This new video, via Woody Piano Shack, offers a comparison between the original Roland D-50 hardware synth and the company’s new Roland Cloud version.
Video Summary:
Roland Cloud have recently released a software emulation of their Roland D50 linear synthesizer from 1987 as part of their Legendary Series.
In this video review, we put the Roland D50 VST virtual instrument software plugin up against my original D50 hardware in an audio shootout. This is a proper emulation of the D50 using Roland’s DCB technology, not the Anthology Series sample library that we previously demonstrated.
We’ll demo and compare the classic preset sounds and patches, such as Fantasia, Future Pad, Soundtrack, Digital Native Dance and more!
The Roland Cloud makes all Roland VSTs dead to me.
Can you load this into the system 8 as a plug out?
No.
If this supported sysex like VirtualCZ does for CZ patches, then it would be a winner.
Waiting – forever – for the System 12 with ACB and DCB. and aftertouch and full sysex MIDI implementation for every emulation. But for sure some day something all in one for ACB/DCB will be there.. Just like the JV, XV, Integra PCM/SN evolution path. It may take 5 to 10 years.
Frustrated – while I would love to have this plugin, it’s a NO! I do NOT want a subscription based library…. It is NOT convenient/ nor cost effective…
after 12 months of subs (first 3 are free btw) you can choose and keep forever 1 plugin from roland could….
Sounds fair, but I will NEVER subscribe to use a synth….I want to pay for it and own it!
see above ^ you can own a plugin.
No calliope?
If I buy a software, I don’t want to pay a monthly fee, but I want to own that software forever. The monthly amount required by Roland is very high, with the same annual price I can buy a used hardware D50 and in good condition.
Woooaaaauw.
Have been waiting for this one!
First of all thanks to the piano shack man, for taking this comparison as seriously as he did!
Next a great plus for Roland. They did a better job here than I dared to imagine. The D50 has been my main synth since 1990 and still is. The sounds of the VST come really, really close. On the Arco strings they even managed to get the weird overtone ring (which I always filter out as much as possible in my mod of that preset). Cool!
There are, at least to me, some tiny audible differences in a few of the patches, most noticeable in Intruder FX, but in a mix they will be insignificant if audible at all.
Impressive, and a big thank you to the Piano Shack. 🙂
Thanks Roland, sounds terrific but I won’t be renting because:
1. I expect to learn and use an instrument over a long period of time. Subscription means I will be constantly assessing whether I should continue paying for access, a big disincentive to perservere with your software.
SOLUTION: Let us buy individual instruments for a one-off payment
2. Although I think your softsynths are superb, I have many others that I’m happy with. I simply don’t need access to your entire suite. I’d like to buy this one, but I can’t.
SOLUTION: Let us buy individual instruments for a one-off payment
3. I expect to be able to open up old music projects from years ago using VMs of my old computers (or old Macs kept in the loft!) to ensure compatibility. Has worked perfectly for nearly two decades. But if I joined up and Roland Cloud ends, or if I don’t keep up my subscription I won’t be able to do this.
SOLUTION: Let us buy individual instruments for a one-off payment
But THERE IS NO WAY I am going to subscribe to buy access to a musical instrument. That’s simply not how I work, and there’s nothing here that would make me change my mind.
If you gave us the option to buy the entire suite, even at a price like $500, I’d be very tempted at this point (especially if you included an emulation of the JP8080). In fact, I’d get out my credit card immediately. But $19 a month for access to a suite that I mainly won’t use, will lock me out if I do any work with the instruments but don’t keep up my subs, that’s set to rise in price and will almost certainly change or end very soon…
Thanks Roland, sounds terrific but I won’t be renting. Shame, as I think I’m probably your exact target audience (professional musician of a certain age with cash to spend, great familiarity with these classic synths, impressed with the software’s quality, long time Roland user…)
Pretty impressive! …if only it wasn’t for that stupid cloud… :-/
I really don’t understand view that a subscription service is a bad option. I suppose if you are more into collecting plugins rather than making music it makes some kind of sense. It just doesn’t make sense from financial point of view. I “rent” the software for a period of time, make the music I want and unsubscribe when I don’t need it anymore.
The argument, that I need to be able to open up tracks years later doesn’t seem useful because software changes over time and there is no guarantee I will be able to open up sessions at some future time. It makes more sense to track everything to audio without effects and archive it for this possibility.
The future of software as in all digital media is not ownership. Why would i spend more money on software ownership when there is little guarantee it will be supported in 5+ years.
Better to rent it out, use it and move on.
The refinement has to occur in the pricing and rental structure. I do agree that you should be able to rent individual pieces but that will probably come in time.
It’s just simple rent vs. buy math.
I could buy a synth on eBay, use it for a couple years and then sell it on eBay (maybe for more than I paid in the first place).
Or I could buy a VST, and (if license transfers are allowed), use it for a couple years, resell it and get some of my money back. If they cancel support for it, I still have an unsupported but ***completely usable*** VST until technology goes beyond being able to run it reasonably. (I still have CamelAudio plugins on my PC that work fine…)
Or I could rent a plugin, pay for it every month whether I use it or not, and then if I stop paying rent, I have nothing and get nothing back. Or if the company pulls the plug I have nothing and get nothing back.
Thank you for the demo! I actually prefer the D-50 to the VST… – the VST has an almost nasal quality to it IMHO, while the D-50 has this smooth, round bottom end which really define its character. Also, I am not for the software rental model. Adobe uses it too, these days, and since I like to keep my DAW setup off the Internet – apart from the odd update – it does not seem like the way to go for me.
cloud? hahaha
Just say NO to the cloud. It’s worse than chemtrails. 😉
“as I think I’m probably your exact target audience”
Well no, as this is targeted at people who are happy to subscribe. I would have thought having written the extended missive that fact would have sunk in.
Been testing this out the last few days… I actually prefer the Juno and SH101 emulations from TAL Audio. I was kinda excited for the JV-1080… I’d probably never use it but I used to have that and an XV5080 in the studio so the nostalgia was kicking in. Apart from the fact that the plugins sound very ‘meh’, the GUI and interface is absolutely awful. Its barely visible at standard size and zoomed in there is no support for higher resolution monitors so everything is pixelated and blurred. Really inexcusable in this day and age, and this is coming from a large company like Roland? Thanks I’ll pass… if you’re looking for great analogue emulations of old gear, look elsewhere like Arturia for example. This Roland cloud is a waste of time and money.