Online manual is up—hopefully they provide a pdf later:
Edit: There is a PDF version—see @qlamerand post below…
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Something to compare to the EP-133 from TE.
This has resampling! At ship date haha
More FX, and filter per sound is all nice.
Also 16voices which I believe is more than the EP-133. In similar fashion though are they counting 16 mono voices, thus only 8 stereo, or is it 16 stereo? That’s where the TE gets tough so it’s generally better to stick to mono (imo)
The 133 might have the more powerful sequencer and be able to be a midi sequencer brain for external gear, but this certainly looks capable enough for a standalone device.
I really like the variable sample rate to squeeze a bit more time out of a sample. This looks so cool!
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Good question - I’m curious
Badly folded A1 laminate with half the features missing, surely?
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So this thing at 200,- does poly while the DTII, costing 5 times more, from which we all (or at least most people) thought they would’ve included that at launch doesn’t.
It most come with the next update right? They wouldn’t delay that even longer until every other company offers it at much lower prices right?
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It is a fair point, and something to consider for sure, I have a bunch of portable devices no longer used too, I occasionally go through and have a sell off, like most of my PO’s are gone now.
I think often the case with this type of gear eventually the limitations become too much, depending on the particular device, like for example PO’s and Volcas with their limited pattern/memories and no proper way of backing up often end up only being used for a short amount of time before they end up put away.
I do think the Aira mini format is probably the best of the current bunch of mini boxes with regards to features and backing up, and personally I tend to use them more because of this. That said there is definitely room for improvement without sacrificing cost and the casual nature of these instruments, like 128 sample slots and say 128mb of sample memory would have made this one so much more useful.
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Ha!
This thing really needs an info card, like the Volca FM or Modular. Looking at Bobeat’s video, there are a lot of cryptic abbreviations and alt functions. Unfortunately Roland doesn’t do cards.
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The thing that makes it probably a pass for me, is the amount of important features and settings that it seems like you have to navigate using the 7-segment display…and just the general UI which I feel would be hard to keep track of everything in general.
Having said that - this is going to make a lot of people happy! I bet it will sell great. A lot of people were asking for this so kudos to Roland. And there are a lot of cool features/fx/granular abilities, and the step sequencer seems really useful.
Me? I’ll just be in my corner still patiently waiting for the Aira Compact Mixer. 
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For me I’d buy this based on novelty alone. I’ve got plenty of big boy samplers but I also have a problem with collecting samplers lol.
This seems like a better value than something like the Bastl Microgranny, though the Microgranny is so specific and lofi you get it for that. At the alleged $200-$250 price tag (didn’t read full thread or find concrete info) I still couldn’t help but think I’d rather recommend someone the TE KO2 over this which I find to have a pretty easy and beginner friendly interface.
Roland makes weird workflows and interfaces even when they have bigger screens and more device real estate and buttons. I couldn’t imagine working seriously with a device as small and cramped as this. Reminds me of when Red Means Recording review the Volca FM2 and he was questioning who it’s for. Its price is aimed at the beginner but the workflow and button combos and all that shit is not beginner friendly.
But whatever, overall it looks cool. For me as a sampler collector I might pick one up down the road.
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Aimed at a lot of people (maybe to many to be practical)
For me there are 2 breaking points:
Sample storage (I get that sample storage and general data storage are not the same in terms of read speed but come on, 2:24 minutes in stereo, forced in 48 slots a 3 seconds.
i know for 90% of people no Biggie, but for less percussive and more evolving ambient sounds with overtones and high end… Nope.
If at least we could have an SD card, swap sample banks and decide ourselves how long the samples are (!!!) then that would be different.
And the second one: damn that’s a mess of a UI. People mention the op-z but that one seems to have a more streamlined approach. The display is just to little for that amount of features, s-1 and t-8 seemed more “focused”.
Imho this should have been 2 devices:
Sampler as here, and granular synth that has less but longer samples and a UI focused on controlling and modulating the sample (or the input…)
Again: massive pack for the price, but so condensed that for me it would be to cumbersome.
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man if they put Ha-Dou and Zan-Zou in the fx list this would be the ambient couch box i am currently gassing for. ill probably end up with one of these eventually anyways
i know im in the minority here but i wish the aira compacts had speakers. im such a wuss when it comes to plugging in a speaker
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But with only 3 seconds of stereo sample time per slot - could you really ambient?
Oh…yeah. a good compact mixer would be great… I’m just worried that it will be limited to 4 mono or 2 mono 1 stereo line, seems the analog circuitry is much more expensive then the SoC used for those devices.
if it had Ha-Dou and Zan-Zou, probably!
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Reading through the manual now,
The sample playback modes (gate and one shot) paired with fwd, reverse, pingpong and loop modes is really cool! I wonder if you’d be able to loop a single cycle waveform into an oscillator without any weird choppiness
Unquantized and Quantized recording is nice!
Something to not be taken for sure with cheaper boxes, sometimes it’s only quantized
Some of the deeper programming looks like a no-go for me though. To edit a steps velocity or probability you hold down the step + press Granular to cycle through the different options and then use the value encoder to change.
With no sub-text this is one of those things that usually gets under my skin. If you work with this thing daily it might become second nature but nothing about a ‘granular’ button says ‘press me to edit a step’s velocity or probability’
Similarly, switching audio busses seems like a nightmare. So, for me, it just means I’m writing off more of the advanced features. Can’t let those get me to buy if I’m realistically never going to use them unless I crack open the manual to page 72.
It gets vinyl and cassette sim!
But it’s just not worth it haha the parameter editing for those looks like an absolute nightmare. They crammed sooo much into such a small device that it’s just made too many awesome features seem deeeep in a menu if you can remember the unlabeled multi-button combo to get there in the first place.
I also believe that since they don’t explicitly say it: you should assume that 16 voices is mono. The manual only says ‘up to 16 voices’
But right below that it mentions sample time and how Stereo cuts sample time in half, I suspect it cuts polyphony in half too, that’s just how it works I guess.
I like the EP-133 over this still, I just wish it had resampling b/c that’s what’s making this box super appealing! Quick and easy resample. Though again the downside to that is: the sample time, the sample storage, etc.
If I didn’t just use this at a purely surface level, I’d get more frustrated than it’s worth and, at a purely surface level, I definitely don’t need this lol
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Looks pretty cool. Not a fan of Roland’s UI though. At this point I’m too spoiled by the Elektron interface and workflow. I’ll hold off in hopes that Elektron comes out with a nice battery-powered device in the future. Maybe they have learned from the Model’s battery fiasco and are designing something new.
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I actually found the PO Tonic very easy to backup and restore, quite amazing really, just need your phone, don’t even need any cables.
I think the secret to getting value out of this type of device, is use it on the go, be realistic and don’t expect to fit it into your bigger set-up. Devices like this become too fiddly when paired with more than one other thing.
Completely agree! All those FX… resampling… but 3 sec limit, 48 slots. Stupid!
I think it could be fun to use but could have been much more useful.
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Man, a mix between this granular engine and the s-1 interface (less clutter/shortcut Kung Fu) with longer stereo samples (let’s say 12 instead of 48 but 12 seconds each) would be my jam.
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I didn’t spend more than an hour with it to be honest, so expect once the shift commands are learned it would be pretty cool! Stereo one-shots opens up a whole world of spacious sound compared to an OG Digitakt, though if anything it really is like a stereo samples… But with KILLER effects! And resampling!
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