Roland SH-201

[MADSTATION]

Anyone purchased one yet?
How is the VST integration?

Thanks

[ten]

Just ordered one from Turnkey for ?360, arrives tomorrow, will let you know how it is...

ten

[djencode]

i played with it at the music store, looked like a toy, kind of dissapointed with it actually...

[ten]

Dont think I know anyone whos purchased a synth based soley on how it looked before ;)

ten

[Timo]

For that price I'd probably get a 2nd hand JP8080. Last time I looked the SH-201 seemed like a simplified version?

[Hollowcell]

For that price I'd probably get a 2nd hand JP8080. Last time I looked the SH-201 seemed like a simplified version?

Except with Total Intergration (which works very well I hear). :D

Have to say though, I never really got into the 8080, and I hate the VA section of the V-Synth (although the feedback OSC can add a little something when using along side a big sound). I have created huge layered Saw sounds (by layering Saws in the V-Synth engine strangely enough) which completely dwarf the Supersaw OSC as well.

I wouldn't be picking one up if I were shopping for another VA that's for sure.

[Merlot]

I wouldn't be picking one up if I were shopping for another VA that's for sure.

agreed! Radias is where it is at right now for me (although most of my gear is packed and ready for the move). If you are going to pick up a VA definitely have a look at the radias.

[ten]

Already owned the Radias. Not impressed with it for the money tbh, very weak tiny sounds and far to clean (I thought anyway). Tried to get an Andromeda but cba waiting 6 months until Numark pull thier finger out of thier assess and Iam not buying one 2nd hand with all the scare stories going around. Always wanted to get a jpxx after I sold mine on and I got this sh-201 for less than they sell 2nd hand.

Will let you know how it is anyway. Looking forward to using both oscs in supersaw mode instead of just the one ala jpxx ;)

ten

[Keith Phillips]

My Andromeda was a store demo model but was hardly touched at all, so I got lucky with it. Not a fingerprint on it and works great so I lucked out. Every place was backordered for months and months. Some sort of production problem I heard.

[ten]

Yea same. I had the chance of an ex-demo one and two 2nd hand ones but I read on the andy forums about LOTS of problems with 2nd used hand models so I thought fuck it, id rather pay full price and get one with a warranty at least. Although as you say, some kind of production problem. I heard Numark have moved the production plant for the andy and some other synths, and also some new regulations that they need to adhere to, although this is just rumour, it might just be coming to end of life or something....ah well :)

ten

[djencode]

I wouldn't be picking one up if I were shopping for another VA that's for sure.

agreed! Radias is where it is at right now for me (although most of my gear is packed and ready for the move). If you are going to pick up a VA definitely have a look at the radias.

i've completely given up on korg. ive never owned a good korg product apar from my pad kontrol. and honestly for hte jp80x0 naysayers, it sounds a lot better than say, the va on the vsynth, and definitely a lot better than the sh-201. i just find the sh-201 is VERY limited in what it can do, and not really worth the price. for that cost, as the said, i can get a used jp80x0. ti is a nice prospect, which is why i bought a virus.

[ten]

I dont know where you get the idea the sh-201 has a lesser spec than the jp8080...

The 201 has everything the 8080 does apart from vocoder and chorus effect....on top of the 8080 spec it has: The D-Beam, Phrase Arpeggiator, dual super saw oscillators, extra sine wave oscs, vsti integrated software, reverb effect, overdrive/distortion effect, a 49 keyboard and according to someone who owns one .....

"The SH-201 sound is brighter and more forward than the JP. The Oscillator tones seem to be stronger on the Sh-201. Other than that, they really do sound very alike. With the SH-201 being more "in yer face."
The SH-201 does much better sub basses with the sine wave in the oscillators. The JP's don't have sine waves.

Best thing for me personally I picked mine up for ?360 new. 2nd hand jp8080s still sell for more than that here. I already own a TI and for 360 notes what you are getting here cant be bad.

Anyway, where is that fucking parcel man, I wanna test this shit out! :)

ten

[jasedee]

Congrats Ten!

Be sure to let us know what you think

[ten]

Arrived, unpacked, installed, up and running...

Heres a few pics....




http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ten.dj/s1.jpg
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ten.dj/s2.jpg
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ten.dj/s3.jpg
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ten.dj/s4.jpg
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ten.dj/s5.jpg
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ten.dj/s6.jpg
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ten.dj/s7.jpg
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ten.dj/s8.jpg
http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ten.dj/s9.jpg





Yea, the keyboard is cheap and the knobs, faders, dials are crappy.

Software installed easy enough and works fine in Nuendo3.

Still playing with the sound, very happy so far though, sounds great (double supersaw weee ;) ...will do some samples later on... dbeam is hella fun :)

ten

[MADSTATION]

I'm so close to ordering one...

Tempting.

I sold my jp8080 a few months ago for more than the retail price of the sh201 so it would be a great investment.

[Tomer=Trance]

the tb303 style knobs look damn toyish hehe

so,how does it sound?

[Merlot]

definitely would like to hear it. How is the keybed?

[djencode]

I dont know where you get the idea the sh-201 has a lesser spec than the jp8080...

The 201 has everything the 8080 does apart from vocoder and chorus effect....on top of the 8080 spec it has: The D-Beam, Phrase Arpeggiator, dual super saw oscillators, extra sine wave oscs, vsti integrated software, reverb effect, overdrive/distortion effect, a 49 keyboard and according to someone who owns one .....

"The SH-201 sound is brighter and more forward than the JP. The Oscillator tones seem to be stronger on the Sh-201. Other than that, they really do sound very alike. With the SH-201 being more "in yer face."
The SH-201 does much better sub basses with the sine wave in the oscillators. The JP's don't have sine waves.

Best thing for me personally I picked mine up for ?360 new. 2nd hand jp8080s still sell for more than that here. I already own a TI and for 360 notes what you are getting here cant be bad.

Anyway, where is that fucking parcel man, I wanna test this shit out! :)


ten



by the way, you can get dual supersaw with the 8080...in multi mode. well it's not really multi. it's just upper and lower layer. and the 201 doesn't have feedback osc or triangle mod. it looks and feels like a cheap toy, and honestly, i don't care too much about the vst integration. and from what i hear, sh201 uses the vsynth engine, and thus making it inferior to the 8080 for sound. since i've owned a vsynth, sold it cause it sounded thin as paper, got an 8080, and the 8080 sound way better than the VA section of the vsynth.

[Timo]

The 201 has the FB oscillator.

What do you mean by triangle mod?

Here's the spec of the 201:-

http://www.roland.co.uk/synth_room_catspec.asp?id=SH201

The 201 even has the same polyphony (>10 voices) as the 8080 (although the 8000 version has 8 voices, as opposed to 10, think?)

[Khazul]

Have to say though, I never really got into the 8080, and I hate the VA section of the V-Synth (although the feedback OSC can add a little something when using along side a big sound). I have created huge layered Saw sounds (by layering Saws in the V-Synth engine strangely enough) which completely dwarf the Supersaw OSC as well.


I didnt like the V-Synth VA much for a long time either, but have rather got into it recently - maybe having more synths around these days has made me appreciate what its good for more.

Anyway - even with a TI and a Radias, Im reather getting to like the Vs supersaws and filters. Its probably just that they are different and can go places where the others cant - certainly its alot more fizzy than either of the others - probably crappy high end aliasing in the filter - but who cares - for some reason Ive just come around to appreciating it finally :)

Sounds great layered over a virus hypersaw :)

[Tomer=Trance]

well you have got to see it more as a portable Va workstation thingy.

you just take it along with a laptop and your good to go.

soundcard,compact controler keyboard and a synth all in a rather easy to carry around package.
how much does the thing wight?

[Merlot]

I had a go with a 201 today at guitar center. The build is what you would expect out of a $500 synth, plasticy and cheap feeling. The sound was decent though. Very Jpis obviously. I did like the simple layout. The only thing I hated was not having a display of some sort. Even if it would be just numbers. For this you would have to rely on the plug in which sucks. Pretty sounding none the less.

Keybed was spongy. Not as bad as the nords, but almost.

[Hollowcell]

and from what i hear, sh201 uses the vsynth engine, and thus making it inferior to the 8080 for sound. since i've owned a vsynth, sold it cause it sounded thin as paper, got an 8080, and the 8080 sound way better than the VA section of the vsynth.

How could anyone sell a V-Synth!? :D
I am getting some of the phattest and fully controllable sounds ever (usually with having some nice processed analogue synths from which
to grab source waves though).

I do admit that the VA section of the V-Synth
feels like a cheap add-on.
I always thought that way about the 8080 too though. :wink:

What sort of sounds do you use the VA section for Khazul? I'd be interested to hear a few samples of what you're doing with.

EDIT: So how is everything going with it Ten?

[ten]

Hey yo:

After a bit more playing...

Again, the knobs and sliders are cheap and shit.....I could see someone a bit less gentle than myself fucking them up. The keyboard is actually not to bad, its no Fatar but it has a nice wieght and is comfortable to use. I agree with merlot a lcd readout would of been nice to see what params are up to.

The software installs and runs fine. The editor lets you load it up as a vsti, but you have to feed the audio analog back to your card and onto an audio track in your seq. Although using Cubase SX3/N3s external synth feature you can set this up ala virus TI mode and not use a audio track and just like a vsti which is VERY fucking cool indeed. The editor itself is simple and well laid out, nothing fancy and all on a single page. Each section has a detail button where you can access even more indepth controls that are not available directly on the hardware itself. You can save as many patches as you want to your daw, then make a bank and syncronise them to the hardware which is very simple and quick.

Using the synth could not be any easier. There are no menus whatsoever which I love, you just twist and dial in shit and theres your sound. No farting around with 3 level menus and screens.....I wish all synths were like this, its just so damn quick and easy to use (even tho as I mentioned an lcd readout would of been nice!)

The sound??? :) Well, I had been lusting after the jp80xx sound ever since I sold mine a couple of years back and the 201 does not disappoint. As soon as I played the first preset it bought back the memories of 8080 fun. The sound is just as aggressive and beefy. I dialed in a few bass sounds and it seems to have even more sub than I remember on the 8080. There is a special 'low freq' button which can boost the oscs and make it sound a lot deeper, very cool.

I fannied around with some lead sounds which were sounding cool, but adding on the new distortion effect really makes them shine! You only need to dial in a little bit to get some lovely new roaring monster lead sounds.

I really missed the pads I could create with the supersaw on the 8080 so I had a go at a few of those and it was good :) The lush slowly unfolding filter on the ssaw is a joy to hear, the top end sounds clearer than I remember but I will have to test that a bit more. Again adding some distortion effect brings in a little more charecter to the sound.

Reverb and delay are both perfectly usable, have extra settings and sound fine.

Overall very happy. There are definately some areas that could of been better, but for ?360 you really cant complain, the sound is lovely and the vsti editor a welcome addition.......might do ya some samples a bit later on :)

btw, djencode, the feedback osc is there.....maybe open your eyes next time you 'demo' a synth.

ten

[djencode]

i dunno guys it still seems like too much of a kids keyboard for me to ever use it. and you'll never convince me it sounds the same as an 8080, it doesn't have the same circuitry, and as far as i can tell, the oscs don't even sound the same. like the vsynth, the VA sounds cheap and thin. it's no virus or waldorf. it's good for its intended audience, people new to music looking for a easy keyboard that's cheap, but i would never use one. in regards to the vsynth, variphrase admittedly is really cool, but if i need it that badly i'll get varios. since every other aspect of the vsynth isn't that apealing to me, and dbeams is nothing more than a trinket to me. im a mouse and keyboard kind of guy, i have no piano background, so for me, my performance will be more on sculpting textures via knobs rather than playing. and while i could assign parameters to the dbeam to do such performances, i'd feel like a dork doing it, and i'd rather have tangable control anyhow.

[Khazul]

i dunno guys it still seems like too much of a kids keyboard for me to ever use it.

There was another cheap looking kiddy toy that roland once made. Now they change hands for more than 10 times their original new price...

[Timo]

i dunno guys it still seems like too much of a kids keyboard for me to ever use it. and you'll never convince me it sounds the same as an 8080, it doesn't have the same circuitry, and as far as i can tell, the oscs don't even sound the same. like the vsynth, the VA sounds cheap and thin. it's no virus or waldorf. it's good for its intended audience, people new to music looking for a easy keyboard that's cheap, but i would never use one. in regards to the vsynth, variphrase admittedly is really cool, but if i need it that badly i'll get varios. since every other aspect of the vsynth isn't that apealing to me, and dbeams is nothing more than a trinket to me. im a mouse and keyboard kind of guy, i have no piano background, so for me, my performance will be more on sculpting textures via knobs rather than playing. and while i could assign parameters to the dbeam to do such performances, i'd feel like a dork doing it, and i'd rather have tangable control anyhow.

No-one's got a gun to your head forcing you to buy one, ffs. :)

[Hollowcell]

Opinions are always subjective.
Different strokes for different.......You know what I mean.

Enjoy Ten.

[MADSTATION]

Awesome review...Thanks Ten.
I'm off to the shop, hopefully they got some in stock.

[Merlot]

congrats ten! I also like the results you could get out of the overdrive. Rellly nasty sounding leads and bass's with it.

[djencode]

one things for sure tho, it's a good starter synth any my friends who are music noobs i'll be refering them to it so that they can get a hang of using a synth. then from there they can grow into more complicated software and hardware.

[feedingear]

There was another cheap looking kiddy toy that roland once made. Now they change hands for more than 10 times their original new price...

Now there's a quote you can't argue with. A person I am collaborating with is just about to buy one of these and I am looking forward to having a play. I run a TI Polar and a Korg M3, without the radias board, and hoping the sound will be a nice contrast to the Virus.

Looking to invest in either a Radias Rack or the EXB board because at the moment the Korg M3 synths are rubbish. Key bed and electromechs/strings/etc are gorgeous though, but I feel the Triton Extreme had better, stronger, on board patches to begin with, across the board.

[Ceri JC]

I played one back to back with a TI Polar and I was amazed how toy-like it looked, felt and sounded. A shame really, as I really like the SH-101 and had sort of hoped for this to be a proper modernisation of that, rather than just an exercise in cashing in on the name (MC-303 all over again, anyone? ;)), as this seemed to be. The d-beam was good fun; could see that being nice to use live, particularly with the other hand doing broken chord manual arpeggios. I'd rather get a standalone midi controller with d-beam equivalent and use that with a Virus though.

Still, if you like it and the sound it makes, nowt wrong with it for your studio. I love Electribes, but most people think they are "toys". :)

[fornax]

I do have the SH-201. I was a bit unsure the first days I had it. But now I love it really much. It is very easy to create sounds on it. I think it sounds very cool. I would recommend this synth for beginners, as it is easy to learn.

I made some bass sounds on it, pads, plucks, effects, leads and so on.


http://synthdesign.de/roland.htm
You will find some patches and demo of the patches at this site.
I can share some of my patches

Here is a sample of the Roland SH-201 in a trancetrack:
http://www.fornax.no/synth/Roland%20SH-201/Roland%20Sh%20201%20Preview%20(airbase%20roots).mp3

I will upload more stuff from the SH-201 on that url if wanted.

[feedingear]

Yeah if you have any more samples of different patches and different genres that'd be really cool to hear. Thanks.