Has there been any rumors heard about the next boutique? Or do we think Roland is done with that line?
For me, some synths make sense in that size and others donāt. I wish they made a second form factor for the latter.
I still think theyāll put out a Jupiter 4, maybe JV series, maybe more 90s digital, and maybe one with the rhythm boxes or 707/727 in the current boutique form factor, potentially.
1 Like
I hope so.
Iād like to see a jp8000 boutique but donāt think it will happen.
3 Likes
Me too
Why not? The only time I see it not happening is when they ditch the entire boutique line
Iām really surprised to see the SH-01A is beating the SE-02 by more than double. But even though the SE-02 is analog, I had a hard time with those knobs compared to the sliders on the SH-01A. The 01A wouldāve been perfect if the pitch and mod ribbons werenāt there and they spread everything out.
As cool as these Boutiques are, thereās a certain amount of fatigue that sets in from using a cramped interface and mini keys. As I get older, gear like the 01A, K25M, Minifreak, Keystep, and the Volca Drum end up getting used for a short amount of time before ending up stored in the synth closet. A Boutique with a full size 3 octave keyboard is what they shouldāve been doing from the start, especially at the price point given. With that in mind, Roland will Roland, and itāll never happen, even though they wouldāve easily outsold these little munchkin devices. So the SH-01A is as good as itās ever gonna get, in my opinion.
3 Likes
You could buy Behringerās MS-1 if you want that. Iām glad thereās these small modules with batteries.
But I agree that Roland could and should sell premium versions of their classics as well, as keys and bigger modules with more voices and bigger sliders. Iād definitely buy it if they sold something like ISE NIN thatās not 5.000ā¬, it doesnāt even have to be ārealā analog, ACB is fine.
1 Like
If I may squeeze in just a little annoyance about the boutique range: The lack of a local off option!
If they had this, any boutique unit paired with the K25m keyboard would be the perfect partner for a Digitakt / Syntakt for some minimal sofa music making. As it stands, youāll always be triggering the sound of the boutique even if you want to control another track inside the Elektron box which pretty much kills the combo for me.
1 Like
The Roland Sysem 1m is my fave! It has the best of them all in one. Without even needing the plug-outs.
I reached out to Roland support back when the sys 1 was still in production and asked them if it was basically all the Roland synths in one.
And they replied it basically is.
Sure, you may want a plug-out for something like a filter that perhaps isnāt covered by the 12 & 24db filters included. But the wave shapes with the use of the ācolorā knobs is where you get āallā the sound of those synths.
Iāve been thinking about this recently. And as you move through the sweep of the digital waveforms especially with the color knob there are really micro like tuning nudges that will give you completely different tones in just one waveform, like as if you have multiple waveforms in just the one depending on where you place it. But it is very fine, like when you sweep an analog filter with hi resonance and you hear the tonal changes sweep through in a almost steppy way, but still smooth.
They really did a killer job with the ACB of their instruments. And all the boutiques use the ACB modeling. So maybe there some features the individual oneās have in maybe more than 4 note polyphony and no bright neon lights, or more than 64 patch slots, but itās not much more than the majority and it covers way more sonic range than probably most of them if not all of them.
The SE-01 being the only real analog in the bunch is nice, but those things are definitely āfunā sized.
2 Likes
Iāll stick with the 01A. The MS-1 doesnāt sound close enough and I donāt know about the MK2. I have my doubts.
As much as I prefer something larger, the truth with all this Roland gear, remakes, clones, etc is that Iāve been bombarded by the Roland sound for the past 3 decades. So none of this gear is really a mainstay in my setup. But itās nice to have when the craving for those sounds come about.
A closet full of Behringer gear is something that I wasnāt expecting to happen. But I needed to minimize my setup for better focus and ergonomics.
So itās nice that the 01A with the K25M in itās box takes up less storage space, and itās always ready to go with a set of rechargeable batteries. The convenience of itās portability and immediacy add to itās value, among all the added features and easy storage.
4 Likes
Probably better to just use the boutiques as modules without the keyboard attached, and have a midi keyboard connected directly to the Digitakt instead. This way you can control the boutique or the Digitakt separately without issues.
Massively underrated piece imho - keys are only so-so and no aftertouch, but it delivers pretty much exactly this. And the Aira System 1/8 engines are easily on a par with the classics, if not better in some ways. Makes a great DAW controller as an added bonus. I guess the green really put a lot of people off.
4 Likes
Yeah this is exactly what I do, but Iād really like to just use my Syntakt with a boutique + k-25m keyboard attached for a perfect sofa combo!
Having said that, Iāve put together a compromise: a pedal board case that can just hold the Syntakt + JU-06a module + Keystep 37 together. Just about fits on my lap!
Is there a 303 ACB plug-out for system 1/8?
No
The S8 runs:
- JUPITER-8
- JUPITER-4
- PROMARS
- JUNO-60
- JUNO-106
- JX-3P
- SH-2
- SH-101
- SYSTEM-100
- SYSTEM-8
Afaik the System 1 / 1M runs all the monos from that list, but not 100% sure.
I do feel like the Boutique 101 model is newer/better than the one in the plugin/out, but I could be imagining that.
1 Like
I felt the same when I compared the two. Iām sure they tweak/improve the models with each new release. The T-8 303 model definitely sounds better than the TB-03 to my ears. The accent seems fixed anyway.
I even feel like the S1 might be better as well, but thatās just going by YouTube videos. Kinda surprising that they donāt just port the same code across the line, but I guess that also costs resources.
I do think that the plugin is sneakily also extremely good though. I demoed it back to back with the Softube and Tal versions during sales last year expecting that Iād probably grab the Softube while it was going cheap but after getting past the additional āwowā factor of the newer ones the Roland plugin ended up a clear winner to my ears once I started digging in a bit.
Thatās so strange. Itās not like a 303 plug out potentially cannibalizing TB-03 or T-8 sales is any different to the SH-101 plug out and the SH-01A and S-1.
1 Like