Vintage Synth Explorer Forums

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to know your opinions on the roland sh-201. I've had an alesis micron for a couple years and i'm looking fo something more nobby as my next synth purchase. i'm looking in the 500 dollar area, and wondering what's the best. the sh-201 looks somewhat up my alley. what do you guys think?
Thanks

This thread was pretty extensive:
http://www.vintagesynth.com/forum/viewt ... 1&start=45

this one too:
http://www.vintagesynth.com/forum/viewt ... 1+#p336678

I can't really give you an honest opinion cos I haven't much time with one.

Try finding a good Juno 106 or Juno 6, if you feel like going old school.

Kidney05 wrote:Hey everyone,
Just wanted to know your opinions on the roland sh-201. I've had an alesis micron for a couple years and i'm looking fo something more nobby as my next synth purchase. i'm looking in the 500 dollar area, and wondering what's the best. the sh-201 looks somewhat up my alley. what do you guys think?
Thanks

If you already own an Alesis Micron then getting a Roland SH-201 is a waste of time in my opinion.

If I were you I would save a little more and buy the Dave Smith Instruments Mopho Keyboard, it's less than a thousand dollars and will be released very soon. It has a lot of hands-on control like the SH-201 but will definitely sound much better.

Check this link for more info about the Mopho Keyboard:
http://www.davesmithinstruments.com/new ... .php#mokey

A combination of Micron+Mopho Keyboard is far more flexible and varied then a combination of Micron+SH201.

I have a 201 and happen to like mine a lot too, ive only played with microns at GC and feel that at least the presets sound better. I didnt spend enough time with a micron to figure out how to start programming one but the 201 is very straight forward in that department and I was making very interesting patches from day 1. That said, there are a lot of synths in the $500 range that are worth consideration. Id recommend checking out a Juno 6 or 106 and maybe a JX-3p or JX-8p, all of them can be had fairly cheap and are all great sounding analog polysynths.

It's a decent synth.

The factory presets are awful but if you program your own or download some of the 3rd party sounds there's some surprisingly good stuff in there. The only reason I'm selling mine is that I'm raising cash for an Axis 64 before the prices go up.

If you don't mind buying used equipment I would recommend purchasing the JP8000 or JP8080. I purchased my JP8080 for $450, which IMO is on the more expensive side of those these days.
I enjoyed the SH201 but while new ones are still on the market the price of even used sh201s is on the expensive side. When the Gaia is debuted I think it will be worth picking up as your first knob laden VA.

i liked mine for a while..kind of had a toy feel to it. my opinion. then sold it for the real deal... alesis ion...

Thanks for the replies, yall.
In truth, i'm just looking for something filled with nobs and faders, and sounds like what gabriel and collins used in the 80s. the jp8000 looks like it fits that bill, but if any of you guys have any other suggestions, let me know.

oh yeah, and since i have a micron, i'd like something that was a bit different. how is the sh-01 gaia? has anyone seen or used one of those yet?

i'm currently looking through all the synths suggested.

Gaia isn't out yet...

ah ok. so is roland where it's at for 80s stuff? i was thinking about a dx-7 but it wasn't nobby enough for me, especially since it has limited banks and stuff going on. is there anything else i should consider besides the junos and jp-8000?

For the 80's sounds any VA synth will do ,personally i can tell you that beside beeing cheap plastic as h**l the 201 have a really bad high frequency compression. Any sounds you will play on the higher notes will sound like sampled in 12bit or something .Avoid this one , Jp8000 is a good choice ,try the alesis ION as well....

Since the Micron you have has good sounds, is it possible to maybe get a controller keyboard that has plenty of assignable knobs and sliders and use the Micron as a module?

Something like this maybe....