Roland SE-02 Analogue Synthesiser

The Roland SE-02 is a collaborative effort between Se Electronics and Roland and is the debut product in the new Roland Boutique series. Fitted with authentic discrete analogue circuitry, the SE-02 comes with a distinctively vintage sound and offers plenty of programming options as well as a whole host of high-quality knobs and switches alongside a unique and highly creative sequencer. The SE-02 works to deliver massive tones and textures with expressive hands-on controls.

This synthesiser offers a vast amount of sound-shaping possibilities right at your fingertips, giving you hands-on and knob-per-function controls with a logical, intuitive layout that allows you to get super-creative. You can choose from 384 expertly programmed preset sounds to get started which covers a broad range of classic and modern sounds; you can them alter these sounds as you wish or create something completely new and then store you customised creations in the 128 available user locations.The SE-02 comes equipped with a monophonic synthesiser engine and is fitted with three voltage controlled oscillators alongside a voltage controlled 24dB low-pass filter and a dual gain-stage amplifier. The oscillators feature six different types of waveforms and give you the warmth and complex nuances of true analogue voltage controlled oscillators. This synthesiser is big and brash with fat, rich low-frequencies and clear, vivid high-frequencies which is exactly what you need from a classic vintage synth. Although the SE-02 can produce excellent vintage tones, it can do so much more giving you three different types of cross modulation alongside a filter feedback loop, tempo-syncing LFO’s with nine waveforms, envelope sweeps and inverts, oscillator sync, a noise generator, and tempo-syncing delay.

The SE-02 is equipped with a powerful 16 step sequencer that allows you to add motion and new dimensions to your sounds and can be synced to external tempos via MIDI, USB, trigger inputs, per-step gate time, adjustable glide, tempo, and patch number are stored with each sequence. There are a plethora of creative performance features that let you set shuffle, scale, direction, and first/last steps on-the-fly; even synth parameters can be automated by sequencing changes, simply press a step and move a control to add the automated control to the sequence. The SE-02 might be compact but playing on the unit is fun, and intuitive making it perfect for both studio and live performance uses. You can store 128 sequence patterns and construct 16 songs each with up to 16 different parts.

With a solid build, rugged metal top, and quality knobs and switches the SE-02 has been built to withstand the rigors of everyday use and offers a control for just about every feature possible, yet it is still small enough to take just about anywhere so you can get making music whenever inspiration strikes. For ease of use, this synth fits perfectly into the K-25m keyboard and DK-01 accessory docks so you can integrate a mini keyboard or have various tilt options giving you ease of access in a variety of live performance or studio options.

The rear of the synthesiser features 3.5mm stereo jacks that reduce cable clutter as well as standard 5-pin MIDI ports that let you connect any type of keyboard. There is a chain mode that enables you to increase the polyphony by combining two or more SE-02 units together via MIDI. There are control voltage inputs for both pitch and filter frequency as well as a trigger in/output which allows the unit to integrate perfectly into any modular setup. External audio can be routed through the filter section which opens up a new world of possibilities and USB audio, and MIDI capabilities let the synthesiser seamlessly integrate into computer-based setups.