Sound Force Intros Custom Controller For TAL-BassLine-101

soundforce-sfc-101

Sound Force Controllers has introduced the SFC-101 MIDI Controller – a dedicated MIDI controller designed for the TAL-BassLine-101 plugin, a model of the Roland SH-101.

The SFC-101 is designed to offer you a complete hardware experience within in your software environment.

Here’s the official video demo:

Here’s a demo of using the step sequencer:

The SFC-101 MIDI Controller is available via for preorder, via the Sound Force Controllers site, for 249 Euro.

35 thoughts on “Sound Force Intros Custom Controller For TAL-BassLine-101”

  2. I think stuff like this is pretty damn cool, but I sure wouldn’t buy a dedicated controller for a plugin that costs almost 5 times as much as the plugin does. On the other hand, SH-101s go for between $500 and $1000, so if you really want a cheaper physical alternative, this would certainly be the way to go.

    1. I’ll point out that when you buy a hardware synth, that’s exactly what you’re doing. The hardware costs _way_ more than it cost to develop the software that runs it.

      If instant, hands-on sound manipulation loosens your creative juices, then I guess that’s the place to put your $$.

    2. Point is hands-on-controls. No matter what the plugin cost’s. You can’t make controller like this any cheaper. It’s as cheap it can go with that amount of controls.

      It’s for ppl who think 101 emulations are enough. You can use also with Roland SH-101 plugin 😉

      I like the idea of dedicated controller. I want one for all my MiniMoog clones.

      1. As someone who makes Arduino based midi controllers for fun, you can absolutely make something like this cheaper than 250.

  3. imho, pretty strange.. a $200+ dedicated controller for a 1-osc VA plugin

    im definitely not the market for this, but if this is what you are looking for – then, there ya go i guess

    1. exactly… concept behind the idea is great but i’d really like for one of these dedicated plugin controllers to be for something that has actual practical value…

      but then again i heard some song on the radio the other day and it was quite literally a saw wave, a hi hat, and a singer. times have changed i guess.

      1. Can the plugin run on a microcomputer like the Raspberry Pi? It would be rad to install a processor inside that was running the plug. Then you’ve created a hardware VA.

        1. So much this. That would be a pretty slick system. Currently shoving a raspberry pi into a apc40 mk1 to make it a standalone drum machine

        2. Unfortunately software needs to be re-compiled for the ARM processor to be able to run on the Raspberry Pi. At the moment I just found 1 audio plugin for the Pi. I hope programmers quickly get on board. This could get really awesome.

        3. When windows 10 comes out for Raspberry you should be able to do it quite easily. But then again, you need af proper soundcard for it, so maybe your better of just buying a SH-101. I mean it will cost you around 528,31 USD for all those things needed to create it, and your not even sure you can fit those things in it, and then you probably end up with a breakout system.

      1. You can just see the aliasing in the Electribes spectrograph if you know what to look for, where the BS II has those sweet harmonic ridges. The Electribe is running at 48khz so it’s going to have a bit of garbage going on in the high frequencies when you get up there.

        As a note, make sure your running TAL-101 at a higher sample rate. I’ve used it as a bit when I’m out with my laptop as I enjoy the sound of it, but it definitely aliases (I’ve tested with a spectrograph and seen/heard it. 88.2 or 96khz makes it sound a lot better.

        Therein lies the big problem with digital generation of sound (not playback, internal generation) at low sample rates. That aliasing is just ugly.

        1. I don’t mind a little bit of aliasing near the top range in a VA or plugin – what I don’t like is the electribe 2’s steep volume drop in the resonance. The higher up the filter goes, the quieter the filter gets. Feels unnecessary, ruins the tone, sound tame.

          That’s usually the case in the last octave of many digital filters, but the e2 sheds serious decibels every early. You just can’t get squeaky acid tones out of it.

  7. or just get a 2nd hand Roland System 1 for 400eur. I really don’t see any interest for this controller at this price.

    3. That was my thought too. Of course there are some pros to having a user interface that is more similar to the SH-101, but if you can live with the knobby, but somewhat different user interface of the System-1, that’s a much better solution IMO.

      And you’ll probably end up using the SH-2 plugout most of all 😉

  9. The TAL-101 is insanely close to the real SH101. Bass Station 2 is not all that close – and it’s not really trying to either. The demo conveniently uses sounds where the BS2 kind off sound SH101’ish – but I still think its pretty far off in a lot of cases. Great sounding synth still, but if you want the SH101 sound, without getting a real SH101, the Tal 101 is by far a better choice. I’ve had an SH101 for 12 year and when it dies I wont have any issues with replacing it with the Tal.

      1. Not ‘better’ (what does that even mean?) but it’s better at sounding like an SH-101 for sure. It was made specifically for that, so that shouldn’t be surprising unless someone is stuck in the silly digital<analog mindset.

  12. I’ve often thought dedicated controllers were a great idea. It’s not a replacement for the original hardware, but nothing ever will be. I quite fancy the Korg MS20 controller too. The price is fine for a one-man operation doing everything himself. I couldn’t make them for twice that price! Like the look of his Uno 60 controller too. Wonder if he would fancy making controllers for D16’s Phoscyon and Nepheton…

  13. Give me something for the Monark!!!!!!!….minions!!!!!…no seriously…is there any cool dedicated controller for the Monark?

  14. As an owner of the MS-20 Legacy controller, I’m not about to argue against the idea of creating dedicated physical interfaces for virtual plug-ins.

    I will note that the MS-20 controller offered a lot more controls (including patch cables!) compared to this one, for the same price (once you subtract the software cost from the total cost of the original Legacy Collection). But that was made by Korg, not a small handmade operation, so the difference is understandable.

    The real value for this, as with the Korg controller, will come in the fact that you can MIDI map it to any other plugin and get a very intuitive synth-like interface instead of a row of generic unlabeled faders/encoders. My only question is why didn’t they add some toggles for different sections (e.g. VCO1, 2, 3, 4) to make it more versatile for editing synths that have more features than the 101?

  15. To be completely honest, and I say this as a hardware fan who likes to work relatively quickly, there should be more like this. I kind of forsee there being a few different tiers for this sort of thing:

    – ‘Performance’ controllers w/ major functions and vinyl overlays for different plugs
    – Dedicated controllers like the one above
    – Dedicated controllers w/ embedded PCs or some sort of VST hosting a-la plugout

  16. Further to which can you still get the Prophet 5 controller? Are there similar for a channel strip, PPG Wave style synth? I’d be equally happy w/ all these as long as the plug was maintained or freely available.

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