Roland A-01K

I just got my new Roland A-01K from Roland.

It’s actually 2 pieces of gear bundled into one : the A-01 sound module + the K25-M Boutique keyboard. The match of the two is perfect. The finish is mostly black metal, brush silver and some black plastic and rubber feet. The A-01 is a weird beast that seems to be too simple to be interesting. It’s an 8 bit mono synth of a virtual analogue coupled with a impressively powerful controller even capable to send SYSEX data as well as CV and Gate.

If you know even just a little bit about me, you know I’m a synth freak and now a mobile music creation guru. My last EP was entirely created in my iPad pro with Korg Gadget and Auria Pro. For my next project I’m looking into using the iPad app in relation with outside synths. I just sold my Studio One SE-1 and I got my hand on a Novation BaseStation II plus this Roland A-01K.

One of the reason for the Roland A-01K is the fact that it can be use as an MIDI over bluetooth for my iPad and the rest of my hardware kit. So here is my first impression on the Roland A-01K.

Synth Mode:

Mono virtual analogue 8 bit CPU synth, Osc (Saw/Sqr/PWM/Nz, 3 types of filter (LP,HP,BP) with resonance a single ADSR enveloppe and 1 LFO plus a COOL visual Oscilloppe of the wave being played.

Controller Mode:

USB MIDI interface for a computer, MIDI IN, MIDI OUT, CV / Gate, Bluetooth MIDI interface (great for iPad!!!)

Step Sequencer Mode:

16 steps sequencer with different play mode: normal, EvenOdd, Odd, Even, O->E, E->O, Random. The output is send to the different out (MIDI, Bluetooth, CV, Gate) see the video for more infos.

 3 operation modes:

  • Controller : advanced MIDI including System Exclusive and cv gate.
  • Step sequencer : 16 steps sequencer (16 memories)
  • Synth: 8 bit virtual analog subtractive monophonic synth (with attitude) (16 memories)

Using the Roland A-01K as a BlueTooth MIDI Interface for an iPad