Your thoughts about rompler synthesis

[wildstar]

+ 1 to this. Thank you, balma, for the detailed description of what these underestimated machines can do! If you haven't read his full post, go back and do so.

The only synth I still miss, out of all the synths I've loved and sold. Time to cruise ebay.

After 6-7 years, I still in love with the command stations. IMO they are the best romplers ever along with the JD800. I have abandoned them for some time, mostly because I had to dedicate time to my other gear, but after a time, forgetting them, and using other synths, I start again on them to create sounds from scratch, and I can be less than satisfied with their sound. They are truly understimated machines.

[aeon]

Pure ROMplers are usually kinda boring to me.

S+S machines that people lazily call ROMplers, like the Roland JD-990 and E-mu Proteus2K-series, are great synthesizers capable of so many sounds and tricks that not many other synths can do.


cheers,
Ian

[Dano]

+1 on the pro-ROMpler (S+S) comments. The ones already mentioned so far are the ones that I am most familiar with: EMU-P2K synths, JD-990, and the Roland JV1080 and beyond - The 10 different tone structures the JV/XP synths offer are a cool feature but I'm guessing they don't get used a lot.

[Automatic Gainsay]

While almost any ROMpler has some vintage synth sounds, most of them are aimed to a large degree at imitating most other instruments. It is going to be challenging for a programmer to get an authentic string tremolo out of those waveforms.

What makes it so authentic or not? It'd be even harder I imagine to put a non-authentic tremolo on an authentic one.

What makes it authentic is that when you play it, it doesn't sound like a cheap-a*s synthesizer, and instead, sounds like actual strings.

[Zamise]

Cheap synth is a cheap synth AG dude. Get a good rompler bro and it'll imitate string trems better than a good VA or RA, those are the imitations hence the term synthesizer, especially if you want to trem 32 or 64+ notes simultaneously. I'm still not sure what makes a rompler worse at imitating other instruments when its an actual waveform from the whatever authentic piece of kit the engineers decide to put in it.

[Automatic Gainsay]

Cheap synth is a cheap synth AG dude. Get a good rompler bro and it'll imitate string trems better than a good VA or RA, those are the imitations hence the term synthesized, especially if you want to trem 32 or 64+ notes simultaneously.

:::stares at you blankly:::
VA and RA cannot emulate strings (or anything else that is the point of ROMplers) at all.
Most decent ROMplers are more expensive than most analog synths.
Ugh, once again, I can't comment on anything without someone concluding that I am making some statement about analog. f**k analog, we're talking about ROMplers.

[Zamise]

Cheap synth is a cheap synth AG dude. Get a good rompler bro and it'll imitate string trems better than a good VA or RA, those are the imitations hence the term synthesized, especially if you want to trem 32 or 64+ notes simultaneously.

:::stares at you blankly:::
VA and RA cannot emulate strings (or anything else that is the point of ROMplers) at all.
Most decent ROMplers are more expensive than most analog synths.
Ugh, once again, I can't comment on anything without someone concluding that I am making some statement about analog. f**k analog, we're talking about ROMplers.

So romplers sound more like a cheap synth, then a real stringed instrument. Ok, I think I gotcha maybe?

I also don't see how a terabyte of rom would help all that much to keep a rompler modern and competitive with software on computers, if you could swap out sounds from any other storage medium besides what is just on the rompler alone. Thats more up a sampler's ally though I suppose, which hardware wise I could maybe see some benefits to having more sampling time for lengthy sampling of things like stringed acoustical instruments.

I just think romplers get a bad wrap in comparison to RA and VAs, and yeah actual instrements, because most of them lack similar control and interface, which has nothing to do with it being a rompler, put the same limitations on the other gear and it'll suck the life out of them too, those are the cheap ones.

[druzz]

a rompler is good if you like the sounds on it for what they are.

personally i enjoy an occasional flute or piano sound sampled from an acoustic instrument . i dont feel like recording every fockin notes one by one myself and editing them and all that bullshit. i'd rather create music when i have some of that precious TIME. so yeah thumbs up for romplers!!

what sucks on most romplers are the brass sounds , rarely useful. the solo string arent great usualy but the ensembles are often useable if not realistic.

romplers are the modern mellotrons.

[Automatic Gainsay]

So romplers sound more like a cheap synth, then a real stringed instrument. Ok, I think I gotcha maybe?

As per usual, I have no idea what you're talking about.
ROMplers sound like... they sound. Their ability to reproduce an effective representation of a string instrument or section depends on upon their sample length and the ability of the programmers involved.

I also don't see how a terabyte of rom would help all that much to keep a rompler modern and competitive with software on computers,

It has to do with how much memory ROMplers traditionally have, which is vastly... and I mean VASTLY less than a terabyte, meaning that the sample length in their memory is considerably shorter, resulting in sounds that must be synthesized instead of demonstrated via sample. Being able to more effectively (via sample length) emulate the instruments ROMplers emulate would... plainly... increase their ability to compete against software samplers, whose intent is also to emulate instruments.

I just think romplers get a bad wrap in comparison to RA and VAs, and yeah actual instrements, because most of them lack similar control and interface, which has nothing to do with it being a rompler, put the same limitations on the other gear and it'll suck the life out of them too, those are the cheap ones.

Anyone comparing ROMplers to analog synths and VAs... um... should stop it. That's very apples and oranges. ROMplers are much less about synthesis, and much more about emulation.

[loungedumore]

I'm with AG on that I don't consider a Rompler as a form of synthesis or synthesizer , just an extended sample playback machine . That said they are invaluable if you need piano ,Drums ,or other instruments you don't know how to tune , upkeep , or otherwise fit in your 10x14 studio . Bread n' Butter baby

[Zamise]

I guess I don't get it then... My beloved rompler is a synth. Maybe they all arn't and it depends on the person playing it. I don't need a trillion built in voice banks with 2 minute, high bit rate waveforms, on it to make tons of music that sounds like an orchestra session. When I need that much, I'll switch over to my computer if its not doing a security update. While I'm at it I'll sample in some vocalists too since my rompler don't really imitate that very well too.

[nvbrkr]

I like ROMpler strings, especially the 90s variety. I don't think them not sounding realistic enough is an issue, because most listeners have become very used to those sounds on records. In fact, real string sections can sound corny on certain type of songs. Some units have surprisingly beefy analog synth patches as well - you might want to try double-tracking those with some cheaper DCO synth stuff.

When I was a teenager I used to marvel at the high-end ROMplers as some sort of unmatched technological accomplishments. Later on I understood on how limited the designs actually were and it doesn't seem like the manufacturers are taking advantage of the most current techonology at the moment either. I could be wrong. I would also feel like an a*s making lofi industrial music while staring at a design like the newer Roland ones.

They're terrible investments, of course. Comparable to 70s home organs. In that sense, most of them are sold to people who don't really know enough about other alternatives. That's what I also dislike about their marketing, as what you can see on those promo youtube videos.

I have an old Ensoniq as a MIDI controller, currently.

[pflosi]

And that f**k, costs as much as the Alesis Andromeda. ...

I'd say its more worth the price then an A6.

what????? do you know how much it costs to design ASICs??????

[I12]

Presently
I like my command station too!
Saying its not a synthesizer is a joke, sure it dont do cross mod/sync type stuff
but it has, as balma posted, a very extensive synth engine.

Historically
You couldnt have given me a m1 when it came out (using a eps, mks80, tx7 at the time i think)
didn't mind the d50 never got one till years after its release
my first rompler had a decent synth engine sy77 in 1990/1

Futurely.
Would consider a loaded triton rack with moss these days,
no chance of a new purchase just not where i'm at musically these days.

[Zamise]

And that f**k, costs as much as the Alesis Andromeda. ...

I'd say its more worth the price then an A6.

what????? do you know how much it costs to design ASICs??????

Nope no idea, do they make them out of diamonds or toilet paper something? Man I could use some diamond encrusted toilet paper right now. make my a*s sparkle! How much does it cost?

I did get an 8 gig memory chip today for 20 dollars, thinking if I could get like what, 12.5 of them and stack them inside a sampler, record a few hour of high quality garbage on it I'll be able to put the big 3 out of buisness? Thats only 250 more $ per unit. Am I calculating that right? Or is it 10x more than that, 2,500? Either or, you'll never have to buy another synth again. Hope those puppies will all fit in there.