It sounds excellent, in the way the 404 MkII and Aira compacts do- kinda hi-fi and polished with the ability to dirty it up in many ways.
(I still dislike it and it’s still in the box waiting for a new owner).
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For some reason (price?) I imagined it wouldn’t sound as hi-fi as the mkII. But if that’s the case I’ll probably like scuffing up the audio a bit.
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The reverbs are kind of hi-fi sounding on this line (going by my S-1). For lofi stuff it might be better to kill the master reverb at the end and go with a different reverb when recording the final track. Just speculating of course.
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Haven’t heard any of the aira compacts before but I will soon!
Having the different reverbs in the MFX plus the send is pretty cool. And being able to save the MFX settings will be great for keeping my go-to reverb and such at the ready.
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Finally videos starting to appear in the wild. Sound is very modern/polished here but sounds good!
And here’s some boom bap with a more lofi aesthetic. Sounds very old school SP. Really, really good! The samples have a nice “ring” to them. 
The sideways format looks really comfortable as well. Like holding a game controller. Better ergonomics than the old SP maybe.
Raising my expectations. Glad I got my order in because I bet these things are gonna sellout once the videos start hitting.
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i was thinking about granular on small powerful samplers with a lot of combo-shortcuts and i had a thought
Nunomo Qun mk2 or the P-6? leaning toward P-6 for step seq, which i can more easily wrap my head around although i like the idea of just recording as loops or clips as well
I guess P-6 is the obvious choice. Qun is cool, and they are kind of similar feature-wise, but ultimately decided on the roland
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this is using one of the stock granular samples- it’s pretty good but the demo patterns that use it are even better IMO
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That video shows the kind of thing I intuitively thought the P-6 would be very good at. I understand better now the “Creative” tag (as in it’s a sample manipulator, essentially), the limited memory and the inclusion of granular. It is less intended to be used to build songs in the traditional sense, I think. Much more of a Matmos/Oval/Microstoria/… vibe.
They still need to improve the project saving etc. but for the price it looks like a dream for the soundscapes aficionados.
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I was interested in Qun as well. I would’t mind some obscure combo shortcuts, but what drawed me back is the lack of case (it is open on sides, just the PCBs screwed together) and the fact it doesn’t have internal battery. So not really backpack device. Otherwise it seems really cool…
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it takes a lithium flat battery as has battery management on board. Just plug it in.
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They won’t
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The rudimentary screen will be likely an annoyance to me and tracing the bank/pad source for a sound sample found on a step will be more than just memory work.
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I wonder if this will be the last Aira Compact, or if there there will be more to come? What iconic Roland gear is left to volcafy?
A digital synth?
A rompler?
A looper?
Another drum machine?
A digital mixer?
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roland mx-1 mini?
USB C in for multiple AIRA devices for audio and clock
one can dream heh
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I’ve been holding back, but, FM next?
Ooh imagine a tiny battery powered FM drum machine. But I guess there’s the TR-6S…
Or could they interpret FM sound design in this little format in any way easier than it is on a Volca FM already for example?
I’m hoping for a JP8000 in either boutique (preferably) or compact format
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I would love Aira Compact versions of:
Separate TB-303 emu in the form of J-6 with 2x303 parts.
JP-8080
JV2080
MC line (303/505/909 or modern 101/707)
MX-1 for Aira Compact
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Oh that would be real neat.
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Dual 303s would work well in this form factor and be super cool. But I don’t think it would get green-lit since it’s too good a value-proposition for 200 bucks…
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How does legato sound on the P-6? I know there is no glide, but would love to hear how well this can be used for legato synth lines