Roland TR-8S 2.5 Firmware Update Feature Overview!

Roland just drops 2.5 from out of nowhere and unloads a fistful of features on us. Let's check them out...
- 6 New FM Drum Models: Kick, Snare, Tom, Clap, Cymbal, and Perc.
- 4 New FX: Master FX - Fattener & Vinyl Sim
Reverb - Ha Dou ( from SP-404)
Delay - Pitch Shift
- PROBABILITY!!!! Step & Sub-Step. Master Offset
- Random Instrument & Kit
Mahalo ‪@rolandglobal‬ for the great update!

[@jeffcarricoguitar]

This makes me excited for the next MC-707 update! Excellent video as always. Thanks for all your hard work.

[@dj_fxallproductions3412]

Game changer finally glad to see Roland spreading the vinyl effect to other boxes

[@trusto1016]

Finally more options and now it's time to get after it! As always bro.....great lesson and content. 🤙🏾

[@UnitE808]

You typed this as I was typing a text to you to go download the update! Lol!

[@Jossywossy780]

Thanks Brian great stuff!

[@CosmicSynergy]

Thank you for the overview!

[@larsfrosznielsen3536]

Thank you deeply

[@LuisTorres-qz5kr]

Thanks for reviewing this update.

[@XPirateMental]

Great update great video.

[@FenixSongMusic]

Thanks so much for this! Was looking for this roundup. Very good to know.

[@sturdyblock]

Quality walk through as usual.

[@robert.melter]

Thank you, Master of the TR8s!

[@MiniManiMuH]

YEEEEEEEEES !!! THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HARDWORK!!!!!!

[@noosasoundsystem8398]

Great summary thanks 🙏 and I didn’t know until catching your vid - nice surprise!

[@sauce_aux]

yessss these are some handy new updates. Backing up my kits system, to prep for the update while I watch this video. Thanks for the details!

[@official-kin]

Great Video! Finally some dynamic on the tr8s. Thanks to the probability function!

[@drgigglesvinyldjsets-kruto1080]

You got the best videos in the TR8S on KZbin!

[@strangersun7721]

Great update. Still hope beyond hope that they'll give us unquantized, off the grid features. Class compliant audio would also be nice. Thanks for the video!

[@gatorgoforth3097]

🤯 I’ve been watching your videos for years. Realized I haven’t subbed yet, glad to be your newest subscriber 👍

[@EchoKraft]

Great video ! Thanks !!!!!!

[@BassamAbusamra]

So excited, excellent update, amazing video Brian. Can’t wait for the MC 707 update 🤣

[@UnitE808]

Hopefully, we will see one!

[@RabbitintheMoon]

Love all of this...

[@UnitE808]

Woah! Thanks for watching! Love all that you do! Got it all on vinyl! I want to bring you guys out to Hawaii for a show.

[@mozr5053]

Good shit bruh, keep the updates Roland in😉😂

[@toddthomas4761]

Thank you for continuing to do these killer TR8 videos... love your stuff, brother!

[@UnitE808]

Thank you! I'll keep making them!

[@toddthomas4761]

@@UnitE808 Enjoy your musical creations as well. Been really getting back into the live capabilities of the TR8s... The firmware updates are great!

[@UnitE808]

@@toddthomas4761 I never realized how badly I needed probability! 🤣 The new firmware is amazing. Really getting into the fm drum models too. I would love to hear some of your live stuff.

[@toddthomas4761]

@@UnitE808 Same! I'm just seeing what probability can do!

[@johnmelas3118]

Thanks unit E, excited to try these. Microtiming would be amazing….

[@UnitE808]

Microtiming would be really nice.

[@Eri3t5co]

nice tips. I didn't know them

[@lillehammerexperimental]

With this update this piece of gear has become one of my best musical investments ever - I was happy already but now it’s just insanely well featured - and I bought it years ago - it’s almost like getting a new machine 🔊🔊🔊

[@lillehammerexperimental]

and thanks Brian for the great video!

[@avlantis5935]

Thanks for your ongoing customer engagement and work first! a couple Q's: 1- Is Ha-Dou supposed to have an approx 6 bar (@125bpm) pitch modulation? It seems to be 4 bars with one pitch, then 2 at another much different. Possibly due to delay time or something changing suddenly. 2 - Are there any updates to midi implementation?

[@NeoLudditevisons]

excellent! hopefully the MC line is next for some updates.....

[@UnitE808]

I believe we will see an update soon.

[@NeoLudditevisons]

@@UnitE808 Super exciting. Roland are setting new product support standards here. Fantastic stuff!

[@Z33803]

Luv the colored knobs and sliders! Can you tell me where you got them

[@mostellato1749]

Thanks very much indeed for this new vid. Excellent. A dummy question, do I need to run a factory reset after upgrading from firmware 2.0? Do I miss something in case I don't do it? Cheers mate.

[@UnitE808]

Always do a factory reset after an update. Make sure that you have done a backup first before the update.

[@mostellato1749]

@@UnitE808 ok thanks will do x

[@UnitE808]

@@mostellato1749 you can restore your backup and get all your work back on the machine, in their places. If nothing else, doing the entire update procedure ensures a complete install.

[@matthiasreichert4016]

thx 4 the vid. i hope roland will include the filters for acb sounds, then the probability extended to every 2nd or 4th whatever time and make the tr editor a bit better, like add a play button, or if you click a variation, the variation will play, or groups of varations. its very frustrating because my device is hooked up with other gear and 10 foor apart from my laptop desk, so i cannot control both the tr editorand the tr8s at the same time. its just not a nice workflow if i have to walk around to press stop/play and change varations all the time while i'm working on a project. what do you think of the workflow of the editor? it seems to me it is just good for sound design and organizing names, not so much for programming long sequences

[@UnitE808]

A filter will not be added because they were not present in the original machines. I am not sure what you mean by adding a 2nd or 4th to probability. I agree that the editor needs work.

[@matthiasreichert4016]

@@UnitE808 for example if you just play pattern A 4 times, and can assign probability to a step as 1/4 it will only play once every 4 loops 1/2 only every second loop and so on. erica synths bassline and elektron machines have this kind of feature

[@UnitE808]

@@matthiasreichert4016 does the once every 4 happen at the same measure? The probability on the 8S allows the same thing. A step can have a 25% probability. That's 1 in every 4 times.

[@matthiasreichert4016]

@@UnitE808 it works like this: you can choose either 1:2 so it will play every 1st time in 2 or 2:2 so every second time of 2 same with every other number configuration until 8:8. if you set it to 50% on the tr8s i think it is just a 50% chance. so sometimes it can play several times in a row or not at all. this is of course only an addition to the total randomize in % feature, but can make a pattern of 16 steps for example, appear much longer if used correctly. i think the tr8s would benefit from that a lot since there is no proper song mode and one could use the variations a-h for much more than just 16 steps. ofc it is supposed to be a fast drummachine. but the option would not make it more complicated if you don't want to

[@UnitE808]

@@matthiasreichert4016 I understand now. It would be a nice feature

[@ElektroHaus]

All hail the TR8s master! Can you please let me know where you purchased the color knobs? Thanks 👍🏼

[@UnitE808]

They were giveaways at the Roland booths at conventions a few years ago. Chroma caps don't work from djtectools. The Davies 1900 clones at thonk.co.uk work really well

[@DJeMo]

Ive noticed the random pattern now changes the velocity of the kicks were before it maintained their position on volume and velocity....and the rest randomised, hope they readjust that later......as the random pattern was great when the kick stayed on point volume and velocity

[@ragionerechefabatti5798]

@@UnitE808 on the djtectools they said knobs work for tr8, faders not. is it not true? tr8s has differnt knobs compared to tr8? which kind of 1900 clones worked with tr8s? 6.35 round shaft, t18 or d shaft? do you know where to get also faders?

[@UnitE808]

@@ragionerechefabatti5798 the TR-8 is different than the 8S. The Davies clones that work are the d-shaft

[@cesarvalentim9796]

hi Unit:E to make this new update is just the same procedure as in your video for the 2.0 ?

[@UnitE808]

Yes, same procedure

[@cesarvalentim9796]

@@UnitE808 thank you

[@menclar5476]

Whats is the pink note (its in radio lab beat on the bass drum) and how can i make it?

[@UnitE808]

Pink is alternate instrument. Only certain acb and fm tones have them. There is no user made option.

[@menclar5476]

@@UnitE808 ooh, thanks

[@IntangibleMan]

You found some knobs that fit better than I did! I emailed tech tools and they told me the superknobs were the ones, and they fit but the size puts them too close together. Do you have a direct link for those?

[@UnitE808]

The ones I have are from Roland directly during conventions. They don't make them anymore but you can find a nice alternative at Thonk.co.uk. Look for the Davies 1900 clones.

[@IntangibleMan]

@@UnitE808 many thanks bud!

[@shinezacharias3118]

These expanded parameters for only new fm sounds or will be there for old fm sounds

[@UnitE808]

Just for the fm drum models, not the older fm drum tones. I almost think these other older fm drums were created from the drum models we just got. You can load only fm drum models on all the tracks.

[@philiptoner8719]

where do you get the colored knobs ?

[@UnitE808]

I got them from Roland at a convention 4 or 5 years ago. They decided not to go through with a full production, so we now have to seek knobs elsewhere. I like the Davies 900 clones from thonk.co.uk

[@christophervincent77]

Is all of that exposed in the TR Editor app?

[@UnitE808]

Yes! Be sure to update the app.

[@pltndbnn]

Dear Unit E, please help. Ive done my update but now i have a strange problem a cant solve. I have my patterns on Bank 8 Before each pattern had its own sounds, i could create different kit variations in each ptn, and switching patterns also changed sounds in each pattern. So i could have a bunch of slightly different types of my kit in a row of patterns. Now i do have only one kit for the whole bank 8 and changing kick in pattern 8-01 changes it for all the other. What am i missing?

[@UnitE808]

First, was a factory reset performed after the update? A backup should have been done before the update so you can restore your kits and patterns after the reset. Second, each pattern needs its own kit. If you use the same kit number for all the patterns in that bank, any changing of sounds or fx will alter all patterns that use that kit number. Check your utility menu for KitSel and set it to PTN.

[@pltndbnn]

Thank you 🙏🏻

[@UnitE808]

@@pltndbnn let me know if that helps!

[@pltndbnn]

​@@UnitE808 Bug is still there =( - Kit sel in the menu is set to PTN - 8 01 has kit 028 Detroit Love I check it, sabe the kit and the pattern 8 01 switch to 8 02 - (i ve copied the 8 01 to make some changes). I press kit, save it as a new one kit "125 Detroit Love" I change base instrument and save the kit 125 and the pattern 8 02 after i switch to 8 01 - it has kit 125 on it instead of 028 presaved - Kit sel in the menu is still set to PTN Sure it was not like this before Thanx for your attention to my case

[@UnitE808]

@@pltndbnn the pattern menu has a parameter as well. It's called kit sw and the value should be set to pattern. Also, make sure that when you make any changes in the utility menu, you write system. Utility .enu parameters do not save if you just write the pattern and kit.

[@robertbowes7111]

HI, My TR8S has stopped working with the editor after an update. Could there be something wrong with the settings on the TR8S?

[@UnitE808]

@@robertbowes7111 no. Are you on Windows or Mac? Might need to update the editor app

[@menclar5476]

Question: do you install this update as the last one you did?

[@UnitE808]

Yes. There is no need to do each update up to this one. Just do this update after a backup, then Factory Reset after the update, then Restore the backup.

[@menclar5476]

@@UnitE808thank you

[@jorgevasconcelosmadetomove]

if i update to 2.5 i istill have the original sounds of 2.0? i dont care losing my. patterns

[@UnitE808]

It adds more sounds. If you don't do a backup before the factory reset, it will erase kits and patterns that you have made.

[@alexwestconsulting]

love the new features but still no sidechain like the T-8 :( now i think it will never come. this really limits my ability to use these devices, 6s in particular since no work around.

[@jeffcarricoguitar]

Tr-8s has sidechain. Check the Kit menu.

[@Claidheambmor]

They can't add something that's already there bro

[@alexwestconsulting]

@@Claidheambmor it's not. TR-8s has sidechain on internal input, in which case you have to use the aux outs (so you can't use them to actually aux out) and then input through aux in (in which case you can't use aux in on anything else without a mixing option). TR-6s has a USB fangled solution only that requires PC USB connection, in which case why wouldn't I just use an actual DAW for sidechain. T-8 has an elegant internal solution that has yet to be ported to their flagship drum machines.

[@travymoto1]

Unit:E sounds an awful lot like Enrique 😆

[@UnitE808]

Lol!

[@skunksmisery]

Still no start/stop on the editor. Why is this such a hard ask?

[@UnitE808]

Hasn't been much demand for it.

[@skunksmisery]

@@UnitE808 do you know of a simple start/stop midi app for a Mac? Right now when I want to use the tr editor I have to load up Ableton just to be able to do transport control. Seems like overkill.

[@UnitE808]

@@skunksmisery I haven't used one but the app store seems to have a good selection of midi apps. Is the 8S too far away to reach in your setup?

[@skunksmisery]

@@UnitE808 It's a 180 swivel and push.... and I'm a lazy fucker :)

[@UnitE808]

@@skunksmisery lol! I feel you. It's not exactly in a perfect spot in my studio either, but I don't have to turn around. 😄