This video, via Ask.Audio, is a quick review and demo of the new Roland SE-02 analog synthesizer.
The Roland Boutique SE-02 is a new analog synthesizer, designed in collaboration with Studio Electronics, creators of the MidiMini, SE-1, ATC-1, Omega 8, Boomstar, and Tonestar synthesizers.
The SE-02 is the first product of a planned Roland Boutique Designer Series. The SE-02 uses discrete analog circuitry to create a synthesizer that combines ‘vintage sound’ with vast programming options.
Pricing and Availability
The Roland SE-02 analog synthesizers is ‘coming soon’, but some retailers already have it available to pre-order, with a street price of US $499.99. See the Roland site for more info.
Does anyone knows if the smaller the product the better profitability you can get from it?. It sounds pretty good, however It is hard to understand this trend of getting everything in a micro size.
Less material costs, shipping costs (less container space), storage costs lead to higher margins.
This micro size tendency was announced by Kraftwerk a while back:
‘I’m the operator with my pocket calculator’.
Yep, a lot of oil/expensive metal based components coupled with hugely increased global shipping costs means the smaller the product can be, the larger the profit margin.
I saw super heavy Made in China metal & plastic stuff at the hardware store for less than $20. So building & shipping heavy stuff isn’t affecting the price much.
Hardware store chains ship items from China to North America by sea. It’s a process that typically takes 3-6 weeks (more during the busy season) and requires you to ship full containers of product. Once chain stores get the product to North America, it is shipped across country by truck.
Synth manufacturers simply cannot afford the delays required to take advantage of ocean freight (you can’t delay a new model by two months just so it can enjoy a leisurely ocean cruise), nor are synthesizers made in large enough volume that you can ship thousands of them affordably in containers.
So synth companies are forced to ship using air courier. And once the products get to North America, the cost of shipping (again, usually by air) varies significantly by weight and size.
This is because it is not for a professional musician, which they would sell only hundreds. If you appeal to a bedroom DJ or bedroom hobbyist you sell thousands.
Wave Strike, your snobbery is showing. There’s no reason why a good synth can’t be small, accessible and *gasp* affordable.
What a device can offer it’s user is more important than whether or not it’s deemed “professional”.
Plus- to be “professional” is defined by the user, so it’s inherently a subjective term. In my mind the SE-02 is a very professional product because it was made by professionals & it’s well designed (the size doesn’t matter, the workflow & sound does).
Wave Strike: You might be confusing durability in live situations with the professional sound, connectivity and flexibility of the SE-02. The boutique synths I’ve tried seem a tad delicate for touring or roughshod setups, but they also can be used easily in a professional recording environment. In fact, bringing an SE-02 into a studio makes a lot of sense because of its small footprint and real analog architecture that can only be emulated by a plugin.
It’s down to the ingenuity and taste of the musician. Personally, I’ve brought toys into the studio if they sounded cool and unique, and the SE-02 is only toylike in size. Even its size is a matter of convenience and (I would guess) a nod to the popularity of *professional* modular synths.
It’s quite simple: hardware costs money. adding a keyboard would make the $499 price point impossible. making it larger with “normal” sized knobs and switches means more metal, more expensive parts, more initial cost to manufacture increases the retail cost. but as others on this thread have said, Roland and Korg with their small design intentions are not just saving cost, they are designing these products for a customer they believe is mobile (not homeless as one person said) and is not interested in large, more traditional keyboards. it’s both a cost savings and intentional marketing decision
I live in new york city, my mortgage is 4.1k a month and I live in 850sqft with pets, Wife and kid. I like my gear mobile. I love that fact that it’s this small., my wife complains waaaay less when the gear is small. I just purchased a Korg MS-20 mini and my wife flipped. tiny gear = happy wife = happy life.
Roland will release Boutique MK2 series next year, this will be the same Boutique series but in 1:1 size.
So you can either buy this mini size now or wait for the 1:1 size next year.
I hope you’re right on the 1:1 version…even a Eurorack compatible version (with front panel connectors) would be great. As it stands, the small & wobbly knobs are a deal breaker….I shall wait.
Ya, its a trend. I guess technology just shrunk or something. They always say “easy to travel, easy to pop in your bag” like every musician is homeless or something. I bought the Roland JU-06 Boutique and returned it, just too small with too much going on. But I would think if these were full blown synths, they would cost a ton more even though the keyboard for Boutique products is like 200 bucks right? 200 bucks for keys!
is it unrealistic or absurd to think that technology gets smaller with the passing of time? the computer, cellular phone and television got smaller over the past decades…AND better. why or how would that not apply to a synth? Sounds like you were not willing to apply yourself to learning the JU-06. I get what youre saying about the keys though…the mini keyboard units they are selling are overpriced garbage. I’m getting better sounds out of this than my friend and I can get out of a Moog Model D (my opinion).
Do keep in mind that miniaturization is a key thing in virtually every product over time. It’s not unusual at all. You don’t often see it in synthesizers because the human hand doesn’t shrink, and as a result the keys will dictate a minimum size for any playable instrument. But that doesn’t mean the “guts” of the machine couldn’t be a fraction the size of the box they are mounted in.
Does it come with a magnifying glass, or is that sold separately?
this adds original commentary to the discussion, so I applaud your well thought and snidely put sarcastic observation. Gold Star!
Guess there Will be an iPad editor soon.
Sadly, No … the magnifying glass is sold separately but be aware that it’s a SMALL magnifying glass 😉
On another note, I’m not fussed if it’s analogue, digital or has a small man inside singing out the notes…. as long as it sounds good and it’s easy to use (esp live), then why not? … people want to listen to your music, not read your equipment list.
It sounds really nice even judging via that youtube audio. I like it, but will probably wait until you can find them second hand.
Those us with limited home space and a ‘small footprint’ requirement for club performances truly appreciate the size of the Boutique series as well as other recent diminutive offerings from other synth manufacturers.
Agree, not all of us live in a place that we can have walls of space just to dedicate to synths
Hi Guyver
Sounds good, but those tiny little knobs look very wobbly, like they’ll easily snap off after some time.
I want this now. but i want everything noooooooowwwwww
I absolutely dislike theses tiny switches that can hardly be seen (and will make your fingernails brake or the panel writing wiped of eventually). If they just would have done this better…..
Completeley agree. They are usually for stuff you set and forget. I imagine flipping them would be a two hand operation too because of how small the entire synth is (holding it with the other hand). Just stupidly small.
I often travel for work with plane, this kind of size and modularity is perfect to have an entire mobile studio in a case. Well done Roland/SE!
The world is already plenty of big sized synths, having different choices is awesome.
Sorry, to oversimplify or not, I’m not payin £500 for something that size.
I have a drawer in my desk for each of my boutique synths when I’m not using them. The small size is quite convenient, and I’m a former owner of a full-size Jupiter 8.
SE 02 looks cool and so might this blurry blue thing, of course I don’t know if it’s analog but I guess yes because Roland hinted about working more with Studio Electronics… no I’m not sure but just guessing for fun
As someone who saved up a long time to buy one, I don’t think you can get “Moog Bass” from anything but a Moog.
That said, this sounds awesome and the price is right. Anyone with a proper studio setup (ie a master controller) should be at least considering adding this to their collection.
As a neanderthal with an improper studio setup, I’m waiting in favor of the Medusa, sound unheard, based on Dreadbox’s rep alone.
Can 1/8 inch jack push equal audio quality to 1/4 inch? Nevermind the tiny knobs, something about those 1/8 inch jacks pushes it into “toy” territory for me.
“I don’t think you can get “Moog Bass” from anything but a Moog. ”
There circuits are not weaved by fairys. The Minimoog used quite simply transistors and capacitors, and the schematics are well known.
“Can 1/8 inch jack push equal audio quality to 1/4 inch?”
The contact plate inside is mechanically a little smaller. But you wont hear that. Just use good cables with gold plated jacks.
You can talk semantics all day. I have EARS and nothing I’ve ever heard has matched the character of bass on a Moog.
On a Moog what? I had two original Minimoog D’s from 1978 to 1988, and dialing in the same patch on each sitting side by side produced slightly different timbres.
ive had a few SE synths that do moog bass fine. i have moogs also. there all different but SE knows what up in my experience.
Exactly!! Everybody thinks there’s a magic Moog bass sound. My Mini is a mid era (1976) serial number but I can’t get it to sound as liquid as the 1971 issues. My Sub 37? Forget trying to match it for bass. Anyway, I’m glad if the Mini is immortalised… keep pushing those prices up.
Plus the mixer and amps I ran em through changed the sound noticably as well .. from Peavy to Tapco to Yamaha my Minimoogs sounded different in each not to mention speakers and rooms, lotta variables going on. I only have a Minimoog Voyager these days, but am looking forward to getting the Behringer D I pre-ordered .. worse case scenario it will make a great conversation piece in the studio .. but being so pleased with my Deepmind I have hopes for the little Minimoog clone. The Roland didn’t hsve wood end pieces so it was out 😀
These small keyboards are know to have have awful latency. Death to 303 and acid house. Let it die people. Move on. How many Jimi Hendrix guitar licks can you listen to in a day?
The SE02 is an expander. Keyboard is sold seperate. It has a direct connection, so latency will be very small. If used with a MIDI-keyboard, MIDI-latency is around 4ms. When used with USB, maybe even lower. You can’t hear that – it’s like you increase the distance to your speakers by 1.3 meter .
i can listen to jimi hendrix all day
All of them, and that would be a good day.
Just don’t listen to acid or Hendrix all day and move on with your life. What does the crappy keyboard have to do with acid anyway??
The seperate Keyboard is not a Keyboard it’s a toy. The knobs are for puppets. . My studio has also little space but that’s not a reason to buy this tiny crap. The sound is great though.
Best demo yet Mr Ask.
I bet if you used it as a synth module and played with it from a capable midi controller it would be pretty cool.
Sounds great. Wish the mini keyboard offered some sort of pitch/mod wheel option. A Minimoog with no pitch bend? Not.
Sounds nice to me. To my ears it sounds a bit like my Bass Station 2, with it’s bouncy sound, but i think sounds a bit better. The feedback sounds more useful than the distortion on the BS2, and it’s got Filter FM like BS2 and more. The BS2 has some shared controls, and this is a smaller form factor. Doesn’t mean they aren’t damn fine synths