Roland System-8 Manual

Roland System-8 – historic turning point?
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Now, with the System-8 it’s the exact opposite: the pre-set controls of the bender-area (which you’re LOOKING at, so
to speak) reflect in no way the actual bender-performance which has been saved along with the sound. So our
question: what’s to be preferred? A permanent pre-set (always available, but not savable) … or individual settings
sound-per-sound (which may require constant correction of the faders, since their settings are not permanent)?
The more modern system (that of the System-8) may give you greater flexibility, since the required
bender/modulations-lever-settings will probably vary from sound to sound. What you lose, though, is spontaneity. If
you’re looking to use the bender for filter movements — jollyily switching here and there through the sound
programmes, for instance —, you’re going to find yourself having to constantly “correct” the slider settings in the
bender area (or, alternatively, to save the identical performance for all the sounds). That means putting in a lot of
extra work …

Roland System-8 Specifications

General

Product type	Digital synthesizer
Product color	Black
Keyboard number of keys	49
Maximum polyphony (notes)	8
Display type	LCD
Built-in display	Yes
Display number of characters	16
USB ports quantity	1
Compatible memory cards	SD, SDHC
Power source type	DC

Weight and Dimensions

Depth	364 mm
Width	881 mm
Height	109 mm
Weight	5900 g