New Roland gear

RKfan · Post by **RKfan** » Mon Sep 05, 2016 11:18 am

Some images released of 4 new pieces of kit from roland have appeared on rolandclan. There is a system 8, a vocoder, TB03 and TR09.

http://forums.rolandclan.com/viewtopic. ... 3&start=15

I would add the images but dont have a place to host the urls

afr · Post by **afr** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 9:34 am

Roland System 8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wqy1UQ7Cqk

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 10:26 am

Still awaiting specs, and don't know why distortion was all over the place in the first part of the video.

But else, at first sight/listen, and if the plugouts work well, this might be Roland's best effort in years.

Jan1 · Post by **Jan1** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 11:02 am

Here's the product list.
The System-8 and the Boutique VP-03 look interesting, depending on the specs (...), but to re-release two AIRA products in a new Boutique coat?
Is that Roland's concept of redefining the future?
Unfortunately the rumored next generation sampling workstation did not materialize.

Bachus · Post by **Bachus** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 12:07 pm

afr wrote:Roland System 8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Wqy1UQ7Cqk

Sweetwater breaking the news, as allways...

Make me wonder about those keys, definately not mini keys, i hope they invested in some good action... I also hope there is a way to link it to the System 1 rack... that would be a good combo on the right topside of my setup.

Personally i think the sound quallity of the ACB technollogy defiantely has it uses and charmes..

Ksynth · Post by **Ksynth** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 2:06 pm

System-8 has 3 osc. Lots of variations.

Step seq and ARP.

FX

Juno-106 plugout. Or in? Juno 106 included.

JUPITER-8 and JUNO-106 Plug-outs included - and you can switch between three models on the fly. Top it off with an interface that's both classic and futuristic, split and layered synths, an integrated vocoder, and much mor

aron · Post by **aron** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 10:03 pm

Mini keys @ $1500, no thanks. It looks and sounds interesting but for me too expensive.

afr · Post by **afr** » Fri Sep 09, 2016 11:52 pm

aron wrote:Mini keys @ $1500, no thanks. It looks and sounds interesting but for me too expensive.

System8 has regular keys no mini

aron · Post by **aron** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 2:06 am

WOW! The one I saw - Sweetwater demo looked like it had mini keys. Now the video is private. I assumed the mistakes I heard was from the mini keys

afr · Post by **afr** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 8:11 am

https://www.roland.com/global/products/system-8/

Full specs

jimknopf · Post by **jimknopf** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 10:10 am

I hate to see that green.

But the VA concept is one of the most interesting we have seen in the last years IMO. I hope the Roland OS does not contain the usual Roland built in stumbling stones. But the overall concept looks convincing to me (something I haven't said about Roland gear in a long time), and with well done plugouts and split mode this might do a good job and offer a lot of interesting sound.

Jan1 · Post by **Jan1** » Sat Sep 10, 2016 11:46 am

Going by Roland's description the System-8 is also a very versatile synth:
'The synth functions as a USB audio/MIDI interface for your DAW, and the 49 full-size keys provide a responsive, great-feeling keyboard for recording MIDI tracks. There’s even a control surface mode for using the SYSTEM-8’s knobs, sliders, and buttons with your soft synths.'
I wish it had at least one more octave.

As far as the VP-03 is concerned I still don't know what the polyphony is.
I can't find any mention of it on Roland's site or anywhere else.

Edit: it's 6 voice polyphony according to one comment I read on YouTube.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Sun Sep 11, 2016 1:30 am

Patch: 64 (8 memories x 8 banks, per one model)
Performance: 64 (8 memories x 8 banks)

Typical Roland memory cheapskating... Also no aftertouch - of course! :/

Other than that System-8 to me looks like the most desirable Roland synth ever since V-Synth...

Bachus · Post by **Bachus** » Sun Sep 11, 2016 8:13 am

EvilDragon wrote:Patch: 64 (8 memories x 8 banks, per one model)
Performance: 64 (8 memories x 8 banks)

Typical Roland memory cheapskating... Also no aftertouch - of course! :/

Other than that System-8 to me looks like the most desirable Roland synth ever since V-Synth...

Its 2016, how can a synth witouth aftertouch be desirable at all?

Jan1 · Post by **Jan1** » Sun Sep 11, 2016 5:00 pm

My biggest complaint against the System-8 is the polyphony.
With only eight voices note-stealing could be an issue in case of playing chords, but it is definitely an issue when you consider the fact that two plug-outs can be layered and you end up with only four voice polyphony -at the price of $1500.
I wish Roland had at least doubled the number of voices.