Roland Gaia SH-01 $200 Price Drop in USA

[meatballfulton]

While the MicroKorg still holds the record for the synth that's been in production the longest, Roland has been keeping the SH-01 for sale for over 12 years now.

Online dealers in USA are all showing a $200 price drop, from $699 to $499. It might be that Roland is trying to clear out the warehouse or just keep making it. While the VA technology is dated, it does have a real 3-octave keyboard and Juno-like ease of programming with large sliders and knobs. Oh yeah, it also is 64 voice polyphonic, not 4 voices like most of the Boutiques. There's even a hidden multitimbral GM synth inside that can be played via MIDI.

Roland has updated thire USB drivers to support Apple Sillcon and Windows 11, too.

[SciNote]

Yeah, I saw this on Sweetwater. I already have one of these, but if they're clearing them out, I'll keep an eye on the price -- if they reduce the price again, it might be worth it to get a back-up unit.

I know a lot of people don't like these synths, but they really are very versatile, especially once you learn some of the tricks to them. For example, the supersaw wave is great for a variety of sounds -- not just techno-stabs, but also strings, leads, and even organs. Speaking of organs, with three independent synth engines, you can get a lot of great organ sounds out of it -- both pipe organ and Hammond-type sounds. And with the multi-mode filter, you can use the "peaking" mode for some really biting leads. And each of the three independent synths has an envelope generator for the oscillator (pitch), the filter, and the amp (volume). The built-in effects just add to the fun. The stereo delay is particularly interesting. I would say its main limitation is deep bass sounds -- I really haven't been able to get a deep analog-type bass sound out of it.

I'm wondering if the new SH-4D is kind of the Gaia's successor. One thing I haven't clearly seen described about the 4D... I know it's got a four part synth (and a fifth part for drum patterns). What I'm wondering is if each of those parts has it's own filter, LFO, and envelopes, like the Gaia, or is it more like a conventional synth with 4 oscillators all going through one filter and amp?

[meatballfulton]

One thing I haven't clearly seen described about the 4D... I know it's got a four part synth (and a fifth part for drum patterns). What I'm wondering is if each of those parts has it's own filter, LFO, and envelopes, like the Gaia, or is it more like a conventional synth with 4 oscillators all going through one filter and amp?

No, it's fully multitimbral, so each part has it's own filters and amps, just like the Gaia.

I thought not making Gaia multitimbral was a real missed opportunity since the machine has 64 voices...There's no way that many notes can even be played from only 37 keys

As it stands, the 3 parts allow you to layer and split but they can't be addressed on different MIDI channels. Since there's a GM engine hiding inside that can be accessed over MIDI, it just stands as another Roland feature oddity.

[SciNote]

One thing I haven't clearly seen described about the 4D... I know it's got a four part synth (and a fifth part for drum patterns). What I'm wondering is if each of those parts has it's own filter, LFO, and envelopes, like the Gaia, or is it more like a conventional synth with 4 oscillators all going through one filter and amp?

No, it's fully multitimbral, so each part has it's own filters and amps, just like the Gaia.

I thought not making Gaia multitimbral was a real missed opportunity since the machine has 64 voices...There's no way that many notes can even be played from only 37 keys

As it stands, the 3 parts allow you to layer and split but they can't be addressed on different MIDI channels. Since there's a GM engine hiding inside that can be accessed over MIDI, it just stands as another Roland feature oddity.

That's pretty much what I was thinking. Looks like a pretty powerful synth (the 4D) -- just would be nice to have a version with a built-in keyboard. Going back a bit farther, wasn't the JD-800 also in this same vein? From what I've seen, it seems to use the same philosophy as in the Gaia and 4D, in that it looks like it has four complete synth sections that can be layered together in a single patch. Or am I wrong, here?