Roland SH01

[OriginalJambo]

A guy I know will be getting one of these as a replacement for his SH-101 that perished in a flood, so I'll probably get to spend some time with one in the near future. As an owner of a V-Synth I agree that the aliasing issue is beyond ridiculous, especially in this day and age, but otherwise I think it looks like a fairly flexible synth for the money.

At the very least, feature-wise, it's a big step in the right direction from the 201.

[Ashe37]

replacing his SH-201? or 101?

[OriginalJambo]

His grey SH-101 that he had bought from a local music store in back in the '80s. It's a real shame but as far as I know it went off to the scrap heap. We tried our best to save it, but the insurance company wasn't having any of that. It was either a new synth or nothing.

Originally it was going to be replaced by a 201 actually, but he decided to wait until the Gaia was released and pay the difference.

[moremagic]

His grey SH-101 that he had bought from a local music store in back in the '80s. It's a real shame but as far as I know it went off to the scrap heap. We tried our best to save it, but the insurance company wasn't having any of that. It was either a new synth or nothing.

Originally it was going to be replaced by a 201 actually, but he decided to wait until the Gaia was released and pay the difference.

He waited for the Gaia and is *paying* the difference? Ouch. Could he not get an appraisal showing the higher value of the 101?

[OriginalJambo]

He waited for the Gaia and is *paying* the difference? Ouch. Could he not get an appraisal showing the higher value of the 101?

The difference is only about £60 so it's not a lot really. Given the choice I'd also pony up the extra for a Gaia since I think it's the better synth, although truth be told I'd be even more likely to use the insurance money to fund a Blofeld or R3, but that's another story. He really wanted the Gaia and I'm sure he'll obtain hours and hours of pleasure from it - as long as he's happy with the result that's what really matters.

Unfortunately the SH-101 was damaged pretty badly. I'm sure a reputable synth tech could have fixed it but it would have cost at least £100 and a broken SH-101 certainly isn't worth £400. Also you're assuming that the insurance company would be willing to take the time to have it properly appraised by someone who's really in the know, which given the circumstances wasn't likely.

Despite all this we did appeal to buy it back off the company, but heard nothing. C'est la vie.

My own JX-3P was also a victim of the flood, but it fortunately survived the ordeal.

[Primal Drive]

I got a chance to play this synth for an hour last Saturday. IMHO it's a re-configured, repackaged SH201 (it doesn't come close to sounding like an SH32).

Care to elaborate on some of the characteristic differences you observed in your rather brief audition(esp with respect to oscillators, filter, envelope behavior, sync/PWM emulation, FX quality)?

I'd rather do a side by side A/B comparison if I were to go into specific details regarding the differences between the SH32 and SH01 (if I were inclined to do so).

During my "brief" time with the SH01 I set up a single tone patch with the filter open (no res), switched off any FX and listened to each waveform. On the same patch I then listened to each filter type with various cutoff and res settings. Finally, I started dialing in various patches using multiple tones using various pitch and waveform settings, filter types, modulation and FX.

I like the UI. The layout is intuitive and it's easy to come up with some complex patches. I think the FX are good (I wasn't thrilled with the reverb but it's OK). I didn't spend enough time with the synth to try the D-beam so I can't comment on that. The 64 note polyphony is definitely a plus.

With that said, I just didn't like the sound. The Oscillators sounded thin (though the individual mod for each one helps add some character). The filters are OK and weren't as bad as I'd read somewhere. But the over all tone just didn't inspire me.

I know there are people who can create 1001 unique patches on any synth, but if I can't find any use for those sounds then what's the point?

This is just my personal opinion. YMMV.

[moremagic]

You found yourself needing 64 notes of polyphony?
I only very rarely find myself limited by the 16 on the DX7 -- what were you doing to take advantage of so much polyphony on a three octave board?

[Primal Drive]

You found yourself needing 64 notes of polyphony?
I only very rarely find myself limited by the 16 on the DX7 -- what were you doing to take advantage of so much polyphony on a three octave board?

First off, I never said I "needed" 64 notes of polyphony for a synth w/37 keys.

I said it's a plus because - and my apologies for horrifying anyone with what I'm about to write - I know a number of people who will find the GM bank of sounds useful. It's because of this that I think it would make for a nice first keyboard.

And like it's been stated before, it's a shame that the 3 tones cannot be assigned to separate midi channels like the GM sounds.

[Slunk Lord]

I might be a total newb here, but why is everyone here bashing the h**l out of this thing? I think it sounds decent enough when compared to the SH-201.

And before anyone mentions anything, the SH-201 has been my introduction into the synth world. I've wanted one for years, and as a first synth, I think it sounds good, but I will say that the 201 does leave me want more sound-wise. I find myself constantly trying to get more of a fat, thick tone out of the thing, and it will only go so far. I'll admit, it's not the best, but for my first, I think it's a great way for me to get used to a lot of how synths work, and I have oodles of fun just tweaking all the different parameters on it.
This Gaia looks like a step up from the 201, but obviously it isn't a Jupiter 8 or an Oberheim. If Roland was trying for that, than I think they would've given the synth more than a 3-octave range of keys. It looks to me like the synth is aimed at a market of somewhat newer synth players. It sounds better than the 201, and it definitely has a lot more features, but I still will admit that its sound, while better than the 201, still isn't as fat or organic as, say, the JP-8000 is.
So what, suddenly every synth that Roland produces suddenly has to be a classic? Not everything they're going to produce is going to be geared towards the complete professionals, I think they're making this mainly to try and usher in some more players, what, is that so bad?

Do I think this synth would be worth the money? I might say yes, but as a comparative upgrade from the 201, I think I'll shy away from buying it. The sounds are cool, but like others have stated, the lack of any LCD screen or indication of any of the synths parameters is an extreme short-coming on both the 201 and the 01. Perhaps if Roland implemented that into a higher-end synth with a lot more organic sound, but a man can only dream.

I will also agree about the flimsy plastic chassis. I feel nervous carrying my 201 anywhere, as I feel like one bad hit and then the synth will be rendered unusable.

And even if the VA is a P.O.S. to begin with, it doesn't mean you could at least get some mediocre sounds out of it or modify the sound using external pedals/units.

[moremagic]

Thats the thing that puts it at an odd position is that it is a step up from the SH-201, but its in a price range with some real analogues, so it would have been a really great opportunity for Roland to update the VA architecture instead of things like adding a d beam and going to 64 voices of polyphony. I still applaud them on putting such a nice control panel on the model and hope they start doing that more often

[volumetrik]

I tried one out at a shop, it actually felt really nice..much higher quality than SH-201, now if only it had an analog engine, CV/Gate.. no presets, crappy effects and that D beam bs.

[Ashe37]

No presets? um, there were presets in every slot on the one i tried. maybe someone thought they'd be funny by erasing em

[volumetrik]

i meant i wish it had no presets heh

[Ashe37]

No presets would mean no patch storage. If you like patch storage but not resets, turn all three 'tones' off and write the resulting patch to all of the patch memory locations... there ya go, no presets!

(seriously, nothing is gonna come without some kind of patch memory for the mass market. Even i don't care for stuff with no patch memory. I'm considering buying the Doepfer kit and using an arduino to add midi and patch memory... just 'cause...)

[Stab Frenzy]

I tried one out at a shop, it actually felt really nice..much higher quality than SH-201, now if only it had an analog engine, CV/Gate.. no presets, crappy effects and that D beam bs.

There are quite a few synths on the market that match that description, why don't you just buy one of them? What you say makes no sense, unless you just really like the way the SH01 looks. If that's the case then you should just buy one and never switch it on.

I'm starting to seriously think about buying an SH01 and a Beat Thang and making a whole album with them just to shut people up in threads like this. Can't wait for the shitstorm when the Beat Thang finally comes out.

Oh and for the record the D-Beam kicks arse as an expressive interface for controlling synths. You can use your hand, lean over the keys and use your shoulder, head, whatever. You don't have to stand there like a gimp waving one hand around like an extra in a Harry Potter movie, use your body to really interact with the synth. When I used to gig with the V-Synth I used to love tweaking two parameters with the XY pad with my left hand and two with my head with the D-Beam at the same time. Sure as h**l beats just tweaking one knob with your hand, that's why Frostwave made the spacebeam for modular users.