Looks like we get nothing

Yup. It appears that the Boutique line has gone the way of the classic equipment it was intended to replace. I guess Behringer will be the new Roland from this point forward. I think it's sad that Roland and Yahama continue to reminisce about the good, old days and tease us with photos and videos of their old, classic equipment.

Indeed - but I have a feeling we'll be seeing a Boutique JP-06 very soon.

RolandNews wrote:

Indeed - but I have a feeling we'll be seeing a Boutique JP-06 very soon.

That would be exciting - but why do you have that feeling? Do you know something you could share with us?

jicamasalad wrote:

RolandNews wrote:

Indeed - but I have a feeling we'll be seeing a Boutique JP-06 very soon.

That would be exciting - but why do you have that feeling? Do you know something you could share with us?

No, but I have a feeling.

Dark_Element wrote:

Happy for the System 8 people with the JX-3P plugin.

No new Boutiques!?!?!? I thought these had outsold everything else Roland has. I was ready to pre-order some equipment today if something interesting was revealed.

A little disappointed, but that's ok.... more budget to buy classic stuff instead.

Considering the System 8 was pretty much ignored by Roland for 2 years while they pushed out the "cloud" and the "boutique" line...........Never assume something is dead.

I gotta admit I don't know what's going on at Roland but they really need some new people making the decisions for them. They seem to be all over the place with everything these days. If they had just released proper fullsized versions of the retro gear people are willing to pay thousands for they would be good. You can focus on both the future and the past look how much it's done for Korg. The Boutiques could have been done better but I feel like they were something that was barely ever going to see the light of day and just by chance they did and by fluke they were a hit. The lack of support for them just tells me that Roland wasn't expecting too much from them.

jerry_merry wrote:

Dark_Element wrote:

Happy for the System 8 people with the JX-3P plugin.

No new Boutiques!?!?!? I thought these had outsold everything else Roland has. I was ready to pre-order some equipment today if something interesting was revealed.

A little disappointed, but that's ok.... more budget to buy classic stuff instead.

Considering the System 8 was pretty much ignored by Roland for 2 years while they pushed out the "cloud" and the "boutique" line...........Never assume something is dead.

Yeah I thought the System 8 wasn't getting much buzz but now I just think it's a board that either appeals to certain types of people or is just ahead of the game and misunderstood but for $1,500 really there's just other keyboards that would be more appealing to folks. I toyed with it and the JDX but went with a REV-2 because it was exactly what I wanted and I didn't quite understand the "Plug-Out" idea at the time but now it sounds interesting.

Fourfiftyfour wrote:

I gotta admit I don't know what's going on at Roland but they really need some new people making the decisions for them. They seem to be all over the place with everything these days. If they had just released proper fullsized versions of the retro gear people are willing to pay thousands for they would be good. You can focus on both the future and the past look how much it's done for Korg. The Boutiques could have been done better but I feel like they were something that was barely ever going to see the light of day and just by chance they did and by fluke they were a hit. The lack of support for them just tells me that Roland wasn't expecting too much from them.

Totally agree - they have a weird and unhealthy fetish for recreating their analog classics in digital, which could never sound as good as the real thing. This is not what people want. Meanwhile, Uli Behringer is going to clean up by reissuing the TR-808, TR-909, and even the Jupiter-8. I thought once Roland's founder died, they might get smarter (he thought analog was "old technology and passe"). The JD-Xi and JD-XA were a step in the right direction, but that was years ago.

All I can say is, go for it, Uli.

RolandNews wrote:

Fourfiftyfour wrote:

I gotta admit I don't know what's going on at Roland but they really need some new people making the decisions for them. They seem to be all over the place with everything these days. If they had just released proper fullsized versions of the retro gear people are willing to pay thousands for they would be good. You can focus on both the future and the past look how much it's done for Korg. The Boutiques could have been done better but I feel like they were something that was barely ever going to see the light of day and just by chance they did and by fluke they were a hit. The lack of support for them just tells me that Roland wasn't expecting too much from them.

Totally agree - they have a weird and unhealthy fetish for recreating their analog classics in digital, which could never sound as good as the real thing. This is not what people want. Meanwhile, Uli Behringer is going to clean up by reissuing the TR-808, TR-909, and even the Jupiter-8. I thought once Roland's founder died, they might get smarter (he thought analog was "old technology and passe"). The JD-Xi and JD-XA were a step in the right direction, but that was years ago.

All I can say is, go for it, Uli.

I understand why you have this opinion - and i respect that - but I don't completely agree with everything here ;-)

I own most of the Boutiques now - all except the SE-02 (not interested and too expensive), the VP-03 ( I don't sing!) or the D-05 ( I have two real D-50's, so don't need this, especially as Roland missed a trick here and left off PG1000 style interactivity!).

What I want to say here, is that these Boutiques are a LOT of fun to use, irrespective of their digital nature. Out of the ones I have, I can only compare authenticity against a real TB-303 which I owned for about 15 years before foolishly parting with it; no, the TB-03 is not 100% bang on - nothing is, including my analog Bassbot TT-303mk1, but I can tell you that jamming with the TB-03 puts a big smile on my face, just like my real 303 used to.

And as for the TR-08... Well this is a future classic in its own right, and when real 808's start to die, these will take their place. I challenge anyone to sit with the TR-08, and keep their feet still ! It's impossible I tell you :-)

I thank Roland enormously for bringing out these relatively affordable Boutiques. I hope they don't stop now, but if we're to see no more, then I am thankful for the opportunity to own and share at least some of the experience that having the 'real things' gives to those lucky few.

As for Behringer - I hope they do well. I have their Model D and look forward to seeing how their all analog RD-808 compares. Not convinced by the videos yet, but time will tell.

I have to wonder too if they're just stirring the pot looking for a hit or something which will be the next big thing. The industry is shrinking and they aren't trying to do one or two things like most shops.... their hand is in everything!!!

Makes me think they need to make more teams like Aira (which has been a great success). Let the customers know who these people are, and have direct lines of communication to these teams so they can collect feedback from customers and know what it is we want.

Yeah, ideal world and all.....

It's not so much that the Digital Analog doesn't sound good it's just that Roland isn't giving the consumer an alternative. They keep forcing them to select the ACB tech or nothing at all. I do own more Roland gear than anything else and I will say for me at least that if Roland had put out an all analog poly synth I would have brought it vs another brand. That was my personal reason for picking a DSI over the System 8 or JDXA when I was synth shopping. I wanted full Analog and Roland just had nothing in that department for me.

They can do D/A keyboards and Analog ones. There's such a desire for Roland's analogue gear that other companies are cloning them just to meet the demand. This is now more the time than ever for Analog gear as its sound has made a huge return and grown substantially in interests of musicians. I just don't get how Roland is basically ignoring all the market trends around them to try and push something people aren't really interested in right now like the ACB & Plugout stuff.

It's almost like they're being stubborn or just flat out right hate their old products. If they released an all analog Jupiter 9 we'll call it and took the Jupiter 8 and updated it a bit that would be at the top of everyone's Christmas list. If they did a new analog version of the GAIA SH01 (since that's the last SH series keyboard they built) or an all analog 808 again they would be selling left and right. Arturia is killing the market with their analog synths and Behringer is turning heads with the same intentions. Korg thankfully got a clue and brought back the MS-20, & ARP, introduced the Minilogue, monologue and Prologue plus the Volca's. Roland seriously needs to start following Korg's lead and get with it.

It's like Roland refuses to listen to what people are interested in so they're leaving it up to other companies to build their gear for them. Roland's stubbornness is going to make Behringer rich and if Roland doesn't figure out how to start dropping some full sized Analog synths they're going to be the next Yamaha indeed or dare I say it even Alesis. Behringer got them with the 106 clone, now the 808 and Jupiter is in the works that's a lot of money to miss out on.The Model D clone they did had insane sales so even as a business standpoint you have to wonder WHY isn't Roland taking the initiative to produce analog gear when that's' what's in demand right now?

I don't want to bash them as all gear has it's usefulness but no one is really interested in the System 8 or JDXA there's just too much other stuff out there from Moog,DSI,Korg,Arturia and Behringer for those keyboards to stand out. The Boutiques are really the only "buzz" that Roland has had around their name in a while and that's because they offer people the sound of their old analog gear. You think that a light bulb would go off in someones head over there at the Roland executive offices and say "Hey! Why don't we start making reissues of our old gear!?" Nope. Instead they want to stuff Plug-out and "digital" versions of their "analog" gear.

Hearing the words "Digital Analog" to me is like someone saying "Fresh Frozen" to Gordon Ramsay.

iixorb wrote:

RolandNews wrote:

Fourfiftyfour wrote:

I gotta admit I don't know what's going on at Roland but they really need some new people making the decisions for them. They seem to be all over the place with everything these days. If they had just released proper fullsized versions of the retro gear people are willing to pay thousands for they would be good. You can focus on both the future and the past look how much it's done for Korg. The Boutiques could have been done better but I feel like they were something that was barely ever going to see the light of day and just by chance they did and by fluke they were a hit. The lack of support for them just tells me that Roland wasn't expecting too much from them.

Totally agree - they have a weird and unhealthy fetish for recreating their analog classics in digital, which could never sound as good as the real thing. This is not what people want. Meanwhile, Uli Behringer is going to clean up by reissuing the TR-808, TR-909, and even the Jupiter-8. I thought once Roland's founder died, they might get smarter (he thought analog was "old technology and passe"). The JD-Xi and JD-XA were a step in the right direction, but that was years ago.

All I can say is, go for it, Uli.

I understand why you have this opinion - and i respect that - but I don't completely agree with everything here ;-)

I own most of the Boutiques now - all except the SE-02 (not interested and too expensive), the VP-03 ( I don't sing!) or the D-05 ( I have two real D-50's, so don't need this, especially as Roland missed a trick here and left off PG1000 style interactivity!).

What I want to say here, is that these Boutiques are a LOT of fun to use, irrespective of their digital nature. Out of the ones I have, I can only compare authenticity against a real TB-303 which I owned for about 15 years before foolishly parting with it; no, the TB-03 is not 100% bang on - nothing is, including my analog Bassbot TT-303mk1, but I can tell you that jamming with the TB-03 puts a big smile on my face, just like my real 303 used to.

And as for the TR-08... Well this is a future classic in its own right, and when real 808's start to die, these will take their place. I challenge anyone to sit with the TR-08, and keep their feet still ! It's impossible I tell you :-)

I thank Roland enormously for bringing out these relatively affordable Boutiques. I hope they don't stop now, but if we're to see no more, then I am thankful for the opportunity to own and share at least some of the experience that having the 'real things' gives to those lucky few.

As for Behringer - I hope they do well. I have their Model D and look forward to seeing how their all analog RD-808 compares. Not convinced by the videos yet, but time will tell.

Yes, I own most of the Boutiques - it's the next best thing to the actual analog units - and in some cases, better - the polyphonic SH-01A is killer, as heard on this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh0-lDHp6Q8

I had held off getting a MKS-70 or a JD-990 since I was hoping that a Boutique version would come out.

Guess I don't have to wait anymore.

Fourfiftyfour wrote:

It's not so much that the Digital Analog doesn't sound good it's ...

Hearing the words "Digital Analog" to me is like someone saying "Fresh Frozen" to Gordon Ramsay.

Your whole post is spot on man! Totally agree with you, Roland seem like they are shooting themselves in the foot, but then again it wouldn't be the first time they take everyone by surprise and their relative quietness of the last few months may be just a clue that something big is coming.

9/09 is still ahead, and one is allowed to dream. :)