Roli Seaboard RISE

[tapper mike]

Yep I think if we all read through this thread long enough we'll find disappointments with Roli. Defective workmanship and adjusting to the instrument. Overall the responses from users here has been positive yet honest.

I don't know how flexible the roli is with midi. That being said MPE is totally doable in most Daws/Hosts provided you set it up properly (which can be slightly time consuming). Simply Copy the instrument across multiple tracks and then change the input per midi channel. I do this all the time in Mixcraft and Cantabile.

IMHO the linnstrument has the most flexible arrangement for editing channel distribution. You can have 16 channels (or less) assigned to a single layout or left/right split with other custom assignments for sequencer. The act of sliding on a linnstrument wasn't as graceful as a rubberized string midi instrument say a Z5 or a BabyZ from Starr Labs or an Artiphon Instrument One.

Instrument One has a "User Friendly" UI with considerably less control over midi parameters. It's either MPE on or MPE off. MPE runs on channels 2~7 in a "string mode" each channel is assigned per string. In a "Chromatic" mode the MPE runs round robin assigning the channel by the order played or spread from low to high for chords. Nonetheless I prefer the Instrument One (with exceptions) over the linnstrument. The most damning thing I can say about Artiphon is "Where the hell is my strap!!! I ordered it about a month ago. And "Why couldn't you make it with strap buttons".

[saeidscorp]

Saeidscorp- do be sure to download Equator and Strobe 2. These are the synths which best make use of the Seaboard's full capabilities right now.

I finally could download the Equator and really liked it!!

but...

My issues with my RISE 49 are very harsh inconsistencies in the sensitivities for press, glide & slide:

related to pressure sensitivity:
1- When I move my finger across the top or bottom ribbon with a steady force, I get alternating pressure responses both in the dashboard & in Bitwig 8-Track over the whole 49 keywaves. Instead of a steady pressure amount across the board, I get something like an irregular sine-wave. The changes are very significant (nearly 40% of the amount range).
However, the pressure remains steady when I do a slide.
2- Also near the middle C, there is a spot which feels a bit dip and produces full press amounts with slight touches. This point, when touched, produces a glide to 2 semi-tones higher upon release which is also weird.

related to glide:
3- The slight movements over the ribbons for glide, have a step-wise behavior, sudden changes when crossing keywaves boundaries. Some keywaves seem to be having no "between" regions at all.
4- When crossing some keywaves, there is a jump to one or (sometimes) two semi-tones backward; i.e. when gliding up, there is a jump to the previous keywave and vice versa. The is mostly prevalent between D# and E, and between E and F.
5- Relating to the issue 1, some notes are impossible for creating vibratos... It's like they are not sensitive to glide.

and slide:
6- Slide behavior is stepwise. Just like the glide.

I'm really disappointed

[EvilDragon]

Sounds like a faulty unit to me.

[Keith99]

Spent ages yesterday researching the RISE , reading all the threads, watching the videos and just had to go for it! Ordered it yesterday and it is here today due to the wonders of Amazon Prime. So far all I can report is it is a great box it comes in

[Keith99]

Software installation is pretty painless although I would have liked to have been able to specify where to put the Equator VST. For me it automatically put it in: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Steinberg\VST2 which I do not tend to use.

Comes with:

Equator
Equator extended library (this is large and takes a while to download ~1.8GB)
Dashboard (32 bit only but only an exe so that is OK)
Strobe 2 - excellent!
Tracktion Waveform - may give this a go sometime
Bitwig 8-Track - unlikely to use this as it is very limited

[saeidscorp]

Software installation is pretty painless although I would have liked to have been able to specify where to put the Equator VST. For me it automatically put it in: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Steinberg\VST2 which I do not tend to use.

Yeah the default location is a legacy one. (NI Kontakt uses that too I think)

I look forward to hearing more from your experience with RISE!! I really hope you enjoy it and have no problems at all.

[saeidscorp]

And I must add, the 8-Track is just a really good example of an MPE compatible DAW, I don't think they expect anyone to use it for anything other than testing out! Even Bitwig company itself!

[Keith99]

Yeh I think I will give it a go.

Just had my first hour with it and some initial thoughts:

Hardware
It is bigger than I thought but very well built
At first it feels cold and frictionless rather than warm and rough as I imagined - in a good way
Your fingernails leave marks easily so I think I will need to keep them trimmed! All marks do fade though in a short time.
I found the sliders not that responsive until I started tapping them rather than trying to slide them
Dashboard says firmware update needed already but I will do that later

Software
Tried to set Equator to use my UR28M by setting it to ASIO and it crashed - my first crash. Tried a number of times but ended up just using my PC soundcard.
Equator showed duplicate sounds which was odd until I realised you have to select your device from the left
I don't like the white on black skin of Equator as I have a 4K monitor and it is tricky to read
There are some great Equator patches
Dashboard was useful to check all keys were working but it did not make any sound which is a shame as a test tone here would have been good

Playing
Bit tricky to get used to the layout due to black keys stretching right to the bottom but after only an hour it is becoming more natural. The far edges do not seem to respond.
Percussive and breath patches best so far
It would be great even if it were just a mono device but amazing when you add the poly capabilities

Overall
Just messed around so far but I am really loving it! The percussive patches are really fun to play as are the breath based ones. It is very easy to play out of tune but I like that as it gives that human-playing technique that I wanted. And the ability to 'wiggle' the key for vibrato works perfectly. In fact the whole thing feels incredibly responsive and somehow 'alive' making your actions translate into sound in a natural way. I think this is going to transform my music making, it really is an instrument in its own right.

Next test: going to try it in Cubase

[himalaya]

It is very easy to play out of tune but I like that as it gives that human-playing technique that I wanted.

Make sure you explore the 3 expression faders. Make sure you RTM. The one on the left deals with pitch rounding and you can set it up so that it helps you stay in tune and still have pitch bend response!

[Keith99]

Yes I discovered that. I must admit I have not done much with those faders yet or the XY pad but will do, too busy playing around with it at the moment

I have decided it is a bit like a piano but where you ignore the keys and hammers and instead play directly with the strings on the inside

Getting it to work in Cubase was very east, just add an instrument and set it's midi channel to all and you are done. Of course only Strobe and Equator give you the 5D straight away. Roli have lots of pages on how to get other instruments like Kontact and Omnisphere to use the extra inputs but I have not explored those fully.

[BONES]

And I must add, the 8-Track is just a really good example of an MPE compatible DAW, I don't think they expect anyone to use it for anything other than testing out! Even Bitwig company itself!

Why would you say that? It seems to be equally full-featured and the 8 track limitation allows for a massive amount of music if you use it cleverly. e.g. Bitwig's Drum Machine is a container for dozens of samplers, so in one of your 8 tracks you can have all of your drums, each with their own effects. I think you get one or two group tracks, too, so you can cheat more tracks that way.
I've upgraded to Bitwig Studio because I wanted a) to support the company and b) the latest version, not because I thought we'd run into any limitations if we stuck with 8 Track. Even in Orion, our biggest, loudest, heaviest songs, which I can assure you are much more full-on than anything you have ever done, only use 12-20 tracks and even they could be easily condensed into Bitwig 8-Track. e.g. I could take the vocals and put them in with the drums, saving three or four tracks, then I could group a few of the synth parts.

[saeidscorp]

I turned in my THIRD Seaboard now for updates, of course after a long mail conversation with support from Roli. They've confirmed that it needs to be changed out. However, I waited 2 months for my other one (the second), and now it's been one and a half month for changing out the third. I e since September, it's 9-10 month, a 3 1/2 month I've been without any Seaboard due to warranty repair, and long lead times on their part. They confessed to have had a bad batch once, last autumn but still.

Wouldn't surprise me if they do the same as they did on the "playing out of tune" feautre of the GRAND. When updating the firmware they removed the feature instead of having it fixed. I e the MIDI over Bluetooth they remove completely, and say it's not a feature anymore instead of fixing the bug. Just as esoteric that one was, many people thinks it's worthwhile, and don't think twice about Midi over bluetooth working or not, but for me that is JUST as important as anything else. It would be fun to hear in this thread, if anyone else have tried to plug any other controller on the Midi over Bluetooth on any other software or hardware synth or not.

Being without it for a second time, on my third hardware seems to me, a bit too much for even an early adopter. I have no complaints about the mail support, they do talk the talk, but how about walking the walk. It ususally ends up after a month of mail conversation, that they provide me with numbers and labels to send it in, and get a new replacement and thinks - automatically and by default - everything would be fixed with a new hardware.

Beats me!

Needless to say, once I get this new (3rd) one back it will up for sale in Sweden. There's always someone else out there that doesn't care that much as I do, about MIDI over Bluetooth, and other irks and quirks. I'll have no time to detect new things, and make this one go back too. Wasting my time.

Hi Mats,

I'm curious if your problems got eventually fixed?! I have some problems but I fear I have to wait weeks (ir maybe months) for them to replace it! (and probably give me another defective one )

So how is your Seaboard's condition now if I may ask? Went for the 4th one or it was a software/firmware bug or you returned it?!

The issues are really on the nerve

[saeidscorp]

And I must add, the 8-Track is just a really good example of an MPE compatible DAW, I don't think they expect anyone to use it for anything other than testing out! Even Bitwig company itself!

Why would you say that? It seems to be equally full-featured and the 8 track limitation allows for a massive amount of music if you use it cleverly. e.g. Bitwig's Drum Machine is a container for dozens of samplers, so in one of your 8 tracks you can have all of your drums, each with their own effects. I think you get one or two group tracks, too, so you can cheat more tracks that way.
I've upgraded to Bitwig Studio because I wanted a) to support the company and b) the latest version, not because I thought we'd run into any limitations if we stuck with 8 Track. Even in Orion, our biggest, loudest, heaviest songs, which I can assure you are much more full-on than anything you have ever done, only use 12-20 tracks and even they could be easily condensed into Bitwig 8-Track. e.g. I could take the vocals and put them in with the drums, saving three or four tracks, then I could group a few of the synth parts.

I don't know, maybe I'm too noob!

But after fiddling with Bitwig 2 demo, seeing the refined modulation framework and the polishments and then coming to 8-Track, I felt I'm provided with a time-locked version (it's based on the old Bitwig 1) minus the unlimited tracks. However, the worst part for me is the limitation of only 2 VSTs. If this limitation was only for VSTi(s), That would've made sense, but combining with effects plugins, it's too limiting for me

Not sure

[BONES]

Oh, I didn't realise there was a limitation on VSTs. That would definitely tear it as Polysynth is horrible.

[incubus]

Like I said, too many complaints about compatibility. I think I'll bow out, I can't justify ever spending this on that considering how many people seem to have difficulty with it.