Quote:
Originally Posted by Timo
ROMplers do usually mean a ROM audio sample based synth, rather than realtime synthesis of algorithms.
By your definition the original 303 therefore had a read-only memory of 2 fixed presets. Saw and square. Was it any less a 'synth'?
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The whole thing that made the original TB-303 interesting was that it was never really meant to be a musical instrument, it was meant to be a little bleeps and blurps box, a little more than a metronome tick tock box, that you practiced real music against in the absence of any sort of real bassline solution. What made it legendary was the fact that there was nothing else like it available at the time, so many people took it and repurposed it in ways Roland never intended. The original TB-303 did not face the likes of soft synth solutions that do much more for pennies.
So yes, adjusted for modern technological progress, in today's terms, I would say that the original 303 was a zit on the ass of the lowest end of todays soft synths, and that makes it all the less acceptable to release something like this with all the hype and ask several hundred dollars for it in todays market.
But, they say the thing sounds pretty good so if someone really needs a standalone bass line unit like this and is willing to pay that, then so be it. If someone wants one they should ignore my opinions.
By the way I learned something from your post that I didn't know. I thought the TB-303 let you tune between saw and square, achieving infinite ground between the two kind of like the Leipzig-S or other real analogs, I didn't realize it was an all or none switch between saw and square. I didn't realize until I looked up an image that they did that. Weird but kind of makes sense on how they were positioning the device back then.