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Roland TB-3
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Roland TB-3

Analog Modeling Synth from Roland belonging to the AIRA series

lbgo000 lbgo000

« TB or not TB »

Published on 03/23/14 at 12:10
See Roland's website.

UTILIZATION

It is much more user-friendly than the venerable product we all know.
Programming, pattern editing, midi. Single-touch touchscreen, not bad.
It's a preset box and I second the previous review.
I would prefer by far to have no presets and have 2-3 more controls. At least 1 to edit the sound, which is done via Midi CC1 (right now it's a sort of aftertouch that is loaded and it doesn't work, at least on my TB-3).

SOUNDS

The sound is not bad ─ it's digital.
The TB-3 doesn't sound like the TB-303 -─ it simply can't. No analog character, no analog depth.
But that's no defect, the TB-3 is not a clone of the 303.
The effects are average ($300) and don't interest me.

OVERALL OPINION

I just received it, it's hard to play with it straightaway.
I'll see how the TB-3 integrates with the other synths (especially with the analog ones, which is a real test).
The cons:
Non-editable presets
Rigid concept
Crappy aftertouch
The transposition of the so-called patterns transposes the whole key of the synth ─ I don't know why it does that! I'll see how it turns out in use, but for the time being it's a downside.
The pros:
Everybody needs a TB...