Roland is closing down roland Europe :(

djcactus · Post by **djcactus** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 1:24 am

BobTheDog wrote:A porsche is not just an expensive car, you obviously don't understand cars if you think that. Or watches by the sound of it!

Sure it is, you could spend a lifetime trying to convince me otherwise, i know enough about cars to know its a waste of money. Plus a rolex is just an expensive piece of jewelry that happens to tell you the time, if you really believe that a rolex tells time better then another watch at least I know this isn't an argument worth having.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Mon Nov 18, 2013 10:05 am

Assyrianpianist wrote:I bought a Kronos just because the price was awfully low compared to nonsense $5000-$8000 workstations Korg's been trying to sell before.

Why plural, there was only one: OASYS. And that was a concept worked into reality, it had a limited run and Korg didn't really earn much by selling all 3000 of them. They just proved the concept, of which Kronos is a continuation.

ScoobyDoo555 · Post by **ScoobyDoo555** » Wed Nov 20, 2013 4:43 pm

Well my Kronos fits very well in my Porsche - and therefore both musical and style/effectiveness of transport methods are met perfectly.

karmathanever · Post by **karmathanever** » Thu Nov 21, 2013 12:40 am

Well my Kronos fits very well in my Porsche - and therefore both musical and style/effectiveness of transport methods are met perfectly.

I must also say:-
"...Well my Kronos fits very well in my Mercedes Limousine - and therefore both musical and style/effectiveness of transport methods are met perfectly...."
(however I do have to admit that my Merc is 22 years old

)

But just to stay on topic - very sad about Roland - they make great gear - had a U20 many years ago and its sounds were so way ahead in terms of authenticity.
They also revolutionised the arranger keyboards with their E20 and later, E30 in the 90's - analog sounds based on their MT32 engine but awesome arranger - I still use some of its styles right now on my PA3X but then of course, Korg re-revolutionised arrangers with the i-series
(Just bought an AX09 too for some fun with my band - great little unit and excellent value - nice sounds too!!!

Hope they don't completely go down - surely someone will buy them out???

Cheers

Pete

Timo · Post by **Timo** » Thu Nov 21, 2013 12:51 am

The Kronos must surely have also put a few nails through Roland and Yamaha's workstation keyboard flight cases.

peter m. mahr · Post by **peter m. mahr** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 12:00 pm

Bald Eagle wrote:It's not surprising that they are in trouble when you look at the products. The Fantom G had a decent start but they never finished it. The V-Synth was another with good possibilities but was ignored. The Jupiter 80 has great sounds but is misunderstood.

So true!

Francois · Post by **Francois** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:52 pm

I don't know how well Roland is doing or not, as the case may be, these days. All I know is that the only piece of Roland gear that I would like to buy today is the Integra. And that's it.

For many years now, they have failed to inspire me and, most importantly, make me want to open my purse. Yet, there was a time when most of my gear had their name on it.

The last brand new Roland I bought was the VariOS. Well, we all know how that one turned out don't we. Great concept, poor implementation, and (piss) poor follow up!

I'm just a user amongst hundreds of thousands who buy synths. But if many are feeling like me about the brand, then it can only mean Roland are not selling enough gear.

I'd be really sorry to see such a venerable name hit the dust, but I'm not going to start buying stuff from them unless it really inspires me and I feel I can trust the follow up.

Hugo · Post by **Hugo** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 1:14 am

@Francois: have you ever played a V-Synth? If so - what didn't you like about it?

peter m. mahr · Post by **peter m. mahr** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:51 am

In my opinion Roland's last synthesizer. But for some reason the V-Synth never received the attention it should have deserved. Whereas the Integra is a big Roland sound library together with a very limited interface. I am curious which direction Roland will take, as there are rumors about an analog synthesizer. Which seems odd after what I read here.

Hugo · Post by **Hugo** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 1:29 pm

peter m. mahr wrote:In my opinion Roland's last synthesizer. But for some reason the V-Synth never received the attention it should have deserved. Whereas the Integra is a big Roland sound library together with a very limited interface. I am curious which direction Roland will take, as there are rumors about an analog synthesizer. Which seems odd after what I read here.

According to Oliver Bondzio, there are new "dance" oriented products incoming. Hopefully something like the Volca's.
What I also hope for, is an Integra workstation but with a V-Synth included, along with other synths. Then we're talking true competition for the Kronos

Francois · Post by **Francois** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 3:03 pm

Yes, the V-Synth is an interesting synth but, at a time when I could have been tempted when the GT was released, my money went into a Solaris.

Still, being tempted into buying a V-Synth GT in 2007 and an Integra-7 in 2013, that's not a lot of temptation is it! And that is my main point, the lack of gear from Roland that shouts "buy me" as far as I'm concerned.

Roland put their fingers on something when they gave the possibility of running a D-50 as a PCMCIA card, but the TB-303/Jupiter-8 emulations for the VariOS were crap. How many people have bought Korg gear based on having access to M1, Polysix, Wavestation, Monopoly... in a modern format? Roland missed the boat. And yet, it's not like they are lacking the raw material.

Sometimes, I wonder whether manufacturers have a dialogue with their users, or just follow their own ideas!

Finally, if you don't give people what they want, don't be surprised when they don't buy. And if people do buy but feel somewhat cheated or abandoned, don't be surprise they don't buy again in a hurry.

Hugo · Post by **Hugo** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 3:45 pm

I agree Roland could have released more interesting stuff, but in my view the V-Synth range remains the most awesome synhs to date. I have the original, but I'm getting the GT as well - unless an updated version is releaed, that is.

Having said that, Korg are my overall favourites, releasing cool stuff all over.
Yamaha are the least interesting, despite the Motif range being good workstations. I hear rumours, however, that Yamaha are developing a real contender for the Kronos, with multiple synthesis technologies on board. Should be awesome.

Jan1 · Post by **Jan1** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 3:51 pm

Francois wrote:Sometimes, I wonder whether manufacturers have a dialogue with their users, or just follow their own ideas!

Following your own ideas because you believe in them need not be a bad thing.
The problem with Roland has been that the company suffered from seeking to integrate conflicting ideas, leading to obstructing compromises in addition to turning a deaf ear to what their customers are requesting.
Furthermore they seem to be blind to changing trends, not coming up with a fast and adequate response so that opportunity is lost.
I hope the sales figures gave the company a wake up signal they cannot ignore, because I'd hate to see Roland follow in the footsteps of the Titanic.

Anyway, we'll know more within 5-6 weeks.

KONNECTORAS · Post by **KONNECTORAS** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 1:55 pm

Asena wrote:If you,r Name is ROLAND, and if you make a Workstation KB, BK 9 and whit no Sampling on it, THEN i don,t have any thing to ad.
it,s 2013 , we do not need 2 screens, We need One , Good screen, Great styles sounds and more, I dunno who is behind this, but he can't this, Sadly there was nothing from Roland on keyboard front, And nothing we can call NEW, Recykling is not god, Yea it,s god for the mother earth , only

+10000000 !!!!!!!!!

Bachus · Post by **Bachus** » Tue Dec 17, 2013 10:55 pm

roland makes great sounding stuff...

But never the stuff the customer seems to want...

Somewhere they lost track with reallity