Emulations of Roland gear (synths, drum machines and FXs)

[nineofkings]

And here we go again...

[Sendy]

Regardless of what ABL Pro sounds more like, within the correct parameter ranges and when triggered by the inbuilt sequencer it can make 303 riffs with the best of them. Really I suppose it's some weird fusion between an MC-202 and a 303, and it smacks of Roland, so I'd class it as "emulative" even if not strictly "an emulation".

Also, the LFO can track the keyboard if you patch it in, and it's waveforms sound a bit different (the saw lacks the roland "belly" which IMO always gave Roland saws a bit of thin-ness) so it really opens up what you can do.

[Echoes in the Attic]

The ABL pro is basically 2 Audio Realism Basslines fused into a modular synth and equipped with some extra waveforms.

The code is build on the same as AR Bassline and that is modeled on TB303. And as a owner I can tell you that it can do TB303 stuff very convincingly. It can do some 101 and 202 like things but to a limited extent. Remember that both the 101 and 202 only have one VCO with three additive waveforms saw, pulze (with PWM) and a sub square. Thus to recreate a sh101 sound that takes advantage of all three waveforms at the same time you need an extra OSC on the ABL pro. As far as I recall at the spot, you can use the MG as an extra sound source but it does not follow the keyboard pitch.

Cheers

Edit: It is true it has different filter modes to cover both 202 and 303 sounds. At their FAQ they write:

Q: Is ABL Pro a 303, 202 or an emulation of any other box? A: ABL Pro is not a strict emulation of anything, although it can reproduce the sound of some of the vintage boxes. For strict 303 sounds, use ABL.

And this:

Q:What are the similarities and differences between ABL and ABL Pro?
A: ABL Pro and ABL share the sawtooth and squarewave oscillators, however in ABL Pro they have been extended in range to cover the whole keyboard. ABL Pro also has an extra set of oscillators which have lower cpu consumption. ABL Pro also has different filters, although one of these filters (the legacy 18dB) is similar to ABL's. Also the accent differs between ABL Pro and ABL

At worst it is general emulator but nevertheless it miss one OSC to fully cover a sh101 or 202, whereas it easily recreates TB303 sounds.

Cheers

The third osc can track by pitch by patching it that way.

Sure one of it's filters is close to 303 but the default filter seems to be emulated after the 202, as the comparison examples on the website show. Either way, it's a nice combination and an overlooked synth imho.

[IncarnateX]

The third osc can track by pitch by patching it that way.

Yes. I checked it to make sure and it seems I have a bad memory. Actually it is quite easy to make the MG track the keyboard. My bad, sorry.

Sure one of it's filters is close to 303 but the default filter seems to be emulated after the 202, as the comparison examples on the website show..

As far as I recall it was originally meant to be a "TB303 on steriods". However, it developed far beyond that and the dev actually changed it's name to "Audio Realism Semi Modular". Obviously he did not hold on to that. However as they write it still shares the Saw and Square with the AR Bassline and has a 18 db filter 303 mode, which is the same as the Bassline and this can make it sound quite similar to the Bassline.

Either way, it's a nice combination and an overlooked synth imho.

Indeed. It is a great semi modular little bastard that never got the attention it deserves.

[Ingonator]

Apparently Oxium sounds exactly like a Jupiter 8. I'm quite surprised that it hasn't been mentioned several times already.

Yes but what does that have to do with the discussion of Synth 1 being mentioned in a thread about Roland emulations? Might as well bring up OPX Pro II while we're at it...no one has discussed the sound quality of the emulations just the fact that they are at least loosely emulating Roland gear which Synth 1 has never claimed to do even though it can make some similar sounds.... ( and notice the number of in my posts here....it's all in good fun)

I wanted to avoid this as by my experience there will some trouble and this thread will get derailed. Both Oxium threads seem to be
Anyway i am planning to add a 5th section called "synths that sound like Roland gera" (or similar) to the list. Anyway first i wanted to only add plugins that were supposed to emulate Roland gear and did not have a comparable sound by "accidient".
Finally it was not me who claimed that Oxium was a Jupiter 8 emulation, i just programmed 2 (!!) sounds which recreate Jupiter 8 sound so far (where one is included with he factory sounds and started the discussion...) which is too early to call it an emulation. We could discuss it again when either Lotuzia or myself got more examples...
Firts i want to finish reprogramming the original Jupiter 8 patch sheets on Arturia Jupiter 8V which i want to publish for free then.

The results which Peter got with OP-X Pro II are excellent indeed which is why OP-X Pro II could be added to the new section in the list i want to add. He got so many examples already that it could not be called an "accident".

I started doing a few tests with Synth1 myself but it's too early for a conclusion. Free presets for it will be published when they are done.

BTW i also got some nice examples with Saurus (which currently seems to be my "go-to" synth) but again it's too early.


Ingo

[Ingonator]

Since we both have iOS versions and Orion versions of the synths, these might be added too to the drummachine section:

Pro-9 (native Orion format)

TR909 Emu with extensions

Pro-9 already was in the list (when i added Monobass) but i'll add the others.

Another SH-101 clone - saw this in the random VST box.

(Interesting price, btw.)

http://www.kvraudio.com/product/sh_1001 ... _timeworks



Concerning Superwave, i dont think any of their synths are meant to be emulations of Roland synths. Especially not the Ultimate, (dont be fooled by the screenshot, this thing has multiple pages and is crammed with features), which probably has no counterpart in hardware at all.

They do, however, have clones of the TR-707, TR-727, TR-808 and TR-909.

Product Page: http://www.superwavesynths.co.uk/products.htm

(Tip: Theres a free Stylophone VSTi at the bottom of the page!)

The price of SH-1001 is interesting indeed but the synth seems to be discontinued:
http://www.sonictimeworks.com/home.php

Only an EQ plugin at the current website.


About Superwave:
I added the drum machines to the list. Indeed the Superwave synths don't seem to be exact emulations but they seem to be one of the closest (and P8 is free...).
Adam Szabo JP6K soundwise (for the Supersaw) seems to be the closest but is missing some important features like additional waveforms, feedback OSC etc. so there is no faithful emulation of the JP-8000 so far.


Ingo

[Albert.VST]

Apparently Oxium sounds exactly like a Jupiter 8. I'm quite surprised that it hasn't been mentioned several times already.

_leras, don't start this again. Yes, Oxium can at least for some sounds sound like a JP8, just like OP-X Pro II, Diva, Synth1, Saurus and I think a plethora of other VSTs can. But it isn't meant to be a JP8 emulation, as that wouldn't do justice to its other features that go far, far beyond a JP8 emulation.

Ingo, thanks for this overview, think I can spend enough time with demoing. Or just stick to my hardware JP8000 which still is fun.

[Mr. Breeze]

Arturia Spark Vintage has CR-78, TR-606 and TR-808 emulated. It also includes samples of others (R8, TR-626, TR-707, TR-727, TR-909 and BOSS-55).

http://www.arturia.com/evolution/en/pro ... intro.html

Rebirth is mentioned for TB-303, but it also contains TR-808 and TR-909.

http://www.rebirthmuseum.com/

[Ingonator]

Arturia Spark Vintage has CR-78, TR-606 and TR-808 emulated. It also includes samples of others (R8, TR-626, TR-707, TR-727, TR-909 and BOSS-55).

http://www.arturia.com/evolution/en/pro ... intro.html

Rebirth is mentioned for TB-303, but it also contains TR-808 and TR-909.

http://www.rebirthmuseum.com/

I am a bit careful with samples of drum-machines as they are included in many products like e.g. Spark, Maschine, Guru, Geist etc.
I'll add Spark Vintage drum machines anyway, also because it seem to use both synthesis and samples.

I have mentioned a few Kontakt libraries for specific drum machines. Kontakt 4 instruments are especially interesting as with scripting they could act as emulations and not "only" as sample collections.

example: http://www.forgottenkeys.co.uk/6_cr78.php

just added this ones:
http://soundsoutsidethelines.com/projects/tr909
http://soundsoutsidethelines.com/projects/tr80

Ingo

[IncarnateX]

Yes, Oxium can at least for some sounds sound like a JP8, just like OP-X Pro II, Diva, Synth1, Saurus and I think a plethora of other VSTs can. But it isn't meant to be a JP8 emulation, as that wouldn't do justice to its other features that go far, far beyond a JP8 emulation..

+1

A good deal of emulation is a sound design issue. A synth can make this possible, impossible, easy or hard. But talking about emulations, actual sound modeling is one thing, the basic architecture and graphics another. There are emulations that looks like a Roland, have the same features/limitations but doesn't sound like one and like Ingo, I think it is fair to let the intention and basic architechture overrule actual sound modeling here. If there is to be a list of all synths you can model classic analog patches on, the list is going to be endless.

Cheers

[Lotuzia]

Just chiming in to say that one of the Xils-Lab ChorX ( DIM mode ) modes can approach the sound of some legendary Roland chorus units.

Just some quotes of users who got this perception as well ( on different forums ) :

" wow just testing the demo, very impressive especially the subtile settings!! they work great for vocals even if the presets don't suggest vocals..... it's like a dimension D++ plus ultra tweak-ability. An additional eq would make it perfect "

" All i can say is that , don't know for the others but the dim was like "retour vers le future , mais au passé .."

"excellent plugin ! You should drope a small plugin Dim D !!! it will be a hit !!...many have tried but only uad is really doing it ......and you guyz "

" Congratulations, this is the first native chorus I've tried that actually sounds like a BBD chorus. I have a Juno-60 and a Boss CE-2 here in the studio and nothing ITB has really captured that vintage BBD sound to me. This plugin does. "

---------*********____________

As for Oxium, well, I was first very interested/impressed by the character of some of Ingo's recreations for the factory library, then it was also the way the owner of a real Jupiter 8 saw things -and CoolColJ have his JP8 for ages, so maybe one can credit him to know it, and how it sounds, very well -: Both Oxium and the JP8 share some similarities sound and character wise. Maybe the clips presented were not a proof of that, and many users, in this totally blind test, praised the sound of Oxium ( Maybe because it was labelled JP8 ), but the opinion of a real JP8 user stays, even if its just one opinion between others, so it seems that it was justified to mention it. YMMV. End of.

LtZ

[Ingonator]

Just chiming in to say that one of the Xils-Lab ChorX ( DIM mode ) modes can approach the sound of some legendary Roland chorus units.

Hi Laurent,

just thought about ChorX myself this morning and added it to the list now.

As for Oxium, well, I was first very interested/impressed by the character of some of Ingo's recreations for the factory library, then it was also the way the owner of a real Jupiter 8 saw things -and CoolColJ have his JP8 for ages, so maybe one can credit him to know it, and how it sounds, very well -: Both Oxium and the JP8 share some similarities sound and character wise. Maybe the clips presented were not a proof of that, and many users, in this totally blind test, praised the sound of Oxium ( Maybe because it was labelled JP8 ), but the opinion of a real JP8 user stays, even if its just one opinion between others, so it seems that it was justified to mention it. YMMV. End of.

Hi Laurent,

i just wanted to be careful about the comparison now until i did some more tests myself. Anyway first i want to finish recreating the patch sheets with Arturia Jupiter 8V. Also waiting for the OP-X Pro II bank from Peter.
After that i want to do some more tests with e.g. Oxium, Saurus etc.

Do you already have some more Jupiter examples/presets with Oxium?


Ingo

[Ingonator]

Just in case people missed it due to the discussions (i also added this to the end of the list, maybe more will follow):

I have just created an audio demo mostly based on plugins from the list which are TAL U-NO-LX (= Juno-60), D16 Phoscyon (= TB-303), Arturia Jupiter 8V, TAL BassLine (= SH-101), D16 Drumazon (= TR-909), ERS Dimension D Chorus and GSI GS-201 Tape Echo (= Space Echo) .
The track was recorded in realtime using two keyboard controllers so no overdub.

Additionally to the plugins mentioned above the Stillwell Audio Bombardier Buss Compressor and the Stillwell Audio VibeEQ equalizer were used.

The pad sound from the Jupiter 8V ("Mellow Strings" reprogrammed from the original Jupiter 8 factory sounds) could be heard in the second half.

link for the track (includes WAV file):

Ingo Weidner - Legacy of Roland Vol. 1


Have fun,
Ingo

Those were already published at another thread:

Jupiter 8V Mellow Strings 3

TAL U-NO-LX_EQ Demo 1 (no EQ)

TAL U-NO-LX_EQ Demo 2 (with EQ)

[Lotuzia]

Its a WIP Ingo, atm I'm more into struggling to make some tutorial videos for Oxium ( And the least I can say is that each new day I thank all possible gods that I did not choose the road of video to make my living, because it seems that I'm really not that gifted for that. )

[IncarnateX]

Oops!

We have missed Polysynth from Digital Performer:



The write that it is "inspired" by Juno 106.


Cheers