Discourage me from getting Roland Boutiques :)

[antic604]

you know you can jam with vstis and a midi controller in the same way and there are some nice instruments like tal bassline or uno-lx or drumazon, right?

Each one of these is the equivalent of putting your balls near an unsheilded microwave, imagine what 5 of them could do :p

Overpriced VST-in-a-box sadness. Get you some VST, or otoh, some hardsynths worth buying.

Focus on making music instead of getting new tools to make and you will forget boutiques

Thanks guys for all the responses!

I am now successfully discouraged

[classic]

They snore at night and their feet stink
What? At least I tryed
May be it helps not to buy it..................ähm...

[antic604]

They snore at night and their feet stink
What? At least I tryed
May be it helps not to buy it..................ähm...

You faYled, but others succeeded

[SHall1000]

I think the only way to view the Boutiques is to embrace their size as as a positive benefit in the context of a desktop rig (DAW/PCless or otherwise). I have a SH01a and JX-03 hooked up to a Beatstep and Keystep with a selection of Volcas for improvised jamming. If you are limited for space (and/or money) such a rig can be set up in bedroom or on a largest coffee table and stored away easily afterwards.

It makes no sense to keep comparing them to larger "proper" synths in a spacious studio setting. Their size is a deliberate feature which is either a benefit to you or it isn't. If it isn't important/useful to you just move on.

[antic604]

I think the only way to view the Boutiques is to embrace their size as as a positive benefit in the context of a desktop rig (DAW/PCless or otherwise). If you are limited for space (and/or money) such a rig can be set up in bedroom or on a largest coffee table and stored away easily afterwards.

It makes no sense to keep comparing them to larger "proper" synths in a spacious studio setting. Their size is a deliberate feature which is either a benefit to you or it isn't. If it isn't important/useful to you just move on.

Exactly! Thanks for this post

[Distorted Horizon]

So, for the last few days I've been browsing the Web and YT looking at the Roland Boutique series of synths and the idea of getting 4-5 of them - TR-09, TB-03, SH-01A, JU-06, SE-02 most likely - suddenly became very appealing to me. I know they're really small, they don't sound exactly like the real things and they're (mostly) one-trick-ponies easily beaten by free VSTs in terms of sound quality, flexibility and convenience.

But, for some reason, the idea of running simple MIDI sequences through them and tweaking the patches on the fly with real knobs & sliders seems very exciting to me!

Currently I'm totally in the box, "working" on a Surface Pro 4 + DT990 Pro-s (no audio interface) running one of the DAWs I own and controlling it either with Akai MPK Mini Mk2 (in Bitwig or Reason) or Push 2 (when in Live). "Producing" music is my hobby and until kids leave the house in few years I don't really have a space for any kind of studio, hence my ultra-portable setup. Boutiques seem to fit into that, because I can build a simple flat rack / stand to store them in. Also, I started listening to electronic music in early 90's so those particular synths are THE classics for me, the foundations of acid house, techno, trance and ambient.

So, other than the ones I mentioned above, what are the drawbacks of getting the Boutiques?

Those 5 would cost around 1800€ ?

I'd rather buy something like Bass station 2, deepmind12 and a mixer/audio interface.
Possibly a Roland TB-3 too if you want some acid.

[sin night]

- JU-06: discontinued, 4 voices, not cheap (probably even more expensive than new). I don't see any benefit when you have things like TAL U-No LX (with the only exception of having a piece of hardware if you like working otb/daw-less). I didn't buy it when it was new and I wouldn't now.

- TR-09: nice piece of gear, except for the lack of individual analog outputs and the tiny size (it's not very convenient if you want to perform with the knobs); afaik it's discontinued but you can probably still find it new. Mine is on a shelf for the time being (the TR-8S is much more fun to play with). Lately I'm becoming a bit of fanatic for drum machines so my opinion is biased, but the TR-09 didn't satisfied my hunger for drum machines, it actually boosted my desire of a proper drum machine with the classic Roland sounds (hence the TR-8S).
The TR-09 becomes boring/useless when you want to use different drum sounds (or you want to process them individually... unless you use it through usb).

- TB-03: nice tool for acid. I bought it months ago but I didn't really spend time learning it yet. I don't know if it's already discontinued (but I think it won't be around for long, anyway). The form factor is nice (it's playable). If you like acid, you'll probably need something to perform hands-on (something like the TB-03 or a midi controller, although the TB-03 is probably an easier and more immersive experience than mapping a plugin to a midi controller)

- SE-02: for Minimoog-like (and more) tones, I think it's avery nice tool (if you want hardware, of course). The panel is tiny, is not very performance-friendly in my opinion. Anyway, it's a nice piece of gear.

- SH-01A: this is a really nice synth, in my opinion. The panel is a bit small, but it's usable. There are software alternatives (like that by TAL), but in my opinion the sequencer is the real strenght of the hardware (especially if you slave it to a swung clock through cv). I created a few nice basslines with that sequencer (the approach is different than writing with the mouse in Cubase or playing live with a keyboard). The last one I wrote is going to be played by my Minitaur...
I added the K-25M to my SH-01A, because I needed a dedicated keyboard for it in my setup. The SH-01A gets some use in my setup, it's probably my favourite along with the SE-02 (although this is used more as a sound module).


Just my 2 cents, of course.

[vurt]

Each one of these is the equivalent of putting your balls near an unsheilded microwave, imagine what 5 of them could do :p

indeed, it was the roland boutiques that caused me to grow a third testicle.

[VariKusBrainZ]

Each one of these is the equivalent of putting your balls near an unsheilded microwave, imagine what 5 of them could do :p

indeed, it was the roland boutiques that caused me to grow a third testicle.

M8, hes asked to be discouraged, thats just the opposite !

[vurt]

didn't say where it grew

[Distorted Horizon]

didn't say where it grew

Does it matter where it grows if one wants one?

[Distorted Horizon]

Cheek

[vurt]

Cheek

you want an extra bollock on your cheek?
youre weird.

[Jace-BeOS]

I hear they can give you Dutch Elm disease...

[Distorted Horizon]

Cheek

you want an extra bollock on your cheek?
youre weird.

No.. What's wrong with you?