Roland Cloud

[rod_zero]

Better GUI for the emulation plugins should be about better resolution, text anti aliasing, knob response, I am Ok with them being 1:1 to the original. Nevertheless they all have an alternative GUI that reorders the controls to fit the System 8/1 panel.

[Ingonator]

Today i had installed the Anthology 1993 sample library (= JD-990) which is quite big (6.41 GB for all 3 volumes) so as my main HD is a 256 GB SSD and the second internal HD a 1 TB HDD i wanted to move it to the bigger second one.

I found a hint about changing the location of the Instruments for the Concerto plugin (the player plugin for the Roland Cloud sample libraries) in the Windows registry:

On Windows you can change this in the Registry, Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Roland Cloud and the key Instrument_Dir: Changed it to point to a different place such as E:\Program Files\Roland Cloud\Instruments and move existing downloaded rvr files to the new directory and re-select the instrument/patches from Concerto in your DAW. Windows need a restart for Roland Cloud manager to pick up the changes in Registry.

link: https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/synth- ... -drive-mac

I just did that and it indeed seems to work here in Windows 10 64-bit.

After having changed the location in the Windows registry I have also installed another Roland Cloud sample library using the Roland Cloud Manager and now it is automatically installed to the new location at the second HDD.

[Shiek927]

Today i had installed the Anthology 1993 sample library (= JD-990) which is quite big (6.41 GB for all 3 volumes) so as my main HD is a 256 GB SSD and the second internal HD a 1 TB HDD i wanted to move it to the bigger second one.

I found a hint about changing the location of the Instruments for the Concerto plugin (the player plugin for the Roland Cloud sample libraries) in the Windows registry:

On Windows you can change this in the Registry, Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Roland Cloud and the key Instrument_Dir: Changed it to point to a different place such as E:\Program Files\Roland Cloud\Instruments and move existing downloaded rvr files to the new directory and re-select the instrument/patches from Concerto in your DAW. Windows need a restart for Roland Cloud manager to pick up the changes in Registry.

link: https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/synth- ... -drive-mac

I just did that and it indeed seems to work here in Windows 10 64-bit.

After having changed the location in the Windows registry I have also installed another Roland Cloud sample library using the Roland Cloud Manager and now it is automatically installed to the new location at the second HDD.

As someone who's never played with a JD990 before, what do you think? :3

For me, the era of the late 80's/early-to-mid 90's is my favorite for synthesis and all the analog and (especially) digital synths of the day. The JD is definitely very celebrated, so I'm curious what someone who's never used it before thinks C:

[Ingonator]

Today i had installed the Anthology 1993 sample library (= JD-990) which is quite big (6.41 GB for all 3 volumes) so as my main HD is a 256 GB SSD and the second internal HD a 1 TB HDD i wanted to move it to the bigger second one.

I found a hint about changing the location of the Instruments for the Concerto plugin (the player plugin for the Roland Cloud sample libraries) in the Windows registry:

On Windows you can change this in the Registry, Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Roland Cloud and the key Instrument_Dir: Changed it to point to a different place such as E:\Program Files\Roland Cloud\Instruments and move existing downloaded rvr files to the new directory and re-select the instrument/patches from Concerto in your DAW. Windows need a restart for Roland Cloud manager to pick up the changes in Registry.

link: https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/synth- ... -drive-mac

I just did that and it indeed seems to work here in Windows 10 64-bit.

After having changed the location in the Windows registry I have also installed another Roland Cloud sample library using the Roland Cloud Manager and now it is automatically installed to the new location at the second HDD.

As someone who's never played with a JD990 before, what do you think? :3

For me, the era of the late 80's/early-to-mid 90's is my favorite for synthesis and all the analog and (especially) digital synths of the day. The JD is definitely very celebrated, so I'm curious what someone who's never used it before thinks C:

While having owned some other Roland hardware synths long time ago (including D-50, XV-3080, JV-90 and also Jupiter 8 ) i had never used or owned a JD-800 or JD-990 as mentioned earlier.
Also due to that checked that Anthology 1993 "as is" without comparing to the real thing and so far i like many of those patches in the library. Some also use OSc Sync which was a special fetaure in the JD-990 not included in JD-800 and other Roland ROMplers.

Anthology 1993 consists of 3 "volumes" where each is a bank with 64 patches/presets so the whole Anthology 1993 includes 192 patches/presets. For a sample library this is quite much.

Of course i would prefer a full emulation but until this is available the Anthology 1993 seems to be better than nothing.

On the other hand the D-50 emulation seemed to sound better and closer to the real thing than the "Anthology 1987" sample library so i am not sure how close Anthology 1993 sounds compared to the real JD-990. A main problem there might be that Reverb effect from the Concerto sample playback plugin is used that are not modeled on the real thing. There is a similar problem with many Kontakt libraries that use the built-in Kontakt effects and not emulations of the real synth.
Same is true with the filter and enveleops inthe Concerto plugin once oyu start using them. The filter in Concerto seems to be bypassed in most patches of Anthology 1993 so you only hear the filter from the samples.

On the other hand features like e.g. the filter, LFO and Amp envelope in Concerto allow doing your own patches while they maybe no longer sound like a real JD-990.


Audio demos of all 3 banks of the real thing that are included in Anthology 1993 seem to be available at Synthmania:
http://www.synthmania.com/jd-990.htm

I might compare some of those audio demos to the sample library soon.

[Caine123]

Today i had installed the Anthology 1993 sample library (= JD-990) which is quite big (6.41 GB for all 3 volumes) so as my main HD is a 256 GB SSD and the second internal HD a 1 TB HDD i wanted to move it to the bigger second one.

I found a hint about changing the location of the Instruments for the Concerto plugin (the player plugin for the Roland Cloud sample libraries) in the Windows registry:

On Windows you can change this in the Registry, Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Roland Cloud and the key Instrument_Dir: Changed it to point to a different place such as E:\Program Files\Roland Cloud\Instruments and move existing downloaded rvr files to the new directory and re-select the instrument/patches from Concerto in your DAW. Windows need a restart for Roland Cloud manager to pick up the changes in Registry.

link: https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/synth- ... -drive-mac

I just did that and it indeed seems to work here in Windows 10 64-bit.

After having changed the location in the Windows registry I have also installed another Roland Cloud sample library using the Roland Cloud Manager and now it is automatically installed to the new location at the second HDD.

As someone who's never played with a JD990 before, what do you think? :3

For me, the era of the late 80's/early-to-mid 90's is my favorite for synthesis and all the analog and (especially) digital synths of the day. The JD is definitely very celebrated, so I'm curious what someone who's never used it before thinks C:

While having owned some other Roland hardware synths long time ago (including D-50, XV-3080, JV-90 and also Jupiter 8 ) i had never used or owned a JD-800 or JD-990 as mentioned earlier.
Also due to that checked that Anthology 1993 "as is" without comparing to the real thing and so far i like many of those patches in the library. Some also use OSc Sync which was a special fetaure in the JD-990 not included in JD-800 and other Roland ROMplers.

Anthology 1993 consists of 3 "volumes" where each is a bank with 64 patches/presets so the whole Anthology 1993 includes 192 patches/presets. For a sample library this is quite much.

Of course i would prefer a full emulation but until this is available the Anthology 1993 seems to be better than nothing.

On the other hand the D-50 emulation seemed to sound better and closer to the real thing than the "Anthology 1987" sample library so i am not sure how close Anthology 1993 sounds compared to the real JD-990. A main problem there might be that Reverb effect from the Concerto sample playback plugin is used that are not modeled on the real thing. There is a similar problem with many Kontakt libraries that use the built-in Kontakt effects and not emulations of the real synth.
Same is true with the filter and enveleops inthe Concerto plugin once oyu start using them. The filter in Concerto seems to be bypassed in most patches of Anthology 1993 so you only hear the filter from the samples.

On the other hand features like e.g. the filter, LFO and Amp envelope in Concerto allow doing your own patches while they maybe no longer sound like a real JD-990.


Audio demos of all 3 banks of the real thing that are included in Anthology 1993 seem to be available at Synthmania:
http://www.synthmania.com/jd-990.htm

I might compare some of those audio demos to the sample library soon.

Ingo. Isnt the jd800/990 a full Synth? Why do u write rompler?

[EvilDragon]

No, JD-800/990 are full on romplers.

[Ingonator]

Ingo. Isnt the jd800/990 a full Synth? Why do u write rompler?

First i just talked about the "Anthology 1993" library which is a sample libtrary based on the JD-990 and does not emulate the full synt hengine like e.g. the JV-1080 or D-50 plugin do.

Like the other Roland ROMplers the JD-800/990 uses samples and the synth engine of the JD-990 is very similar to those other "ROMplers" like e.g. JV-1080, XV-5080 and Fantom.
Special features in the JD-990 are the sound of the filter and Osc Sync. Osc Sync is not included in JD-800 and the other Roland ROMplers mentioned here.

Speaking about "full synth" you could use that term too for the JV-1080 plugin that is very close to the XV-5080 hardware and the PCM engine in the Fantom (differences to teh Fantom are mostly in the sample content).
This has a quite complex synth engine but it is called "ROMpler" as it is based on using samples.

Speaking about interactions between tones/layers this is also possible in the JV-1080 plugin wit husing the "Structures" that allow using a ringmod and/or using the multimode filters of the two tones/layers in series.

AFAIK such "Structures" were also available in JD-990 but not in the JD-800. Also due to that and the added Osc Sync JD-990 is superior to the JD-800.

Besides that the amountg of includes samples in JD-800/990 is quite small compared to e.g. the XV-5080 or the JV-1080 plugin that has all the XV-5080 samples included (even more with the new SRX expanded plugin version).

[Caine123]

Ok thx so i have to recheck then again. Always thought those are synths.
Will open a new topic about romplers vs synths
.

[Ingonator]

Ok thx so i have to recheck then again. Always thought those are synths.
Will open a new topic about romplers vs synths
.

The term "ROMpler" is indeed misleading and often used for those digital Roland synths and workstations.

They ARE indeed synths but they use samples instead of modeled oscillators or wavetables.
Those "ROMplers" have a subractive synthesis engine with filter (or even a multimode filter), amp, envelopes, LFOs etc. and some even include ringmodulatio and other features.
With the "Structures" in some of those Roland synths (icnlduing the JV-1080 plugin) you could even route the filters of two layers to be used in series (and besides that this has a multimode filter, not just a Lowpass filter).

Actually the synth engine of e.g. the JV-1080 plugin (which is similar to the XV-5080) is more complex than many analog or VA synths.


The U-series of Roland (e.g. U-20/220) was a bit different as this did not include A filter.

[Caine123]

Ok thx so i have to recheck then again. Always thought those are synths.
Will open a new topic about romplers vs synths
.

They ARE synths but they use samples instead of modeled oscillators or wavetables.
Those "ROMplers" have a subractive synthesis engine with filter (or even a multimode filter), amp, envelopes, LFOs etc. and some even include ringmodulatio and other features.
With the "Structures" in some of those Roland synths (icnlduing the JV-1080 plugin) you could even route the filters of two layers to be used in series (and besides that this has a multimode filter, not just a Lowpass filter).

Actually the synth engine of e.g. the JV-1080 is more complex than many analog or VA synths.


The U-series of Roland (e.g. U-20/220) was a bit different as this did not include A filter.

thx ingo, i wanted to later continue in a different topic cause this seems to be the old topic .

sampled oscs vs generated (digital/analog) oscs.
for me sampled oscs/wavetables + a full synthstructure/engine is a synth too, cause i dunno but just because the source SAW isnt generated by 111000101010 it doesnt mean it's a rompler for me, sure a generated SAW digitally could sound always a bit different (or the code is always teh same then it is also not varying and like a sampled saw). in the end it is still a battle zone (haha battle is a harsh word! i dont mean it like that!).

[Ingonator]

Ok thx so i have to recheck then again. Always thought those are synths.
Will open a new topic about romplers vs synths
.

They ARE synths but they use samples instead of modeled oscillators or wavetables.
Those "ROMplers" have a subractive synthesis engine with filter (or even a multimode filter), amp, envelopes, LFOs etc. and some even include ringmodulatio and other features.
With the "Structures" in some of those Roland synths (icnlduing the JV-1080 plugin) you could even route the filters of two layers to be used in series (and besides that this has a multimode filter, not just a Lowpass filter).

Actually the synth engine of e.g. the JV-1080 is more complex than many analog or VA synths.


The U-series of Roland (e.g. U-20/220) was a bit different as this did not include A filter.

thx ingo, i wanted to later continue in a different topic cause this seems to be the old topic .

sampled oscs vs generated (digital/analog) oscs.
for me sampled oscs/wavetables + a full synthstructure/engine is a synth too, cause i dunno but just because the source SAW isnt generated by 111000101010 it doesnt mean it's a rompler for me, sure a generated SAW digitally could sound always a bit different (or the code is always teh same then it is also not varying and like a sampled saw). in the end it is still a battle zone (haha battle is a harsh word! i dont mean it like that!).

As i just added to my post the term "ROMpler" is indeed misleading and AFAIK is not an official technical term but still this term is very common for this kind of synths/workstations. Most of those are subtractive synths and could have a more complex synth engine than certain analog or VA synths.
The JD-990 even added Osc Sync that is not very common with sample based hardware synths. On the other hand my Ensoniq ESQ-1 from 1986 which is based on digital waveforms and/or samples included Osc Sync (and a ringmod) too and this for sure was much closer to a synth than a "ROMpler".

A Ringmod was used in multiple of the digital Roland synths, starting with the D-50.

Actually the JV-1080 plugin even has an "analog feel" parameter to add some drift and all 4 layers/tones have a "Random pitch" parameter where you could set the amount of random detuning for that layer.
This could make the resulting sound closer to the behavior in an analog synth.
I had used that in some analog style patches i made with the JV-1080 plugin.

FWIW the new "SRX Orchestra" plugin has the same synth engine as the JV-1080 plugin but includes a lot of additional samples (+ those from the JV-1080 plugin).

[beely]

As I was around when the terms were defined I still think of the term "rompler" in it's initial context, which was a playback-sample based instrument without much of a synth engine - so we are talking Emu Proteus, Roland U110 type thing. You couldn't really do much to the basic sounds other than perhaps some envelope control. That's mostly why romplers weren't highly regarded for those that were into synths - there was no synthesis to speak of. These boxes were simply a source of extra sounds.

I differentiate these to "sample based synths" where you *can* get away from the source samples, and these instruments have a full-featured synth engine. You can do a good amount of sound design with these.

However, the younger folk tend to think of a "rompler" as any synth that has only sample-based oscillators...

[Caine123]

As I was around when the terms were defined I still think of the term "rompler" in it's initial context, which was a playback-sample based instrument without much of a synth engine - so we are talking Emu Proteus, Roland U110 type thing. You couldn't really do much to the basic sounds other than perhaps some envelope control. That's mostly why romplers weren't highly regarded for those that were into synths - there was no synthesis to speak of. These boxes were simply a source of extra sounds.

I differentiate these to "sample based synths" where you *can* get away from the source samples, and these instruments have a full-featured synth engine. You can do a good amount of sound design with these.

However, the younger folk tend to think of a "rompler" as any synth that has only sample-based oscillators...

Exactly this.

[Sound Mechanics]

So that's where Clannad got that sound from, 'twas a D50 then...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vctzFJZ2nzk

[Ingonator]

The names of the Roland Cloud Anthology synth sample libraries (there are also 2 more Anthology libraries not related to synths) are a bit confusing so here are the hardware synths on which those seem to be based on:

- Anthology 1985 (2 Volumes): Roland Alpha Juno 1 & 2
- Anthology 1986: Roland JX-10 (+ MKS-70)
- Anthology 1987: Roland D-50 (+ D-550)
- Anthology 1990: Roland D-70
- Anthology 1993 (3 Volumes): Roland JD-990

With 3 volumes/banks and 192 presets (6.41 GB for all 3 banks) Anthology 1993 so far seems to be the biggest synth sample library.