The tranny whine in first is normal... but how about this.

From a cold start, run your 1st gear up to 4k and then let the revs drop down a little (dropping whine sound) until you get to a slow roll.... now disengage the clutch fast.

I get a loud bang... like a gear pressure release. Is this normal?

 

I get that all the time, but usually I notice it when I'm starting off in 1st at a crawl and then the idiot in front of me slams on the brakes, forcing me to push the clutch right back in. I don't really hear a "bang", per se, but I definitely hear a pretty audible "cluck" sound. I have no clue if its normal or not. My old VR-4 had some strange tranny/clutch sounds at times and it never failed, so who knows?