Roland Cloud

[samlletas]

I would rather prefer an auth system similar to the KORG collection. I avoid everything that uses iLok (not that the Cloud Manager is any better, both are problematic and intrusive).

[Echoes in the Attic]

Can anyone confirm that if you sign up for a subscription, you can swap out your existing play 2-4 life plugins? Or your free rewards plugins? Not sure which is which.

[Shiek927]

Been a long while, but yes I hope to see more Legendary instruments soon. The JD990, The JP8080, the V-Synth...there are still so many great possibilities. I just hope Roland Cloud actually follows through instead of releasing something very bizarre and out of left field as they tend too.

[C-note]

Can't see a price anywhere. Guess it must be free!

$21 a month

[fmr]

I would rather prefer an auth system similar to the KORG collection. I avoid everything that uses iLok (not that the Cloud Manager is any better, both are problematic and intrusive).

Yes, Korg is much better in this and several other aspects. They left KLC more or less abandoned for quite a while, but since then they picked up, maintained and consistently expanded the Collection, with both old and new instruments (like the Modwave and Wavestate). And their authorization method is one of the friendlier I know. Their behavior should be an example to Roland.

[musicproducerdee]

If you'll had to choose between a Roland Cloud subscription or the UVI SonicPass subscription, which would you choose?

I'd rather not have a subscription as well, but if we had to?

[fmr]

If you'll had to choose between a Roland Cloud subscription or the UVI SonicPass subscription, which would you choose?

I'd rather not have a subscription as well, but if we had to?

Well... IMO it's kind of Apples vs Oranges. The UVI instrument recreations (I own most of them) are essentially sample-based, but they have Falcon, which is one of the most powerful Virtual Instruments available. Falcon alone could very well replace most (if not ALL) of the Roland Cloud instruments. All in all, and speaking in terms of the sound palette offered, UVI has a much broader spectrum than Roland Cloud, I think, and they are continually expanding (contrary to what Roland does)

[musicproducerdee]

If you'll had to choose between a Roland Cloud subscription or the UVI SonicPass subscription, which would you choose?

I'd rather not have a subscription as well, but if we had to?

Well... IMO it's kind of Apples vs Oranges. The UVI instrument recreations (I own most of them) are essentially sample-based, but they have Falcon, which is one of the most powerful Virtual Instruments available. Falcon alone could very well replace most (if not ALL) of the Roland Cloud instruments. All in all, and speaking in terms of the sound palette offered, UVI has a much broader spectrum than Roland Cloud, I think, and they are continually expanding (contrary to what Roland does)

Yeah, Falcon is what essentially caught my eye. They also have some decent effects in addition to synths and instruments. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of sample-based synth sounds, as they don't provide much control over the sound. Instruments like keyboards etc is a different thing though. I might give SonicPass a though.

[IvyBirds]

If you'll had to choose between a Roland Cloud subscription or the UVI SonicPass subscription, which would you choose?

I'd rather not have a subscription as well, but if we had to?

That's a tough question. I own Falcon outright and I have subscribed off and on for a month or two (or three) to SonicPass so I could gain access to the huge sample library which I then sampled

The first observation as someone who has subscribed to both, is that the licensing/authorization software that UVI uses to keep SonicPass active on your computer is 1,000,000% better then what Roland uses. It just works and the Roland Cloud Manager hasn't for me.

Outside of that it comes down to how you want to work

SonicPass comes with Falcon and Falcon is very very deep. If you want a serious sound design tool Falcon is it. Falcon has multiple sound engines that do multiple synthesis types. While that is obviously a huge plus, it comes with a steep learning curve

The closest alternative in the Roland Cloud would be Zenology Pro. Zenology Pro can be a pretty deep sound design tool that you can make complex patches with. It doesn't have all the sound engine types Falcon has like Wavetables and Granular, however it's also way easier to learn

Falcon allows you to create deep layered patches. Zenology Pro allows you to layer four basic patches which can be either VA or sample based, but again it's a much easier process. Roland Cloud also has Galaxias which allows to layer a bunch of presets from all the instruments

The biggest difference is the rest of the two packages. With Roland you get virtual versions of a bunch of vintage Roland Instruments, and many of those are iconic. So if you want a virtual Jupiter 8 that you can program sounds on like a real Jupiter 8 you can

With UVI SonicPass you don't have that. You get Vintage Vault which has sample based instruments that represent tons of different vintage instruments. You can if course tweak the presets and if you lead the samples into Falcon use them to make really good sounding patches. With Falcon you can also use the VA engine to make any kind of "Analog" synth sound you can imagine

So if you want "authentic" emulations of classic Roland instruments the Cloud is the winner, if you want a variety of vintage instruments that are sampled exceptionally well and are comfortable with a sample based workflow UVI is the winner as you get a lot more than just Roland's instruments

One more point to consider is that the massive sample library that UVI has also includes an incredible amount of samples that are not vintage synths and keyboards. Orchestral, pianos, world instruments, and all kinds of weird sounds

Roland has that also in the SRX instruments from the old XV5080 expansion cards that Eric Persing made and they are in Zenology as well. You just get a lot more of them with UVI and since they are newer they tend to be longer and can have more articulations.

I said all that to say this. Issues with the authorizations in the software aside, UVI is awesome if you want a deep sound design synth in Falcon that can be difficult to learn and use and are also looking for a sample based workflow with a GIANT sample library

Roland Cloud is the winner if you want a deep sound design tool that is easier to use than Falcon and want virtual instruments over sampled one

Only you can decide what is best for you

[twal]

If you'll had to choose between a Roland Cloud subscription or the UVI SonicPass subscription, which would you choose?

I'd rather not have a subscription as well, but if we had to?

That's a tough question. I own Falcon outright...

What Samplers do you think are overall the best for mapping keys? Is Halion and Falcon up there?

[IvyBirds]

If you'll had to choose between a Roland Cloud subscription or the UVI SonicPass subscription, which would you choose?

I'd rather not have a subscription as well, but if we had to?

That's a tough question. I own Falcon outright...

What Samplers do you think are overall the best for mapping keys? Is Halion and Falcon up there?

I am blessed to own Kontact, Omnisphere, HALion, Falcon and a bunch of other sample based software.

In my opinion in 2024 soon to be 2025 without a doubt HALion7 is the best for importing samples, mapping them to keys and making sample based instruments.

It's also the only one that can actually record samples, but beyond that you can make new sample based instruments as complex or as simple as you want by loading in WAV files

HALion also comes with a pretty big sample library of sounds

[planetearth]

To be fair, the free version of TX16Wx actually samples and offers a ton of options for mapping, slicing, choking, and looping samples. It also offers automatic loop mapping and slicing and automatic pitch and tempo detection. The Pro version offers a lot more.

I'm not affiliated with the developer in any way. I just think this is a ridiculously good, full-featured "sampler" that actually samples while offering a ton of other features for free, and I'm not sure a lot of people know about it.

https://www.tx16wx.com/features/

Steve

[thenumber23]

If we switch from Ultimate sub (with Play4Life) to Pro sub (with or without Play4Life), do we have to 'do' anything with our freebie keys that we have stored up?

[Jon at Roland]

If we switch from Ultimate sub (with Play4Life) to Pro sub (with or without Play4Life), do we have to 'do' anything with our freebie keys that we have stored up?

Hey thenumber23, your keys are secured regardless of what membership (or lack of) you switch to. If you have any problems with this, we be able to see all of this and be able to get it figured out for you!

[DashOfLime]

Shoutout to Jon@Roland for some exemplary customer service over the past couple of weeks. Really appreciate the help!