Is Aira dead ?

Forum for Aira
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Happy
Posts: 175
Joined: 14:55, 7 April 2014

Is Aira dead ?

Post by Happy »

Would there be anything new for Aira ? In general, there haven't been much updates/grades for this product line for some time now, even not for the System 8.
Synthtron
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Re: Is Aira dead ?

Post by Synthtron »

I doubt it is dead...yet.
HaveIt
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Joined: 04:09, 6 March 2014

Re: Is Aira dead ?

Post by HaveIt »

Aira has morphed into the boutiques I think. The TR-8 got a lot right but not so much the TB-3. The new Tron look and new ideas just weren't as successful. People mostly want nostalgia and small boxes. The cute factor seems very important although I do not know how you can operate some of the knobs.
mimoid
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Joined: 19:20, 3 January 2016

Re: Is Aira dead ?

Post by mimoid »

HaveIt wrote:Aira has morphed into the boutiques I think. The TR-8 got a lot right but not so much the TB-3. The new Tron look and new ideas just weren't as successful. People mostly want nostalgia and small boxes. The cute factor seems very important although I do not know how you can operate some of the knobs.
I think you are right, in the past the Boutique line and the AIRA line were treated completely differently (competitively) within Roland. Today however the Facebook pages are signed as Roland AIRA even when the issues are related to the Boutique range.

The AIRA range was originally intended for live playing in front of an audience or for recorded live performances on YouTube. The boutiques were miniaturized reproductions of old analog units, partially for nostalgic reasons. All this seems to have shifted now, with the Roland Cloud as medium for full-scale virtual reproductions of previous Roland hardware, and the Boutique as medium for brand new, affordable small foot-print units. The keyword here is "kawaii", Japanese for "small and cute".

I also have a feeling that the age of the huge "flagship" synthesizers are over. I find it hard to see Roland designing another physical V-Synth or JD-XA.
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rsaintjohn
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Location: Cleveland, OH USA

Re: Is Aira dead ?

Post by rsaintjohn »

Worth noting: there are two separate divisions (engineering and marketing) in Roland that deal with synths and electronic music products.

One division (the original, out of Hamamatsu) focuses primarily on products like the JD-XA/Xi, FAs, XPS, Jupiters, Junos, Integras and the new RD-2000. The newer Roland Professional Group (RPG) handles the System-1s/500/8, AIRA, Boutiques and ACB tech. Roland VS is yet another group, the Roland Cloud group, and they're probably more tightly linked to the strategies of the latter than the former (note the difference between Axial and Cloud, for instance).

It's probably not a strict wall with Red on one side and Green on the other. And they certainly coordinate activities and resources. But the Boutiques and the AIRA lines aren't as far apart as you might think, or as green LEDs (or lack thereof) might indicate ;)

DJ808 and System-8 were only 10 months ago so it's probably too early to declare AIRA as "dead". But it does appear that the brand is being de-emphasized and the lines are blurring.
Bodde
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Joined: 20:34, 5 September 2016

Re: Is Aira dead ?

Post by Bodde »

I hope not. Still waiting for some new updates or expansions for the TR-8. Doubt if that ever will come.

When I bought it the sellers argument was that there would be regular expansions coming from Roland. But in all those year only one expansion (7X7) came. That's kind of disappointing. I think Roland is abandoning there products way too soon.
Happy
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Joined: 14:55, 7 April 2014

Re: Is Aira dead ?

Post by Happy »

juts speculating, but it feels like the ACB team has transitioned into the software group (D-50) which provides the Roland Cloud based on DCB and ACB. The Supernatural based group (FA , Jupiter) probably is still separate but probably we will see (Integra/XV etc..) PCM and SN emulations in the cloud in the future as well using DCB. Around DCB Roland probably can build any kind of physical box with knobs and sliders as what they did with ACB for those who want a piece of nostalgic hardware or chose to release it as software offering only. Using the foundation of ACB and DCB software they can mix and match for many years to come. Then probably there is an analog team. Boutique is then just a form factor that spans all these groups. Aira might not be dead, but perhaps it will stay as the styling of products for Live/DJ with a mix of ACB, DCB and Analog. But will Roland expand the System 8, release some updates for the current Aira products or release any new Aira SYNTH ? Doubtful.So Aira might be dead SYNTH wise. Hopefully the ACB/DCB group will implement full Sysex on future products as what the SN group does.Until then I will never change my D-10 for a piece of software
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jx3p
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Re: Is Aira dead ?

Post by jx3p »

so it's almost 2018 and Roland seems to let all the TR-8 and system-1 owners down, since there's been no updates, no more soundpacks for the TR-8 nor more plug-outs for the system-1 for ages.
We will have to see yet if and how many more plug-outs the System-8 will get, before the system-16 will arrive.

But instead Roland releases boutique devices now with a new better sounding generation of ACB and a cloud service where you have to rent the new "plug-outs" now and the 1st Generation AIRA buyers either go with that or are left with what they have.

I love my Roland devices but with this new philosophy they definately have lost me as a customer.
Well done!
FANTOMized
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Joined: 13:04, 1 February 2009

Re: Is Aira dead ?

Post by FANTOMized »

I think we have to accept that the Aira line is developmentally dead and just walking to the finish line.

Just seems that Roland never put the necessary push on it to make it work and the progress they made otherwise allowed them to simply move on.

Would love for it not to be dead but if it is still a product they are developing then they need to start supporting it with some consistent offerings.
Manic
Posts: 183
Joined: 10:09, 18 January 2017

Re: Is Aira dead ?

Post by Manic »

They just released several AIRA dj controllers and the SP404A which also seems to be a member of AIRA, so I don't agree AIRA is dead. The problem is that with the plug-out tech they create a lot of expectations of their products for years after they release them.. Since Roland is working on several new products at once and every new product creates more expectations (especially expandable products like the plug-out synths) they have more and more people demanding more and more from them. I can imagine it is really hard to please everyone. For example, people are even still expecting more drum kits for the TR-8, which is several years old already! Also people are hoping for more plug-outs for the S1 or more polyphony etc... that synth had been expanded so far already! The only thing I think is reasonable is to expect a few more polyphonic plug-outs for the System-8, but I am quite sure that is coming.

Just be patient and above all be happy with what they already offered us!
SMUDGE
Posts: 23
Joined: 22:19, 11 July 2018

Re: Is Aira dead ?

Post by SMUDGE »

I don't know if anyone still cares about this subject, but I would like to know if the main advantage of buying Aira gear wasn't their functionality but instead the uniform black and green design.
One example is the SP-404A which is just the last 404 with a paint job and bunch of bundled samples that you could get anywhere and would probably never use.
Another example is the DJ-202 which is designed to look like the Aira line with black housing and green lights, in contrast to the DJs 505 and 808. Just as the Aira line is targeting electronic musicians, the 202's drum sequencer has no shuffle, only four on the floor, so hiphop Djs are out of luck. I owned a 202 and I sent it back for that reason, and I'm wondering if any of the other Aira and Aira-related products have similar limitations.
Thanks!
Padre
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Joined: 02:52, 7 August 2021

Re: Is Aira dead ?

Post by Padre »

tbh i think its concept is...
Most of the HW is capable of alot more than what theyve been advertised for... take the tb3 and tr8s as perfect examples... both are far more powerful than originally thought...

The Aira idea was to marry up gear and have it all working easily with other Aira gear.. more so to tap into the non midi savvy producers looking to get into hardware... Moving away from standard midi implementation, most Aira gear use sysex and NNRP for management, as opposed to basic midi...
The other was to inject oldschool devices with new modelling patents, such as the system 1 and plugout running an SH101, and TB3 etc.. this way Roland could cash in on their legacy as 3rd party emulators were released, prior to Rolands own Cloud VSTi gear...

If you have Aira gear and an MX1 or tr8s, then great, but I dont think Aira implementation will be seen anymore..
Remembr the VLink? Im yet to see anyone actually use it, let alone see it implemented in any studio...

... and now weve got Zencore which is the marrying of SW and hardware, using all the one engine in HW and SW, and VSTis and plugouts as seen in the Jupiter X-XM and phantom.. so after over a decade, were seeing a smoothish integration of SW and HW...

Roland have R&D'd many different ecosystems, from Vlink, to Aira, to JV, Zencore etc... time will tell how long Zencore lasts... I say no more than 2-3 yrs from here as they develop an upgraded variation of it to include full blown multisampling with a sampling engine similar to whats found in the new Akais which allows for automatic multisample extraction of patches and entire sound libraries and creation of said multisamples frm other gear into the MPC.

Thats the only thing Roland havent done... yet...
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