SRX STRINGS

Name: SRX STRINGS
Price: 69 USD
Author: Roland

by Roland · Instrument · SRX strings expansion synth

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SRX STRINGS brings the European orchestra string samples of Roland's SRX strings expansion board into a plugin, with section and ensemble sounds.

It has 128 patches with several articulations; it comes with Roland Cloud membership.

Best for: Acoustic Instruments, Keys & Synths. Genres: Ambient & Cinematic, Pop, R&B & Soul.

Keywords: strings, ensemble, preset-driven, 90s, classic, nostalgic, polyphonic, cinematic, hardware emulation, pads, perpetual licence, Y2K.

What it does

SRX STRINGS is Roland's software recreation of the SRX-04 strings wave expansion board, the fourth title in its legacy SRX series from the 1990s and 2000s synths. Roland pitches it as "A Premier European Orchestra at Your Fingertips," built from its own sampling sessions with European orchestras.

Patches: 128 patches covering section and ensemble string sounds, with several articulations.
Waveforms: 196 SRX string waves on top of the 1,083 standard waves of the JV/XV-era engine, so you can layer the strings with classic Roland synth waves.
Engine: 128-voice polyphony in a single part, with Patch and Rhythm Set tone memories and deep synth-style editing of each patch.
Effects: 78 multi-effect types, 3 chorus types and 5 reverb types built in.
Digital Circuit Behavior: Roland's DCB modeling of the original board's digital components and circuitry, aimed at matching the hardware's sound.
User banks: unlimited user banks of 128 memories each for your own edits.
Hardware link: the knobs and sliders of Roland's SYSTEM-8 can control it.

Roland offers it through Roland Cloud membership, and Sweetwater lists a perpetual licence.

Source: Roland product page

When to use it

SRX STRINGS is a light, quick-loading ROMpler string set, not a deep orchestral library. Compared with Berlin Strings or BBC Symphony Orchestra Core, it has far fewer articulations, no mic positions. Its strength is the classic 90s Roland string sound that sits well in pop and R&B arrangements, plus the option to layer it with the 1,083 JV/XV synth waves. Compared with Augmented STRINGS from Arturia, it is less of a sound-design tool and more of a direct period string patch bank. It is also cheap and easy on CPU and RAM, so it suits laptops and quick sketches.

Best for: fast string pads, pop and R&B string lines, and the authentic sound of Roland's SRX-era string board.
Genres: pop, R&B, house, trance and 90s-style productions, plus light cinematic sketches.
Look elsewhere if: you need realistic, detailed orchestral strings with many articulations and mic options; Berlin Strings or BBC Symphony Orchestra Core go much further.

Where to buy

Plugin Boutique: $69
Roland: see store

Tutorials and reviews

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