I'm a bit disspaointed with that as well.
I assumed that one would get a real unlock key, access to a local installer and just unlock locally. Instead it seems that they just make your license on the cloud service "lifetime" When cloud is no longer hip in 5 years, what will then happen, that's the question?

Yes, the selection is made after the year is up. It doesn't have to be immediately at that point.

*Promotion Details: This is a limited time offer that ends December 31st, 2020. Play 4 Life requires the purchase of an annual Pro or Ultimate membership to Roland Cloud. At the end of your annual membership, choose one Lifetime Key for Pro membership or two Lifetime Keys for Ultimate membership. ...

Sounds outdated afk imho.
The least they could do is release it with all srx expansions in one plugin, like Korg did with triton.
Plus they first released the jv1080 plugin, which is exactly the same as xv5080 just with less presets, making the jv1080 obsolete and a wasted money for those who purchased it.

Classic sounds, perfect alternative for the HW unit

How about one plug-in for $99 or two for $199?

Yeah - 2 for $199 which is a year subscription. I understand this, thanks.

The $99 is very basic though, so you pretty much want to drop $200 if you want all the good plugs for that year you just paid for.

I’m testdriving them all right now.

Personally I would never dare to use any of the xv acoustic sounds in any production that is intented for any type of professional release (unless it's in the trap/hip hop genre where lofi sounds are welcomed) and there are so many better vsts for synth sounds out there which cost way less, aren't dependent on any type of bloatware like the cloud app manager, and sounds way more "fantastic"...

But still, I can understand why people would want it as a vst, it can be a nice sketching tool or even just fun to play with the oldschool tones.
BUT, why on earth would you need the 20 years old hardware unit anyway?
There are better alternatives out there (roland fa keyboards and the integra contain the full xv soundset plus supernatural acoustic+synth engine) which aren't 20 years old and are more durable and reliable.

And in the realm of software, I think it's ridiculous that instead of releasing the whole xv sound set with the srx expanions in one vst (like korg did with the m1 and triton), roland did this:
-Releasing the jv1080 vst with partial presets collection
-Releasing seperate srx vsts
-Releasing the xv5080 vsts which is the same j1080 vst with more presets
-Releasing zenology which has all the soundset of the xv5080 again, minus the srx expansions
-Releasing the srx expanions AGAIN, as seperate packs for zenology.

Like,comeon guys...

It seems Roland is not for u, I don’t think in terms of “old” and “new” sounds, more colors and palette. Also if you’re into certain house genres, these cheesy sounds are the **** (again) old skool is hip atm.

Hey, friends! Brian from Roland Cloud here. Pardon my temporary absence, I was helping with the mashed potatoes.

Good question here. To clarify, with the purchase, the items are coded to show that you'll have your choice of keys after the subscription is up. That information is attached to your account, which we can verify for you anytime.

I know, right? Why on earth would anyone ever want some old vintage synth?

Heh, heh, just giving you crap.

I disagree, it's just that I would rather use Integra-7 than xv-5080.
I agree that in certain genres the 128voices piano for instance is great, but I would rather use the supernatural acoustic/v piano in any production that is aimed towards the mainstream in 2020.

They're clearly hoping a few people will try to play Pokemon and feel like they gotta catch em all. It's a bit ridiculous. I'm not a big ROMpler guy so I have little to no interest in those plugins*. When it comes to Roland Cloud the Legendary and AIRA series are where it's at for me.

*Oddly, I really like the M1 and D-50 so maybe I'm more of a ROMpler guy than I care to admit.

My findings after a night off fiddling with full access
I definitely prefer Legendary/ACB over Zenology/ABM so no reason for me to buy a Jup X other than cosmetics.
There are more than enough rompler sounds on cloud (1080, 5080, Zenology Pro) Zenology Pro even includes some of the Integra Supernatural libs if you’re into that.
The 909 (which I already purchased) 808 and 606 are as good as the boutique / Aira TR boxes. Fully multichannel on your primary DAW interface. > perfect.

One can debate that the sounds are dated, low quality, cheesy not up to current standards. All true, if you buy a workstation for “real” sounds. But even the rompler sounds are iconic. Almost subculture, generations have tried struggling to get the most out of them with lack of access to “better” gear and was unintentionally genre defining while at it. It’s all in the eye of the beholder. For me, now being 50 it’s like a reunion of my musical journey. The prime time has been taken over by other stuff, but as part of the overal arsenal. For me, still very valueable.

So these deals confuse me a bit:

1) What happens if you apply for this Play 4 Life deal by getting the annual Ultimate subscription, but you are already an Ultimate subscriber building up months of "YOURS" credits? Will these credits be lost? Will you stop building up months for new Lifetime keys?

2) What happens when you enter your ZEN-core hardware serial number for the ZEN-Core Fully Loaded deal when you are already an Ultimate subscriber? Will you just get the "hardware formatted" sound packs for free and continue being an Ultimate subscriber, or will you be "downgraded" to Pro?

3) Is there a way to get both deals? So first get the ZEN-core Fully Loaded deal, then upgrade to annual Ultimate to get the 2 lifetime keys as well?

Anyone tried any of the above?

He took the bait and swallowed the hook.

@ BrianMcClelland, roland jupiter 6 plug in and out!

please, please, please -ask and request that the ACB gurus at roland please try their skills at ACBing the roland jupiter 6. All the current plug ins are by far my favourite vstis of all time and are near on par with the analog hardware i have used. All but missing my favourite roland: the jupiter 6. And, man a roland jupiter 6 follow up boutique would be simply amazing.

Thank you.

Not for longer than 12months though, then I will happily dehook and enjoy the lifetime bait

We'll see!

I dig the 99 cent Zenology sound packs. I decided all of my Boutiques (except the SE-02) were kind of pointless since I was mainly doing DAW stuff and easier to work in the Cloud that hook up external hardware. They hooked me on the Lifetime Zenology Pro offer with the Legends expansions. I've got LUSH-101 but even with a relatively new and powerful computer there are some patches that lock it up instantly.

Yeah the JP-6 would be an awesome addition as plug-out for the System-8! Would buy it right away

This is something im wondering too. If im a few months away from a jx3p then id rather wait.

Yes, this times a million. While I understand and totally agree with Bippo about something like the Integra being by far the top for covering both retro and modern, there will ALWAYS be an audience for iconic sounds, although the popularity of those sounds will ebb and flow as the years go by.

And like most of us probably already know, the hardware 5080 does of course differ in some cases from the Integra and RC. The latter is more a more faithful emulation overall, but both lack the potential for adding JV-80 cards. And then the whole software versus hardware thing, there can always be something found in buttons, dials and even menu-diving. (Just ask Don Solaris.)

But maybe the lack of JV-80 card emulation will change soon? Maybe whenever the JD-990 plugin finally lands...?

Hi, MPrinsen! Great questions. Let's take a look.

1) If you have credits from the previous YOURS promotion, we can redeem them for you now. Then, if you'd like to sign up for Play 4 Life, you are welcome to. We cannot unfortunately run both the YOURS program credit accrual and Play 4 Life simultaneously. It would be one or the other.

2) If you are a Zen-Core hardware owner and an Ultimate subscriber, you would receive all of the hardware formatted sound packs for free. We would not downgrade your service from Ultimate to Pro, unless that is something that you would like.

3) With the Zen-Core Fully Loaded and Play 4 Life promos, you can purchase both packages, but the subscriptions with each promo are coded to run concurrently from the time of purchase, instead of sequentially.


Hi, orwell! The Jupiter 6 is such a cool synth. I think it definitely has a unique character to it. I'll add it to the request list for you. Thanks!

I've had and still have some ups and downs with the Cloud, but I definitely feel a lot better about it just from seeing Brian and Travis sticking around here and helping out as much as possible. Hope you fellas get to enjoy your holidays also!

That's all I wanted to say. Oh, and I'd love an ACB Alpha Juno for christmas! Heh

Hey, thanks for saying so, StoneyBCM! We're here to help. And I definitely agree with the Alpha Juno suggestion. That one is such a hidden gem. I love it for darkwave. Got it on the request list for you!

Exactly, man. Exactly

I think many folks don't realize the Alpha Juno is actually the pinnacle of the Juno clan. The osc, env, and chorus can all easily recreate the 6/60/106 behaviour (AFAICT), but can also go waaaay beyond. EDIT: Except VCF doesn't self resonate on the Alpha Juno HW.

For shame that it wasn't even on your req list already

I've just spent an hour building a nice loop with the JV1080, D50, Promars and Zenology. I was in the zone, man!

I think I'm sold on working ITB. Quickly moving between multiple synths without patching cables into an interface, making on the spot changes without re-recording, dragging and dropping parts as ideas form on the fly. I'd forgotten how convenient it is after years of recording with hardware.

It's a shame there wasn't a lifetime key sale. As good as the Play 4 Life offer is, I want to keep way more than 2 plug-ins

Thanks for clearing up!

Just ordered the Jupiter X, completely redundant next to my ultimate subscription, but it looks pretty