Note: Roland has not released an official, branded "U-220 VST" by itself. This review covers the most authentic way to get that sound today: (which includes the U-220 waveforms) and third-party sample libraries like Hollow Sun’s U-220 Collection . What is the Roland U-220? Originally released in 1989, the U-220 was a 1U rackmount sound module based on Roland’s U-110 PCM engine. It featured 6MB of sample ROM (big for its time) with 246 patches, including the famous "Orchestra Hit," ambient pads, punchy bass, and digital pianos. It was a staple of late 80s/early 90s new age, R&B, house music, and film scores (e.g., Twin Peaks ). The VST Experience: Roland Cloud SRX-ORCHESTRA The closest official VST is SRX-ORCHESTRA (part of Roland Cloud’s SRX series). It directly samples the original U-220 waveforms, because the U-220’s sounds were later incorporated into the SR-JV80-02 Orchestral expansion board, which was then ported to SRX-07, and finally to the SRX-ORCHESTRA VST.
