Roland releases the 2014 follow-up to the 808/909 AIRA

Griffin Avid

Griffin Avid

Media Editor
AIRA OFFICIALLY UNVEILED
TR-8 Rhythm Performer, TB-3 Touch Bassline, VT-3 Voice Transformer
and SYSTEM-1 PLUG-OUT Synthesizer






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Roland is proud to announce the long-awaited series of AIRA products. With roots in the very origins of electronic music, the new AIRA line is designed to meet the evolving needs of today’s electronic musicians. In the studio or on the stage, AIRA brings genre-defining sound and modern performance features to a new generation. The first four products introduced in the AIRA series are the TR-8 Rhythm Performer, TB-3 Touch Bassline, VT-3 Voice Transformer, and SYSTEM-1 PLUG-OUT Synthesizer.

At the heart of AIRA is the newly developed Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) that faithfully captures the sound and feel of some of Roland’s most revered classics. ACB is the technology behind the authentic sound and responsive behavior of the AIRA products. It utilizes original design specs, consultation with original engineers, and a detailed part-by-part analysis of each analog circuit using Roland’s collection of pristinely archived drum machines and synthesizers.

TR-8 Rhythm Performer
The TR-8 is a performance rhythm machine that melds the legendary sound and vibe of the TR-808 and TR-909 with features and functions for the modern age. Unleashed upon an unsuspecting world in the 1980s, the TR-808 and TR-909 produced arguably the most influential drum sounds in modern music. With the authentic tone and character of the original units and with new sound-tweaking capabilities and performance functions inspired by legions of users, the TR-8 breathes new life into these iconic sounds.

TB-3 Touch Bassline
Based on the wildly influential TB-303, the new TB-3 Touch Bassline is a performance-ready bass synthesizer with authentic sound and intuitive controls engineered to play. The TB-3 contains the unmistakable character of its predecessor wrapped in a modern package sporting a pressure-sensitive touch pad that makes both playing and programming a total joy.

VT-3 Voice Transformer
Aggressively processed vocals are common in electronic music today, but producing these effects easily and reproducing them live continues to be a challenge – until now. The VT-3 can smoothly alter Pitch and Formant and can introduce Vocoder, Synth, lo-fi and other heavily processed vocal sounds into studio tracks and live performances with zero hassle.

SYSTEM-1 PLUG-OUT Synthesizer
With the unmistakable character associated with Roland synthesizers for nearly four decades, the SYSTEM-1 not only sounds amazing but has a totally innovative design with performance-ready controls, quality construction, and a dizzying array of lights, knobs and sliders. PLUG-OUT technology means the SYSTEM-1 can control—and even host—software recreations of classic Roland synthesizers with no computer connected and can even switch between its native sounds and those of the PLUG-OUT synthesizer.

All AIRA products are designed to work seamlessly and look great with other products in the AIRA series.

AIRA products will be available by the end of second quarter 2014. For more details, please visit www.RolandUS.com/AIRA.
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I'd like to be excited about this, but really? Soft synths are kicking down the door, Korg is basing too many people's heads in, and the best Roland can come up with is a damn virtual analog 808/909/TB-303. Color me underwhelmed.
 
Well, the interfaces seem to be very hands-on and nicely designed. Not super excited on how they look, but most people haven't even heard how their component-level emulation sounds - and the prices seem ok. I probably won't be first in line to buy these, but on the other hand I don't really see a reason to bash these things just because they're not analog. Pretty much every comparable analog drum machine on the market is way more expensive than the TR-8 anyway; the 303 clones all more or less follow the original's programming paradigm (which isn't exactly ideal) and there aren't that much desireable - or affordable - knob-laden VAs on the market in this price bracket. Then again, I'm slightly surprised that they're so boldly going after their own legacy - these things are going to be getting a shitload of flak anyway whether or not they sound good and/or true to their ancestors.

But anyway...I'll give these a shot rather than shooting down them before seeing or hearing them properly.
 
I find that this lands in a spot that is empty. There's nothing else that does this.
The closest I can think of is the new Maschine update 2.0 that has drum synths.

And the obvious hitch is that Maschine is not a drum machine.
The Elektron boxes have the form factor, but in my opinion, lack the sound.
I see them doing cool stuff, but still have not heard a single sound that makes my covet one of their boxes.

The newest Analog Rythm is a beast and combines the analog synth with samples, so that's a major, major interest, but the price is also quote remarkable.
In comparison, I expected a much higher price for this new Roland line. It's very affordable.

Everything else seems to want to toss around samples and stick to a patten based song structure.

There does seem to be a split among users.
A lot of people claim they want powerhouse products that have a million features, but then use them minimally - to make simplistic music.
Others stand behind the idea that creativity is enhanced by limitations, but then every product is missing something

...and is unusable without XYZ functionality...


  • the 303 clones all more or less follow the original's programming paradigm (which isn't exactly ideal) and there aren't that much desireable - or affordable - knob-laden VAs on the market in this price bracket.
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Yeah, I think they are leaning towards the iPad interface, which I think is actually better than the switches/plates on the original.
 
krushing said:
Well, the interfaces seem to be very hands-on and nicely designed. Not super excited on how they look, but most people haven't even heard how their component-level emulation sounds - and the prices seem ok. I probably won't be first in line to buy these, but on the other hand I don't really see a reason to bash these things just because they're not analog. Pretty much every comparable analog drum machine on the market is way more expensive than the TR-8 anyway; the 303 clones all more or less follow the original's programming paradigm (which isn't exactly ideal) and there aren't that much desireable - or affordable - knob-laden VAs on the market in this price bracket. Then again, I'm slightly surprised that they're so boldly going after their own legacy - these things are going to be getting a shitload of flak anyway whether or not they sound good and/or true to their ancestors.

But anyway...I'll give these a shot rather than shooting down them before seeing or hearing them properly.
Click to expand...

If this is aimed at me, you're mistaken. I'm not complaining because it isn't analog. I'm complaining because Roland took a long, hard look at the music landscape and what they took away is that the world is lacking 808 kits.
 
Mr. sickVisionz said:
If this is aimed at me, you're mistaken. I'm not complaining because it isn't analog. I'm complaining because Roland took a long, hard look at the music landscape and what they took away is that the world is lacking 808 kits.
Click to expand...

Not really aimed at you, more like at the general reaction of The Internet :)
 
The Aira series is very disappointing to me. I was hoping for something that was not a clone. there are a few new features but overall they are just clones of 30 year old synths *yawn*
 
re

it is decently priced but not very interesting looking to me. Which may be a bad sign to roland since Im a drum machine freak. but I have real ones and it looks like Im saving my scratch to give to Korg anyway.
 
That's not a proper drum machine......in my day we never had no fancy readout on the tempo knob, if you wanted 121 BPM you had to count 14 clicks and set the fine adjustment knob to 8 o'clock.....and what's all this digital nonsense?...why I bet it doesn't even pick up CB radio.
 
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