VG-99 - In a parallel universe..

[pasha811]

Roland implemented BTS for VG99 and continued supporting it.
All in all maybe food for thoughts for Roland people?
It will be a pimped version of GP-10 editor...

[Spawn-X]

Please excuse my ignorance, but can you tell me what is "BTS"?

[Elantric]

BTS = Boss Tone Studio


Does not exist for " pre 2013" Roland /Boss Gear

[alexmcginness]

?? What is wrong with the VG-99 editor we already have? Works great for me on my Mac and PC.

[Elantric]

?? What is wrong with the VG-99 editor we already have? Works great for me on my Mac and PC.

Agreed ! Roland VG-99 Editor  and VG-99 Librarian continue to work for me today  - and that is with WinXP, Vista,  Win7, Win8, Win8.1  Windows 10)

or Mac OSX 10.7 thru 10.11

All you need (VG-99 Editor / Librarian, VG-99 USB Drivers for your OS ) are all current and can be downloaded here
https://www.roland.com/us/products/vg-99/downloads/

[Headless68]

the key advantage of BTS is online simple patch sharing, I know Roland/Boss wont spend money on this as its not produced any more (for the 99) but I think any product these days needs this as a given

[pasha811]

the key advantage of BTS is online simple patch sharing, I know Roland/Boss wont spend money on this as its not produced any more (for the 99) but I think any product these days needs this as a given

That was exactly my point.
I worked in software for more than 20 years now. Although not a developer I work close to developers and I understand building blocks architecture and intercommunication. In this lean - low margins - agile world, the software architecture of the BTS has to be a  general UI module with 'enabling' plug-in for each new gear Boss is up to. In this way the maintenance effort is minimal compared to a dedicated software like VG99 has. Of course you can have BTS only if the hardware architecture matches software so that minimal changes are required in the software side and that in the real world is not possible because I think VG99 does not share same engine with others being pre 2013. However in 2013 VG99 was still sold. (do not know if still in production).
We saw BTS also for Katana amps, and I let Elantric comment on the Katana FX engine internals. If we have close hardware to GT-1 /001/100 family maybe I can be proven right.

I am happy with VG99 software today but I was thinking how would have been a good idea for Roland years ago to move VG99 to BTS family, thus avoiding obsolescence and maintain the technology current with current OS on the market. Let's remember that VG99 with the Mac stops at El Capitan officially and unsupported but working with Sierra. VG99 Guitar Modeling is close to GP10 so I saw a software module block reuse there, where the GT-001/100 Rev 2 has some close similarities with VG99 FX chain so not a titanic effort for the porting. Then you need to write a low level driver but that happens anyway when you have to map the new hardware with the core software. It would have been a clean solution and maybe we would have had a new VG99 firmware and maybe a successor (being the software counterpart already BTS ready),

My post was not a complain at all. Only 'lateral thinking'.

Back to this universe,
No BTS for VG99, but happy playing all the same!!! :-)

[Elantric]

the key advantage of BTS is online simple patch sharing, I know Roland/Boss wont spend money on this as its not produced any more (for the 99) but I think any product these days needs this as a given

That was exactly my point.

Online patch sharing is crucial for a products success today

Sorry - You lost me when you suggest Boss Tone Studio promotes "online Patch Sharing' - better than existing VG-99 Editor  / VG-99 Librarian  (??)


Remember,  Boss Tone Studio only connects to BOSS TONE CENTRAL and no where else


My definition of online Patch sharing means it should support User Uploads and Downloads.

BTS does not


Review what Roland / Boss states here:
http://bosstonecentral.com/about/

What is BOSS TONE CENTRAL?
BOSS TONE CENTRAL is a library service offering additional contents for BOSS products. By simply launching the dedicated BOSS TONE STUDIO application and connecting to the internet, you can download any of the free contents from OUR growing collection.

If you create your best patch, in 2016 you still can Not Upload your Boss Tone Studio patch and distribute it for  online sharing directly within the app

Instead  - you only have access to the limited number of official Boss Tone Central patches which Boss corp deems as the "golden tones"

IMHO in regard to cultivating an online  patch sharing community  BTS remains a closed door and restricts building a User to User community for their products

so nothing has changed


I still feel only  a few MFX boxes  gets this right  - the Kemper user patch exchange  and Line-6 with Customtone.com

[Headless68]

Yep you're right - 'user' patches are key - BTS is a very easy mechanism to facilitate this (indirectly) but the bias tone cloud concept is ideal

[pasha811]

Elantric is savvy and right. Peer to Peer sharing is the key in today's cloud mantra.
BTS still does not allow that. VGF does allow that since the beginning of times!
However I was only imaging a parallel reality fork in which Roland uniformed their software and that in turn fueled the VG99 even more.

   

[Spawn-X]

BTS = Boss Tone Studio


Does not exist for " pre 2013" Roland /Boss Gear

Oh, ok, I use it for my GP-10. Thanks.