ROLI does release a new seaboard

[SamDi]

Here they announce it for 30th of March.

https://roli.com/campaign/join-the-reveal

Any speculations what will be the big evolution?

[masterhiggins]

I’m staying away from anything having to do with them.

[SamDi]

Your good right…

[Heartfeltdawn]

Any speculations what will be the big evolution?

Roland taking his head out of his arse would be a good start.

[BONES]

Any speculations what will be the big evolution?

From the teaser image, it seems the keywaves' shape is more like that of the Seaboard Block, which is a good start. I much prefer the Block to the Rise I used to own.

I’m staying away from anything having to do with them.

Why? Was Roli mean to you? Did they call you names? Make you cry?

[jules]

Why? Was Roli mean to you? Did they call you names? Make you cry?

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.

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

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

..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.

So yeah, don't be surprised if there's some anti-ROLI sentiment. Seaboards are cool, but the company and its brand are a burning-dumpster-fire of fail.

When you chat to any group of music tech industry insiders, ROLI is probably the most disliked company these days. The industry used to laugh at their antics at in a friendly way, but since the bankruptcy and Roland's teflon-like ability to shrug-off $100m without any consequences, they're now regarded with distaste, resentment and a general sense of injustice that it still limps on.

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 are going to be encouraged to pre-order. 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.

[/rant]

[Amberience]

Yeah, f**k ROLI.

[Amberience]

Why? Was Roli mean to you? Did they call you names? Make you cry?

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.

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

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

..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.

So yeah, don't be surprised if there's some anti-ROLI sentiment. Seaboards are cool, but the company and its brand are a burning-dumpster-fire of fail.

When you chat to any group of music tech industry insiders, ROLI is probably the most disliked company these days. The industry used to laugh at their antics at in a friendly way, but since the bankruptcy and Roland's teflon-like ability to shrug-off $100m without any consequences, they're now regarded with distaste, resentment and a general sense of injustice that it still limps on.

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 are going to be encouraged to pre-order. 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.

[/rant]

I love you Jules.

[SamDi]

Why? Was Roli mean to you? Did they call you names? Make you cry?

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.

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

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

..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.

So yeah, don't be surprised if there's some anti-ROLI sentiment. Seaboards are cool, but the company and its brand are a burning-dumpster-fire of fail.

When you chat to any group of music tech industry insiders, ROLI is probably the most disliked company these days. The industry used to laugh at their antics at in a friendly way, but since the bankruptcy and Roland's teflon-like ability to shrug-off $100m without any consequences, they're now regarded with distaste, resentment and a general sense of injustice that it still limps on.

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 are going to be encouraged to pre-order. 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.

[/rant]

I know that they were bankrupt. But who do you want to blame for? Was it obvious mismanagement? I mean going bankrupt is a normal procedure in business. It's not nice, but it happens. A pity for the customers, employees and suppliers, but I am sure no one wanted that, so what or whom do you accuse? Also pity for the investors, but at least they should have been aware, that investing risk capital means, that a risk can happen.

I like the seaboard I have and I am happy, that I didn't need their support up until now. I also completely understand that people are pissed, when customer service does not work at all.

Question is just: was it fortune, unability or malignity that f**d it up?

What's the part with Roland? I wasn't aware.

[medienhexer]

I‘m looking forward to native Apple Silicon drivers. New hardware hopefully means they’re serious about maintenance.

I would be interested in a Rise-like full-size product. I have a block and I really like the feel, somehow works for me as a guitar and bass player. I do get the impression, though, that MPE is bringing out all these companies without longevity.

I mean: expressivee? What up? Randy hasn‘t offered a Soundplane for years. Linn seems to be alive but I haven’t tried the controller. Is it an impossible engineering task?

[jules]

But who do you want to blame for?

Oh, I'm not going to publicly blame anyone, just having a bit of a grumble. If you want more gory detail, another of the disgruntled ex-employees helpfully collected some docs here: https://github.com/ArnoldBalm/ROLI

Maybe tomorrow they'll announce an amazing new 49-key seaboard that costs $300, and is in mass-production, ready to deliver this week! That way they might actually have a hit product and survive.

But most likely they'll show some 3D renderings of a $1999 device which you can pre-order for delivery in "3 months", and then they'll run out of cash, hit supply-chain and quality issues, dates will slip, etc etc.

And honestly, there's only a small number of people who want a seaboard and can afford one, and most of them probably already have one. Or they don't trust ROLI enough to order one. There certainly isn't a huge untapped market demand that can sustain the burn-rate of a company with over 50 people.

[jules]

I mean: expressivee? What up? Randy hasn‘t offered a Soundplane for years. Linn seems to be alive but I haven’t tried the controller. Is it an impossible engineering task?

I think the problem is that the ratio of difficulty-to-market-size is wrong. One engineer in their shed can make a living selling a few boutique instruments. And if millions of people wanted one, the big players would invest in manufacturing processes to churn them out despite the challenges. But at a medium scale, nobody seems to be able to make the numbers work.

[SamDi]

But who do you want to blame for?

Oh, I'm not going to publicly blame anyone, just having a bit of a grumble. If you want more gory detail, another of the disgruntled ex-employees helpfully collected some docs here: https://github.com/ArnoldBalm/ROLI

Maybe tomorrow they'll announce an amazing new 49-key seaboard that costs $300, and is in mass-production, ready to deliver this week! That way they might actually have a hit product and survive.

But most likely they'll show some 3D renderings of a $1999 device which you can pre-order for delivery in "3 months", and then they'll run out of cash, hit supply-chain and quality issues, dates will slip, etc etc.

And honestly, there's only a small number of people who want a seaboard and can afford one, and most of them probably already have one. Or they don't trust ROLI enough to order one. There certainly isn't a huge untapped market demand that can sustain the burn-rate of a company with over 50 people.

Why didn't that guy become problems for that kind of relentless disclosure? Did not read all, but tough stuff..

Yeah, I think you are completely right. A 300$ seaboard would be a gamechanger. A >1000$ "boutique"-piece, best to preorder and pay in advance - I wouldn't do it, as the most I guess.

But yeah, I have the feeling that we will not see the 300$-piece tomorrow...

But let's surprise

[SamDi]

I mean: expressivee? What up? Randy hasn‘t offered a Soundplane for years. Linn seems to be alive but I haven’t tried the controller. Is it an impossible engineering task?

I think the problem is that the ratio of difficulty-to-market-size is wrong. One engineer in their shed can make a living selling a few boutique instruments. And if millions of people wanted one, the big players would invest in manufacturing processes to churn them out despite the challenges. But at a medium scale, nobody seems to be able to make the numbers work.

My guess is, that it is just not for the mass market. 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. Furthermore I think for a normal keyboarder, if exressiveness is import, there are today already many options: velocity, aftertouch, release velocity, MOD-wheel, foot-switches, more faders, breath-controller
Things where many are used to since decades.

And as a toy to play with, it's just too expensive. It's cool but you don't need it. So it will stay a niche I guess...

[zerocrossing]

Why? Was Roli mean to you? Did they call you names? Make you cry?

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.

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

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

..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.

So yeah, don't be surprised if there's some anti-ROLI sentiment. Seaboards are cool, but the company and its brand are a burning-dumpster-fire of fail.

When you chat to any group of music tech industry insiders, ROLI is probably the most disliked company these days. The industry used to laugh at their antics at in a friendly way, but since the bankruptcy and Roland's teflon-like ability to shrug-off $100m without any consequences, they're now regarded with distaste, resentment and a general sense of injustice that it still limps on.

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 are going to be encouraged to pre-order. 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.

[/rant]

First off, I’d like to point out that what you’re describing is very common. I forget the exact numbers, but angel investors dump tons of money into companies that don’t deliver all the time. It’s built into how they invest, but when they get an “Amazon” the losses look like chump change. My wife worked for a successful small company (around 100 people) that got purchased by an investment company. She went from loving to work there to dreading it in a month. The team of dedicated employees became a mob of angry and disgruntled people who left, one by one. Now I think the company is limping along on some level, but it’s a shell of its former status. I’ve also worked on AAA games where some bean counter came along and pulled the plug after 5 years of development. Can you imagine a team of people working on a MMORPG that’s nearly ready to ship and someone says, “go home, we’re tossing this all in the toilet.”

It happens. I’m not denying there were issues, but many people purchased Roli products and are 100% happy with them. I’m one of those people. I still use my Rise 49 all the time. I just used it to control SWAM Cello and it was f’n awesome. Nothing else could have really done as good a job, including a Linnstrument. Maybe a Continuum, but I don’t have that kind of cash and I think I prefer my surface to have some indicator of when I’m “on” a note.