Namm 2016 Roland A-01 8-Bit Synthesizer & MIDI Controller

[NoiseLab]

8-Bit and Roland that’s something different for now:

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2016/01/20/roland-intros-a-01-midi-controller-8-bit-synthesizer/

[chm_jacques]

This thing is so weird I’m having trouble wrapping my head around it. Not unuseful, or uninteresting, but just sort of like… they threw darts at a board of stuff that they could cram into some kind of box. “CV controller? Yeah, but what if it had MIDI over Bluetooth, too!” “Well, if we’re going to do that, it may as well have an 8 bit synth engine.” Like, the meeting where this was brainstormed is just full of nonsequiturs.

Again, I don’t mean this negatively. It just tickles me; it’s just a very odd combination of features.

[N3V3RM1ND]

Not sure what this thing is either. Korg has laid down the gauntlet, will Roland respond? Or admit defeat.

[GovernorSilver]

Roland’s best response to the Korg analog attack, so far, has been the analog Eurorack modules, made for them by Malekko (has both Roland and Malekko logos on them.

[JuanSOLO]

@""GovernorSilver""

Roland’s best response to the Korg analog attack, so far, has been the analog Eurorack modules, made for them by Malekko (has both Roland and Malekko logos on them.

Exactly, and they are incredible!

[CallOffTheVote]

@""JuanSOLO""

[quote=“GovernorSilver”]Roland’s best response to the Korg analog attack, so far, has been the analog Eurorack modules, made for them by Malekko (has both Roland and Malekko logos on them.

Exactly, and they are incredible![/quote]
Yeah they look/sound nice (albeit mostly predictable…) from what I’ve seen. Korg will hopefully remember there’s still a market out there for innovative analog gear over the £400 mark… Be interesting to see them go all out on something.

[pselodux]

@""chm_jacques""

This thing is so weird I’m having trouble wrapping my head around it. Not unuseful, or uninteresting, but just sort of like… they threw darts at a board of stuff that they could cram into some kind of box. “CV controller? Yeah, but what if it had MIDI over Bluetooth, too!” “Well, if we’re going to do that, it may as well have an 8 bit synth engine.” Like, the meeting where this was brainstormed is just full of nonsequiturs.

Again, I don’t mean this negatively. It just tickles me; it’s just a very odd combination of features.

I think the weird feature set is very attractive, and I’ll probably end up buying one, even if only because it’s an 8-bit synth engine and my music is fairly chippy.
This is the kind of weird innovation I was hoping for, actually. Throwback analog/VA synths are all well and good, but I want to see some ridiculous new digital stuff!