Zenology Pro discussion

[tristan-]

I know we have a separate Roland Cloud thread, but its extensive and too much all over the place.
Due to the nature of this specific plugin, I think it deserves its own thread here on KVR.

I'm pretty stoked about Zenology Pro, I think its wonderful. I would love to hear your thoughts and share your experiences with this plugin.

One thing I do hope for, is to get more of the genuine SuperNatural acoustic sounds in. That is mostly guitars, brass, drums.

[gentleclockdivider]

What trademark technology ?
There is no circuit behaviour modelling , no supernatural for acoustic ,no variphrase etc
The abm expansions are just a macro layer on top of the zen core engine , with carefully tuned/scaled parameters .
It's just an expanded pcm engine with a few more enhancements like va filters /waveforms and osc sync + a new crossmod method , but then again it loses a lot of the structures
It's safe to say that it cant even replicate a simple structure found on the ancient roland romplers
Like this , 2 filters in a serial chain , modulating the frequencies independently ( each having their own lfo ) for band pass duties

Not saying it sounds bad , but it's nothing new really
No matter what woodie shack says

[tristan-]

What trademark technology ?
There is no circuit behaviour modelling , no supernatural for acoustic ,no variphrase etc
The abm expansions are just a macro layer on top of the zen core engine , with carefully tuned/scaled parameters .
It's just an expanded pcm engine with a few more enhancements like va filters /waveforms and osc sync + a new crossmod method , but then again it loses a lot of the structures
It's safe to say that it cant even replicate a simple structure found on the ancient roland romplers
Like this , 2 filters in a serial chain , modulating the frequencies independently ( each having their own lfo ) for band pass duties

Not saying it sounds bad , but it's nothing new really
No matter what woodie shack says

I won't argue with you, still though, its great sounding and has loads of wonderful patches.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

See: I think it sounds ok and has lots of usable patches.

[tristan-]

Ok, guys, come on. I was probably wrong opening this thread and liking this plugin.

OP, if possible delete this thread...

[Caesarg86]

Definitely been enjoying Zenology. It fits perfectly into my library of VST's. The sounds are great replications of Roland synths of the past, but can be further processed to sound current.

[fmr]

I'm going to add it to my list of perpetual licenses (I just got two more). But I am still in doubt. I asked if Zenology Pro comes with something else, or if the model expansions are considered "new synhs" (I suspect hey are). If that's the case I will probably hold on.

[Gribs]

I'm going to add it to my list of perpetual licenses (I just got two more). But I am still in doubt. I asked if Zenology Pro comes with something else, or if the model expansions are considered "new synhs" (I suspect hey are). If that's the case I will probably hold on.

The model expansions are indeed considered to be "new synths" and carry heavy additional costs for lifetime keys. I am using the 1-year Roland Cloud Unlimited deal that Roland gave to people who registered a Zen-core hardware unit (for me a MC 707).

I think Zenology Pro and the Zen-core hardware synth on the MC 707 sound really good. I will probably buy a lifetime key for Zenology Pro but not for the model expansions. I did quite a bit of listening to Jupiter X and Xm Zen-core sounds online, including comparisons with vintage hardware units, and to my old ears they sound remarkably close and certainly sufficiently close for mixes including the synths. I am not buying either of those two keyboards, though.

I noticed that Roland seems to be listening to input from customers on Zenology Pro, too. A recent update allowed us to resize the GUI which basically made it go from unusable to usable for me. If you wish to program your own complex patches for something like a MC 707 or especially for the MC 101 then I think it is a great tool.

The MC 707 and especially the MC 101 need something like an included real programmer, though. It doesn't have to be a thing that generates sound like Zenology Pro. It could be something like the programming software that Novation supplies for the Ultranova (my son has one of those) and the Circuit (I have one of those).

[sinemotor]

I really like the "Roland sound" because it works so well in any productions. It is simple and effective and you can stack many layers (it is the real power of Zenology for me). I'm also very nostalgic of the JV/XV type of sound. For a long time I wanted an Integra-7 VST so I'm glad they finally did something similar. I agree that SuperNatural Acoustic sounds would be a great addition!

Also, I don't know many soft synths that offer a modern VA+PCM samples engine and with such a large variety of functional sounds.

[Bippo]

I'm a fan of the "Roland sound", but to me the Zenology plugin was quite underwhelming.
I think the best thing Roland can do is to release a vst version of integra-7, I'm willing to pay 1000 bucks for that, no jokes.

[gentleclockdivider]

I'm a fan of the "Roland sound", but to me the Zenology plugin was quite underwhelming.
I think the best thing Roland can do is to release a vst version of integra-7, I'm willing to pay 1000 bucks for that, no jokes.

I have an integra , the pcm engine can be found in any of the cloud srx expansions , but you need to buy all the expansions for the cards (I only use srx 7 in my integra for the ana waveforms )
The SNA supernatural acoustic synth is not available as a vst (supernatural acoustic is fantastic) , same for the supernatural synth engine but you're not really mising anything..it's architecture is pretty limited , only 3 partials ( compared to the pcm engine ) albeit with much better filters , almost as good as the zencore VA filters.

[Bippo]

I'm a fan of the "Roland sound", but to me the Zenology plugin was quite underwhelming.
I think the best thing Roland can do is to release a vst version of integra-7, I'm willing to pay 1000 bucks for that, no jokes.

I have an integra , the pcm engine can be found in any of the cloud srx expansions , but you need to buy all the expansions for the cards (I only use srx 7 in my integra for the ana waveforms )
The SNA supernatural acoustic synth is not available as a vst (supernatural acoustic is fantastic) , same for the supernatural synth engine but you're not really mising anything..it's architecture is pretty limited , only 3 partials ( compared to the pcm engine ) albeit with much better filters , almost as good as the zencore VA filters.

Yeah, the old xv+srx soundset is less vital for me, the supernatural acoustic+synth+drum kits are the main deal for me.
Having all of those together in one, fast loading vst (like the zenology) can be the rolls royce of all vsts.

[Tj Shredder]

I only tried the free version. Usually I keep free stuff installed, but this one had to be uninstalled. It was nagging and keeping to communicate with some servers on the net even when not being used. It had to be removed and I will never ever have a look at Roland software. Best cure against GAS. Thanks for that...

[Amram]

I only tried the free version. Usually I keep free stuff installed, but this one had to be uninstalled. It was nagging and keeping to communicate with some servers on the net even when not being used. It had to be removed and I will never ever have a look at Roland software. Best cure against GAS. Thanks for that...

Their hardware are awesome

You should get the System 8.

[gentleclockdivider]

I only tried the free version. Usually I keep free stuff installed, but this one had to be uninstalled. It was nagging and keeping to communicate with some servers on the net even when not being used. It had to be removed and I will never ever have a look at Roland software. Best cure against GAS. Thanks for that...

I have the opposite experience , installed the demo 2. Years ago , demo ran out after a month ( as usual)
A year ago I created a new acount ( forgot password from previous one ) and now I am using the demo for one year , all the legacy plugins ,no noise whatsoever and saving abilities .
I think the cloud messed up both user acounts and disabled demo mode .
Me verry happy with roland’s screw up