates, I have a photo of me reviewing the original 900 in 2007 and my student bought his (then my!) 900P in mid 2013 - we'd only had a few shipped in at that point. This one had a minor cabinet blemish which the dealer offered to fix. However the student was a french polisher by trade and told them he'd do it himself - in exchange for a further discount! Managed to push that to an extra £500 in the end! A very canny man! :) He left it to me when he passed away, can't believe that's almost 4 years ago.

You're in for some fun, the difference between 90SL and 900P is quite something, and the 90SL was no mean animal in its own right!

[sweet melody 79]

I think that's correct, it's the one that sorts out the surround sound, and of course, you also get the improved rotary sim - flip between the effects on Rock and Jazz drawbars to hear that very clearly! :)

DSP - Digital Signal Processor, meaning that effects like rotary and reverb etc can be added in the digital domain before the final conversion to analogue.

I think you're correct with the dates, I have a photo of me reviewing the original 900 in 2007 and my student bought his (then my!) 900P in mid 2013 - we'd only had a few shipped in at that point. This one had a minor cabinet blemish which the dealer offered to fix. However the student was a french polisher by trade and told them he'd do it himself - in exchange for a further discount! Managed to push that to an extra £500 in the end! A very canny man! :) He left it to me when he passed away, can't believe that's almost 4 years ago.

You're in for some fun, the difference between 90SL and 900P is quite something, and the 90SL was no mean animal in its own right!

What a wonderful and dear student/friend to leave that to you!. Yes, this one is for keeps, no selling on this beauty :-)

[sweet melody 79]

I think that's correct, it's the one that sorts out the surround sound, and of course, you also get the improved rotary sim - flip between the effects on Rock and Jazz drawbars to hear that very clearly! :)

DSP - Digital Signal Processor, meaning that effects like rotary and reverb etc can be added in the digital domain before the final conversion to analogue.

I think you're correct with the dates, I have a photo of me reviewing the original 900 in 2007 and my student bought his (then my!) 900P in mid 2013 - we'd only had a few shipped in at that point. This one had a minor cabinet blemish which the dealer offered to fix. However the student was a french polisher by trade and told them he'd do it himself - in exchange for a further discount! Managed to push that to an extra £500 in the end! A very canny man! :) He left it to me when he passed away, can't believe that's almost 4 years ago.

You're in for some fun, the difference between 90SL and 900P is quite something, and the 90SL was no mean animal in its own right!

Well...knock me down with a feather!. I just put down a deposit on the Platinum which is coming on Saturday and i was told "The speakers will be coming too!"... i was confused as i didn't know what they meant. The seller told me that when Roland first sold the Platinums they came with extra speakers for surround sound?... and here they are..

[sweet melody 79]

I would be interested to know if any of the other Platinum owners have these speakers?

[msgrillo]

hi sweet melody...

i was able to get a roland 900 AT right after i sold my 90SL...then i was able to get the upgrade from canada...Then with the help of many on this forum i was given more info on the ability of the upgrade..for a long time i used primarily the DOM portion..I did run into many problems...utilizing only DOM...I did not have extra speakers you got..I think you have an after market product that probably was thrown in to to seal the deal for the original owner...Andy Helped me to go to Platinum...now it is my turn on choice..then another one of our members sent me MA files to correct the weird song titles..I am astounded everytime i turn on the unit to discover a new thing....by the way your unit is a mirror image of mine....without the speakers...enjoy your unit...with care it should last many years...


god bless
respectfully ,

Marsh.

[AZSteve]

Hi, I live in Surprise, AZ and have 2 sets of those external speakers (CM-110, out of production) on my 900P. The 900P has plenty of power but I wanted to fill the room with less volume. At the East in where the organs are I have Stereo Left to the north side and Right to the south side of the room On the West end I reversed that for a sense of music surrounding you. I've always had externals on my organs from a Yamaha E3 to CHX-1. As most home organs have speakers down by one's knees, you need to be a grasshopper with ears on your knees to fully appreciate it. I have an ELX-1 in the system also, via a small mixer. Boys and their toys :D

[andyg]

Not here, maybe it's a USA thing? OK, remember that it's not true 'surround sound' but it is nevertheless effective!

Place the speakers on the opposite side of the room and experiment with the various options. Perhaps the best effect is to route the just reverb through the external speakers. Hang the satellites high on the opposite wall if you can. That's what my student did with his/mine and it sounded great. We didn't have the subwoofer, not really needed for reverb.

There's also 'Satellite' mode, which mixes the organ sound and the reverb sound and sends it all to the external speakers, the subwoofer will come in handy in this mode!

At some point, I'm going to treat myself to two sets of small Conn pipe speakers, put a small amp in each one and use those as my externals!