Roland Cloud

[Echoes in the Attic]

Just as no one seems to be discussing it: how is everyone liking Zenology Pro so far? I like it, the sounds and waveforms and presets are terrific, it's pretty easy to use, but I think it sucks that it doesn't seem possible to load in custom waveforms. If that was in there, the scaling issue was solved and the plugin start up times fixed (this is really by far the most annoying thing about Roland Cloud next to the Roland Cloud manager which just constantly gets in some weird hanging state), this could be a go-to plugin for me. Unfortunately, it's not really there yet.

Finding it to be rather "meh"...
And the subscription model/cloud manager check in requirement is making it a definite no for me.

I have been playing with the XV5080 demo though and am much more impressed with it than the JV1080 I demoed last month. Being able to compare it with Zenology reveals the difference between them for me also.
If it wasn't for that periodic "must check-in" even with a "Lifetime" purchase, they might have closed me on the XV.
As it is now, it's just an enjoyable jaunt down memory lane until it stops working.

Cloud Jv 1080 and cloud xv5080 sound engines are exactly the same .

But the number of presets are not.
And while I find many of the XV presets to also be "meh", many of the additional ones are more impressive.

But neither are good enough to forget their history with this type of licensing scheme. Or at the "lifetime" price, which comes down to the lifetime of the manager and not the actual plugin.

Hi, BBFG#! Brian from Roland Cloud here. I just wanted to offer some info about the subscription vs. lifetime key debate. When we offered subscriptions to the Roland Cloud at a monthly or annual rate in order to make our library of sounds more accessible, we had a number of customers that requested lifetime keys to be able to use their favorite sounds without having to have continual payment, etc. We have listened to those that requested the Lifetime Keys and provided that option. The difference is just to accommodate the usage and needs of many different members of our community, based on their feedback. We're always working to make the Roland Cloud experience rewarding and inspiring. Thanks!

Although it's good that you now offer lifetime keys, I think the issue many people always had with the subscription model (aside from indefinitely recurring payments) was having to be online in case of when the license manager does it's license check. When I had a sub for a year, I also had the licenses fail to connect (no fault of my connection), so I was stuck for a while without being able to use the synths I had licenses for. And even now that I have some lifetime keys, I usually don't have the license manager installed and just chose alternatives instead. If you guys actually used a different license system for lifetime keys like most software, such as C/R (like you did for the Roland Content store), I would probably purchase more Roland products.

[Wes Kilbride]

Just as no one seems to be discussing it: how is everyone liking Zenology Pro so far? I like it, the sounds and waveforms and presets are terrific, it's pretty easy to use, but I think it sucks that it doesn't seem possible to load in custom waveforms. If that was in there, the scaling issue was solved and the plugin start up times fixed (this is really by far the most annoying thing about Roland Cloud next to the Roland Cloud manager which just constantly gets in some weird hanging state), this could be a go-to plugin for me. Unfortunately, it's not really there yet.

Finding it to be rather "meh"...
And the subscription model/cloud manager check in requirement is making it a definite no for me.

I have been playing with the XV5080 demo though and am much more impressed with it than the JV1080 I demoed last month. Being able to compare it with Zenology reveals the difference between them for me also.
If it wasn't for that periodic "must check-in" even with a "Lifetime" purchase, they might have closed me on the XV.
As it is now, it's just an enjoyable jaunt down memory lane until it stops working.

Cloud Jv 1080 and cloud xv5080 sound engines are exactly the same .

But the number of presets are not.
And while I find many of the XV presets to also be "meh", many of the additional ones are more impressive.

But neither are good enough to forget their history with this type of licensing scheme. Or at the "lifetime" price, which comes down to the lifetime of the manager and not the actual plugin.

Hi, BBFG#! Brian from Roland Cloud here. I just wanted to offer some info about the subscription vs. lifetime key debate. When we offered subscriptions to the Roland Cloud at a monthly or annual rate in order to make our library of sounds more accessible, we had a number of customers that requested lifetime keys to be able to use their favorite sounds without having to have continual payment, etc. We have listened to those that requested the Lifetime Keys and provided that option. The difference is just to accommodate the usage and needs of many different members of our community, based on their feedback. We're always working to make the Roland Cloud experience rewarding and inspiring. Thanks!

Although it's good that you now offer lifetime keys, I think the issue many people always had with the subscription model (aside from indefinitely recurring payments) was having to be online in case of when the license manager does it's license check. When I had a sub for a year, I also had the licenses fail to connect (no fault of my connection), so I was stuck for a while without being able to use the synths I had licenses for. And even now that I have some lifetime keys, I usually don't have the license manager installed and just chose alternatives instead. If you guys actually used a different license system for lifetime keys like most software, such as C/R (like you did for the Roland Content store), I would probably purchase more Roland products.

This overpriced musical buffet sounds like an ongoing pain in the ass. Why bother?

[Echoes in the Attic]

This overpriced musical buffet sounds like an ongoing pain in the ass. Why bother?

Exactly. But GAS works on stuff you own as well! Which is why sometimes I get a hankerin; for playing some roland cloud and install the cloud manager, then realize I don't need it and remove it, then later want it again, etc..

[Examigan]

I like the XV-5080 a lot, but I wish it wasn't tied to the Cloud manager.

[BBFG#]

Raises the question on why they even have the JV still... and at that price.
But all the lifetime licenses would be more attractive if they weren't tired to a manager when they have a history of letting other managers die to move on to their next sale venture/strategy. I've got more Roland products than I care to admit to now since the few that still work may stop working at any time if I attempt to update or change the hardware I have them on now.

[Introspective]

I promise I didn't come here just to complain about this, but since I'm here...

I actually really loved Roland Cloud. I mean, the synths themselves sound GREAT, to my ears. I love the patch designs, for the most part. Covers a lot of sonic territory, and really well.

I'm heading toward the end of my first year of Cloud subscription, and when I saw the sale they were having on Zenology with all of the emulations, I thought "oh, hey! That's worth buying." (It includes another year of subscription, too.) I had the money ready, and bought it (you MUST buy it through the app, there is no way to do it in a browser, but that's not problem. Just noting.)

The purchase failed "for security reasons" going through PayPal. ...No big deal, I thought: I'll just use my bank account directly.

But, no, they said my bank needed some "verification process," involving a small, <$2 charge, which they'll reverse within three hours. I've done this before (had to do it to set up PayPal, after all). No biggie.

...but that transfer never showed up. I tried again. Same: nothing came through.

It was Sunday, so I shrugged this off and, come Monday, tried again. Same thing: I never saw the "micro transaction" or whatever you want to call it.

Okay, okay, so maybe I should stick with my PP account, since that's all set up. Maybe the "security reason" was that I didn't have the full amount available in my PP account directly. I transfer the money over there, so it'll be ready. This takes two days. I wait patiently.

It doesn't work. Same thing: "security reasons."

Alright, FINE. I look for tech support: no option to call, it's either chat or email. I choose chat.

The chatbot (or is it a person? Hard to tell) regurgitates the same things that the UI said to me. I explain the situation. It says I need to "call my bank for assistance."

Well, pardon me, but: that's bullshit. I know this works, I've done it before. I can see the "pending" transaction for something I just bought at the convenince store 20 minutes ago. It works with my bank. I'm not calling them, fruitlessly, so they can tell me "nah, we don't see it."

I contact Roland tech support directly (Email only? Fine.), asking for some kind of phone system I can call and place the order. I am polite, but I make it clear: this is it. Last chance. I'm not going to be bounced around; you are going to lose a customer if you do not help me.

No, I am told, quickly and politely: not our f**king problem, you must deal with the middleman, whatever they're called (sorry, I forget the name; who cares? I'm not dealing with them, I am buying a product from Roland).

My answer: "Thanks for your response, that tells me what I need to know. You may want to tell your manager that [middleman] is responsible for a lost customer."

f**k THIS. I delete Roland Cloud within minutes of receiving that email.

I wish them luck. I do. I'm sure my bank is just some weird one-off problem that no one else will ever deal with and it's not worth their time to get my $500. ...but... f**k ME, it's annoying as hell, and I don't have to take it. So: good day to them.

Apologies for the profanity. I feel strongly about this. I really liked those synths. (But I don't need them.)

[JamminFool]

I'm heading toward the end of my first year of Cloud subscription, and when I saw the sale they were having on Zenology with all of the emulations, I thought "oh, hey! That's worth buying." (It includes another year of subscription, too.)

Actually, probably good that it failed, since you would have been disappointed to find out that the "includes a year subscription" only applies to new accounts.

[bnz]

Thats interesting. The website states "As a bonus, this collection includes one free year of Ultimate Membership for new subscribers, giving access to everything in Roland Cloud. ". It makes you wonder what a new subscriber is. Someone with no account at all or as well someone who just has a free account who doesn't pay for any subscription (and explicitly "no subscription" listed on the account page). If it accounts for just new accounts only, I'd might just take the Zen Pro refund I have just requested and not buy the package at all instead. I don't like sales practices that do hairsplitting in their fineprint.

[bnz]

Having taken a look at the sale webpage once more, they manage to have three kind of different conditions for the ultimate deal within one page:

1) "As a bonus, this collection includes one free year of Ultimate Membership for new subscribers, giving access to everything in Roland Cloud. "

=> new subscribers implies that everyone gets ultimate who is not paying for a subscription. In my book "free" isn't a subscription, but just an account.

2) "New customers receive one year of Roland Cloud Ultimate Membership for FREE ($199 value) "

=> This implies you only get ultimate if you are not a customer. I'm not sure how they want to figure out whether I have a Roland device in my rack that I have bought 30 years ago. Maybe they have an odd understand of what counts as a customer.

3) "Not a member of Roland Cloud yet? Get one-year of our Ultimate Membership for FREE when you purchase the Analog Icons Lifetime Key Collection."

=> This implies you get ultimate if you are not yet a member of the Roland cloud, i.e., if you don't have a Roland Cloud account yet.

Pretty confusing if you ask me. When I get the refund, I'll ask before whether I qualify for the deal before I spend the money.

[JamminFool]

i take it to mean if you have never been a subscriber.

but you are right; they have a way of making everything they do unnecessarily confusing.

i would consider this deal if they gave the "year of Ultimate subscription" to everyone. but rewarding existing customers doesn't seem to be part of the business model. go figure.

[WatchTheGuitar]

i take it to mean if you have never been a subscriber.

but you are right; they have a way of making everything they do unnecessarily confusing.

i would consider this deal if they gave the "year of Ultimate subscription" to everyone. but rewarding existing customers doesn't seem to be part of the business model. go figure.

The very least they could do is if you already have an annual Ultimate cloud sub, add an extra year to it. Simple.

[JamminFool]

i take it to mean if you have never been a subscriber.

but you are right; they have a way of making everything they do unnecessarily confusing.

i would consider this deal if they gave the "year of Ultimate subscription" to everyone. but rewarding existing customers doesn't seem to be part of the business model. go figure.

The very least they could do is if you already have an annual Ultimate cloud sub, add an extra year to it. Simple.

exactly.

[bnz]

i take it to mean if you have never been a subscriber.

That reminded me that I have received a free month of either pro or ultimate when I signed up. Does that make me a subscriber when I have never paid for it? The more I think about it, the more confusing it gets. I agree they should just give the year regardless of any strange conditions that have so much room for interpretation.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

When in doubt, email their support. Those folks respond quickly.

[bnz]

Just asked as they processed my refund already on Sunday which is actually pretty awesome. They also confirmed that I'm eligible for the bonus which is great. I can only suggest for anyone in doubt to ask as well.