Roland Cloud thoughts...?

The Lounge Other Gear
#21

Not only is that a lot of money to pay for an 808 plugin, but don’t forget that once you own it you’re still going to be reliant on Roland Cloud for authorisation and all the fun potential issues that may arise from that - at the absolute minimum, it means keeping some unnecessary software installed just to use a plugin you own.

Alternatively, you could grab some 808 samples or something like Nepheton, or even Wave Alchemy’s Revolution (both of which frequently go on sale, the latter of which I would recommend in a heartbeat as a general go-to for classic drum machines in software form) - unless I’m misinterpreting, you’re replacing the drums anyway and seeing as you’re OK with an emulated compromise already… does it really matter if the sound isn’t super-duper authentic?

Tldr: I wouldn’t bother with the faff and price of Roland Cloud, I’d look at an alternative.

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#22

it’s really the D50, JV2080 kinda things that attract me to the Roland Cloud (oh, and Zenology Pro for easily making patches for my MC101)

Anyone have thoughts on alternate ROMpler sorta plugins that might scratch that itch?

#24

UVI’S Digital Synsations has a bunch of D50 sounds as far as I’m aware - I got it during a giveaway several years ago but never explored it much. I grabbed Synth Anthology 2 on the cheap earlier in the year and that’s been fun (and useful!) to dip into, so DS may possibly scratch that itch.

#25

You can start the Trial over and over again…just with a new garbage-email address…that means 12 trash-email accounts for a one-year subscription. :innocent: :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

But yeah the authorisation via web is sh***zz…once i had a plug used at a gig in a basement without network, and then the plug stopped …that was not so funny.

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#26

I got a free years sub with my mc101 and also got the d50 and 808 vsts free for life.

Had actually forgot about them as my sub expired when I was rarely on my computer and had never tried them. Loaded them up today and so far sound good to me

Had to register them which only took a minute to log in

#27

Oof yeah, I wasn’t sure if perpetual licenses would require the same always-online authorisation as a Cloud subscription but if they do… Yeah, that’d be a hard pass from me.

#28

…there’s a roland cloud now ?..based on a subscription model !?
where they reinvent all their reinventions as software copies of all their hardware copies for U to RENT now !!!???

well, if that’s not progress, what is…

uuuuuuuuaaaaaaaarrrggghhhhhhhh…

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#29

oh that looks nice! thanks for the tip!

#30

Had the free 1 year subscription, just to use Zenology pro in order to make patches for 101/707, Zenology pro is pretty ugly and not fun to use, so no way would I pay a subscription.

SAAS sucks anyway, I think it is an unpopular model, destined to end up like google stadia.

#31

…only subscription model that’s fair…once a year payment…u can skip and join whenever u want again…and what u got is what u got, what u paid for so far is what u own so far…now…and tomorrow…

subscription is the only way for software developers to achieve reasonable profits on some frequent bases instead of only peak times…it’s the way to make sure u can really develop further more the product ur selling…but u need a fair and clear paymodel for that…and “renting” software is a no go for any private users, no matter how pro…
bitwig has this sorted in a good way, for example…

#32

It’s been available for many years.

#33

Korg Wavestation plug-in is available too.

#34

The software is the worst. The UI of the plugins is really rough. I don’t enjoy using either.

But honestly it’s a pretty good deal for me. I’m mostly dawless, so haven’t collected a bunch of plugins over the years. Roland Cloud is a one-stop-shop that gives me any analog, digital, or ROMpler sound of the last four decades in my DAW. That’s not nothing.

In addition, their sample packs for the 404 and ZEN-Core patches are pretty tight. So that’s a subscription to splice I don’t need and a bunch of sound packs I don’t need to buy.

And I’ve got PLUG-Out hardware, too, so cloud gives access to a lot of models I would never have invested in were I purchasing them solo. Ditto re: ZEN-Core model emulations.

And it encourages me to experiment. Is there any world in which I would normally buy a bunch of “Stargazer Trap” samples? Heck no, not my thing. But since it’s free, it’s like, “why not try it?” and there’s some wonderfully creative stuff in there to get me out of a rut. If it doesn’t work out or I don’t need it beyond a song, I never think about it again. If it does, it’s there.

So I get it. I hate making music whenever I have to open the app or figure out whether the plug-in’s built-in sequencer is playing or the DAW’s MIDI or whatever. That’s a problem. Hating making music is the opposite of what we’re going for, here.

But total up the dollars, cents, and frustration, vs what you get, and I at least still come out ahead.

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#35

I’m always looking for a deal. When they came out with the Play For Life subscription I spent $182 for a year of Ultimate and got two instruments to call mine. I chose Jupiter 8 and JD 800 but I am allowed to change my mind right up until the year subscription runs out. The more Roland hardware you own, the better the deal is. I own quite a bit of Roland hardware that is enhanced by the cloud so it was a no brainer for me. I’m happy enough that I will subscribe again.

Complaints? My big complaint is the hoops I have to jump through to load sounds onto the 707.

Bonuses? Plug the USB Cloud Connect device into your keyboard and it is really easy to manage patches and sound engines.

For me, Roland hardware is a perfect match for my Electron devices. The Electron’s are the up front attention grabbing lines while Roland devices handle polyphonic parts and ROMpler sounds. The cloud make a good pair even better.

#36

I think it’s just a slave model. If you have to remain tethered to the net to use your ‘owned’ plugin/VST then you really aren’t free to use it entirely as you like. Sure, generally your connected to the net, but to have to have that level of security on a product is just a hassle that is too much for me to bother with.

I had the System 1 hardware synth, I love the ACB engine, it’s sound is great, however I couldn’t mesh with the hyper sensitive, small filter knob. There was no stepping in the filter, but the knob it self really should have been bigger and better calibrated, b/c I would have jerky responses at times doing sweeps that happen too often to ignore.

If they wouldn’t have made the software tethered requiring you to connect every 30days to keep it from locking up I would have bought the Sys8 VST. They should just charge more for the software and get off the concern of piracy, most people pirating are teens and people that aren’t going to produce something and make a buck from it unless they’re reselling it.

I think people in the creative industry should cut all support to Adobe, Roland, & other companies pulling this model.

I use the Korg Monopoly VST instead, it wasn’t much and I never need to be concerned about my internet connection to use it.

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#37

Jupiter 8 got an update

Juno 106 got an update too

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#38

Yeah - so I saw!

Haven’t got either of those instruments though. I ended up with lifetime keys for 303, 101, 808 and 909.

Most of the x0xes! :slight_smile:

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#39
#40

Does anyone know specifically how working offline works (if it does)?

If I want to use the Roland Cloud plugins live, will I need an Internet connection? How long will the plugins survive offline?

Finding it difficult to get explicit info on this.

I know this page says 30 days, but it’s still a bit worrying!

https://support.roland.com/hc/en-us/articles/4412163293083-Roland-Cloud-Does-a-Lifetime-Key-still-need-to-authorize-

…and this says once a week.

#41

I’d go with the more recent article from the company’s own support page — with the caveat that they are talking about plugins that you’ve purchased a lifetime key for. The ones you use as part of a subscription may have different rules.

Moreover, they could (and have) update this at any time to be less (or more!) restrictive. So it’s hard to take anything as guaranteed… except that the writing is pretty clearly on the wall WRT Roland Cloud. To use the Roland plugins you are expected to have an internet connection and Roland Cloud. If that doesn’t work for your setup, or is too much of a hassle for the value you get out of the plugins, the only winning move is not to play.

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