Which Roland Boutique for more experimental sounds and textures?

The Lounge Other Gear
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If one were to look for a Roland Boutique synth with more experimental sounds and textures, which one should I go for? All the demos I hear either sound like stuff from the 80’s or they have a Moog mono complex.

I worship my Prophet 12 synth, that’s where I set the bar, but if I want something portable on batteries that can come close enough, what would that be? Am I looking in the wrong direction or is the search perhaps futile to begin with? Note that batteries can be USB-powered, Ripcord style, and still count. Like the Digitone, which I’ve ruled out in this context but that’s easily USB powered, for example.

Thanks for your time and advise, no matter the outcome.

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I would say the Roland D-05 is the most experimental of the boutique’s.

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Not sure that any would really fit the experimental bill but of all of them? D-05 is about the only one I don’t recognize as a “classic” (even though it absolutely is). Maybe worth listening to some demos? Everything else is pretty recognizable though.

BTW that “Moog mono complex” synth is thicc as all hell. <3

Edit: I have the SE-02 and the SH01-A and love them both dearly. Wasn’t sure how I’d get along with the boutiques but I think they’re great sounding synths. Having 4-note poly on the SH01-A is quite nice.

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The SE-02 seems like the most sound designery of the bunch. The others are mostly nostalgia, but they do very well for more bread and butter stuff with lots of familiarity.

Edit: maybe look at a couple of the Volcas???

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The SE-02 can get pretty wild. Great sequencer on it too!

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…roland and roland boutique are pretty much the last things i’d associate with the tags experimental and texture…

roland always sounds like classic roland again and again and forever…clone me deadly…

…u could check for real pocket size things like korgs nu tek stuff…
or the blackbox might do fine…
any sampling engine might do better for beyond the common sonic footprints…
so korgs volco sampler could also be worth a closer look…

…but the only roland boutique thing that comes solid, but has nothing to do with any polyphonic/experimental/texture direction, is the that sh01 clone…

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Yeah, maybe the boutiques aren’t what I’m looking for. I’m not giving up my Prophet 12 but would like something with similar character but more backpack friendly. I can lose a bunch of features as long as the character is there.

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Maybe a DSI Tetra?

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se-02 feels like the most tweakable of the bunch, but it’s not battery powered and not polyphonic. i like mine but haven’t spent a ton of time with it. the ju-06a and d-05 are interesting, though i wouldn’t say they’re experimental.

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Argon8 desk top. Tetra is about experimental asa baked potatoe

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I’ve got a D-05 and it can get very experimental.

Problem is it takes about 12 years to program it.

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Make a backpack modular rig

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If you are looking for something small, battery powered, and experimental, I would think the Korg Volca Modular would fit the bill.

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Body and presence are both factors. I’m spoiled with the Prophet 12, so maybe I’m asking for the impossible.

But Argon8 might be worth a look, and the Volca Modular.

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Model cycles no good?

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I’d miss the polyphony. I’ve tried the Digitone and much as I like it, as a synth proper, it’s slightly on the thin side compared to the wealth of a Sequential.

Look, I realise this was maybe a silly topic. I’m reaching for something that’s not there, I suppose.

The character of these synths, most notably the Prophet 12 since that’s the one I know best, comes through even stronger when you start working them through other sources - samplers, fx and whatnot. While there’s always a difference between a heavy weighter and some lighter options, it’s not always one that matters, especially in a mix where the track’s maybe just a banger or a club pumper. But when you work it through stuff like a Blooper or a Sherman Filterbank, there’s a big difference. The details you hardly hear, come popping out like pop-corn on movie night.

So I don’t know. Having grown accustomed to that, no matter one’s opinion on this or not, and then asking for the same but in a smaller package for the purpose of a more compact rig, maybe is just a silly question to begin with.

But if one does not ask, one shall never receive :slight_smile:

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JX-03

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I have a Prophet 12m and have been through a few other synths in the time I have owned it, I found the 2 polysynths that compliment it very well are the Ambika and the Modor Nf1 but the Ambika is the clear winner out of the 2 because of its hybrid structure. The Modor is more capable in the experimental/pad/soundscape area though.
Im selling my Modor NF1m if your interested :joy::joy:

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May the sonic search go forever forwards :grinning:

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Haha nice one :blush:ah, a fellow Prophet 12m owner. Fantastic. What are your thoughts on the Argon8? I really do love the suggestive and haunting sounds you can get out from the Prophet and they respond so well to processing when you run them through outboard stuff. If Sequential did a Nintendo and released this in Game & Watch format, I’d not started this thread and just be using that :blush: