KVR Audio

WatchTheGuitar · Post by **WatchTheGuitar** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:12 am

Just installed Zenology Lite too and it's pretty good for a freebie.

Also noticed there are some preset libraries I could grab for free for my 303 and System-8 'lifetime' instruments so glad I logged into Roland Cloud for once.

fmr · Post by **fmr** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:14 am

thenumber23 wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 7:22 am I just installed Zenology, and I'm impressed. It basically brings the entire older Roland sample soundsets into one plugin, with good search and virtually instant loading of presets. The main plugin includes the XV-5080 sounds, and there are 15 expansions which seem to mimic the SRX series (I checked Orchestral, and both patch names and sounds seemed identical).

If I'm reading it correctly, if purchased outright, each Zenology expansion is $20 (vs $69 for the SRX plugins), and the Roland site implies Zenology Lite (which I haven't seen yet) is free. That could mean all XV+SRX sounds for $300 lifetime.

Yes, but SRX comes with a full featured "synth", while Zenology is essentially a ROMpler, with very limited edition. Someone compared it with UVI Workstation, but even UVI Workstation offers more editing possibilities, IMO.

Roland keeps adding sample packs, when what people wants and have been asking for is real emulations of the old synths.

Aloysius · Post by **Aloysius** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:22 am

More sample packs please

WatchTheGuitar · Post by **WatchTheGuitar** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:23 am

fmr wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 10:14 am Roland keeps adding sample packs, when what people wants and have been asking for is real emulations of the old synths.

I don't care if the UI looks like the old synths, in fact in most cases I'd prefer they didn't as they don't scale well, it's the sounds and editing depth I'm interested in. If there's a control in there that does the same job as on the original hardware that I can link via a MIDI CC to my controller surface then that's good enough for me.
If Zenology Pro means all the synths are available via a common interface and especially a decent way to tag, edit, rename, store and recall presets and store controller settings then that's ideal IMO.

Robmobius · Post by **Robmobius** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:27 am

Offering lifetime keys... Finally.

Ingonator · Post by **Ingonator** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:49 am

Several of the "typical digital", acoustic and/or "typical ROMpler" sounds in the free version of Zenology do indeed sound nice. Those presets that try to replicate analog sounds which should be based on a dedicated VA engine IMHO do sound much worse than what i could get from e.g. the Jupiter-8 and System-8 plugins for which i got lifetime licenses (and System-8 also includes Jupiter-8 + Juno-106 filters).

Currently i only got access to a fraction of the available presets for Zenology but concerning the VA engine i am not impressed from what i heard so far.

WatchTheGuitar · Post by **WatchTheGuitar** » Tue May 12, 2020 10:55 am

Ingonator wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 10:49 am Several of the "typical digital", acoustic and/or "typical ROMpler" sounds in the free version of Zenology do indeed sound nice. Those presets that try to replicate analog sounds which should be based on a dedicated VA engine IMHO do sound much worse than what i could get from e.g. the Jupiter-8 and System-8 plugins for which i got lifetime licenses (and System-8 also includes Jupiter-8 + Juno-106 filters).

Currently i only got access to a fraction of the available presets for Zenology but concerning the VA engine i am not impressed from what i heard so far.

One thing I discovered in the Zenology settings is that there's a voices setting in the Menu - the default is in the middle. If you whack it up to "Voice Limit Light" then the sound improves on some of the patches (with added CPU load naturally).

In the Lite version one thing that's obvious is that just about all the synth lead sounds are f**king terrible.

AcrossTheSky · Post by **AcrossTheSky** » Tue May 12, 2020 11:13 am

99$ a year + rent-to-own @ the same time for ultimate would be better..like reason studios. = more users, more fun,more music,more profit = everyone happy.
too expensive to get all the legendary synths
I guess lifetime license = no resell option.

what did the fish say when he ran into the wall?
.
.
Dam.

Aloysius · Post by **Aloysius** » Tue May 12, 2020 11:23 am

pollocks?

gentleclockdivider · Post by **gentleclockdivider** » Tue May 12, 2020 12:00 pm

Robmobius wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 10:27 am Offering lifetime keys... Finally.

But your account needs to be activated at all times , which imho sucks

Martkorg · Post by **Martkorg** » Tue May 12, 2020 12:06 pm

What's Zenology like on the CPU usage?
I had some Roland products before, some of the SRX modules were using 20% CPU

And a mate has the Roland System 8 said that uses 30% and above

Examigan · Post by **Examigan** » Tue May 12, 2020 12:25 pm

Funkybot's Evil Twin wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 1:58 am I was due two lifetime instruments this month. I hope that didn't go away! Not going to freak out about it and assume the worst. Glad they're offering lifetime keys. Just some ideas on pricing...

D-50: $149
Jupiter-8: $149
JX-3P: $129
TB-303: $149
JV-1080/XV-5080: $149
SRX Expansions: $69
System-1: $99

Are those the actual prices or did you mean that's what you hope they price them at? I don't have membership to check, and didn't see the individual prices on the site. Also does it mean you'd need at least a 1 year membership and then pay for the lifetime key on top of that membership cost?

For instance, say I wanted the D-50 plugin...so would it be $99 for a year, plus the $149 but I keep the plugin forever?

Ingonator · Post by **Ingonator** » Tue May 12, 2020 12:34 pm

Martkorg wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:06 pm And a mate has the Roland System 8 said that uses 30% and above

At my mobile i7-7700HQ Quad-Core CPU the CPU usage in Live 10 shows up to 30% but that is independent of how many voices you play which means it will never exceed that percentage no matter if you play 1 or 8 voices.

You can reduce CPU usage by using a smaller voice limit like e.g. 6 voices and/or by actiaving the "Optimize For Lower CPU Usage" option from the OPTIONS menu. Similar options are available for the Jupiter-8 plugin.

With this CPU i can use up to 5 instances of the System-8 plugin when each of them uses up to 8 voices and without using the "Optimize For Lower CPU Usage" feature. With that feature activated i could use more instances of the plugin and also when using a smaller voice limit for some of them. You will hardly need the full 8 voices for all instances used in a song.

Stefken · Post by **Stefken** » Tue May 12, 2020 12:40 pm

Examigan wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:25 pm Also does it mean you'd need at least a 1 year membership and then pay for the lifetime key on top of that membership cost?

Quote: Sign up for a free Roland Account and start using Roland Cloud today. Explore the ZENOLOGY Lite software synthesizer, get new sounds for your Roland hardware, and purchase Memberships or Lifetime Keys for instruments, sounds, and more.

> I guess that's a no.

rezoneight · Post by **rezoneight** » Tue May 12, 2020 12:58 pm

gentleclockdivider wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 12:00 pm
Robmobius wrote: Tue May 12, 2020 10:27 am Offering lifetime keys... Finally.
But your account needs to be activated at all times , which imho sucks

That is no different than Arturia or Native Instruments. I mean yes its not just put in a registration code and live your life but this model isn't new or overbearing by any means. Is it really that hard to keep a free login with Roland?

Roland Cloud - big change