Roland TB-03

initial impressions

Back in 1997, a friend of mine introduced me to the PC game Need for Speed II. I was quite impressed not only with the graphics and gameplay for its time, but also by the game's incredibly immersive music. After some time, I downloaded the demo version onto my family's new Pentium II machine and was particularly awe struck by the menu music. In fact, I would often just sit there and leave the game running at the menu so that I could listen to its trance inducing hook over and over again. The track, which I believe was originally composed by Rom Di Prisco, featured a hypnotic arpeggiated riff with a unique tone that I could not distinctively identify as an ordinary instrument. After a few years, and with the help of high speed internet in college, I discovered that entire genres of music, namely acid house and acid techno, were centered around that very unqiue tone -- largely inspired by that of the Roland TB-303. Since the history of the 303 has been widely discussed and video demos abound, it is only briefly that I share my thoughts of the TB-03, the recent incarnation and member of the Roland Boutique line of synths, drum machines, and effects.

Here are my initial thoughts:

Pros:

• Nice sound.
• Looks good. Maybe even more so than the original.
• Portable.
• Fun to use. Stays true to the original method of programming which often yields unpredictable sequences.
• Despite their small size, the knob resolution (or steps) works well and sounds great for a virtual analog synth.
• Has Trigger In and CV/Gate outputs.
• DIN MIDI ports.
• Able to backup easily. Pattern and track information are human legible via text editor.
• Tiltable stand included.

Cons:

• USB ground noise audible on the analog audio outputs. It's a pity since the noise can only be quickly remedied by using the USB port for power only and MIDI I/O via the DIN ports. Another alternative would involve using a somewhat costly inline USB isolator.
• No local off or setting to disable MIDI Thru (on MIDI Out port). This seems like a poor design decision as the device will spit out incoming MIDI messages, including MIDI clock, with no ability to filter them. I have raised this issue with Roland US and hope they can include it in a future firmware update. Still waiting to see what they say.
• System Exclusive (SysEx) is not implemented. Backup appears to only be available via MIDI over the USB port.
• No resonance 'whistle' at extreme settings. Not a big deal but I believe that modern analog clones are better in this regard.
• Time information of the builtin delays are not displayed.
• An output compressor or limiter would have been nice (à la ReBirth RB-338).
• 1/8" TRS stereo output. Proper stereo 1/4" TS outputs are more studio and gig friendly.
• A displayed readout of the volume control gain would have been convenient.
• Manual is a bit sparse and could be better.