New Roland AIRA Details - Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB)

AIRA — Analog Circuit Behavior

Published on Feb 6, 2014 RolandChannel·831 videos

"Go behind the scenes and learn how Roland's newly developed Analog Circuit Behavior (ACB) faithfully captures the sound and feel of some our 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 in Roland's own pristine units."

Update: It's worth noting the Creamware ASB boxes also employed analog circuit modeling and Tone 2's True Analog Modelling went down to the capacitor and resistor level: "We carefully analyzed & modeled the circuits of many classic performance synthesizers, including even single capacitors and resistors to provide an extremely accurate analog model, faithfully capturing the spirit and character of these old machines." I forget what Novation's ASM technology used.   The short of this is there are different levels of modeling.  The idea according to the video above is if the closer you get down to the very base level of modeling the building blocks of an analog synthesizers, the closer you will get to analog sound.  In the end it is the sound and interface that ultimately matter.  But for those that were hoping to pick up a brand new analog TB or TR clone, it looks like that is out.

Update2: added some notes below the lighter screenshots further below via cheater who sent in the pics.  Also see the Facebook discussion links there.

Update3: See this post for a perspective on old analog circuitry from PHILSYNTH.

AIRA — it's coming soon.

Published on Feb 6, 2014

"With roots in the very origins of electronic music, AIRA is the new series of products 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."

Two pics lightened by cheater who made the following points: "just visited the AIRA website. So it's digital. No modding possible, no uniqueness of sound, no soul... what a disappointment. Roland still don't get it. Korg and Moog are lightyears in front of them. Anyways, as a second place prize, I've modified the pictures to show the hidden details that are in the shadows. You can see a VA groovebox, synth (probably poly), what looks like an effects box, and a drum machine. You can't see much but you can see much more than on the websites."

The bottom black and white pic is via Robert on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge where you'll find some discussion (some discussion on this other thread as well).