Roland T-8 Unboxing and First Impressions

Roland T-8 Unboxing and First Impressions
Welcome to my Roland T-8 unboxing and first impressions video! While I wasn't initially as excited about this drum and bass synth/sequencer, I have to admit that after filming this video I'm pretty intrigued. It seems to have quite a few features under the hood, and if you don't mind some menu diving, I think it will turn out to be a pretty rewarding device! Stay tuned for more T-8 content soon! Enjoy the video :)
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GEAR IN THIS VIDEO
Roland T-8: amzn.to/3L4oyX0
Zoom Livetrak L-12 (audio recorder): amzn.to/3JmZQQl
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[@sofnaji]

When u put the hand claps in every step the KZbin caption read "applause" lol

[@FreeBeat]

Omg that's hilarious hahaha

[@agustinbernal2760]

Hi, great video, thanks! I think it is also to consider the portability and the fact you can charge it and don’t need a power bank, those reasons and the great sounds sold me

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks so much for watching!

[@returnofthegoth2220]

This appears to be the most complicated of the Aira Compact series, but probably in a good way. I hope to see more of the T8 bc it is a possible purchase for me but I would like to know more about it. Thanks for showcasing it!

[@FreeBeat]

I'll definitely be covering more :)

[@matzer8846]

This seems to be a Volca killer imho. ... anyway: a good starting point to dive into mini boxes music. 🤓 Thank you very for the demo👍me liked your NO RTFM approach 🤣

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks haha. I always try to go in blind for my unboxing and initial impressions videos!

[@rexcellencemagee6729]

I am going to go ahead and get this (I swore I wouldn’t) and the J-6 after getting S1 and E-4, I want to complete set! Besides they are great hospital companions! I will replace all the sounds from the Integra 7 and really kick it up a notch with V-drums, and the J-6 I’ll use jupter sounds! Should be a blast! Great video as always! Peace to all! I think you can got 64, I might be wrong though?

[@LilHoss]

The Roland TR-8S has the Motion (Automation) Control feature that you mentioned...very cool 😎

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah haha, I think most budget grooveboxes do these days, even the Pocket Operators! Would have loved to see it on the T-8.

[@CmdrMic]

Nice work. Your unboxing vids are always great.👍👍😎🐸

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks so much!

[@alitna]

I must say I like these videos were you dive head in to these machines without knowing anything about it. Gives a good look of how hard it is to learn. I get the feeling both this and the J6 is very good for just hitting play and basically makes them play themselves with a few buttons pressed. The big question will be how easy it is to make your own sequences?

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks! Sequencing your own sequences on the T-8 is actually pretty easy, however you have to tweak your sounds on the fly, since auditioning takes place in a completely different area haha. It's got some quirks but it's pretty fun!

[@electro-soma]

I thought I'd do a quick video on auditioning sounds! kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4HOh5-DocuFgtE The T-8 is quite a deep and feature rich little box.

[@CmdrMic]

Outstanding! Thanks.😎😎😎🙏🙏🙏🐸

[@FreeBeat]

Nice! Hopefully that helps someone figure it out fast haha. It was definitely a head scratcher for me until I went through the manual haha.

[@electro-soma]

@@FreeBeat Hopefully. As I said in one of the comments, I think this was deliberate by Roland as the drum part buttons are used to access often used options, such as probability, flams, shifting the sequence left or right etc. If the drum part sounded each time you accessed these options it would get very annoying. Yes the manual is a must with the T-8. I did find that it's not half as complicated as I initially thought.

[@leewightman8619]

I spent about 2 hours trying to figure out how to change the drum kits then I realized there's only the one but that's ok as u can change the sounds so much I thought it had a 909 an 808 and 606 full kits In it but obviously it's not but it's an impressive bit of kit it's made a big difference to my dawless set up

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@smalltown2223]

I think the different kits are in the preset patterns, different kits in different patterns. Clear the preset sequence and program your own using the kit that stays there.

[@Cysubtor_8vb]

Yet another one I considered at one point. I tend to do percussion tracks in my DAW, however, but do have the Behringer RD-6 and TD-3 to mess around on other wise. I keep pondering adding a Volca Kick (leaning more towards saving up for a Moog Minitaur to fill the sub-bass role) or Sample, though, as they're often marked down more than the other synths. Oh, and I did checkout and ultimately bought the Arturia Minifreak V. Haven't tried creating any of my own patches yet, but have been liking the ones I've found.

[@FreeBeat]

The Volca Kick looks pretty interesting, I've heard some absolutely massive sounds coming from it! Glad you're liking the Minifreak V!

[@karmatosed7211]

Can’t imagine why this model didn’t peak ur interest. Even though I got the E-4 first, I thought the T-8 sounded like it had to best value or most to offer for its price. I wish I got the T-8 first now, but at the time of placing my order my need for vocal related tools was greater. Esp since I already have a 303 knockoff and a drum machine. I’m def getting this one next tho I love how all the different drum machines are crammed into this one single unit. Gj on this video tho, I enjoyed seeing you figure this thing out on the fly. It’s more genuine & is more realistic to the way I could see my own experience w/this model going.

[@Decoy303]

Wow! We made the same purchases in the same order. However i have yet to use it. 😂 The T8 I use all the time. I can't stress downloading the pdf file though. Machine takes a little time but it's easy breezy.

[@akdm82]

To me, the J-6 was the one that piqued my interest the most, then the T-8. I didn’t get the E-4 for a while, but now I rank the E-4 second after the J-6. But that’s just me.

[@FreeBeat]

I think it lacked appeal to me because it doesn't really bring anything new to the table. The E-4 and J-6 both filled serious holes in my studio, but the T-8 was just more drums and bass. However I'm starting to like it more and more!

[@Decoy303]

Be sure to read the pdf file manual because I guarantee if you don't you'll be doing a factory reset eventually. Great little machine but much menu diving.

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah that was the first thing I did after filming this video haha. Interesting little box for sure.

[@mastaboog749]

i have a TD-3 but wish i had one of these!

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@evankeal]

Most impressed with the synth, nice real time controls and good sound.

[@FreeBeat]

Thanks for watching!

[@jaydeepalmer]

Hell yeah! Of the 3 aira compact this is the one i got my eyes on the most! Didn't you say in a previous vid you wanted a dedicated drum machine? Could this be the one?

[@akdm82]

I like the T-8. My biggest gripes with it are: 1. Not much variant in sounds for the drums. You can change the handclap to a Tom and you can tweak some sounds some, but that's about it. The bass part is actually better in my opinion as it has more tweak-ability and you can choose square wave or sawtooth waveforms. 2. like you saw, to audition the sounds, you have to hit them twice with the shift key. once mutes them and the second press auditors them. That is crazy bad design IMHO. I'm hoping you can show us how to use it better. ;-p

[@Decoy303]

Actually if you want to modulate the sounds you really need to read the manual. The side chain, it's leveling, and overdrive settings can really affect the sound. Plus you can duck or gate the sounds. Combine that with some timing settings for the S.C. and delay and reverb... you can get more than a factory sound.

[@electro-soma]

You can audition sounds. Quickly enter a sound editing function. Easiest way is to enter the overdrive setting with a shortcut by pressing Pattern+STEP 10 [A (Random Bass)] button. There's actually quite a lot you can do to effect the drum sounds. Changing the overdrive, levels and gain dramatically alters the character of each sound.

[@akdm82]

@@electro-soma thanks. I didn’t mean that you couldn’t affect the drum sounds though. I just meant that there are so few different sounds there to work with in the first place, and it is hard for me to get the sounds I want, but I’ll keep trying. As far as auditioning the sounds, it’s just irritating that you have to either go into some mode to audition or you have to alternate between muting them and auditioning them. I think that is a bad design choice and I’m hoping a future firmware update will address at least some of these issues. The T-8 is definitely my least favorite of the trio, but it has a ton of potential since It is drums and bass.

[@electro-soma]

@@akdm82 The drums sounds I don't mind. By that I mean, I think they're well chosen and it's possible to get each one sounding quite different by changing parameters. Auditioning sounds is pretty easy though. Just requires you to press two buttons together to enter 'preview/audition mode'. I don't find it an issue really but we're all different! There is a reason why Roland did it this way. Because pressing one of the drum parts is used for a multitude of other options, such as shuffling each track left or right, probability, flams etc. It would be incredibly annoying if the drum parts sounded when doing this. It's the limitation of cramming so much stuff into one small box I guess.

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah I really like the bass actually, the amount of controls is much appreciated!

[@lee3144]

i hope this one works with my korg sq64

[@FreeBeat]

It definitely should!

[@wiggesobk]

Yeah the menu diving isn't that much fun. Nur it's a great mashine!

[@FreeBeat]

Absolutely!

[@Roguetrainer]

This is one where you definitely need to read the manual. Not as intuitive as the J-6. And there’s no automation 😢.

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah that was the first place I went after filming this haha. Bummer about automation :(

[@fcfc]

a 30 minute reading of the manual would have been a good idea ^^

[@FreeBeat]

Yeah that was the first place I went after filming this haha. I always try to go in blind for me unboxing and initial impressions videos :)

[@fcfc]

@@FreeBeat I understand, that's a good way to test the UI

[@PorchBass]

Why not spend five minutes reading the manual?

[@FreeBeat]

I like to go in mostly blind for my unboxing and initial impressions videos.

[@witchfindergeneral2504]

What is the point of filming a box being opened? Seriously?

[@FreeBeat]

Did you actually watch the video? It's an unboxing (first few minutes) and then using it for a bit so I can provide my initial impressions, just like the title says.