Roland Aira System-1 + SH101 Plug Out Finally Announced

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T-CM11 wrote:
core wrote:
T-CM11 wrote:
Shy wrote:Wait, so this hardware has an x86 CPU? I find it hard to believe they'd write two versions of the synth, one for x86 and one for some Motorola DSP or something.
Maybe it just acts as a midi editor when the S1 is connected?
From http://www.roland.com/products/en/SH-101_PLUG-OUT/
Go beyond the original hardware with enhanced tone shaping options and seamless DAW integration via AU and VSTi plugin interfaces. Full PLUG-OUT support means you can use SYSTEM-1 as a dedicated controller and even use the SH-101 without a computer. The freedom of hardware. The flexibility of software. The sound of a legend.
So it runs as a plugin in a DAW, also without the system-1 connected, and it also runs on system-1 without your computer connected. I quite like that.
But on what does the plugin run when the S1 is connected? According to the information on their site:
http://www.roland.com/products/en/SH-101_PLUG-OUT/ -> Details
"SH Evolved
Go beyond the original hardware with enhanced tone shaping options and seamless DAW integration via AU and VSTi plugin interfaces. Full PLUG-OUT support means you can use SYSTEM-1 as a dedicated controller and even use the SH-101 without a computer."
So... a midi editor/controller.
I thought that it was pretty clear. There is a native version of the plugin, perhaps with a common platform independent core. This native plugin runs like any other plugin, but, it is also has code to communicate with the S1 and ship the "plugout" version over USB. Once you've done this you can switch the S1 to plugout mode and the plugin/out is running in the S1. In all the videos, this seems to be a manual process. So I take from this that normally, the plugin/out will run as a plugin on your DAW and the S1 is nothing but a spendy controller for that plugin.

If nord had bothered to integrate their G2 "demo" with their editor and wrap both into a plugin, we could have had this with a much more interesting synth ten years ago. I would still pay for that today. With the nord, it actually made sense to me, honestly, I still don't get it with the S1.

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beely wrote:"Add as many instances as you want, and use the software plug-in with or without the SYSTEM-1 connected – the hardware isn’t a dongle, if that’s what you were wondering."

- CDM
It seems several people were, I took from the video that it didn't appear that way. I'm really more curious about their marketing choices. I've edited the title to reflect that. Since there are two threads, (I didn't see that one before posting this one) and people got all pissed at me for asking these questions in their thread the last time, then that's what this thread is for. If you want to gush over the S1/SH-101, do it in the other thread. We'll/I'll be throwing popcorn at Roland in this one.

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If it's simply that the only way to get the plugin is to buy the System 1, and the plugin just runs natively without the hardware, then maybe it's an even weirder decision.
I guess it's supposed to be their XBox Halo, or whatever the PS 4 has these days ... exclusive content to make the hardware more compelling. Warez users won't care either way, they'll just have at it.

So, it does seem odd to ignore the vast hoards of non-System 1 users that would purchase an official SH-101 plugin.

Maybe in a year or 2, we'll see a wider release ... like the Korg Legacy collection.
... space is the place ...

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Sendy wrote:Check out the Nick Batt demo of the System-1... I did, didn't like it. Especially the supersaw, it sounds cramped, linear and "blatty" (you know, uneven rough low end, as many fundamentals interfere in a chaotic swirl). When you compare that to the JP-8k supersaw, the difference is night and day, it's light, airy, the perfect vanilla spice for pads.

How does Roland manage to pioneer so many classic dance sounds and then go on to completely screw them up? It's legendary.
I wouldn't use the word Pioneer. I think that the answer is really that Roland screws up everything but, in retrospect, people like the mistakes. The 808 was never intended to go boooooooom, that was really just sloppiness in the decay circuit. The 909 was really meant to be as close to an acoustic kick as possible, but without using samples because you couldn't get variation and subtlety from samples at the time. Everyone else was using samples though so that engineering to get this nice variable kick paid off. Again, I don't think that they were trying to create the definitive techno kick sound, they thought that it sounded better than samples.

The 101 wasn't meant to be a tabletop techno dream. You were supposed to buy one to be Duran Duran, and the 303, of course, is legend, it was really viewed as a failure by Roland.

Now, to give credit where credit is due, I think that their filters were awesome and are a large part of why their synths are so well regarded.

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ghettosynth wrote: I thought that it was pretty clear.
ghettosynth wrote:So I take from this that ...
So... not that pretty clear... :D :wink:

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The idea is brilliant, many of us have been waiting for something like this.

But the implementation is not that good, well in fact the hardware is not good enough. Hope others take notice of the concept and bring a better hardware, I will pay up to 1,500 if it could load other plug ins.
dedication to flying

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Shy wrote:I've just read on forums and some article that you don't have to have the System 1 connected to use the plugin. So I don't get it, Roland doesn't make it clear. If this is true, then I guess forget about the "dongle" part I was writing about. If it's simply that the only way to get the plugin is to buy the System 1, and the plugin just runs natively without the hardware, then maybe it's an even weirder decision.

Well, currently, you DO need the hardware to download the software. All future plug outs will run in the System-1 too. (Forgotten which 2 they mentioned)

I really cant see Roland releasing these as 'vst' on their own.

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rod_zero wrote:The idea is brilliant, many of us have been waiting for something like this.

But the implementation is not that good, well in fact the hardware is not good enough. Hope others take notice of the concept and bring a better hardware, I will pay up to 1,500 if it could load other plug ins.

Wont work, the controls wont match. They have very carefully chosen vintage synths with very similar architecture so one hardware controller can operate several diff softsynths.

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Might of been answered already but are we limited to that tiny keyboard or can we use our own midi keyboards to play the System 1 plug out synths?

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the two threads need to be merged...

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Doc Brown wrote:Might of been answered already but are we limited to that tiny keyboard or can we use our own midi keyboards to play the System 1 plug out synths?
http://www.stevesmusic.com/images/keybo ... STEM-1.jpg
And in a DAW you can route any keyboard to it of course.

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The hardware synth itself looks pretty cool...

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T-CM11 wrote:
Doc Brown wrote:Might of been answered already but are we limited to that tiny keyboard or can we use our own midi keyboards to play the System 1 plug out synths?
http://www.stevesmusic.com/images/keybo ... STEM-1.jpg
And in a DAW you can route any keyboard to it of course.
Thanks

:tu:

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Merged the two threads about this.
No longer a moderator.

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Thanks.

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