![]() ![]() The same cannot be said of the VS1680, which proved that the VS format was viable for serious composition and recording. The VS840 garnered some positive reviews, but it was hugely limited and limiting. Where it scored, however, was in the provision of a built-in Zip drive, although this offered just four minutes of eight-track recording, even without alternative 'takes'. It also suffered from severe limitations when using uncompressed audio. Like the VS880, it was an eight-track system limited to recording just four tracks at a time, and it lacked a number of its larger sibling's more sophisticated features. Alongside the pair of these, the JX305 Groovesynth was derided by purists, but as a modified MC505 in a five-octave keyboard, without the D-Beam but with an additional selection of traditional sounds for playing or sequencing, it appealed to people who wanted to combine orthodox playing and Groove sequencing.īut the most significant developments were to be found in the V-Studio series, which expanded into a range of three distinct products: the VS880 S2 with its external CD writer option, the VS840, and the superb VS1680, which set a new standard for small studio workstations.Īs the name suggests, the VS840 was the baby of the family. The SP808 was a new variation on the Groove idea, combining sampling and recording in a single box designed for remixing, tweaking, warping and triggering phrases for techno music. The MC505 was an enhanced MC303, adding an improved sound engine, and an enhanced library of music patterns, but it was also the first Roland to accept Smart Media storage cards, and the first to boast the new, infrared 'D-Beam' controller that Roland had licensed from Interactive Light. There was, perhaps, more innovation in the shape of the MC505, SP808 and JX305. The MC505 vastly improved on the Groovebox concept introduced with 1996's MC303. Likewise, the SPD20 improved upon 1993's SPD11, the SC880 was an improved GS/GM rackmount, the JP8080 was an enhanced rackmount version of the JP8000, the VG8EX replaced the VG8, and a range of superb digital pianos replaced the previous range of superb digital pianos. It sported new sounds, and some nice touches such as its integrated Zip drive, but at heart it was still a GS/GM 'Arranger' workstation. ![]() Similarly, the G1000 Arranger Workstation was a bigger, better version of the G800. This was nothing more than a smaller version of the XP80. None of these were particularly innovative, although all built in meaningful ways on the company's previous successes.Ĭonsider the XP60, which replaced the XP50 released three years before. It wasn't obvious at the start of the year, but 1998 was to be one of the most fecund years in the company's history, with more than 40 major product launches.
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