The New Roland Integra 7

[PauloF]

how about key action of Roland A 800 pro , compared to Roland Fantom ?

Well IMHO, the Fantom X or G keyboard action is better, as they have full size keys and the A-800 Pro have slightly shorter white keys, but as a synth action keyboard the feel is good, and is really suitable for fast playing techiques, and on the contrary that some people say, the aftertouch feel is also good (IMO).

Regarding the Control, the A-Pro has 9 faders, 9 knobs and 8 Pads, Aftertouch, Transpose, and 4 other user defined Switches and is capable of controlling two Zones/splits simultaneously (2 MIDI channels), with Dual/Lower and Upper choices. Quite a handy controller.

The Fantoms are in a different league... With several zones / Splits, but apart from that, with less control, if you also want to use it as a workstation at the same time.

If I Had an Integra-7, the A-800 would be my choice

One more thing, with the A-Pro 800, you can even connect a second keyboard controller as the A-Pro has a MIDI IN connector and a MIDI MERGE function. It can also be the Master clock for all the gear. Really versatile and light controller.

[SoundworldA.D.]

Indeed, and not everyone can be on a Formula One World Championship team, either.

And here we thought that Fernando might be on the way to claiming HIS third title. While it is amazing what he has done with the Ferrari this year, we may have well guessed that Adrian Newey would get the Red Bull Renault sorted out for Seb before the end of the season.

We have our first F1 GP in the states down in Austin, TX soon...will Grammar Wombat be there too? It is a lot of fun down on 6th Street!!

[deswind]

What is meant by "master clock" above with the a-800 midi controller - midi clock? I assume it is not an audio clock.

[Johan325]

Nope, back in the really old days 80’s early 90’s you had master and slaves even in the Midi world. Between a drummachine and a computer for example you had to have a master and slave relation. And it all was controlled by the MidiClock.

[PauloF]

What is meant by "master clock" above with the a-800 midi controller - midi clock? I assume it is not an audio clock.

Correct! I was referring to MIDI clock. And it's not in the old days...but today also

[deswind]

So do you guys mean a "midi clock" such as midi time code which can be used to sync arpeggiators or drum machines? If so, I get it. THANKS.

[PauloF]

So do you guys mean a "midi clock" such as midi time code which can be used to sync arpeggiators or drum machines? If so, I get it. THANKS.

Yes, that's exactly right

[deswind]

My Integra arrives tomorrow (Friday). I must admit that I am very happy about that. I will report back.

[Johan325]

What is meant by "master clock" above with the a-800 midi controller - midi clock? I assume it is not an audio clock.

Correct! I was referring to MIDI clock. And it's not in the old days...but today also

YES! ;-) Today also, of course. But I can understand why he refers the master-slave situation to digital audio. But MIDIclock is not yesterday’s technology. It’s the thing in INTEGRA-7 that makes the delays go on time. Or if you want to record some of the arpeggios from JP-80. Midinotes or audio. MIDIclock is the thing that makes it all work.

[Johan325]

My Integra arrives tomorrow (Friday). I must admit that I am very happy about that. I will report back.

GREAT!!! Perhaps you can answer if there’s some kind of editor in the package

[deswind]

No editor in the package. OS was 1.04 which I upgraded to 1.10. I assume it will be on their website. Do they have a PC editor for the Jupiter? If so, there may be hope.

[SoundworldA.D.]

Because I have so many other synths, I am going to mainly use the I-7 as a one-part "voice"

Assuming it's like most other multi-timbral systems, you may be surprised at just how simple it is to use it for multiple voices simultaneously, don't dismiss that function so quickly!

I answered the last post rather hastily and didn't really provide insight at why I will mainly use the I-7 primarily as a one voice module (except when I also employ some of those great drums on Ch. 10!). But I also like the idea of setting several Parts to the same MIDI channel for some monster sounds and will no doubt be doing just that once I dig into this thing and get some of me favourite sounds lined up. Anyway, here are my current MIDI assignments:

Channel 1-5: OASYS
Channel 6: V-Synth GT #1
Channel 7: V-Synth XT
Channel 8: V-Synth GT #2
Channel 9: XV-5080
Channel 10: SC-88
Channel 11: Fantom XR
Channel 12: Triton Rack
Channel 13: Either JV-1080 or JV2080 or both
Channel 14: Jupiter-80
Channel 15: I-7
Channel 16: Kurzweil K2000RS

I have all of these synth's going into a 32X4 Mackie and then record the mixes straight to either a Tascam CD-RW900SL, a Tascam DV-RA1000HD or an Alesis Masterlink 9600 depending on whether I am using the unbalanced or XLR outs.

I know that there are certainly more elegant and smarter ways of doing all of this but it's simple and it meets my requirements. As it is now, I've had to disconnect several synths from the mix including my old Wavestation SR, the 01R/W, the Proteus-3 World, the 4 JD-990's and an old D-550. I have been considering setting up another complete rig with the Jupiter-80 as the main controller so I can use it as intended with all 4 MIDI channels.

As I mentioned before, my MC-80 has two MIDI in's and outs so I guess it's time for me to learn how to use the second. I am assuming that this option gives me 16 more MIDI channels for a total of 32.

[Johan325]

First I must say WOW! What a setup! We’re playing with totally different budgets. And yes it’s time to learn how the second MIDI OUT works on the MC-80. You can’t have 4 JD-990’s and a D-550 in the closet. Connect them at once.
How to you save? Mididump everything back to the MC-80? And how to you to that? Cable swithing or midimerger?
I know, I know totally of the topic.

[Johan325]

One more of the topic, You have the V-Synth’s, if you compare the “synths sound “ with the JP-80 and I-7’s. Can you guess if there from the same engine or does it sound like the JP-50/80/I7 have a new sound engine?

Roland write somewhere on their website. They had to remake the sounds of the 5080 because the MFX’s is not the same. How is it does it still sound like the 5080?

[Johan325]

No editor in the package. OS was 1.04 which I upgraded to 1.10. I assume it will be on their website. Do they have a PC editor for the Jupiter? If so, there may be hope.

OK, thanks now we know, Really don't know about the Jupiter, but I think I've read the same about them.