Roland Cloud

[electro]

It's hard to resist to succumb to the cloud , because all of these plugins sound absolutly amazing .
Personal favourites , sh 2 , system 8 , system-100..tr808 sounds pretty good ...

They are amazing. That's why even with all the craziness of the Roland Cloud Manager, I'm glad I have access to these plugins.

What will happen to your projects when the Cloud Manager is no more? And rest assured that day will come.

[fmr]

How about the JDXI and more recent models?

Negligible

[Orbit-50]

It's hard to resist to succumb to the cloud , because all of these plugins sound absolutly amazing .
Personal favourites , sh 2 , system 8 , system-100..tr808 sounds pretty good ...

They are amazing. That's why even with all the craziness of the Roland Cloud Manager, I'm glad I have access to these plugins.

What will happen to your projects when the Cloud Manager is no more? And rest assured that day will come.

Everything is rendered to stems so that's not a problem for me. Besides, I have a fair amount of Roland hardware. The Roland Cloud is more for the convenience, rather than necessity.

[gentleclockdivider]

It's hard to resist to succumb to the cloud , because all of these plugins sound absolutly amazing .
Personal favourites , sh 2 , system 8 , system-100..tr808 sounds pretty good ...

They are amazing. That's why even with all the craziness of the Roland Cloud Manager, I'm glad I have access to these plugins.

What will happen to your projects when the Cloud Manager is no more? And rest assured that day will come.

I am just demoing them .
But , after 1 year you own the plugin you paid for and it doesn't need the cloud manager to run .
That being said , same applies to every company that relies on online registration , thats why I only buy plugins that rely on as simple reg files : TAL,toneboosters , klanghelm , audio realism etc..reaktor being the only exception

[gentleclockdivider]

V Synth and TB would swing it for many I believe. How about the JDXI and more recent models?

Get audio realism abl3 , it's the best emulation to date .
The aira/boutique 303 accent is totally of

[fmr]

I am just demoing them .
But, after 1 year you own the plugin you paid for and it doesn't need the cloud manager to run.

You don't know that. Probably it will. What you will NOT need is to have a valid subscription to run it, but since the only protection is the Cloud Manager, you most probably will need it to be able to run the plug-in.

[PAK]

What will happen to your projects when the Cloud Manager is no more? And rest assured that day will come.

Since there's nearly 50 years, of commercial software history online, there's actually an established answer to this. Where dongles or challenge / response existed, a cracked version means it lives on. Without one it dies. There's an irony here somewhere..

BTW Not only is the day coming, we can likely say when (some point next decade). On the consumer side the desktop gate keepers (Microsoft / Apple) are going to exert more control, like that currently applied to the mobile side, as they increase their attempts to take a cut of desktop software sales.

Apple is now on a path to merge the Mac with iOS (and potentially move to its own CPU's). During the transition Intel processors will be able to run iOS apps if the dev enables the option. Mojave is already running some of Apple's own iOS apps as an internal test of this. When the transition is complete the app store will likely be mandated on the desktop (as on iOS) because, by then, it will more or less be a version of iOS.

Roland Cloud could be a free download, where you have to "log in" to use it, in order to avoid giving Apple their 30% cut. I'm sure there will be legal battles aplenty ahead as those limits are pushed, by Apple, to get their money (Pimp slap). Either way, I think it highly likely Roland Cloud will have to move to the App Store if it wants to remain on the platform. The question might then be whether Roland would just go to Apple directly for such services, and leave Roland Cloud users in the lurch.. A lot depends on legal agreements they've made with Roland etc.

Microsoft would looooove to do the same, and require Windows Store (at least on their "consumer OS" ..ie Home/Pro). Harder for them due to legacy considerations, thus less able to dictate change (than Apple), and no iOS equivalent to transition to anyway. So it's Microsoft the "business services" company with a "cloud focus". Windows? Eh? What's that? But anyone assuming they won't TRY to pull the same moves hasn't been paying attention, and they're supposedly planning a big push in their great and wonderful "services" once mainstream Windows 7 support ends (Jan 2020).

I guess a lot depends on how much, beyond managing distribution, Roland Cloud do.. since those are the areas where Apple/MS are offering their "services". Fun times ahead..

BTW If Roland offered a synth equivalent of the TR-8S (more capable than a System 8, with no fee for "all the synths") then it might prove popular. Of course, all bets are off if they insist on non-aftertouch keyboards or "giant workstation" form factors. If they'd actually think longer term they might even offer upgradeable CPU's on it, like Eventide's done on their H9000.

[fmr]

Apple is now on a path to merge the Mac with iOS (and potentially move to its own CPU's). During the transition Intel processors will be able to run iOS apps if the dev enables the option. Mojave is already running some of Apple's own iOS apps as an internal test of this. When the transition is complete the app store will likely be mandated on the desktop (as on iOS) because, by then, it will more or less be a version of iOS.

I am curious to see things like the Adobe Suite, or Microsoft Office being offered in Apple Store.

Or, talking about audio, software like Pro Tools or Cubase. Lets wait and see.

Anyway, I'm very sceptical about Apple being able to come with a CPU able to compete with Intel. We are not talking about mobile phones here.

[PAK]

I am curious to see things like the Adobe Suite, or Microsoft Office being offered in Apple Store.

They're already on iOS (Office 365 etc). Supposedly (we'll see) Office 2019 will be the last non-cloud version of Office. Then it's subcription only. As long as they manage that, outside of Apple, all the store apps need to do is log in. Thus Office on the Store, but Apple's not getting any of the money.

Exact same with Adobe. They're all log in services. In that sense, Roland Cloud is actually in better shape (than most audio software companies) to avoid paying Apple / Microsoft a cut.

Or, talking about audio, software like Pro Tools or Cubase. Lets wait and see.

Let's see what Steinberg transition to when they ditch the hardware dongle. Wanna bet it's a "log in" service, exactly like Adobe / Microsoft, for the same reasons? Rumours it might even be as soon as Cubase 10..

I'm very sceptical about Apple being able to come with a CPU able to compete with Intel.

It'll be their own CPU's for their own products, so in that sense their goal isn't actually to compete. Other companies, like TSMC or Samsung, will manufacture. So they also won't compete in that sense either. The likes of TSMC are already pulling ahead of Intel, and are down to 7nm when Intel are struggling to get to 10nm.

In the sense you're meaning (replace Intel for heavier processing needs) they're already doing their own custom CPU's, though they're based around ARM. So it just needs the additional assumption that they will focus, beyond their mobile devices, to offer something which can compete for the heavy lifting. I don't think we'll have to wait long to see them move the low end laptops to ARM though, if they're going to..

[fmr]

I don't think we'll have to wait long to see them move the low end laptops to ARM though, if they're going to..

That's exactly my point. They may be good enough for the low end, but audio is not there (in the low end). Nor gaming. So, what those laptops will be is simply bigger mobiles.

When I was talking about competing, I was referring to the CPU power. Of course Apple already have their own CPU, but that one is not on par with even the lower end Intel ones. This in (once again) Apple mystification, IMO. And a way to put pressure over Intel to get better deals, maybe.

The likes of TSMC are already pulling ahead of Intel, and are down to 7nm when Intel are struggling to get to 10nm.

Maybe, but how much power do they squeeze out of those CPUs? Are we talking about "computers" or iPADs? Are we talking about a real, multitasking operating system able to run big applications concurrently or an operating system that runs one application at a time, full screen? Are we trying to go up or to go down?

[beely]

What you will NOT need is to have a valid subscription to run it, but since the only protection is the Cloud Manager, you most probably will need it to be able to run the plug-in.

The Cloud Manager (at least the old one, haven't installed the new one yet) has nothing to do with protection. It's for downloading/installing and updating the plugins only. You don't need it at all to run, or authorise the plugins, only to download/install/update them.

[fmr]

What you will NOT need is to have a valid subscription to run it, but since the only protection is the Cloud Manager, you most probably will need it to be able to run the plug-in.

The Cloud Manager (at least the old one, haven't installed the new one yet) has nothing to do with protection. It's for downloading/installing and updating the plugins only. You don't need it at all to run, or authorise the plugins, only to download/install/update them.

You have to login periodically to verify your subscription. I think that's the Cloud Manager that's behind that.

[beely]

Apple is now on a path to merge the Mac with iOS

Not really. They've always said they see them as separate things. What they *are* doing is making it easier for iOS developers to ship a version of their app that works on the Mac. It will still be a limited app compared to a "proper" Mac app, but may likely boost Mac interest and software availability.

The fact that they aren't deprecating the Mac frameworks in favour of iOS ones, and instead providing effectively a kind of translation layer for the iOS frameworks to map the the Mac ones, shows they aren't interested in "merging" the two platforms in the way you're suggesting.

(and potentially move to its own CPU's).

I think that's likely what will happen - at least for the low end Mac portables first.

When the transition is complete the app store will likely be mandated on the desktop (as on iOS) because, by then, it will more or less be a version of iOS.

The developer roadmap is clear that they are not (at least for the next five years or so) forcing Macs to only use software downloaded from the App Store. It would be a pretty stupid move. What they *are* trying to do is offer more customer protection and security, and I don't think it's a bad thing.

Roland Cloud could be a free download, where you have to "log in" to use it, in order to avoid giving Apple their 30% cut. I'm sure there will be legal battles aplenty ahead as those limits are pushed, by Apple, to get their money (Pimp slap). Either way, I think it highly likely Roland Cloud will have to move to the App Store if it wants to remain on the platform. The question might then be whether Roland would just go to Apple directly for such services, and leave Roland Cloud users in the lurch.. A lot depends on legal agreements they've made with Roland etc.

This is pure speculation, and I don't personally agree with this opinion or view of the near-term future. In general a lot of people's views on the future involving this stuff tend to be biased by how they perceive Apple (including my own views, of course.) If you see them as evil (or whatever), you only expect evil things to happen...

[beely]

You have to login periodically to verify your subscription. I think that's the Cloud Manager that's behind that.

Nope, it's in each plugin. I only run the Cloud Manager to check for updates or install stuff. Otherwise it's not running at all. When the plugins re-verify your subs, they do it from within the plugin (it's just an online check).

It's possible this has changed with the new version, but none of the plugins have changed, so I can't see that the auth checks could have changed that much...

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

You have to login periodically to verify your subscription. I think that's the Cloud Manager that's behind that.

I did until yesterday, but I no longer think that's actually the case. Let me explain: earlier in the week I tried to update the Cloud Manager, and something went wrong. It uninstalled the old one, but never installed the new one. So for a few days I wasn't running any Cloud Manager software at all. I went to use the System-8 VSTi yesterday, and was still asked to Log In to authorize and after I did, the instrument was authenticated and worked fine. So even though the Cloud Manager wasn't installed at all, the instruments still knew to ask for authorization after a few days and the process worked. I only installed the updated Cloud Manager this morning.