The Roland Aira Series – The Coolest Thing That Didn’t Get Released At NAMM?

Roland has released a new teaser for its upcoming Aira mystery gear. While we’ve been sworn to secrecy on it, here’s what they have to say about Roland Aira series:

With roots in the very origins of electronic music, AIRA is the new series of products designed to meet the evolving needs of today’s electronic musicians. In the studio or on the stage, AIRA brings genre-defining sound and modern performance features to a new generation.

The roland Aira series is set for official release later this winter. In the meantime, check out the teaser promo!

127 thoughts on “The Roland Aira Series – The Coolest Thing That Didn’t Get Released At NAMM?”

  1. Well then, “…roots in the very origins of electronic music…”!

    Then I expect it is at least a dual sine wave generator with a passive ring modulator and tape looping functions. Am I close?

    If it IS then I will definitely be wanting one. If it is just another groove box I will pass.

  3. the sounds are disgusting, and not “new or exciting” at all

    I want to hear the TR-8 on it’s own before I make judgment and a decision on it. .

  4. Perhaps dentists should start knocking their patients in the head with a heavy object prior to extractions, or should neurosurgeons drill holes in their patients head’s for the common headache because those are the roots of medical science as well.

    You are dead wrong. Roland is actually doing the right. I realise you are knee deep in everything Moog, yet the reality is that is not progress. It stalls the science and dulls the art.

    Now that said, I believe in the talent behind the instrument more than the technology itself, yet when you begin to spew this yearning for all things retro….I am aghast, and that is being polite.

    Roland for once is not re-issuing old technology in a new package like Korg. And I really like Korg, they are trying to advance the science and technology. We seem to forget how ground breaking all of these analogue synths were….in the 60’s and 70’s! It is 2014, is it not time to try something new?

      1. He was poking fun of their phrasing in light of their previous claims of responsibility for dance music, you dimwit. Roland are overreaching with their promotional materials, and it’s moderately humorous.

        New technology would be nice, but if you think that the AIRA line (or Roland at all) will be bringing it to market then I suggest you lay off the crackpipe. At the VERY BEST this is going to be a VA with an analogue kick, and it’s more likely to be a glorified ROMpler. None of this is “advancing the science” or “inspiring the art”, no matter how emotionally invested in the Roland brand you are.

        1. Hey ohucknut, I do not even own a single Roland unit, so in that regard, you can take the first part of that noun and do it to yourself.

    2. We tried something new, and it aliased on the high end with weak sounding, steppy resonance.

      Actually, There are plenty of new and interesting things going on in the world of plugins and hardware. But people also love the simple sound of analog (and well-done virtual analog) and the straighfoward interface of a step sequencer and knobs.

      Room for all.

      1. I absolutely agree, there is ample room for all, yet to disparage a company for deciding not to rehash the old, that to me is idiotic.

        1. No. What is idiotic and disgusting is that the said company is trying to coast on the classic gear as a marketing crutch.
          Everything i have seen and read reeks of it, and the aura of mistery is just to hide the fact they have nothing real to show.
          This is a try to capitalise on the classic gear brands they have unadvertently created and it is totally rolands MO.
          I will just leave you to your rants though.

        2. But they ARE rehashing older synths; their modern synths are all inspired by vintage products. The thing is, they rehash and make them worse by using less effective methods to generate the same tones and then add a D-beam to make up for it. I like VA, but Roland’s implementation of digital filters is this and harsh and they make use of shortcuts like sampled oscillators. The disparagement, then, comes not from their refusal to rerelease vintage gear but from their insistence upon releasing pale imitations and touting them as game-changers.

          1. For morons like you, they have to use the word inspired by otherwise you would not be willing to try anything other than the relics you still play with!

            2. dont you see the problem people have when a company says they want to use future digital tech instead of old analogue tech, and then they use the new tech to emulate the old tech, cause people originally wanted the old tech ??

              whats so good about a company that emulates analog circuits even when they own the original ones ???

              dont be such a fanboy^^

              if you emulate a 12voice analog synth with a tiny little VA box, then its a good thing, when you emulate drum circuits, that people where after for the last 20 years, that dont take up space, that are not expensive or complicated to make, and that you own the rights on, its just roland ..

          2. I agree. I have a Gaia. Bought it when I first got into synths. I think I might sell it. It is exactly as you say. Kinda wish I bought something better.

        3. I agree. People holler for something new and “innovative” like mad, but are almost never specific. When they are, its usually some vague personalized tweak on what is already working pretty well. That’s because 98% of us are not synth designers. Some of what I see whined for is either technically impractical or financially crushing to any normal home budget.

          What we get will always be a calculated risk. Think of the path to any synth you play. It had to be conceptualized, debated through the blueprint design process, scaled to meet the investment capital and physical manufacturing means, raw materials bought and tooled, outside contributors such as keybed makers wrangled, assemblers taught and finally, the wonderbox marketed with a great fanfare… that half of you guys are crapping on. Shake it off, Synth Fairy. You’re bitching because your new space coupe has green lights instead of amber ones. Don’t be such a damned BIEBER! :))

          1. It’s more like complaining that the modern Impala looks a whole lot like a Civic; sure, the higher beltline and the introduction of crumple zones make it safer, and the aerodynamics give it better mileage, but the old land-yachts had style. The same is true of drum machines, the Akai XR20 has more sounds than a TR-808 could ever dream of, but the 808 is special nonetheless.

              1. Go look at a second generation impala; if you don’t think it has more character and style than the current model then you are the one who is hopeless. The new one is more reliable, safer, and you can plug your iPhone into the stereo system, and yet it does not have the same iconic personality as the ’59.

                It could be argued that the ’59 is a bit goofy looking, but it’s still perfectly reasonable to be saddened that the modern one looks like every other car on the road if you like the looks of the original and to be skeptical of Chevrolet’s ability to reproduce something as cool as your favored version given their recent design history.

                This metaphor is now so labored it’s about to give birth.

                1. This discussion has devolved and I think it has become a pissing match.

                  Whether it is analogue or digital, there is a right way and wrong way in implementing the technology. That is far less subjective than it appears. That said, analogue is rather limited, that is a fact!

                  That said, we simply have different vantage points. I design synthesizers, and I firmly believe in modelling technology. Analogue circuitry is the starting point, yet not the destination.

                  Regardless, they are all tools and ultimately it is about the music you create, the methods and tools used are ancillary by in large. For my taste, I would take a Virus, even the Virus A, over any Moog, simply for the fact that it is far more expansive in its sonic palette.

                  I think it would be interesting if Synthhead had an Open Mic post and everyone listed the instruments in their studio.

                  Best of luck to you. And regardless of what iteration, I find the Impala ugly, perhaps it is my British sensibility.

                  1. I actually quite like the idea of the open mic post; it would be cool to see which devices are actually in use vs which ones are simply lusted over. Perhaps some enterprising soul, or Synthhead, could tally up the results and make a post out of it.

                    And for the record, I use a Kurzweil K2000s every day for exactly the reasons you mentioned above.

                    1. I emailed Synthhead about the idea, perhaps if all of us made the suggestion, it would register.

                      Hopefully someday you will access to my Modeled synths. I have two prototypes, production is another issue.

                      You would amazed what they can do….

                      Cheers!

            2. no its not,

              the reason they redesigned the impala where complete different reasons, also its not about a facelift, everyone, i guess would be ok with a facelift of the box itself.

              its about the internals, and about the fact that a car transports people and wastes gasoline, personal transport is still evolving.

              its more like the the old vw beetle vs the new one, they try to make money of people that liked the original and did it wrong ^^

    3. This comment comes up on every analog-relevant discussion, and it’s wrong. It’s foolish to think that because we’ve developed digital technology there is nothing more to learn about analog circuits, or that they are not interesting sounding in their own right…just as it would be foolish to rgue that people should stop manufacturing acoustic guitars and drums because electric guitars or samplers represented more innovative technology.

      You can innovate on quality and price as well as on novelty, but most people equate innovation with novelty alone. However, if I make a great-sounding acoustic guitar (or whatever) for $250 when before I could not do so for less than $500, then that’s a distinct benefit for guitar players. Equally if I can make it half the weight or have it stay in tune longer without compromising the sound, I’ve made the machine easier to use.

      I have no idea if these new devices from Roland involve analog technology or not. But if they do, even partly, then providing the analog sounds that people enjoy in a more affordable and/or reliable device is just as innovative. Analog may not be the best way to emulate the sounds of acoustic instruments in a more convenient digital form, but a central idea of this Roland marketing campaign is the firm’s recognition that people liked the ‘classic gear for its own merits, rather than as accurate simulacra of bass guitars and acoustic drum kits.

    4. If you know Atomic Shadow’s music, then you know he actually does cool stuff with sine generators and tape machines. It’s not surprising he’s uninterested in a drum machine or groove-box.

  5. If Roland fetch out gear that wipes the floor with the Bass Bott and the xoxbox, and the copy cat 808 /909 drum Machines then Roland will do well.
    Their Bassline synth sill be the one worth checking. This demo showcases a TB 303 bass sound (accent and slide clearly visible) . It sounds the real deal.
    Fingers crossed for those of us still making and enjoying raw ,funkey acid and techno.

  10. Why would this years Virtual Analog from Roland sound any less like shit than any previous years? I want some of what people are smoking at the moment, either that or Roland have a literal shill army online

  12. Why do they show this in the dark?
    Waste of time and money.
    Or are we going to be so disappointed when we see it that they decided to show it at night in the dark?

  13. they said in their first video that is was time for new and exciting things…

    no more cowbells I hope.
    I want the TR-8 specifically to move into new territory
    with new sounds better than anything else… they said it can do 808 and 909 sounds (that would be a bonus) but not what I want or need… there’s plenty of hardware clones, VSTs and samples for that.

    and like someone said here… it’s 2014 now, not 1980.. or 1990 like most of the crap in this video sounds like.

  14. The demo music made me realise i will laugh my face off in february. What is the target group for this rubbish?
    And the promo text really is the height of the generic copywriting. It even has the dreaded: “in studio or on stage…”

    Gotta love them corporations.

  17. Jesus holy fucking christ I’m just so sick of synthtopia’s comments section. It’s gotten ridiculous. Everything is a goddamned argument. Clearly different people have different needs, likes and desires for gear and that is fine and doesn’t require someone with different needs or tastes to be a dickhead. This shit is starting to feel like reddit. maybe you should just split your site into sections so that we can segregate types of technology and keep everyone in their own little worlds.

    2. How about they split the site into 2 sections:

      Section 1: Synthtopia Classic – A place for synth news and discussion

      Section 2: Limpdick Troll Central 3000 – Where misdirected creative energy is spent insulting engineers and bitching to strangers about how your creative needs and far-superior knowledge and skills – which never seem to be put to good use – entitle you to make demands about the developmental trajectory of manufacturers who have the nerve to make business decisions without your input and thus you only fester in your hatred for all things that don’t seem to fit in your little futile rock-star fantasy.

      Seems like it would be an even split…

  20. Who is making this kind of rave music in 2014? Sounds like leftovers from Wesley Snipes’ “Blade” soundtrack. I want to check this piece out, but that demo sounds like any mid-’90s virtual groovebox.

  22. I’m excited, looks like an interesting range of new instruments… hopefully they will be affordable. I thought I spied what looked like a small synth box with red, lit up keys…Seems like they are taking a clue from KORG, perhaps.

  23. Is this a four door or hatchback, and does it come with a seat warmer for back passengers? If not you can take your analog shit and lick my aunty’s stamps.

  24. I was disappointed that I didn’t get to see the TR-08 and VT-03 at NAMM. I asked about them and they said they wouldn’t have anything to show until May.

    This Aria seems to have a similar design aesthetic, but I can’t tell if it is just a new keyboard or a line of products or what. I’m hoping for some products that put analog control and simplicity up front rather than having overloaded functions for every single button and knob. That is what makes using an old Juno so much better of an experience than any of the new digital hardware. You can emulate the sound, but the control and UI are where the experience really shines.

  25. I DO think that calling them “tr-08” or “tb-03” in order to capitalize on the legacy of their older analog boxes is awful, and is not “innovative” or future minded. High quality samples of those already overused sounds are everywhere, but they’ll sell them at $800 to every poor 16 year old looking to get into making dance music. Then the kid will realize it’s not enough and trade it in for high quality hardware or serious software(or give up entirely) . More used roland boxes going for $150 all over eBay/craigslist. But roland will have already made a huge profit by then so why should they care?

  27. It has COSM FX on it … looks like a groovebox. I bet for the price this thing will be we could buy a Juno 106 .. so I’m not waiting to see what kind of joke they are selling … Im going to straight away grab a Juno while I still can.

  28. I respectfully submit that the majority of you are full of it. The debate should be over what it really is, not pre-release suppositions. If it contains a chunk of Roland’s history, that’s a plus, not a drawback. Isn’t that exactly WHY we keep seeing the sounds, many of the basics and some of the old GUIs re-shaped, as both hardware and software? The retro crowd sure loses its collective sh*t over repackagings without stopping to note that many are quite powerful. It also wrongly sets aside new aspects that may rock. USB isn’t glamorous, but I love it for being liberating. Give things their due when they’re useful, because there’s plenty of Bad to go around, too.

    What if I use BFD, but want an alternate PERCUSSION source, same as I use several synths for the sound variety? What if love Ablelton, but want to lay my actual hands on things more often? What if I’m “just” a drummer and using an ARIA with pads will be my wet dream? What if I am mainly a pianist, but have a yen for writing my own UN-canned percussion sections for accompaniment? What if you are a brand-new avant-garde-ist looking to do some sound effect support for a local theatre group? All of those have loosely described my uses at some point. Its not all of one cloth. Its pointless to diss a thing before its had a chance to establish itself. Would YOU appreciate getting a faceful of that? 😛 To quote Chief Wiggum, “Shut up, he explained.”

    I’m appreciating Nick at Sonic State more all the time. Let’s see what he has to say, because you know it’ll get a fair shake from a dedicated player. Folding his reviews into your perception-batter is as sensible as layering analog & digital gear for the best kaboom. I wanna be HAPPY about this thing. Nick gives good Happy ’cause he loves this stuff like we do.

  29. Roland, pleas give us the option for VST, like V-ti. if it’s not includet.
    please please.
    i have the JP-8080 and it works fine. (Result of Quality). so for me it’s not so important
    how much the units are cost.
    Product Price / 20 Years lifetime = Cheap
    Product Price/ 2 Years = Expensive.

    Thanks Roland for The Aira Series !!!
    Music is much important, and you give us that instruments who can make People happy

    Whish you all the best 🙂

  30. My girlfriend had a “multiple” while watching that trailer and said – “you buy that gear or our relationship is going to the dogs!”

    So, now I need to make some choices here!

    Sounds serious! The roland gear that is:)

  31. I prefer Analog Hardware and/or Software Plugins. Why would buy a crappy digital piece of hardware when I have tons of vst drum machines that would kick its ass for a fraction of the price? The only advantage of hardware is the fact that it can deliver that fat analog sound that software lacks.

  32. hell’s kitchen !!
    roland cooks an strange recipe , aira appears to be a modular edm “wok”station with some commonplace ingredients : akai/alesis keybed controller , some knobs and sliders , perhaps midi/audio over usb integrated in vst , a cheap yamaha awmII with “usa big synths” wavetable samples chip or a gsm audio dsp ,with past&copy digitally korg filters ..
    dont forget led , plenty of leds !!
    just add compact flash card choice instead sd card and you will have this bad/good idea of computer based keybord such Neko /OpenLabs more expensive than laptop+interface and pocket controller .
    what a bad faith , should be not worst as triton taktile ??? possibly ?
    it was the though of a stinky cheese (with legendary french bad spirit ) ! thx for reading !

  34. So.. a VA groovebox…. using approximations of gear from the 1980s… looks like a rehash of a rehash…. kind of like a cross between the x0x and MC-series boxes. Nothing new to see here…

  35. The reason why the ‘analog lovers’ ‘old farts’ etc etc are dissing this Roland product before it’s even out is simple, they are using the name of the classic analog gear, yet again….and again to sell new virtual analog software-based products from Roland that no-one will remember in about 2 years. If Roland had just called these new things Aira and not implied any connection to the legacy kit, I’m sure people would be giving it more of a chance, but in an era where people like Korg are satisfying those old farts or analog purists by actually making recreations plus making new analog tools, alongside their innovative digital offerings (e.g. Kronos>cancelled Fantom/VSynth line), Roland’s effort looks typically corporate, distant and sorry, entirely fucking clueless. The reason Roland aren’t marketing this new line on the basis of the amazing feature set alone is because they already know that it is more rebadged soundalike gummy-LED-buttoned rompler garbage, mostly designed to look flash in a DJ booth in EDM hell somewhere.
    Don’t post here saying you hate the analog moaners and that we should be supporting new innovation when Roland is basically giving you neither analog recreations nor new ideas.
    I expect to see these products a) languishing in the huge, devoid-of-customers Roland displays in the big music stores b) showing up in ‘PRODUCAH’ videos in badly lit Youtube videos inside some filthy bedroom with the guy making trap beats or c) doing the wedding band music in your nearest Azerbaijani video with AK47’s being fired in the air…Roland’s primary market in 2014.

    2. There is more hyperbole in this comment than a buzz feed and a cracked article put together. Also, people aren’t pissed that Roland is referencing their now legendary products (cause yeah – Korg, DSI, Moog, Novation, Buchla, Rhodes, Hammond, Access, and Akai have never done that… and actually still don’t quite often to this day…)

      People are pissed because they still don’t know what it is. They’ve been waiting for Roland to come out of its coma for a while, and this showed some promise… and then promised more than it showed… and now has just gotten kinda boring.

      But that’s all very different from whatever it is you just pulled out of your ass. Mostly because you claim to know what the product’s shortcomings are… without knowing a single thing about it aside from it’s digital and has pretty lights (unless you’re color-blind).

  36. Serious question here: could this be an update for something like the V Synth GT? Was considering getting a used one, but now…wait for this instead..???

  37. Seriously, good points have been made. However if classic analog sounds were not in demand why would so many boutique companies be releasing them and with great reviews. If the Tr-08 is all digital PSH! Roland! The world does not need another “Virtual Instrument” and yeah I would go plug in before I even thought about a digital beat box. The classics have f’ing documentaries made about them! And due to the distinct analog qualities no one can match digitally. I like what Korg is doing – at least I feel they are listening to the musicians by releasing both analog and digital machines. I also agree the demo is like a Blade soundtrack but not all the Elektron Rtym vids sound great either. Roland -you did it once Now do it again! And why not offer both formats?? We know the digital stuff isn’t that hard to produce haha.

  40. Looks cool so far. If it’s too expensive for me then that will be fine with me. I don’t have lots of money, but it’s good to want things that you can’t have. I love to hear great hardware in the hands of experts.

    It’s also good for some sounds to be protected from the hoards of zombies that hijack it and weave it into their song in a box music -I’m speaking to all the angry red thumbs that frequent this blog. Let Aira live. Don’t stain it with your red thumbs and suck all the life out of it.

  41. 4 products.

    1. 808/909 inspire VA drum machine
    2. 303 inspired VA bass machine
    3. Vocoder/voice changer, digital
    4. Some sort of VA synth, probably 101 inspired.

    That’s it, no analogue, probably nothing particularly different sounding about them. The multitude of flashing lights and patterns makes me very dubious of these. Are they trying to distract from the sound?

    1. Did you see how thin they were? They look about as thin as an iPad which leads me to believe that they are likely VA or maybe even incorporate the iPad somehow (with some proprietary iPad app).

  42. Why are people on here getting upset about what Roland is fetching out? and the criticism of flashing lights , does not every synth have plenty of leds? and all those crap midi controllers they have hundreds of lights on them.
    I am not into modulars so I don’t comment on Modular reviews. I am not into apple so I don’t go on apple websites . It is amusing seeing people getting upset by a company whos products they don’t seem to own or use regularly. Roland have put out loads of crap, but they have also made such great gear , that kick started affordable synths for the masses. That in turn gave us ACID house.
    From Dj Pierre, to Bam Bam , we need decent gear to make fucked up acid house music on .
    We want noisey fucked up/digital/analogic machines that wobble the bass cones of sound systems, in dirty dark cellars. If you know how to work a mixing desk you can get dirty good sounds out of the crappiest of gear , Lee Scratch Perry, made it raw and dirty . Model 500, etc Strings of Life, blah di Blah, stop blaming Roland for having a boring f;cking life. and stop slagging hardware cause your not getting twelves out.
    Long live the sound perverts who will , abuse music equipment to give us all twisted , fucked up , mind bending audio. Google A guy called Gerald and aira. Keep music fucked up .
    Noise annoys (Hannet reference). Long Live Detroit /Manchester/Sheffield/Berlin/Brussels/
    Boring kuntz take up stamp collecting.

    1. I use Roland products everyday. Jupiter 8, Jupiter 4, System 100. All pre-1984.

      I’d love to own a modern Roland product, and I might be interested in their new voice box, but they’ve dissapointed electronic music lovers for years now, hence everyone’s scepticism.

  43. My initial comment was intended to be a bit tongue in cheek. One of Roland’s videos asserts that before 1980 there was no electronic, or dance music. This is plainly incorrect. I think I know what they meant by it, but it was a clumsy sentence.

    When they say electronic music, they mean EDM. Most people assume the same thing when I tell them that I make electronic music.

    Since I am a drummer by training I find drum machines to be a bit frustrating. Even if I want electronic drum sounds it is just so much easier to hop on the V-drums and play it. So I don’t really have any use for a groove box drum machine thing. I am not putting down the use of these machines. Just saying they are not for me.

    A voice transformer/processor might be another matter entirely!

  46. Need more information! I would not draw concluding opinions over a demo clip like this. It is still in my “hit-list”. Give Roland time. People buy gear for various reasons.. so when details are out and it is not your cup of tea, just move on to next “better” gear. The response to this article is part evidence to how much anticipation/expectations consmers have of AIRA.

  47. Great…red and green step lights. Another product that I (and 20% of all males) will have a hard, if not impossible, time using due to my color-blindedness.

      1. Even if it was less than that, not really a great move to disincentivize your target demographic because of an oversight in LED color choices.

      2. OK got that wrong shouldn’t trust my memory. 7-10% is still a significant population and all they would have to do is choose some colors that do not impact people with color blindedness.

        1. Really not getting the downvotes. Why does anyone care if the colors are different so everyone can see them? What is wrong with making products that do not automatically and unnecessarily excude part of the population?

    2. Hopefully, you’ll be able to figure out that there are four groups of four buttons, and the first button represents the first beat in the first measure. The rest falls right into place.

  49. That screen of big red buttons looks interesting, from the music I’m getting the sense it’ll be a drum machine, a sampler&sequencer and a vocoder.

    That’s three, two of which we already knew about.

    I’m not really hearing anything very synth in there so hopes of a Juno or SH-101 seem dashed.

    I’d pay good money if the workflow was brilliant, like next level brilliant. But if not then my wallet expects the drum machine sub $500. The voice transformer sub $250 and the sampler/sequencer sub $650.

    And I just won’t buy another sampler sequencer groove box unless the workflow is out of this world.

  51. Before the first rumors of the aira, with every new product release you could read “meh, roland should better be doing a remake of the 303, 808 etc. blah back to the roots blah blah”

    And now that it’s about to be here, peeps are already starting only to see the bad in this. Be positive! I am pretty sure thing is going to be great =D I’m really looking forward to try it out.

  52. http://ericarcher.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/tr808_snare_diy_project.pdf

    this pdf is a stripboard clone of the 808 snare. anyone that has basic soldering knowhow can build one him/herself
    my girlfriend made one ^^

    and THATS the point of not making an analog version, the patents are open, everyone can build a clone, a lot of companies sell it for quite a price a lot of for dirtcheap, so how much financial potential is in a 808 clone to roland ? i guess next to nothing

    only way for roland is emulate it with a VA and sell it to people as better then original

    they probably also lack experts in analogue design ? nowadays, probably the whole developement team at roland are VA specialists ..

    its easy to say, just build an elektron machinedrum with analog 808 soundsources, but all the samll companies started out with a bunch of enthusiasts that wanted to evolve analogue design and or melt it with uptodate electronics.

    roland tries and fails at VA for the last 20 years, so how big is the chance that they have specialists for analogue circuits inhouse?

  53. People sound like idiots what they say ‘if its not Analog i’m not interested’ – surely you mean ‘if it doesn’t sound exactly like Analog i’m not interested’ ? At some point as everything goes 96K and DSP/modelling tech improves, no one will be able to tell the difference in a blind test (and I suspect 99.9% of people couldn’t now with say Diva and a good D/A).

  54. the point is that VA is always an interpretation of whats going on and whats important to he developerteam

    as someone already meantioned the 808 had a crosstalk problem in the hihats, so, are the developers like “wow thats important” and try to implement that, or are they more like “oh god lets hope no one figured that out on the original, his time we do better” and avoid crosstalking ?

    and that list goes on and on, because as you probably know, with analogue circuits there are endless factors, not only roometmperature or parts temperature, or tolerances of the parts. and the goal of VA is to simulate that in a digital enviroment.

    you cant simulate endless possibilities in a digital enviroment, because someone has to make a list first and decide whats important, and THATS the point where all the VA criticism comes from, whether you see it like that or not.

    if you have enough insight from the technical point you would not have to really discuss that as its an official fact already ^^

    1. In fairness, analog has many undesirable characteristics like temperature-related tuning drift and the need to recalibrate circuits as they age. To say that digital designs have to model these flaws is silly — like saying that acrylic paint should be reformulated to match the look and feel of oils.

      Heck, the CEM chips used in classic gear don’t sound like today’s analog circuits (Dave Smith instruments excepted), yet nobody is complaining that modern analog synths are “wrong” simply because they don’t sound like the Matrix 6 or Six Trak.

  55. Who cares? Roland dropped, nay… abandoned the ball many years ago. The Analog/Digital debate is moot because their overall focus to create innovative hardware of any lasting quality has been lackluster at best. Roland chose to sit on the top of the mountain and take few risks. They did make a great many machines and boxes that I still love to hear, but they are too far behind the real movers and shakers now.

    1. DAT machines are still a great source of high quality A/D on the cheap. And I recommend digging that old cassette deck (or four track!) out of the closet and passing a couple drum loops though it and back into a sampler/DAW. Maybe these won’t become your go-to recording solution, but they are both useful tools in the studio. Certainly a DAT, while it has certain inconveniences, will out-perform a dollar-for-dollar equivalent recorder all day long.

      There’s an analogy here.

  58. C’mon roland let the acid 303 sound die! It’s done.its really so awful to hear that stupid sound.. I cringe when I hear it.. Eff u 303.

  62. I was initially very excited about the AIRA series upcoming release. This particular video however has just rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, it looks like these instruments will have a lot of hands-on control which is always a big plus but from the sounds of this video they have nothing new to offer sonically speaking. No, I am not talking about analog/digital, I own and use plenty of both – what I mean is that what I hear in this video is a plethora of over-used sounds. I was personally hoping for something that sounded a little more innovative but I was not hearing it – a real let-down. To me its starting to look like the AIRA series is really aimed at mainstream producers. I think I will be spending my money elsewhere.

  63. hello , don’t know if those infos are out already : there will be a TR-08 , a TB-3 , a VT-3 and a keyboard called SYSTEM 1 . the TR-08 should be priced auround 300 euros .

  64. I don’t know whether it’s just me or if everyone else encountering
    problems with your site. It appears as though some of the text
    on your posts are running off the screen. Can someone else please comment and let me know if this is happening
    to them as well? This might be a issue with my browser because I’ve had this happen before.
    Thank you

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