Only since about 1970...
What Roland did here is digital modeling of analog gear at the parts/component level. This isn't new in the world of digital synthesis; a few software synths have done it for a while, as have a few DAW plugins. The idea is that you get a more authentic sound by modeling all the parts and pieces instead of just looking at a waveform that comes out of the output jacks and modeling that waveform.
What's a bit odd, at least to me, is that they modeled an analog synth instead of just making one!
Because at the $500-600 price point there are several real-deal analog synths on the market that do as much, sound better at what they do, and truly are capable of shaking the floor if you want to.
If you're going to model an analog synth, why just make it do a few limited things?
You're thinking, OK, well because it's digital, maybe this thing does more. It doesn't. For example, only one low pass filter is offered; heck, a $79 soft synth modeler offers choices of several types of filters.
I've seen this line in person. It does look pretty. It does sound reasonably good. But I think it's more intended for DJs than synthesists. In its price range you can get the Arturia Mini-Brute, the Dave Smith Mopho and Tetra, the Moog Minitaur, Slim Phatty and Sub-Phatty, and other analog synths that sound more real analog than this thing because they
are real analog.
I do not understand this product's existence at all. That's why they will sell like hotcakes and of course be discontinued within a short time after a short life cycle, and then put in a different looking box, as are all Roland products. Bleh. And more bleh!
If you want to mess with synths, there are some wonderful sounding soft synths out there that do much, much more for much much less money, and sound great doing it. Spend $100 on a keyboard controller, plug some soft synths into your DAW, and you'll be a lot better off in the world of synthesis. If you prefer hardware that can travel to the gig and sounds 100% analog, just get something like a Tetra and have
glorious sound.
Incidentally, true digital synths that did a lot more
schtuff than analog synths didn't replace analog synths because people had bad taste back in the late 80s.
Synthesists like me were blown away by the digital gear that came out because it could do so freaking much sonically! And while the analog waveforms were rich-sounding, we wanted the myriad of sonic possibilities that digital synths offered. I remember trading in my last true-to-the-era analog synth back in 1989. Heck yeah I traded my Roland Jupiter analog synth in on a Kurzweil...
These days I'm all about software models when it comes to synths. They sound as good as your converters let them sound, and they do more than the hardware does lately.
However my son Jamie who makes records in LA, loves and will only use analog synths. I get that, and I get why: if you love analog sounds, the best way to get those sounds is with real analog synths.
Me, I don't care all that much about analog or digital when it comes to synthesis (see 1989), because the world of synthesis is a world of artificial sounds anyway. I just want to be creative in the studio, so I use whatever gets me there.
