Interesting idea, but hardly realistic. Even with the increasing popularity of retrogaming, it's very niche, and within that niche the people actually doing in on bare metal hardware (as opposed to just running RetroPi and DOSBox etc) is a niche - and then you also hit the subjective aesthetics: you love the way the MT-32 looks. I like mine too, but far prefer the looks of an SC-55. Some people would prefer the beige CM-32 to match their beige boxes, and that's just the Roland lineup...

So we're talking about a tiny and fragmented potential market. Then consider Roland's purpose: "Inspire the Enjoyment of Creativity" - it's target audience is creators of music, not consumers of (retro) audio. That was already an issue in the 1980s and 1990s and would be at least as much today.

But let's assume some retro-loving executive at Roland likes the idea and wants to try, you then hit the simple economics. Actually developing the board would be pretty trivial, after all, community efforts that do almost exactly what you describe already exist, and this is likely the sort of semi-official project an engineer tinkers on in his own time. Manufacture however would be less trivial. You'd need to tool up a production line. Costs there have dropped since the 1980s, but are still in the same ballpark - and a lot of the lower costs are related to higher volumes. Which this device most likely will not have. Unit cost is inversely proportional to volume, so at low volume, it's going to be prohibitively expensive to make. Assuming Roland is not willing to sell these at a loss, that means that it's also going to be prohibitively expensive to buy.

Does that mean it's impossible? Not necessarily. I don't see a large corporation doing it, but as a crowdfunding project, which pre-ensures demand, ordering the parts in the smallest possible runs from some Chinese factories, and assembling by hand, it could just work, and do so for an acceptable price. So long as Roland's lawyers don't come down on it like a ton of bricks...

So rather than ask Roland to do it all, which is highly unrealistic, instead look into doing it yourself and ask Roland for permission to make this one-off not-for-profit tribute to one of their iconic legacy devices.

Even if it happens it will probably be released at the market price of the MT-32 back then.

Most of the Roland Boutique synthesizers run the same hardware and are 100% software driven on the inside, and they made a D-50 version (the "D-05.") They're neat little boxes.

I don't think the MT32 has quite the clout of the D-50, but it has its fans. They could probably do a Boutique MT-32 on that platform for next to nothing in development costs, but whether there'd be enough potential buyers to justify bringing it to market... who knows. I'd love to have one though.

Roland are generally not amenable to "fan recreations" and are quite litigeous. I wouldn't expect to get permission, ever. If someone wanted to roll their own they'd probably have to go the Munt route - essentially clean-room the software and never distribute the ROMs along with it.

Hamby wrote on 2020-01-17, 09:27:

... inexpensive sound device with the look and feel of the MT-32...

Here... This is the key why such thing will never ever happen. Roland users are used to pay Roland prices for their items, and you are asking for an inexpensive product for an already niche market were almost anyone is already fine with things like Munt, even hardware interfaced with things like modded RPis. That never has been Roland way, and for sure it still isn't last time I checked their boutique page.

In any case is a general rule niche hardware items to come with niche higher prices for the manufacturer reasons other members already said to you, even in diy half assembled kit cases. Higher volume production at low cost with high demand is what really makes item prices get down, characteristics that niche items don't have. As soon as you realize it, the happier you will be.

I think the Sound Canvas VA pricing is proof enough that a cheap MT-32 will never be made.