ROLI does release a new seaboard

[medienhexer]

I don’t know, Roli didn’t have to buy fxpansion. If I remember correctly, that wasn’t cheap and at the time read like a power move they had to know was too much.

[Amberience]

I don’t know, Roli didn’t have to buy fxpansion. If I remember correctly, that wasn’t cheap and at the time read like a power move they had to know was too much.

And they destroyed it.

[medienhexer]

I don’t know, Roli didn’t have to buy fxpansion. If I remember correctly, that wasn’t cheap and at the time read like a power move they had to know was too much.

And they destroyed it.

I have both, fxpansion synths and bfd licenses. I can only judge from the outside, but bfd never got enough attention before roli, either, did it? Breakups are never good but aren’t you currently in the best situation in years, having complete focus on one product? Wouldn’t Behringer be giving you the resources, seeing their DAW strategy?

[Amberience]

I don’t know, Roli didn’t have to buy fxpansion. If I remember correctly, that wasn’t cheap and at the time read like a power move they had to know was too much.

And they destroyed it.

I have both, fxpansion synths and bfd licenses. I can only judge from the outside, but bfd never got enough attention before roli, either, did it? Breakups are never good but aren’t you currently in the best situation in years, having complete focus on one product? Wouldn’t Behringer be giving you the resources, seeing their DAW strategy?

Hmmm, in many respects, FXpansion *was* BFD - it more or less funded everything else. It got plenty of attention until ROLI bought FX. BFD3 came out in 2013, and ROLI bought FX in 2016; there were quite a few expansion packs and groove packs that came out, but software updates more or less stopped once ROLI owned us.

I won't go into too much detail, but our situation now is markedly different. And over the coming years, we will start to see our recent efforts come to fruition.

[BONES]

Actually, I remember a couple of ROLI employees leaving in tears. And many others, like me, who left in various states of disgust/burn-out/incredulity/simply-had-enough-of-this-ridiculous-BS.

Irrelevant.

Also all these angry people: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/roli.com

people only leave those reviews to complain. It' smore surprising there is even one positive review.

..and all the disgruntled customers posting on all of ROLI's social channels.

Again, happy customers don't bother. I've got 10 Roli hardware products and all the attendant software and I've had nothing but positive experiences. I've contacted support a couple of times and received timely and helpful responses.

..and the suppliers who lost millions of dollars they were owed by ROLI when it went bust, and the UK taxpayers, who lost over £4m, and all the angel investors, and the original team-members whose shares were wiped out, etc etc.

Again, irrelevant.

But what really bothers me about this new seaboard launch is that people who are unaware of ROLI's reputation of total-failure-to-execute

Pardon? In my experience Roli execute extremely well. My Seaboard and Blocks are all absolutely f**king brilliant and Equator is definitely one of my Top 10 instruments.

And there's a good chance they're going to lose their hard-earned cash if the product never makes it out of the factory.

Name one Roli product that hasn't made it out of the factory after pre-orders.

I love my Roli stuff, I've had nothing but good experiences with support and I wouldn't hesitate to buy their products in the future. In fact, I've been trying to buy a Lumi Keys for ages but they won't sell them in Australia until they get regulatory approval.

[rod_zero]

Actually, I remember a couple of ROLI employees leaving in tears. And many others, like me, who left in various states of disgust/burn-out/incredulity/simply-had-enough-of-this-ridiculous-BS.

Irrelevant.

Also all these angry people: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/roli.com

people only leave those reviews to complain. It' smore surprising there is even one positive review.

..and all the disgruntled customers posting on all of ROLI's social channels.

Again, happy customers don't bother. I've got 10 Roli hardware products and all the attendant software and I've had nothing but positive experiences. I've contacted support a couple of times and received timely and helpful responses.

..and the suppliers who lost millions of dollars they were owed by ROLI when it went bust, and the UK taxpayers, who lost over £4m, and all the angel investors, and the original team-members whose shares were wiped out, etc etc.

Again, irrelevant.

But what really bothers me about this new seaboard launch is that people who are unaware of ROLI's reputation of total-failure-to-execute

Pardon? In my experience Roli execute extremely well. My Seaboard and Blocks are all absolutely f**king brilliant and Equator is definitely one of my Top 10 instruments.

And there's a good chance they're going to lose their hard-earned cash if the product never makes it out of the factory.

Name one Roli product that hasn't made it out of the factory after pre-orders.

I love my Roli stuff, I've had nothing but good experiences with support and I wouldn't hesitate to buy their products in the future. In fact, I've been trying to buy a Lumi Keys for ages but they won't sell them in Australia until they get regulatory approval.

irrelevant

[BONES]

Yeah, right. 10 products, no problems in 4 or 5 years of use, what the f**k would I know, right? Why go with someone who has actual, first-hand experience when 25 negative reviews from thousands of customers agrees with your personal bias that's based on zero actual experience? The stupidity of some of the shit that gets posted here is beyond f**king belief.

[vad.martyn]

They should rename to iRolling

[machinesworking]

people only leave those reviews to complain. It' smore surprising there is even one positive review.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/motu.com
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.ableton.com
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/spitfireaudio.com
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.pluginboutique.com
Goes against that conclusion.

In most cases there's not enough actual data to really draw any factual conclusion, but looking at trusted companies VS ones who have a reputation that's not so great. It fits in with the narrative.

NI for instance.
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.na ... uments.com

Or a company that has mixed reactions on forums like iZotope being closer to even in good and bad ratings.
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/izotope.com

BTW spitting "irrelevant" at people who used to work at Roli in this thread is about the most knuckle-headed thing you could do. It also goes flatly against your idea that real life experience is important when evaluating a company. I own 4 products from them, I had to return my first Seaboard Block, and Equator had serious issues with Bitwig that was on Roli's side, anecdotal evidence isn't really that great, but real work experience with the company trumps our customer stories, I think that's obvious.

You've just decided to be their defender™ at all costs it seems, which lacks all nuance. I don't mind them, but I think they've entered NI and iZotope territory where I can't defend their decisions, while still using and enjoying their products. I mean people are talking about them hemorrhaging and going bankrupt, and you're shouting it down because you like your Block..

[EvilDragon]

First Rise 49 I got had issues with the glue keeping the actual surface together, and it started to separate itself on touching it (kinda hard to explain - basically the surface doesn't "stay put", it lifts along with your finger, as if it got stuck somehow. Feels shitty). Thomann replaced it. Second one was fine, for two months, then the same issue happened. Third one was good for about a year and a half... then the same friggin issue started happening.

Yeah, ok. Looks like they can't manufacture a solid product that can last a long time without an issue.

[vad.martyn]

Reminds me of NI KK S61 Mk1 where pitch band and mod ribbons after a while would start glitching. Before that I had NI KK A61 which was randomly transmitting mod wheel data. NI quoted me for repair more than half the price of what I paid new for those controllers.
But I love the KK integration especially the searching for patches using the kk knobs so much that I’m considering NI KK S61 MKII. Hope NI got the mkII version made properly.

[EvilDragon]

My S49mkII is really rock solid.

[zerocrossing]

First Rise 49 I got had issues with the glue keeping the actual surface together, and it started to separate itself on touching it (kinda hard to explain - basically the surface doesn't "stay put", it lifts along with your finger, as if it got stuck somehow. Feels shitty). Thomann replaced it. Second one was fine, for two months, then the same issue happened. Third one was good for about a year and a half... then the same friggin issue started happening.

Yeah, ok. Looks like they can't manufacture a solid product that can last a long time without an issue.

I’ve had my Rise 49 since October of 2016 and it’s never had any type of issue like the ones you describe. Maybe there was a bad batch that got sent to Croatia?

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

First Rise 49 I got had issues with the glue keeping the actual surface together, and it started to separate itself on touching it (kinda hard to explain - basically the surface doesn't "stay put", it lifts along with your finger, as if it got stuck somehow. Feels shitty). Thomann replaced it. Second one was fine, for two months, then the same issue happened. Third one was good for about a year and a half... then the same friggin issue started happening.

Yeah, ok. Looks like they can't manufacture a solid product that can last a long time without an issue.

I had a USB port [or something] go on one. It would power the device but not be recognized by any PC or Mac. In fact, Bluetooth didn't work either so it probably wasn't the USB port now that I think about it some more.

I'd love to see how the build-quality holds up in the long-term. The frets were a nice touch and I could see that being a big improvement. But I honestly can't see myself buying anything from Roli unless 1) I know it's going to last, 2) I feel like Roli is also going to last.

Overall though, the new Seaboard feels like a miss. Things I would've wanted:

1. Ability to store presets for the Seaboard on the hardware itself. Why not just offer 5 or 6 presets with different device settings so you never have to open the Roli Dashboard?

2. A few physical knobs. This is a MIDI controller keyboard. Do MIDI controller keyboard things.

3. Why call out a new enclosure as an improvement to the build quality? The enclosure breaking wasn't an issue. The old ones had strong enclosures too.

4. Confidence in their ability to deliver this and not go under. Nothing about what Roli's done on this release tells me anything has improved over there. Is the same CEO running the show? Are they manufacturing things in the same place, the same way? What lessons learned have their been?

So this is a pass for me for now. If these things actually hold up and Roli sticks around, I may consider it.

[Ou_Tis]

It's incredible cool and expressive but I would assume (for a skilled keyboarder, what I not am), that for normal goto tasks a classic keyboard is much more usable. On the seaboard it's pretty hard to get tuned voices out. You have to be damn contentrated and be precise on millimeters, else everything sounds odd. Therer are nice performances with the seaboard on YT, but it's a difference to play on song for demonstration or for hours on a concert or in the studio on that level.

They've added tactile and visual markers for where the middle of the key is, so it should be much easier on the Rise 2. Also, IDK about the old Rise but my Seaboard Blocks default to the exact note when you first strike/press a keywave (as opposed to gliding into it) no matter where you strike on the keywave, so it's not difficult to play it in tune. I don't find gliding from one note to the next difficult---though the narrower keys may make that easier. Might be trickier on the Rise 2 with even wider keys than the Rise, if they didn't have those tactile/visual markers....

"... The big change ... is the addition of frets to the keyboard’s playing surface — subtle ridges running down the center of each key.

Offering users a keyboard with a smooth, continuous playing surface has always been [part of] the appeal of the Seaboard range. It’s this feature (combined with supporting software) that allows musicians to blend and bend notes on a Seaboard like they would on a guitar. But ... this also made the instrument difficult for some players, meaning they had to rely too much on vision to hit the right note, rather than feeling their way from key to key. The new frets... offer a physical map that solve this problem.

“It’s a relatively small change but it’s a hugely impactful change, in terms of how people play, and precision, and getting started,”"

https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/30/2300 ... er-details