The Gaz Williams Show - Roland Integra-7 Most unhip synth 2022?

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On tonight's show I am messing around with Roland's final rack mount synth, the Integrated-7. Is it still viable in 2022?

[@JahaJaho]

I confess. I have a similiar love for rack synth menu diving. I think it is like 99% percent nostalgia. It brings up memories of when I was totally new to synths. Deep menues gives me a feeling of endless possibilities of sounds to explore. It is funny how neurons works in the way it kind of rejuvenates the mind in a time travel like that.

[@kusurihaga]

Thank you Gaz for this cool hangout and also thanks for pointing out this pc editor. I had not idea. Two thumbs up!!

[@armucoartworks1732]

Integra 7 is a good introduction to what we (elder) call expander stack management. Today with daws this technic is lost because younger people first make a track, duplicate track and put sound after on each track with effect. Combining sound first and playing the combination is a very different feeling. You will never buy only one synthesizer and midi was invented to combine sounds . Young people should play more the instruments, than just fidling with a daw.

[@kgbinfo]

Yeah, young people are so dumb they are the WORST!

[@alexwestconsulting]

I've been seriously looking at the Integra-7 for a while now. I started looking at picking up an old module, but research inevitably leads to just forking out for the 7, just like you. It's super overlooked and underrated at the moment because everyone interested in dedicated devices these days.

[@azlanrazif]

I initially wasn't impressed by it, until I made an exploration of it's presets and it's specs, like the multitimbrality and part effects. For what it is, I now think it's fine.

[@pcuimac]

I use my Integra 7 and XV-5050 together with my Fantom G6. I can have up to six SRX cards active at the same time. The XV has Techno and Dance sounds, while Integra gets epiano, organ and synth boards active. Unlimited sound pallet!

[@avace917]

Doesn't the Integra 7 have all the 1080 boards built in? That was the selling point

[@sierramusiccentral4218]

The SRX boards, not the JV-80, although the samples are mostly the same. @@avace917

[@meilstone]

No, it has the 12 SRX boards (which you get for around € 200 used EACH) included, not the older SR-JV boards that go into the 1080. @@avace917

[@RikMaxSpeed]

The Intégra-7 gives you instant access to Roland’s massive high quality sample library, and all the presets they created for the JV and Fantom series. It sounds amazing. The guitar sounds in particular are fantastic, with natural fingering & fret noises. More disappointing from Roland is that their more recent flagship synths all use a subset of these samples.

[@syntholabo]

Finally a good Integra7 video in the world!

[@alphabeets]

I love mine. Patchman Music gave me the best deal.

[@dietmarschlichtherle7061]

The app is not availabele on the IOS side...why????

[@squeakD]

It’s still selling for $1,999 here in the US. It’s shocking IMO to see that price tag on a module that has been out years now. It’s an awesome sound module.., but overpriced.

[@LittleRichard1988]

The JV and XV moduels are still worth considering.

[@squeakD]

@@LittleRichard1988 I agree, which is why I’m on the hunt for a clean 1080 or 5080. Hopefully find one with a few good expansion cards already installed.

[@planetmullins]

Agree, would never pay that much for a box.

[@trippypages7309]

100% Agree

[@audiolego]

I remembered in 2016 I was shopping for one and it was 900ish in the States.

[@mybachhertzbaud3074]

Wish Roland had a small model that just had super natural and VA sounds. Already have access to all the rest of their tones through various means.🎵🎹🎶😁Play On

[@StefaanHimpe]

I bought an Integra-7 at the start of the first big lockdown here (now 2 years ago) and haven't regretted it. I still use it almost daily. Not every sound is super (and some are really awful), but many are really good or sound really good in combination. While the iOS app may not be the best, at least there is an iOS app available (and there's an unofficial one that is rumored to be much better than the official one). The biggest shame for me is the total lack of an Android app to control the thing. While technically you can edit every parameter on the unit itself, it's quite cumbersome. How Roland can completely neglect so many users (and apparently get away with it) is beyond my understanding. The second shame is that it occasionally has MIDI problems (hanging notes) but Roland doesn't seem to care about bug fixing. Finally, many of the pad sounds (but luckily not all of them) sound a little cold and sterile to me - even though officially these are the same samples as in older Roland rack units, they actually sound a bit different.

[@dominiquefremond6502]

😢euy

[@sirpatrickofgoober6603]

Best thumbnail ever! Matches the dread expectation of 'Ugh, a rompler '.

[@jeanlouiscoquin3743]

Hi, what’s app have you installed on you iPad ?

[@0x80O0oOverfl0w]

This is awesome! I just picked up one of these off Reverb, I can't wait for it to get here. I can't wait to try out the bag pipes with my EWI!

[@johndean5860]

Are the outputs loud enough for line input or do I need a preamp?

[@GazWilliams]

Line outs are plenty juicy for regular line in level

[@ciatangallaghe2485]

Were you in Supergrass at somepoint?

[@universeconsciouscitizensc592]

The Integra-7 is not as intuitive on the surface as I'd like, but once I dug down into it, I was very impressed with it's flexibility and the vast number of presets, including scads of samples of other synthesizers. It really is ideal for live gigs. The "Live" Roland sounds are great, if also slightly limited in scope, but that's because I'm used to using large sample plugins. I wanted to use sounds in a live setting equivalent to what I have in a modern DAW. I never did find an equivalent by other synth companies. Since I'm not primarily a keyboard player, lately I've been thinking of selling it.

[@GazWilliams]

Hmm I think hang on to it. There’s nothing that can truly compete with it and nothing has come out that’s truly superseded it either

[@Hippopotiverse]

What's Gaz's Twitch channel?

[@elvinlewis4233]

They're 2k grand in the U.S. now. 7/23. I got mine for 900, (2017) they retailed for 1200 at the time.

[@GazWilliams]

Woah really? Is that the new price?

[@elvinlewis4233]

@@GazWilliams Yes, they've kept going up for some reason.

[@primitivefish5167]

As successful as the Integra 7 was, I would have thought Roland would have updated it with the Fantom Zen-Core chips. Maybe that is in the works, who knows. But certainly the RAM can be increased so that you could put all your sounds in at once.

[@LeighKemp]

My god that bagpipe jam sounded truly horrific. 😂😂😂

[@SynthgodXXX]

I loved the Integra-7! It sounded great, surround sound style panning is sweet in recording sessions. SuperNatural sounds are clean & clear. Some don't like it because the sounds are too crisp. My JD-XA sounds sweet with the SN sound engine inside 😀

[@MatusFinchus]

Just had a quick look online at this unit and it's selling for 5x the price of a JV1080. :O I can't immediately see what warrants that difference. (Great video as always, Gaz - sorry I didn't get to catch it live, but I did join you on Sonic Talk beforehand). :)

[@antoniocalimero1173]

It seems like you've been stuck in the good old days 😉 An Integra is a 1080 with all the sr-jv80 cards in it and much more.. to stay in the old days In short, with all SRX cards in it. Much cheaper and more interesting than the old modules. Although I will keep my XP50 and Dance card😇

[@MatusFinchus]

@antoniocalimero1173 Ooh ta. Hehe yes - I am a bit of a sentimentalist. The first time around when I had a JV, I think I had the Dance Card, too. Not so easy to get hold of, now. :-(

[@michelvondenhoff9673]

Gaz, that layered bag pipe sound made me think of The Residents. Joke aside, that is a great sounding module. Got the Jup50 (slightly trimmed down version of the i7), great fun and pairs well with analog gear like DFAM (DFAM & SN oboe 👍)

[@NoxBoxdy]

You really need our software I keep telling yall about and offering.... Just let him now. Really open up the Integra for multitimbral use, Gaz! Also have the rk008 and use it with it... is awesome. Handles all the midi thrown at it. :-)

[@NoxBoxdy]

Motifs are great too for this. Anyhow..if you want midistrata. Just holler and I will give a heads up to send a copy. Im not a bot or want anything. Not a corporation..just a synth nerd trying to enthusiastic about showing the world what my friend has done. Please dont flag me. Not an ad. Just being friendly. :-)

[@indiefilmcomposer]

This rack synth is a workhorse. I’ve had one for many years and can get a lot of good sounds out of it especially the Jupiter pads saw, and square waveforms sounds great, organs , however, unfortunately roland abandoned support. The iPad app stopped working with recent years IOS as well as Windows desktop and there was no way to control it outside of the rack, which is very tedious so I was forced to go with zen core, which has many of the same sounds, and serves the same purpose. This is my experience others might have a different situation with PC and IOS set ups, long story short same sounds for a fraction of the price,

[@truthmanifestingtruth]

Which monthly subscription do you have?

[@indiefilmcomposer]

@@truthmanifestingtruth no subscriptions, purchased zen core pro from sweetwater on sale , comes with a wide variety of synths and acoustic samples, I compared it to the Jupiter x and Juno x in most cases no difference in sound but the Juno x interface is very easy to use and more fun

[@planetmullins]

That's the problem with the hardware boxes these days....when they abandon support, they abandon you. I'm just using the cloud these days and my JV 1080 sounds great....even though they didn't include any of the great sounding performance patches it has on the hardware version.

[@whistlemusic8572]

Spaitial audio love it

[@jitendrasinhthakor]

Gaze, I am a composer and singer of Indian-style songs and many of them are uploaded on KZbin. I like to use many many sounds and tones of different instruments from the whole world, is Roland Integra 7 a good choice to buy? Or is any arranger to buy a good choice? Please 🙏 reply to me as I am much confused about what to buy. Thanks.

[@LittleRichard1988]

The Roland Integra 7 is an ideal piece of equipment for any producer. I would personally reccomend it over an arranger keyboard. Other options worth considering is the Roland SC-88 Pro, SC-8820 or SC-8850 as those also contain loads of Ethnic instrument sounds. VST options include Roland Cloud, Halion 7 ( another really good workstation based on Yamaha Motif sounds and a lot cheaper ) and Kontakt by Native Instruments.

[@jitendrasinhthakor]

@@LittleRichard1988 Thanks for your reply.

[@AviPFine]

Used to have the i7. Electric piano sounds and strings were super clear. The spatial sound was amazing. But the menu dive experience was dreadful for me.

[@InkyDaCaT]

catching up now🌟

[@AntonioOliveira-em4cd]

I have one and I love it! I agree the app sucks! But the sound and the options are amazing

[@WildernessMusic_GentleSerene]

The Integra7 could be a good match to Rolands Fantom workstation. The new ZenCore is a voice hog using up to 8 voices per single key press. I have run out of polyphony on almost everything I have programed, including simple 2 to 4 layers scenes. No PCM editing on the Integra? Weird. My new Fantom won't allow SuperNatural editing, only ZenCore deep subtractive sound design. I think the Roland FA workstation allows SuperNatural editing. So maybe we should match the Fantom with a FA to get full editing and solve polyphony shortages?

[@blindjusticeandcommonsense2786]

There's no PCM editing on the app. You have to do the PCM editing on the Integra itself.

[@woodyforrest313]

> The Integra7 could be a good match > to Rolands Fantom workstation. noooo! if you own a fantom there´s zero need for an integra. buy an access virus snow instead.

[@blindjusticeandcommonsense2786]

@@woodyforrest313 Hmm, that's kinda odd advice. The Integra 7 is Roland's history in a box. It makes sense for some people with some use cases to have one. I agree that if you have a Fantom there is such a large overlap with the Integra that buying one probably does not make a lot of sense unless you have a very specific need for one. Roland have really gone in for the online thing and have worked to tie Fantom users to that online system, That may or may not work for you, If it does then there is much less need for getting an Integra. If you go down the rabbit hole you find that the Zen Core stuff is mostly the same Roland history repackaged and with a different interface. And there are some things in Roland's history that Roland don't want to recycle in the Fantom/Zen Core era. All the SuperNatural stuff is the same tech as before. So if you had a Fantom G (or earlier) there would be plenty of sense in getting the Integra to round out your setup. That and the Fantom G is in some ways better than the current gen of Fantom boards. Worse in others. But it is totally separated from the current Zen Core and online thing. Where your advce doesn't seem to make much sense is that you say current gen Fantom owners should get a Virus Snow. Why? The Virus is old tech which isn't really supported any more. I don't get why you would want to go down that route if you were already into the Fantom and online setup, or wanted to avoid the online stuff and get the Roland history in a standaone box. Can you explain your thinking please?

[@woodyforrest313]

@@blindjusticeandcommonsense2786 virus ti2 and snow are still the best virtual analog hardware synths. the current fantoms can´t compete against them, sound-wise.

[@blindjusticeandcommonsense2786]

@@woodyforrest313 Hmm, okay I get where you are coming from now.

[@WildernessMusic_GentleSerene]

That Integra7 UI is the same as my JunoDS menu.

[@woodyforrest313]

juno-ds pattern sequencer is quite nice. unfortunately it has no swing like the jd-xi. workaround: use the mx-1 or sbx-1 in conjunction with the juno-ds.

[@WildernessMusic_GentleSerene]

@@woodyforrest313 With the correct time signature, I was able to play in a swing, advantage of a pattern sequencer over a step sequencer.

[@synkuk]

Paid about £1k for mine in the Uk about 5 years ago ... although not the most hip module in the world .. never imagine actually selling ... as there is so much inside ... especially the supernatural instruments ... and feel more flexible and lighter than multi-samples

[@GazWilliams]

It seems the Supernatural stuff is a bit underrated

[@meilstone]

Yeah, it's still used in some of the top Roland stage pianos.@@GazWilliams

[@WildernessMusic_GentleSerene]

Gaz buys a rompler in 2022. Why not?!! I bought my first workstation in my 54 years of playing keys this year, I bought two actually. Roland Fantom and Korg Krome.

[@Javidshah44]

I’m really wondering if it’s worth it in 2023 , I mean 6000 sounds probably 50 sounds can be nice , is it worth that money. Hope Some one can explain it to me , btw I dont make music , just playing songs

[@mrz80]

Florian threatened to eat my cat if I don't check out your channel so let's see what goes down over here... Ah, Roland and their inevitable-as-Thanos modules...

[@WildernessMusic_GentleSerene]

The Gaia is my favorite poly digital of all time. I can make this synth massive and so big that no-one knows it is a Gaia. Just a few cheap tricks to make it as big as any analog. The Gaia is my go-to synth for big chord sounds with long release. It has never run out of voices with 64 even when sliding up or down the keyboard. BTW my new Fantom can do everything the Gaia can do and more...but...not fun like the Gaia with all that tactile control.

[@AcidTechnoMan5000]

Is there a mac app you can use instead of IPad?

[@Firetracks]

Yes they have a VST/AU editor that opens in your DAW.

[@torbenanschau6641]

Actually we can be glad it didn't sound like real bagpipes with all the fifths as a base

[@pcuimac]

iOS and Android don't do simultanious multi touch events. The screen can recognize pre defined multitouch events, but that's different to hitting three buttons at the same time. That's what physical controls on a midi controller are for.

[@RikMaxSpeed]

That’s utter rhubarb - any number of synth apps on iOS feature multi-touch keyboards. I coded the Noise/Equator app for ROLI, at the time it even had multi pressure on the iPhone 6, a feature Apple then abandoned.

[@pcuimac]

@@RikMaxSpeed These keyboards are not part of the standard iOS functionality. Standard iOS widgets like switches and buttons have no multitouch. Or can you point me to some Apple documentation that tells otherwise? Maybe I missed something?

[@ptkelly80]

I love my Integra, but I really wish they would have given it 16 separate tracks over USB. One stereo out is ridiculous.

[@GazWilliams]

Yes I agree. More recent Roland units have multi USB audio channels but this is probably a bit too early for that sadly.

[@aphexish]

Wattahh thumbnail!!

[@FransvandenBergeMuziekschuur]

It's allso a surround reverb.

[@rlwhite68]

There is absolutely nothing in the Roland cloud or anything in their synth line up that compares to the Integra’s Supernatural EP’s. That other stuff doesn’t do the velocity switches to give you that bite on Fender Rhodes and Whirlitzer sounds

[@GazWilliams]

Good to hear (well for me it is!)

[@leslie1526]

What a shame that all we see these days are recreations of old analog synths that are usually monophonic That unfortunately is true for software plug-ins as well

[@WARDISWARD]

44:45 Wrong you CAN edit the sna acoustic sounds , just press the edit button The editing features are not as deep compared to the PCM enine but you can edit them .

[@GazWilliams]

Hmm true but only very few parameters however that’s kind of not the point with those Supernatural acoustic tones. They’re meant to be played not edited!

[@_o__o_]

wadup wit da thumbnail

[@Curious_Skeptic]

Imho, find a use jupiter 80! I miss that beast all the time! 2023 with no gui on desktop? 😂 hard pass on integra 7. Maybe, if I find a steal on a used one.

[@GazWilliams]

The more I use the Integra the more I love it

[@Curious_Skeptic]

@@GazWilliams Sort of cumbersome though, no? If only using presets, I can understand though. Hard to beat the price vs the results. If I'm not mistaken, Jupiter 80 had 256 voice though. Integra 128. I remember looking at the Integra, and the Jupiter 80 was worth the extra money to have the hands on controls, large touch screen, and many other features. You can also load expansion packs into the Jupiter 80. Doesn't have surround, but honestly, surround is more of a post production task I'd think. Glad you love it though. I can see why, but again, still on the side of the Jupiter 80. One of the best flag ship synths ever from Roland IMHO.

[@scrumpy82]

Gaz the latter day Leland Sklar.😂

[@karl.weaver]

Why would you want ‘take apart’ a super natural sound? Do you feel mightier than Roland. Use your time to compose. You have plenty of knobs and faders to play with. Loved this pace of video, relaxing and informative. Subscribed.

[@mildheadwound]

Get a used Kronos, or better yet, a Nautilus. They sound much better, and are much easier to program.

[@leslie1526]

Terrible choice of sounds - bag pipes, really?! I’m sure Intrgra is capable more than what you’ve demonstrated

[@fredflintstone1428]

My mate's got an Integra 7........what a PITA. Sounds were nothing to write home about as I remember.

[@pcuimac]

People still buy XV-5080 and Fantom XR. The SRX cards are still high in demand and you tell me the machine that has ALL SRX boards inside sounds bad? lol I have an Integra 7 and use it as the ultimate expander for my Fantom G6. It's a fabulous machine.

[@fredflintstone1428]

@@pcuimac Have you an example of your work?

[@e-conrecords4665]

@@fredflintstone1428 😂

[@boimesa8190]

bruv get to the point....

[@dycseu]

Quite hard to follow your blabla. You should rather concentrate on what you want to tell us and prepare before you start babbling. Thanx.

[@GazWilliams]

It’s my style! I’m the blah blah bloke