TB-303 Emulators

[dionenoid]

If I am using ABL3, will I get different results from using the built-in sequencer than sending notes over MIDI? It sounds the same to me either way.

It's mostly the same. The difference is mostly in the Glide : When you want a couple of notes to Glide, you have to draw overlapping midi notes and i found it doesn't really sound the same when you draw a string of notes with Glide or when you use the sequencer for that. I hope that makes sense
(in real-life you'll probably never use that much anyway)

And for Accent you draw midi-notes at lower velocity, while drawing higher velocity values for those notes that need Accent. But guess most people knew that already.

[n9research]

Phoscyon's Filter Env Attack allows you to do some really nice expressive touches that weren't possible on the actual 303 (or ABL afaik). fwiw Aphex Twin even used a couple of the preset patterns in one of his tracks!

[Halonmusic]

Podolski aswell.

[Stefken]

I don't want to have to go through a 3 step process to get a sequence, with no visual clues every time I just want to have fun with a silver box.

As far as ease of use and visual feedback from the sequencer goes, I much prefer Roland's own Cloud TB-303. It doesn't have the cloud thing going for it, but as an instrument is really solid.
It's maybe a small thing but I like the way the glides are shown in the cloud TB-303's sequencer. I consider these an important part of the acid sound. The randomizer is pretty sweet too.

I find it a bit strange the cloud TB-303 is not mentioned more.

As far as the sound goes... well that's very solid as well with a lot of knobs to tweak (including drive) ; a lot more than in ABL. The cloud TB-303 screams a bit more than the hardware TB-303 but I like screamers , so that's a plus too in my book.

[gentleclockdivider]

Really didnt have to do that, but his philosophy was (is) that when you use a 303 you should strictly use the internal sequencer, and this passwordy-naggery was sorta meant to turn people off of using pianoroll MIDI, which he somehow considered 'wrong'. Question is only why he added the option at all then, but i guess we will never know.

here's why it has midiplay mode: viewtopic.php?p=5746081#p5746081

now, 2019, when 303 clones are discussed and talked about, i see more and more people appreciating the sequencer as one of the key components of the 303 "experience", the situation was not so back in 2013-ish, where i had to constantly explain and argue that the sequencer is very important
so, maybe i helped spread this word a bit (i hope so), i feel good about the current situation in any case

If I am using ABL3, will I get different results from using the built-in sequencer than sending notes over MIDI? It sounds the same to me either way.

Yes ,under certain conditions it will sound differnet , when two notes of the same pitch+slide and the last one is accented (or was it the firrst one, this will sound different when sequenced from the daw .
You can easiy test this yourself by recording abl's midi output int the daw and then play it back ( set abl to note mode ) , because accented nots have a higher velocity and when these are slided/tied with non accented notes of the same pitch (inside abl ) and then recorded into the daw , the slided note will be divided because of the differences in velocity .
But this only happens if the notes are the same

Also don't forget , if you sequence from the daw , that a note is only 50% gate length , so a 16 th note should be drawn as 32 th + 32th rest .
The most accurate is to sue the built in sequencer

[gentleclockdivider]

Phoscyon's Filter Env Attack allows you to do some really nice expressive touches that weren't possible on the actual 303 (or ABL afaik). fwiw Aphex Twin even used a couple of the preset patterns in one of his tracks!

That's not the whole correct story , there is a phoscyon preset in the rozzbox 2 , and the rozzbox was used in that track

[kritikon]

As far as ease of use and visual feedback from the sequencer goes, I much prefer Roland's own Cloud TB-303. It doesn't have the cloud thing going for it, but as an instrument is really solid.
It's maybe a small thing but I like the way the glides are shown in the cloud TB-303's sequencer. I consider these an important part of the acid sound. The randomizer is pretty sweet too.

I find it a bit strange the cloud TB-303 is not mentioned more.

As far as the sound goes... well that's very solid as well with a lot of knobs to tweak (including drive) ; a lot more than in ABL. The cloud TB-303 screams a bit more than the hardware TB-303 but I like screamers , so that's a plus too in my book.

I listened to a few thing on the Roland cloud thingy, and their 303 sounded good too (took them long enough though). But tbh, when I found out how you pay for it with that monthly rental scheme...I thought it was a joke when I first read it, couldn't believe they were actually being serious. Now I wonder why that idea didn't catch on...? If they sold it properly as a VSTi, I would definitely consider it, but really, I think Roland took some strong acid when they came up with their daft cloud rental scheme...anyone who goes along with it must have the same supplier too.
When I think back to all those great Roland synths I used and still use some, and all their other ones I lusted after, and the what a shambolic company they became over the past 2 decades, I think they've been taken over by aliens...

[acid alex]

Really didnt have to do that, but his philosophy was (is) that when you use a 303 you should strictly use the internal sequencer, and this passwordy-naggery was sorta meant to turn people off of using pianoroll MIDI, which he somehow considered 'wrong'. Question is only why he added the option at all then, but i guess we will never know.

here's why it has midiplay mode: viewtopic.php?p=5746081#p5746081

now, 2019, when 303 clones are discussed and talked about, i see more and more people appreciating the sequencer as one of the key components of the 303 "experience", the situation was not so back in 2013-ish, where i had to constantly explain and argue that the sequencer is very important
so, maybe i helped spread this word a bit (i hope so), i feel good about the current situation in any case

If I am using ABL3, will I get different results from using the built-in sequencer than sending notes over MIDI? It sounds the same to me either way.

Yes ,under certain conditions it will sound differnet , when two notes of the same pitch+slide and the last one is accented (or was it the firrst one, this will sound different when sequenced from the daw

I will test a sequence as you describe. Thanks

[Stefken]

I thought it was a joke when I first read it, couldn't believe they were actually being serious. Now I wonder why that idea didn't catch on...? If they sold it properly as a VSTi, I would definitely consider it

Not keen on the cloud thing myself. If sold as a vst, I would buy it immediately.

BUT if you did not know, if you subscribe for 12 months (actually 11 months as you can get 1 month for free and the 11 months can be intermittent) you get 2 permanent licenses.

So you can get for example the TB-303 and the Juno 106 for around 100 euro each (and you can also use all the other Cloud instruments for a year for that same price).

I'm not fond of the cloud either, but if you run the numbers, if you want 2 Roland vst's, you can get them for the average market price of around 100 euro (and have a license for 1 year for all their other stuff as well).

I can't comment on how Roland changed as a company as I am not familiar with their history but I've seen it happen with quite a number of other companies.

[gentleclockdivider]

This is an example of how it sounds different

Note slide +note slide accent +note octave up .
When played back from the internal sequencer the third note will not have an accent
But when you record this sequence in your daw (see piano roll ) , you'll notice that the second note ( green rectangle ) slides in the third , but the third note (yellow rectangle ) is also played with an accent .
This does not occur when using abl3 build in sequencer , so for authencity use the internal sequencer

[Raddler1]

No one has talked about REFX Vanguard. The 303 presets are quite unique sounding. Pretty convincing with some tweaking and processing.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

I thought it was a joke when I first read it, couldn't believe they were actually being serious. Now I wonder why that idea didn't catch on...? If they sold it properly as a VSTi, I would definitely consider it

Not keen on the cloud thing myself. If sold as a vst, I would buy it immediately.

BUT if you did not know, if you subscribe for 12 months (actually 11 months as you can get 1 month for free and the 11 months can be intermittent) you get 2 permanent licenses.

So you can get for example the TB-303 and the Juno 106 for around 100 euro each (and you can also use all the other Cloud instruments for a year for that same price).

I'm not fond of the cloud either, but if you run the numbers, if you want 2 Roland vst's, you can get them for the average market price of around 100 euro (and have a license for 1 year for all their other stuff as well).

I can't comment on how Roland changed as a company as I am not familiar with their history but I've seen it happen with quite a number of other companies.

The YOURS loyalty rewards program currently only exists for members who were already signed up for it. So the option to get two instruments per year is not available for new subscribers. It's a shame too because that made the subscription tolerable IMO.

[Music Bird]

I use TB-strip, which doesn’t have a sequencer, and Squeekbox which does.

[Halonmusic]

I use TB-strip, which doesn’t have a sequencer, and Squeekbox which does.

TB Strip is pretty cool

[xalama qo]

https://www.audioblast.me/acidbox.html

Audio Blast Acid Box. I'd like to get my hands on this Really liked it when I demoed it when it came out. It seems a lot louder than Phoscyon, not that that means anything, maybe a built in limiter somewhere, but it has that Sylenth-like LOUD thing going on... Nice. Patterns are drag-able to the DAW, also nice.