This looks and sounds amazing!
It has a MIDI out!
Anyone confirm if it could convert guitar playing to MIDI?
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Yes, you need a special pickup for it though, which they just released as well.
Audio/MIDI Interface
With a single USB cable, you can capture GM-800 sounds as audio tracks in a DAW and “re-synth” sounds in a similar way to the re-amp technique used with standard guitar tones. A Guitar to MIDI function is also available, allowing you to play virtual instruments over USB and trigger hardware sound modules via the MIDI output.
MIDI Sound Module
The versatile GM-800 can do double duty as a compact, go-everywhere MIDI sound module. Connect a keyboard or other MIDI controller to the five-pin MIDI input to play sounds live. Or use the ZEN-Core engine as a premium USB sound source within your music production workflow.
It’s great that Boss/Roland keeps on releasing guitar synth/MIDI guitar products. GM-800 is the first in years that interests me enough to get my Parker Nitefly w/GK3 pickup fixed up. I’ll look into whether to get a conversion box for the GK3 or get the GK5.
It’ll be interesting to see how much of the ZenCore engine is accessible from Boss Tone Studio or if some parameters will be omitted - eg. Roland MC-101 has gradually been updated with more and more access to ZenCore parameters but still doesn’t give you everything.
Thanks!
I want to know latency! For on-board and MIDI.
Ah shit… this is a must-buy really, for guitar playing electronic musicians, assuming no issues etc.
I’ll wait for the first user reviews. Got some money saved for a small Mac upgrade… guess that can wait.
This is huge. Massive improvement over the SY series!
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Can anyone explain this more?
Why do this instead of using the MIDI?
Please god, let the tracking be good!
Definitely keeping my eye on this. The pickups claim they work with a six string bass too! It’d be really cool to use my primary instrument as a synth controller. Hopefully someone makes a demo of that at some point.
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I don’t know.
We’ll have to wait until somebody puts up a video showing “re-synth”.
MIDI tracking from my VG-99 to Korg M3 was decent. I’m not a shredder though. So if GM-800 MIDI tracking is at least as good as that, that would be good for me.
I’ve never measured latency on MIDI guitar because I’ve never been a shredder. I don’t have a GM-800 so I cannot measure it for you.
I’ll probably pick one up when the Roland store on Amazon randomly discounts it 8-17 months from now. I got the MC-707 and TR-6S when both got price drops on that store for no particular reason.
WOW! This looks cool! I want those horns!
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Yep, want one too!!!
EDIT: total system cost on Thomann is just under 1000€, 799€ for the GM800 (pre-orders are possible) and an additional 279€ for the Boss GK-5 Synth Pickup that is necessary to use this thing. If it is indeed as responsive (and sounds as good) as it seems from that promo video, that’s not too bad at all, especially considering that it can be used as a standalone zen-core module together with eg a midi keyboard…nuts.
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Check out the Andertons review on Youtube. Seems to track really nicely.
It’s pretty cool that it’s got a Zen Core engine in it and you can use it as a sound module.
Yeah me neither. I do occasionally sweep-pick or tap though.
I’m more concerned can it get the vibrato and bends, slides etc, exactly right?
And does it feel right?
I was saving for an Osmose… this might be a better option for me personally.
Vibrato, bends, and slides were fine when I used the Roland VG-99 MIDI out to control Korg M3.
I cannot think of a good reason to believe the GM-800 could possibly be worse in those areas. It’s not like Roland/Boss goes out of their way to make their tech worse instead of better.
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Rolands plan is coming together nicely it seems.
I remember I was all like ‘omg fuck Roland why aint they remaking their old synths?’
Clever bastards.
I’m eating my words now and throwing money at the screen 
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But does it have that classic old-school analogue MIDI tracking flavour? 
You mean like my GR-700?
Probably not.
yes, I actually did try to recreate the chirps and noises Adrian Belew made on GR-700, because it’s bad tracking could be used for to make glitchy crap on purpose - like barring your finger at the 5th fret to play harmonics and hearing demon noises and shit come out. Gayle Ellett of Djam Karet also used his GR-700 like that.
Could not do it on the VG-99 so probably can’t do it on the GM-800. Tracking tech had just advanced too much.
By the looks of this video, I can probably copy patches from my MC-707 to the GM-800 using SD card.
Good news for peeps who use MC-707 as their primary ZenCore patch editor instead of Zenology Pro.
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I was just being silly, but thats actually interesting info.
Always good to abuse technology!
Assuming zero issues with it, I’ll get this as soon as the early-adopter price comes down a bit.
Might even sell my MC101. Hopefully you can select sounds with Bank/PC on this!
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Looks cool but a word of warning (I’ve tried a a couple of polyphonic/multistring audio to midi systems): your playing has to be so stupidly accurate (like a machine with absolutely no fret buzzes and totally clean palm mutes etc) otherwise it outputs garbage very easily. Looking forward to seeing more videos from real users in the future tho! Having said that, Squarepusher seems to have no problems so maybe I’m just too shit at guitar/bass for this to be viable.
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I took a look at the docs here:
Looks like it’ll respond to MIDI PC.
Presets appear to be called Scenes. There are 150 of them. No mention of banks.
MC-101 as you know has a gajillion presets organized into instrument banks. That said, maybe that’s not enough to stop you from selling it. Or maybe it is.
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