T
tedluk
New member
Krakit said:
I, too have owned Roland gear for decades. In fact, I remember as a teenager going to LA and visiting Roland's offices when they had just begun here in the US. My friend and I were actually allowed in (what were they thinking??) and I remember being surprised that they wanted to talk to us about what we were interested in and what kind of products we wanted to see. This was in the early '70s when small, manageable synths were just starting to come to market.
What I base my opinion on is that I have never owned even one piece of Roland gear that didn't come with a "gotcha". They advertise their products as being capable of doing things which, technically speaking, they can do, but the implementation of the features makes them all but useless. Case in point- The JV1010 module is advertised as being multitimbral and having editable sounds. Wellllll....kinda. They included a stand alone version of Sound Diver that few people were able to get working. So much for programming since it can't be done from the module itself. Of course, they neglect to tell you that. Multitimbral? I know it is, but almost no one can decipher the manual to get this working either. I gave up long ago. I know there have been articles written on how to do it, but that's my point. Why should a third party need to write an article to explain how a basic function of the product should work? I could list others as well, but you get my point. Without exception, every Roland I have owned was missing a feature, or that feature was useless, that would/should have been basic and obvious.
This is just one example of how Roland approaches marketing. They spend an immense amount of money on advertising, which, not surprisingly, NEVER contains any typographical or grammatical errors. However, their manuals are legendary for their horrific translations, mistakes and lack of clarity. I remember my TB303 manual warned against "idiotic operation" (a valid suggestion no doubt). Perhaps if they spent a little more money on the technical end of things and a little less on marketing I would have different feelings about the company.
As for support. To be honest, I have had little interaction with them personally. I have read of others travails though and I have had the frustration of attempting to locate a manual for some of their products which, until recently, they've made sure were not available online (embarrassment perhaps?).
My remarks are, of course, MY opinion and you are entitled to yours. I just have chosen not to enrich them with any more of my money until they make an effort to design their products better and give them decent documentation. Every time I'm at the music store and start playing a Roland board and think, "Hey! This thing's pretty cool!" I remind myself of past disappointments and walk away. (Of course if anyone wants to send me a Fantom XA gratis, I'm willing to make an exception
)I've found both Korg and Yamaha to have clearly written manuals even if they're overly complicated.
Ted
