Published
Tue, Jun 20, 2017, 09:09
- The SE-02 is a collaboration with Studio Electronics.
Roland has announced the latest instalment of its Boutique series, the SE-02.
The Boutique range has been home to miniaturised, digital versions of Roland's classic machines, including the Juno 106, TR-909 and TB-303. The SE-02 is the first in the series with an analogue signal path—the previous models all digitally modelled the circuitry of their predecessors. It was designed in collaboration with Studio Electronics, an American manufacturer of analogue devices like the MidiMini and SE-1. Company co-founder Tim Caswell described the partnership as "a dream come true."
The first in a new sub-line called the Roland Boutique Designer Series, the SE-02 is monophonic and features three oscillators and a discrete, 24 db low-pass ladder filter. Each oscillator can generate six waveforms and has been temperature stabilised, meaning the pitch won't drift out of tune. A noise generator is complemented by a feedback loop, three types of cross modulation and an LFO with nine waveshapes. Tempo-synced digital delay is also included, but a true bypass switch keeps the signal path analogue when disengaged.
A 16-step sequencer can capture and repeat parameter movements, change direction and the number of steps during playback. Gate time and glide can also be sequenced, while 128 patterns can be saved into 16 songs. CV, VCF and gate inputs are mounted on the backside in addition to a trigger in/out, MIDI, USB-MIDI and USB-audio. External audio can be routed through the filter and multiple units can be chained together into a polyphonic synth.
Watch a trailer describing the collaboration.
Watch the SE-02 in action.
The Roland SE-02 will be out soon and will retail for $499.99.
