AIRA Compact- First Look at the new Range

Roland today announced three new machines in the new AIRA Compact range. Its s new form factor and one that is going for entry level and portability. All the new machines back on the ACB modeling technology.
T-8 Beat Machine
Roland drum and bass sounds from the TR-808, TR-909, and TR-606 drum machines, paired with the dynamic TB-303 Bass Line. The six-track TR-REC workflow with deep tools like step loop, pattern shift, probability, and
others to generate dynamic performances.
J-6 Chord Synthesizer
The J-6 Chord Synthesizer pairing a powerful chord sequencer with tones of the JUNO-60 synth. Simply call up one of 100 chords sets and build chord progressions with one-touch presses on the
built-in keyboard. Styles, variations and rhythmic patterns from chords via step
input and tweak the sound with dedicated filter and envelope controls, and add
customizable delay and reverb effects.
E-4 Voice Tweaker
The E-4 Voice Tweaker combines voice transformer tools and standard vocal
effects with a hands-on interface. Pitch and formant sliders are available to instantly
change the vocal gender, create robot voices, and more. Auto Pitch, automatic harmony,
and vocoder processors are included, along with reverb, delay, and other effects.
There's also a built-in 24-second looper for capturing performances on the fly, plus a
unique Scatter function for slicing and dicing the sound via a dedicated panel knob.
All three are class compliant USB-C connectivity with 2 in, 2 out audio and MIDI over USB, a build in rechargeable batter (around 4hours), MIDI and Sync input and output.
All are available shortly priced at 208Euros, £175 UK pounds.
We had a visit from David Ahlünd who gave us a demo of the new units.
#soniclab #roland #airacompact
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[@Ratskank]

Yes yes Nick , we need that MX-2 , keep requesting and one day!! 🤞

[@ActionPrime...300]

Yes we need mx 2

[@emilyschmanks]

honestly, david is roland's greatest asset. i'm not the target demographic of these devices but david makes them look appealing nonetheless. great and informative demo!

[@jcchaconjr]

Totally agree with this statement! 👍

[@athopi]

He's ok, but watch the Loopop review to actually learn about them.

[@s3nsec0rruptr80]

Yeah these look like really well thought out machines for someone, just not for the style of music I make.

[@Goettel]

He knows his stuff, for sure.

[@EnochDark]

@@athopi if you can stay awake

[@Screenshot1015]

I absolutely under no circumstances need any of these but every video of somebody jamming on them makes me want them anyway. Looks like instantaneous fun for hours

[@Jason75913]

You like Volcas?

[@AveMcree]

That J-6 is something I’d like to own

[@Maschinestorm]

Was thinking the same myself.

[@PorchBass]

With four voices, roland wants you to get two?

[@InnerVisions68]

Yes. That’s the one I’m interested in

[@johnthebigtree]

How does the j6 compare to the ju06a?

[@Claidheambmor]

@@PorchBass or you could just make great music with four notes? :D:D

[@shreddz]

Always exciting to see what David can do with the new stuff, never disappoints!

[@Saintlumen1]

David is such a great demonstrator (top musician & nice guy too). The J-6 looks tempting for a live jamming/song creation tool. Love it. Keep up the great work Roland!

[@sunilsolanki]

I thought these were a gimmick but these are actually all really brilliant. David is an absolute gem too. Makes all the machines sing!

[@mCKENIC]

These look like a lot of fun! Battery, small, not costly and most important for me Class Compliant!!! Well done Roland - thanks for the demos David and Nick!

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

J6 looks like and can sound like one of Roland's classic sythersizors the 303 Bassline.

[@SRDhain]

The insert/ second unit shot at 0:20 was superbly done👌

[@MrTanukiD]

I was all ready to roll my eyes at a new Roland release but these actually look like a lot of fun and at the right price too.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

Cant complain for £175 there great and very portable.

[@primoparadero6609]

An absolutely awesome and comprehensive demo of the AIRA's capabilities. I would love to produce Deep House tracks in the near future. Wonderful! Thanks you a whole bunch. :)

[@JustHackingAround]

Great video all the way through, loved the ending song when the pieces came together.

[@EnricoDePaoli]

Nick's videos are always very cool. Now, David's musicality was really amazing in this video. Very quickly made some simple things sound pretty awesome! Congrats you both!

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

That demo ant the end sounded great, would stuck around for another 5 minuts for that. Great demo.

[@SynthAddict]

as usual David does a great job and has some singing chops too :-) these are cool little boxes to add to my other cool little boxes

[@trevormalcolm4328]

Cheers Roland. Like I need another drum machine! But I still want one!

[@HankAstral]

Outstanding demonstration

[@KeirMurphy]

Usually I find these little devices by Roland to be underwhelming but they've actually really thought about this new range. Quite interesting indeed!

[@michelvondenhoff9673]

The SE-02 and vocoder are pretty good.

[@Claidheambmor]

@@michelvondenhoff9673 the SE-02 is the not-so secret weapon of the Boutique range. ;)

[@zurlocker1]

Good demo, thank you. J-6 is looking more and more interesting.

[@donadoma]

Great! 👍 hope they release a sampler next 🙏😽

[@DrMuse-on2dx]

This was nice to see a live presentation with more than one person. BTW I wish Roland would do a remake of the MSQ 100 Digital recorder with all its old functions and Rolands new ideas. These machines are still selling on online auctions.

[@TheDavidPoole]

The chord sequencer is a great device. I can see that being a big hit as there isn't really anything like it that i can think of. It's quite niche but ib a good way. Its a pretty good price too. Are they available now, or awaiting chips?

[@johnromero4784]

The T8 is perfect for my needs. Must have. Great Demo.

[@MrBatraaf]

It's wonderful to see Roland come out with some serious contenders. My Volcas have got some serious competition.

[@stevenSouthpole562]

These Roland small boxes are the best thing Roland does. The TR6S and MC101 are my absolute favourite bit of studio gear I've had. Very unsung heroes.

[@mikemeengs5720]

I absolutely love my TR-6S. Small, but fantastic sounding and flexible. I use it in conjunction with my Volca Drum, and they compliment each other quite well!

[@rhythmicon9821]

The outro jam was awesome! I've seen his demos before he's amazing.

[@diegob6729]

The uneven pattern length to create variation is a nice tip 👌

[@suga4all]

Great little devices. I will visit the SuperBooth in a couple of days and sure take 1 or 2 of them with me. Kudos to Roland for entering the Volca-Style mini synth market. Sick jam btw 👍

[@kephalosmusic]

what is wild ! is that the E-4 records more then 24 second loops! i did a +60 second loop just to see how long it can go for. i even added ad-libs on top of it and it was phenomenal.

[@NOLNV1]

Just judging from this video these things actually sound fantastic!

[@iixorb]

I learnt something about the T-8 here; I didn’t know about pressing and holding the keys (in 303 mode) to edit the pitch. Good tip on applying reverb to only the clap, too. Great little unit!

[@JessicaSaves]

They sound really good

[@paulwhiting1731]

Best demo I've seen so far. David Ahlund is number one when it comes to demoing new gear. Hope Roland pay him enough. I like the look of the J-6 and can see use for it in a live situation, but for use with a DAW in a home studio surely you would do better with something like Scaller at about a quarter of the price, with way more sophistication. Having said that I'm a sucker for hand held harware.

[@ToreHansen]

Very cool video and persentation guys!

[@dominicshaw4140]

I love my tr8, this stuff looks better withouth the green and sounds great imo... Delay n reverb on the tb noise well useful too

[@tekis0]

I was thinking the same thing! Good sound. Better looking.

[@Strages_Powers]

Great Demo

[@mmhcreates]

Very impressive, sound excellent.

[@mops58]

Nice 👍. Cool little machines

[@tedpedersen123]

I thought for sure the Aira series was dead. These look like fun little boxes! Roland’s volcas. I’m def getting the J-6. ✌️🎶🎹

[@chrisisinthehouse1]

David is very talented. Really enjoy these Roland compact devices.

[@hammeredhibee]

Just bought a j6 but I am going to get all 3 over next few months. These will be my first ever Rolands I like the look of these love that they can be portable and I can take these little boxes outside make a tune anywhere.

[@NathanChisholm041]

Ive bought all 4 and hooked them all up for some crazy jamming...

[@marcusfreeweb]

What about MIDI control? I would like to get some more movement with an external sequencer. I hope it is all there.

[@MFPRODUCTIONSCHANNEL]

Excellent demo 👍👍👍

[@djjuno106]

David has too be the best demo guy out there..he can make anything sound brilliant and make it a must buy…unfortunately 99.9% of buyers don’t have his talent so once bought the gear gathers dust …

[@Maschinestorm]

Very cool demonstration, informative. dig the tune too. The boutiqes never really caught my eye til now.

[@simonandsimon2352]

Enjoying the e-4 so far! Ideas for e-4 firmware upgrade: (1) original value indicator* (2) ability to save patches and scroll through them with the scatter dial [that way you could burn through exactly what sounds you want mega quick - this is a digital product so it should be able to do that] (3) time control for the delay (all it seems to have is a feedback control for the delay, needs a time control)

[@eubique]

Do you also get 808 kick / 909 snare etc. on the T8 or would that be too much to expect? Seems to be a fixed 808/909/606 mashup but there's obviously some stuff under menus.

[@NathanChisholm041]

Nope thats all!

[@cowboyvicepisodes1945]

Brilliant and thankyou

[@craigbroadfoot1851]

The J 6 looks genuinely different and quite interesting.

[@dinogoldie9716]

Does the E4 provide phantom power (for use with condenser microphones) or does it only work with dynamic mics? Is it worth selling/trading my Aira VT3 for an E4?

[@sectiondrecords4580]

Great new product video! Unfortunately, like many other new Roland products, we won’t be able to buy them for a year.

[@AfterNothingsEnd]

That Juno sounds great. Wow.

[@Khordmaster]

These look (and sound) great. Khordmaster approved ✔️

[@johngilbert184]

Does the J-6 output midi from its generated shords and arpeggios?

[@cresshead]

really cool and nice pricing plus inbuilt batteries!

[@FreddieShreddieTV]

28:49 I cant seem to play chords in real time like that. my j-6 play's one chord on the first bar of every step with no pattern I play in. any ideas what im doing wrong?

[@djpuzzleofficial]

That T8 has me interested! A mini acid groovebox on the go.

[@rezzie17]

I've been waiting for years for some devices like this

[@WarzoneVictoryWins]

So is an MX-2 coming? That's all I want to know.

[@benedictjohnson2176]

Can you control filter envelope on the J-6?

[@kierenmoore3236]

How many bands is the vocoder in the E-4 (8, 16, other … ?!?!)? 🙏🏼

[@kentxx12]

This was good stuff :)

[@EchoKraft]

Wow ! David is so talented!!!!

[@Naotaku]

These are actually quite nice… Especially the T-8, Roland’s greatest hits in a small box.

[@tlatsegms]

Great gear⚡

[@3D6Space]

I'm sure you both are closet Roland MC-09 fans. lol - thanks for the demo... love the music at the end!

[@TrevorDBEYDAG]

At 9:52 "Oh just what we need." 😄I feel the same, very sweet sound, my brain cells just harmonised.😇

[@mrfeenix1]

J-6 is definitely on my radar . Be good to have a bit more of a teardown .Hopefully the sound/voice changes a bit more than shown. Wonder if it sends midi notes of the chords ?

[@recloose2041]

It does, you can use the J-6 as a controller for other MIDI devices. Really fun workflow.

[@TJ-hs1qm]

E-4 is going to make a lot of roots & dub heads really happy

[@danielstewart8351]

David is so dang talented, but he's also possibly the most likable person imaginable. His smile is beyond priceless.

[@rjbush7955]

I didn't expect these sort of devices from Roland at all. They all look and sound great fun. I'm not one for the vocoders normally. But at this price point it would be rude not to give one a try. Last time I saw David with the Aira VT, he was doing a naughty impression of Prof, Stephen Hawkins. Obviously that has disappeared from YT.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

I like the little step sequencer drum machine.

[@Oceanwireaudio]

Very cool

[@dasmortal]

Rebirth RB-338 vibe at the outro jam

[@schmapps1]

I would assume that the J-6 chord/arp sets can be transposed to any key?

[@Jason75913]

hopefully

[@synthshoot1026]

Man you sold me on that voice piece.

[@konstantine8054]

Same ol' same ol'. See you at Superbooth!

[@6581punk]

The last big "age" of music was sampling. Been nothing but recycled ideas since then.

[@annother3350]

@@6581punk Nah mate. There was physical modelling and thats not come of age yet due to processing power

[@ldp7090]

0:49 I have I'm listening on 2 studio monitors with a sub and this thing KICKS

[@maxb4057]

awesome, I'm getting one for my 3 year old

[@mechanicom]

😂

[@unclemick-synths]

If the price in Canada isn't silly, the T-8 is going on my wishlist.

[@BrancoArgenta]

Great answer to the Volcas

[@austinmitchell2652]

How does a channel this big get away without marking chapters for the different instruments?

[@PiriakaTrackwrecker]

Do they play nice with an MX1? They'd be fun with it. Edit: just watched it, sick, will have to grab some for our mx1

[@dj0shtur]

Im getting them all!

[@NathanChisholm041]

I have all four and what fun with them all connected!

[@rnedp760]

I think these are great - I've not felt very excited by the cloud-linked stuff (except for the look of them) but these are very hands on and immediate.

[@wornturtle]

Love that alluding to an mx-2.... As much as it would pain me (financially), as an owner of 3 mx-1s to hear a 2 is on the way I hate enough about the mx-1s I love enough to have 3 of to have spent what now feels like an eternity knowing the ultimate reiteration is waiting in the wings!

[@bangmateo7481]

Good job Tommy from Power!!!

[@intergrippo3779]

That’s how to do a demo. I need none of them, but they look like they have a lot of advantages over big boy gear. Sound is pretty fine.

[@nobbystyles4807]

no way. im not a huge fan of getting stuck in the roland-verse in terms of synths (like the jd whatever it was) but these are a no brainer. pmt and andertons both have them on 3 month pre order. damn, i would have gone and bought both of these tomorrow!

[@DayflightTrok]

Why Roland do not start implementing Midi 2?

[@urrrccckostan]

I’m gonna recreate Cabaret Voltaire style beats on camping trips with these. Can’t wait. This is awesome!

[@recloose2041]

Please post that!!

[@JAO911PLIST]

Built in tb? You have a bassline with your beat all in 1.

[@thethrillofnoskill4521]

These and a korg KaosPad mini pocket set up hell yeah

[@Fokfeesspecial]

So, All of these devices are hooked up to a mixer or straight into a soundcard?

[@sonicstate]

I believe they were daisy chained. Each has a stereo pass thru input

[@Fokfeesspecial]

@@sonicstate How does the keyboard control the manual notes of the devices? is this done through USB?

[@Schmidlapp84]

Do they sync with the Korg Volca’s?

[@Jason75913]

via "SYNC" input and output

[@johnthebigtree]

What’s the difference between the j6 and ju06a?

[@gctechs]

How do you think?

[@JCooperAudioSystems]

Roland packed so much in each one of these boxes and at the price point - amazing. That chord synth/sequencer is going to be a classic. Also David does a great job at the end again. His demos are always great.

[@corrosiveabuser]

Superb demo, really solid presentation. Roland always deliver quality products, and these look and sound amazing, but having all the larger ACB machines, and still owning some of their vintage gear, I feel these are not for me. Obviously there is the Korg Volca comparison, but looking at the Volca machines, I guess we have to ask, - who really copied who? I mean, the volca beats was a poor man's 808, the volca Sample is often used as a 909 stand in, the NuBass is a unique 303 clone, etc. I do miss rackmount gear myself, I was really hoping Roland would release a large scale ACB beast in say, the JP-8080 format, - a 6u rackmount Jupiter-6 or System-100 would be superb, especially if they used the aesthetics of the original units. love to ALL, feel no hate

[@devondetroit2529]

I’m also missing rack mount gear

[@WarzoneVictoryWins]

All I need is an MX-2 Mixer.

[@pcuimac]

Nice machines, but I already have an MC-707. I prefer ACB over Zencore, but its main problem persists. It's is only four voices per processor board and engine. Roland should put two boards with eight voices inside or change the design to an updated processor with six voices at least. Good demonstration with a professional player!