For the first time ever, I can truthfully say I’ve used this device a couple of times in the last week, pre-release! I don’t have much to say about it really, other than it does a lot for the money. The pads feel nice. There are some cool ideas like being able to record multiple one-shots through the microphone and lay them out on the step keys of a specific pad. This requires quite a bit of shortcut-fu though with pressing and holding buttons until arcane blinking light patterns inform you of your progress.
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This $200 sampler from Roland can actually do a lot of things Elektron’s $1000 Digitakt 2 can’t 
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I suspect the list of things the DT2 can do that the P6 can’t is probably 100 times as long.
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Looks awesome 
I can see this one as a great “first sampler” for my kids, definitely not a toy!
Two things that I see missing that could have been great:
- Sample banks per pattern: 48 samples per pattern would have been huge, but then it would probably make the bigger brother less appealing
- No timestretch: there’s a pitch shifter, so technically it’s possible to achieve time stretching by combining the pitch + pitch shifter, but it would have been more direct to have timestretching directly
No parameter slides though…
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If the behavior is the same as S-1, then it’s still better than Elektron: while recording in real time the parameters changes, it’s not “stepped” to each trig but remains smooth
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I think this is too weak at this price compared to the Novation Circuit Rhythm. But maybe I’m not the target audience for this product.
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It reminds me of the first Korg Electribe ES-1 (that I still have somewhere in the attic) with this screen. It was a pain to cut the Samples.
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It just drives me so mental that Roland keep churning out almost great devices but then just don’t ever bother to update them. The other Aira’s are nearly great but then each has it’s own weird design choices and quirks that make them far less fun. Oh the J6 is great but you can’t access anything via cc, the S1 is very nearly perfect but then why would you make a 101 that doesn’t have the option to sequence it in the 101 way? etc.
And lets not even talk about the SH4D or countless other boxes they’ve put out and never issued a single update for.
I’m glad I’m so smitten with my Akai MPC Live 2 which is battery powered and has endless sample and fx slots. It’s nice not to have immediate gas for something for once I guess.
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Kinda like the idea of P-6 / S-1 / T-8.
Maybe even P-6 A (samples) / P-6 B (drums, drumloops) / S-1.
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Can’t find a manual yet but I didn’t realize that about midi cc control on the other boxes, a slight bummer but this is still great value for the price. Heck even to use as an effects box it seems worth the price of entry. I’ve always thought Roland should release a small effects box with the SP effects.
*edit: manual is up now, checking it out.
Yeah, but that’s totally expected for a unit that costs 5x as much.
Polyphony on the P6. Will the Digitakt II follow?
Looks like just midi cc control over the granular parameters and a few controls for reverb/delay settings. Strange.
Hey, Dream On…
The Polyend Tracker also had support for polyphonic sample play, even if each track was monophonic… it didn’t move Elektron one bit…
yeah, something is off:
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Personally, I prefer to pay 5x the price and get Support, bug fixes and FW updates.
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I just want the DT2 to have polyphonic sample playback and smooth parameter slides. This stuff seems basic to me. A granular engine wouldn’t hurt either.
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That moment in time when Korg were on to something great.
Than a president with tiny hands came along demanding gear should be much smaller.
The last part isn’t true but someone mentioned it somewhere so maybe it is?
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Even my 8 years old son know that. It’s written all over the place. 
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Silly to compare DT2 and this. Different uses really.
P6: Portable, battery powered, built-in mic. Take it places.
DT2: Does a lot more (and a bit less) but not gonna be using it record samples out and about.
Plus, been burned by Roland’s hot mess of a UI a few times now…
I do want this to be good though!