Roland Cloud

[mholloway]

here's my thoughts on Roland Cloud 2020, having recently cancelled again; I'm not a current subscriber, but I used to be up until recently, and got my 'two licenses forever' thing due to a year of subscription, etc.

What's most weird to me is how the quality of the UIs varies enormously between different groups of the plugins. It seems clear (and perhaps obvious) that they have different teams assigned to these things, or perhaps it's a difference between older and newer cloud plugins?

Point being: the TB-303, 808-909, and JX3p have really great interfaces that feel responsive, intuitive, and actually, you know, LOOK good.

Nearly everything else has a weird UI with all kinds of bogus decisions, to name a few: low-note priority on the SH-2, which I will never get used to; the fact that 'disabling' the keyboard view actually just makes two-thirds of the keyboard disappear while the rest is still there, cut-off graphically...
They did finally fix the rotary-only knob control, at least. That was a big fix on an utterly baffling initial design choice.
The filter cutoff still steps horribly when controlled by mouse on most of the synths (it's fine via modulation, automation and remote control -- but mouse click+drag on the cutoff knob is absolutely wretched with stepping).

If they updated the older synths to be like the 303 and JX3P, they'd really have something going on.

The focus recently on dumping SRX libraries into the Cloud is just a waste of everyone's time, it's mostly garbage throughout.

IMHO it really needs a 606 -- one that matches the (incredibly high) quality of the 808 and 909 the cloud already has, and to play drum-sister to the (utterly fantastic) TB-303 emulation they've done.

So, again: 808, 909, 303 and JX3P -- top the game stuff, great both sonically and UI-wise. Everything else, either 1) total junk like the SRX stuff or 2) sounds quite good but has a baffling UI.

I should note I haven't messed with the D-50 because I never cared about the D-50 synth / sounds, I think it's like the M1 -- nostalgia value only, the thing really isn't that cool and the famous presets are cheesey as hell. IMHO!

If they add a 606 I'll probably re-subscribe so I can have that + the ones mentioned above that I really, really dig.

[SLiC]

The focus recently on dumping SRX libraries into the Cloud is just a waste of everyone's time, it's mostly garbage throughout.

This. I canceled about a year ago, no incentive at all to re-subscribe. I can only assume they lost their coders, no interest in the rompers.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

The focus recently on dumping SRX libraries into the Cloud is just a waste of everyone's time, it's mostly garbage throughout.

This. I canceled about a year ago, no incentive at all to re-subscribe. I can only assume they lost their coders, no interest in the rompers.

In my head, it's clear that Roland Japan coded the boutique, ACB/DCB and Aria synths and those were ported to the VST plugins. But at the same time, the other plugins were probably coded by a different team. Until Roland announces new boutiques, I'm not expecting anything fun. But we'll get more SRX, Terra, whatever other sample based content they feel like throwing out.

[Caine123]

hey guys, i cannot still login in my cloud app, my login is correct as it works in the browser, i saw that i got an old version of the app 1.4 and the new one is 2.4. but the new version doesnt give me the option to update my old installation. so i wanted to delete my old version but then it says IT WILL DELETE everything in my folder. how did you update?

and here some more info @loyalty program

lol the cloud gets more a joke, after asking why i have no option to choose my new instruments forever i got this:

Hi xxx, It'll be fixed at a later date. ​ Regards, xxx

[Examigan]

Is it still possible to get one of their plugins (forever) after one year? Also do you really have to wait 12 months to claim it even if you pay for 12 months up front?

[Raphie]

Same question here, happy to pay for 1 year if i get 2 perpetual licenses now, I’ve got no interest in the service itself

[EnochLight]

Is it still possible to get one of their plugins (forever) after one year? Also do you really have to wait 12 months to claim it even if you pay for 12 months up front?

Yes and yes.

[mholloway]

Is it still possible to get one of their plugins (forever) after one year? Also do you really have to wait 12 months to claim it even if you pay for 12 months up front?

Yes and yes.

For what it's worth, when I completed 12 months, they gave me 2 (two) licenses, not one.I used them to claim the 808 and the Juno 106.
I have no idea if that would happen again after another 12 months, or if that was a 'first time' bonus....anybody know? Would certainly be good to know!

(As has been previously discussed at length, actually using the 'claimed' licenses still requires an active, albeit unpaid, RolandCloud account. So it's not really the same as just having VSTs for the instruments you choose to claim. You are still tied into the Cloud account system, even if you aren't paying for it).

[RobGee]

Unless they come out with a V-Synth, Alpha Juno or some of their effects there’s not really much of interest to me...

[EnochLight]

For what it's worth, when I completed 12 months, they gave me 2 (two) licenses, not one.I used them to claim the 808 and the Juno 106.
I have no idea if that would happen again after another 12 months, or if that was a 'first time' bonus....anybody know? Would certainly be good to know!

(As has been previously discussed at length, actually using the 'claimed' licenses still requires an active, albeit unpaid, RolandCloud account. So it's not really the same as just having VSTs for the instruments you choose to claim. You are still tied into the Cloud account system, even if you aren't paying for it).

Yeah, I think that's what happened to me as well - I ended up with 2 "forever" licenses after that first year. Nabbed the Juno 106 and SH-1, though I may switch it out with the Jupiter 8.

[mholloway]

Yeah, I think that's what happened to me as well - I ended up with 2 "forever" licenses after that first year. Nabbed the Juno 106 and SH-1, though I may switch it out with the Jupiter 8.

Whoa, you are suggesting that you can 'switch out' the claimed licenses? I've seen no infrastructure for doing that on the (rather minimal) Roland Cloud Account page... are you sure this is possible, and if so, how? I would gladly trade my Juno 106 for the JX3P -- the latter has a far better UI and the functionality of the 106 is totally covered by having TAL U-No-LX (even if it's technically a 60, not a 106).

I'm not sure how what you're suggesting is possible.... here is the sum total of the User Account screen, insofar as the 'forever licenses' are concerned (the 'choose your instrument' text is not a link, it does nothing):

Screen Shot 2020-04-10 at 12.36.33 PM.png

[EnochLight]

Whoa, you are suggesting that you can 'switch out' the claimed licenses? I've seen no infrastructure for doing that on the (rather minimal) Roland Cloud Account page... are you sure this is possible, and if so, how? I would gladly trade my Juno 106 for the JX3P -- the latter has a far better UI and the functionality of the 106 is totally covered by having TAL U-No-LX (even if it's technically a 60, not a 106).

I'm not sure how what you're suggesting is possible.... here is the sum total of the User Account screen, insofar as the 'forever licenses' are concerned (the 'choose your instrument' text is not a link, it does nothing):

Screen Shot 2020-04-10 at 12.36.33 PM.png

If you have an active sub, your Loyalty Reward screen should look like this:

loyality_with_sub.jpg

Hit the red trash can delete button, and you can choose a different plugin.

[mholloway]

If you have an active sub, your Loyalty Reward screen should look like this:
<img>
Hit the red trash can delete button, and you can choose a different plugin.

Do you mean an active paid subscription, then? Because I have an 'active account' -- I have to have one, in order to use my claimed instruments, but I'm not currently paying a monthly fee, and those icons (as you can see in my pic) are obviously not there....

So I'm assuming this functionality is only available to people who are currently paying for a subscription...? Hopefully the system actually works, and if you hit the trash icon, you immediately get to choose a new one. Let me know if you try it out!

[PatchAdamz]

The focus recently on dumping SRX libraries into the Cloud is just a waste of everyone's time, it's mostly garbage throughout.

This. I canceled about a year ago, no incentive at all to re-subscribe.

It would be nice if the subscription offered a single permanent plugin license yearly.
I think this would be more incentive for many users.

[EnochLight]

Do you mean an active paid subscription, then? Because I have an 'active account' -- I have to have one, in order to use my claimed instruments, but I'm not currently paying a monthly fee, and those icons (as you can see in my pic) are obviously not there....

So I'm assuming this functionality is only available to people who are currently paying for a subscription...? Hopefully the system actually works, and if you hit the trash icon, you immediately get to choose a new one. Let me know if you try it out!

Yes, an active sub = active paid subscription. And yes, it works fine. Just switched out my SH-101 for a Jupiter 8 a few minutes ago. Simples. And you can switch shit out as much as you want, just as long as your sub is active.

So subscribe for 1 month or something, and you'll be able to switch your lifetime stuff out. Then cancel your sub. Fin!

loyality_with_sub_2.jpg

loyality_with_sub_3.jpg