Did someone buy Sonic Cell?
I remember reading that some of you wanted to buy it. Anyone got it? Any views?

Yeah, it is standing right here at my desk, but I haven't got the time to test it out yet However it looks very cool and the display is the best one i have ever seen in a sound module (it is of the OLED type which means that you can read it clearly from any angle). I have also bought the SRX-06 Complete Orchestra expansion board. I am still considering what to put in the second expansion slot.

I will only use it as sound module to complement my Pa800, but for others I think that the SonicCell will also have a great potential as a standalone MIDI/MP3 playback unit.

Kind regards,
Tommy

I ordered one from Florida Music which should arrive Monday. It was the last one in stock. Lowest price (694.95)was from B&H Photo but they consider it SPECIAL ORDER and has a no-return policy on it. I presented this to FloridaMusic but they would only give me a "promo" discount of $20 off their price of 749.00 but with free shipping (14.00 extra at B&H) so the price difference wasn't that much.

I got it to have some of those great Roland voices in the studio but also plan to gig it on top of the Nord C1. I will drive it with the upper half of the lower manual (lower half assigned to bass) to add some variety (hoping it has a decent piano). I'll let you know how it works out after it arrives.

chas

Looks good in the pics, and sounds good in the demos...IF ONLY they could think of getting advantage of the empty space on the right and put there some intro/variation/fill buttons .... and some styles inside, they have PLENTY of them ready made.

Ahh, if only.

Fran has one

So what is the verdict on the Roland
New Sonic Cell so far?

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.aspx?ObjectId=897&ParentId=72


[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 10-12-2007).]

Roland Sonic Cell for sale..
Opened the box..One hour old..

The 99 file limitation of playlists is a NO NO to me..I can't use it..

For sounds and interface ..It is Super..The mic input with great effects are great too..

As a synth it is second to none with editor software...

I will ship it in the USA for $750..Warranty intact..

I have the Roland Sonic Cell as I mentioned before in a couple other posts. I think it is a winner and a keeper. Sorry Fran..

BTW Fran, you play more than 99 songs at a sitting? That must be some shin dig of a gig. An all nighter if you ask me.

FWIW, I recorded some sound files from my Sonic Cell PRO. There are over 70 sounds in the file below. They're mostly Acoustical sounds but there are some Synth and Vox sounds too. All the sounds are either from the Preset or GM2 soundset. Since recording these sounds I recently purchased the SRX-06 (Complete Orchestra) and also the SRX-10 (Big Brass) expansion cards. None of the sounds in the file are from the SRX cards though. On some of the sounds I added some effects like reverb, vibrato, etc. They start basically in alphabetical order i.e. Acoustic Bass and proceed through the alphabet from there. Not all are in alphabetical order though as you will see. At the end of the file I added an AC Piano song solo using the Sonic Cell's preset Studio Grand patch.

The .MP3 file is pretty hefty at 20.7MB and the running time is 16 min/23 sec. in total.

Sonic Cell Sounds

Mike





[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 10-15-2007).]

Fran welcome back to the SZ......
cut your vacation short this time?
Too bad the SC didnt work out for ya.

Mike, I agree for what the Sonic Cell does..it is a keeper..

Sure 99 songs is enough for a predetermined set list, but for my use it is not enough..Let me explain..In my band we do about 300 tunes and all the arrangements are recorded as backing tracks[MP3]..I need to be able to call up any of these tunes immediately...[This is where the laptop is the best solution]..

Often I also need to be a DJ..and need access to my 12,000 recordings in an easy to locate media...I was hoping that I could have organized the Sonic Cell in multiple playlist[60's, 70's etc.]..A playlist with 99 songs would be fine, if we could have had more than 1 playlist that could exceed the total of 99 songs...This made the playlist impractical to me..

After the initial disappointment to me...I believe I will keep it for the studio for it's other features..Although the sounds are great..collectively , they are no better than the sounds on my G70[also great in the sound department]..
The G70 utilizes the Fantom sounds as well as the GS sounds[thankfully , giving me my "scat voices"...The Fantom and the Sonic Cell lack these..

The edit [editor program]capabilities are excellent on the Sonic Cell...more than most users will use...

I just wish I got a straight up answer to the 99 song limitation before I bought the Sonic Cell, The 30 day return policy doesn't help with a restocking fee..Although the stores approach is to buy it and see if you can find your answer..you can always return it...Right with a short change of 15 percent..

I am pretty sure I will keep it for a while...Unless someone really wants the hard to find[allocated] Sonic Cell..

Mike, you did all those sounds playing yourself, or are they little demo files included for auditioning purposes?

Very nice idiomatic playing, anyway....

Any chance of you running the Purgatory Creek file through the main piano (at 192kbps MP3)?

Fran, thanks for the heads-up on the file limitations of the SC (gee, I use that abbreviation for my Sound Canvas too). File allocation seems to be Roland's biggest hurdle. I know I can save a truckload of songs on memory card, but all in one folder; not the best for me. The Y's can handle all kinds of files and folders - that's one nice thing.

If anyone gets a work-around the Sonic Cell limitations or even the G,E limitations let us know.

Cass, what file limitation on the G70..I do not know of one..

Fran glad your now enjoying the
Roland Sonic Cell sounds looks a winner for sure!

Fran,
If you put in the SRX board called Complete Orchestra, it contains the vocal collection from the original SRJV boards and this has the scat voices on it.


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George Kaye
Kaye's Music Scene
Reseda, California
818-881-5566
www.kayesmusicscene.com

Mike,
from the little samples I heard from your file, (which I have to thank you for posting), the SC sounds good (to my ears of course). I can't tell it it sounds as good as a G-70 or an E-series, but good enough....
I'll try to give the complete file a listen this weekend.

Anyone else has an opinion on the sounds?

With the G70 you can have as many files in a folder as your memory can handle, but you cannot make subfolders or new folders. For instance, you can save 2000 SMFs in the song folder but you can't arrange them in folders like oldies, dinner, ceremony, novelty, rock, swing, etc. What you can do is edit the database so that songs fit a particular genre - which I guess, serves the same purpose. The Yamaha OS permits you to move your files exactly as you may have them saved on our PC, in the original folders - sort of saves some time and trouble. That's all...

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www.cassponline.com/

cassp, we've already talked about the way you can achieve similar functionality using UPSs, a way to gather 192 songs of ANY kind into one category, and the Index feature of the database.

Just because something doesn't do something the EXACT same way as Yamaha, as long as you can achieve a similar result... seems fair to me.

For every feature that Roland makes a BIT different or more complicated, there are at least equal number that Roland make FAR easier (style and SMF editing, for one... use those, ever?).

So far, Yamaha seem no more interested in grabbing all of Roland's good ideas and incorporating them than Roland are in revamping to be more Yamaha-like. And that is a good thing, IMO... I don't trust them not to throw the baby out with the bath-water..!

Vive la difference!