chimp_spanner wrote: ↑10 May 2022
Watched a long review of all three units over lunch. They look great! As someone who just recently got the TR and MC minis, not sure how these would fit in but if I was just starting out these would be very strong contenders. I mean tbh if I had the spare USB and audio I/O I might still get em haha. I love that the T8 has a full 303 built into it. Very competitive. And it's great to see that they're embracing patterns longer than ONE BAR with the J6. Really interesting take on the sequencer on that device and I can imagine it being a great tool for sketching out progressions for an entire song. Plus they look cute af too.
Yeah I think I'm most interested in the T-8, but they all look cool. Not sure if the E-4 comes with an XLR to 1/4" adapter. That would be annoying.
BRIGGS wrote: ↑10 May 2022
no user replaceable battery, no buy
I'm just glad there's a battery haha. Every time something "portable" is released and it has no built-in battery or replaceable battery, I always say, "It's not portable" lol. On the bright side, I guess you can also power them with a USB brick, just like all those other "portable" devices which offer that as the only battery option.
Another plus for me is both the MIDI and Audio over USB. That's something else I'm always requesting.
What I miss from these is built-in speakers! While speakers on devices of this size, like the Volcas (which have speakers) don't do the devices justice, it's still really cool to be able to jam with just the device and not a single cable or headphones.
DaveyG wrote: ↑10 May 2022
More than a nod to the Volcas there. Chord sequencer looks fun.
Be interesting to see what the street prices are. Plus, of course, we've got a whole host of Behringer Volca-style things to come too. Happy days.
They are available to preorder now for $199
https://www.sweetwater.com/roland-aira-compact/series
I had just seen this as well. Sounds really good