Former SH101 owner, sold it and bought the SH01A, it's a good substitute. And they kept the clock input and the good sequencer, which is a must. I was afraid that the snappy envelopes and the filter on the SH01A would not cut it, but it's very identical to my old SH101. Usable and simple with as many sweet spots as there are stars in the universe. Of course we all know that Bad gear is the ultimate star.
I bought my (original) 101 way back in the mid 80s... paid about $150 for it and it was great... stupidly sold it for a song along with all my other synths (106, JX3P etc etc) when NOBODY wanted analogue synths... time-travel machine please? Anyway, the SH01-A really ticked a lot of boxes and this was the only one of the reissues I wanted to buy and I think it's fantastic.
Once again, an absolute delight, Florian! I can only imagine how much time it takes you to incorporate so many appropriate memes throughout each show. I just wanted you to know that I watch every episode at least twice. The first time, I pause to read each of the memes. The second time through, I play it straight so I can concentrate on what you're saying. I just wanted you to know that your significant efforts are not ignored! Well-done as always, good sir! Wonderful work!
@@AudioPilz Also, I'm sure that most of the world recognizes that these videos may be inspired by negative comments about certain instruments, but your work always demonstrates the potential good for so many of these synths. I own many that you have featured and it always makes me smile to see an episode about an instrument I love. In fact, I have a colleague who uses your videos to populate his "to buy" list! I own an Alesis Ion that he always liked, but after watching your Bad Gear episode featuring the Micron, he went out and bought that. He is very pleased with what it does. Thank you for your dedication to the community, my friend. Peace.
Love this episode of BAD GEAR...!!!! As someone that owns an SH-101 ( since 1994) and an SH-01a , the key selling points for me are portability , rugged metal case construction , MIDI to CV conversion out including via your DAW , 64 patch memories , 64 sequence memory , poly and unison mode , and velocity sensitivity . When you consider that 101 has no patch memory and a simple single 100 note sequencer, that is an immeasurable enhancement. While I can hear the difference standalone , more in that undefinable ``oomph" of the SH-101 , I can never hear the difference when its in a mix . I often use the sh-01a sequencer to drive my 101 in unison and the blend of two voices sounds massive particularly if you drive it at different octaves, with slight detune . The 01a is just one of those little synths that I would never part with . Sure it has no effects , but a really compact little outdoor relaxation setup is to run it through the Korg NTS-1 which can run off a USB battery pack , for lush reverbs, chorus and ping pong delay . I prefer to run the 01a off rechargeable batteries at all times , so no power supply noise . Hope this helps in evaluating more BAD GEAR !
One of the best Boutiques I've used. It's one of the only ones where the controls aren't too cramped. Also, I know it's VA, but I actually preferred the sound of this to the analogue SE-02
The VA Roland uses now is ACB "Analog Circuit Behavior" which means they actually emulate every single component of the original analog circuit board. It results in some really authentic sounding emulations.
@@inthefade ACB first appeared on the Aira System 1 and System 8. It isn't new technology. I'm glad they chose to stick with it in the new Aira "volcas".
Absolutely love the SH01a. I have an original 101 and it's always been a favorite. If I'm driving to shows I bring it. If I'm flying to gigs I bring the 01a and frankly there's no practical difference other than having to move small sliders with a little more intent. I keep mine in OG mode, and haven't even explored the polyphony after four years of ownership, but this video inspired me to maybe look into that. And who doesn't love chord memory?
is there no end to your talents? those sick dance moves you bust in that dark techno finale and then floating away hanging from those balloons! You shaved off your beard and lost the glasses but it was obviously you
Thanks for doing the SH-01A, still one of my most favourite synths of my collection. So quick and easy to create a patch that I don't even bother with saving any! Anyway, whilst the LFO cannot be synched as such, you can trigger it with the gate switch (set to LFO) with, for example a sequence, which more or less solves that problem. I use that a lot with the random LFO output. Great fun.
Man that car video was next level!😍 I have owned both and use the boutique always. A great machine.. Suddenly polyphony puts this into a whole new realm.🙏🏼❤️
Pricewise, I would opt for the S-1, however the miniaturized layout of the SH-01A and sound are authentic based on your demo. Thanks again for another great episode and great compositions!
First synth I ever bought in the early 1980s. Of course then I was left lusting after a DX7 but no money for that. Bronski Beat played at south bank poly student union in front of 30 odd people just before they broke with… sh101. Love that puppy and the boutique sounds close. Thanks for a fun vid and trip down memory lane. Wish I’d kept the 101 but there you go.
I have one and the original, they are pretty close 99% of the time. I like the extra wave forms on the LFO, and unison, 4 notes, and most of all... patch storage. Good for live and unlike the original it does not go out of tune. Great demo, that Dark Techno track is killer.
In the original if you insert a clock signal or a trigger on the ext clock in, the random LFO wave syncs to the pulse, maybe this works also on the sh01a.
Honestly I think the Behringer MS1 needs to be next now. A lot to love for a sh101 alternative but a lot of people seem to hate it, despite being IMO the closest you'll get. Awesome jams!
There was once a softsynth called TS-404. It was a standalone program and then eventually got integrated into Fruity Loops. This sounds exactly like it.
Weisst Du, you really are a treasure! The thoroughness / meticulous attention to detail in your reviews is world class; your sense of humor makes living in bad times just enough more bearable to make a difference. Danke!
afaik, the only boutique which has a pleasant midi implementation. It sends all parameter cc out on preset change. Makes it useful for live situations.
yet another video I have to watch 3x to get all the jokes. no need to hunt down all the limited edition colors, I got my blue, that's all I need. you're doing a great service to the synth world, Florian, I hope you know that.
Had sh 01 for some time. Really cool piece of kit. Similar to sh 101 ive used briefly. Same cool filter that sounds really even in all octaves and cutoff points. Now, polyphony and presets make huge difference. I have it with keyboard, and oh boy! Played it along with minimoog the other day and it stands on its own. Its amazing! Microbrute has way less sweet spots and feels a bit like a toy in comparison, although its architecture is somewhat comparable.
I had all the first couple waves of boutiques. ShO1a is the only one i still have. i love it! You'd have to dig around to find many people calling it bad gear.
Top Tip: If you want an ultra-cheap SH-101, buy a MS-1 with a bust sequencer/FM dial, quick fix, it's a loose ribbon cable. On another note, I'm surprised you've not tackled the mighty Alpha Juno yet, or maybe the Alesis HR-16?
Got started on my journey early 80’s with an mc202 so the sliders are like a return home, (except they are recordable to external seq✌️). My favourite goto
I like the SH-01A so much that I've got 2 of them, one gray and one blue (was even thinkin about getting the red one, but got the Behringer MS-101 in red instead...). The SH-01A has been in almost every live setup I've used since I got the first one. A really good little synth.
As I’ve said elsewhere, the SH-O1A just made me realise how authentic my 1982 SH-101 was, with its broken keybed, pitch drifting, calibration errors leading to a whole semitone of difference over three octaves, crackles on most of the pots and sliders, inexplicable 60Hz humming noise, cigarette burns on the chassis, weird stains…..
Now I'm 5 for 7 of my synths being featured on the channel! I almost didn't think the SH-01A would make the cut, but Roland prevailed once again. For me, its 3.5 mm output is probably the #1 annoying feature. It does sound great, though. Now you just need to do Moog Minitaur and Behringer RD9 and I will have only the best Bad Gear!
I have the red MS101 (yes, the pre-lawsuit version). It also makes sound the would be interpreted as aliasing except it’s totally analogue. The only way you could tell the difference comparing those two is the noise floor.
The SH-01A is one of my favorite pieces of gear, and I’ll go on record saying it’s actually better than the original 101. It nails the sound, and adds a bunch of significant improvements. It’s impossible to make it sound bad. Such a versatile, fun, and useful synth. This isn’t bad gear…it’s great gear!
That sequencer is more like an 1890s teletype than an 1840s telegraph beeper :P you slowly punch the message into the tape, then feed it back through and it gets whacked out at full speed! I don’t have anything more substantive to say. So here’s Engagement™
You should do a special episode of "the softwares that lefts us behind" or something like that. Pointing out all the dedicated softwares for synths that the brands stopped supporting. For example Korg Radias software editor, Access Virus, Roland MC-909. I know there are plenty more. Those companies should at least make their software open source. They were great softwares but never updated and they are needed. That is why I do not even consider Roland Cloud, at any moment they can ditch the platform and in those companies there is no one accountable. And that is the problem with software synths in general. They should upgrade them, it feels like a scam, they ditched the customer.
First synth I ever bought in the early 1980s. Of course then I was left lusting after a DX7 but no money for that. Bronski Beat played at south bank poly student union in front of 30 odd people just before they broke with… sh101. Love that puppy and the boutique sounds close. Thanks for a fun vid and trip down memory lane. Wish I’d kept the 101 but there you go.
That klangfabre building is amazing. One day I'm going to visit and when i do I'm going to shout "FLORIAAAAAAAAAAN" at the top of my voice and then leave immediately. Well, I might have a little look around before I go, I'll see how i feel on the day.
your finale visuals are always either amazing or off the wall/crazy/funny (like this one 😂) but also if one closes one's eyes ...by itself the finale is also really great music to chill to 😎👌🏻
I actually think the sh-01A is at least more interesting then the juno but that might just be because I love the original and I am about as close to buying one as the faders on the 01 are to each other
Not sure which keybed is worse, Rolands or Borats 😆 Pan left PUN-ishment!😆Cool to bring in an Emily Hopkins meme, gotta love her, FART PEDAL DRY OR WET!!! Never get tired of Nick Batt PWM memes, more please!! A new DAW called photoshop? Interesting, gotta do more research on that one.. Fitting Hans Zimmer masterclass meme! Love it! And yet another excellent Finale!!! Btw, you should make a user manual on how to watch your vid's since I watch them several times and see new things everytime... Perhaps that is the way? Excellent stuff again as always and put, at the start of this weekend, a smile on my face wanting to go out and joke about synths the whole night! Not sure how much points that would give me in the hitting on women department though... Thanx anywhoos!
Ok, this little synth is very impressive. Thank you for another fun filled episode! I always look forward to Friday nights because of Bad Gear. The last jam was so epic paired with the funny video you have for it. Some other bad gear to feature on your show would be anything Farfisa, the Korg Z1, and the Akai AX60. Thanks again, you have the best channel on RU-vid! Much respect!
OK enough's enough...I drove *300 kilometers* (round trip) the DAY BEFORE THIS VIDEO to buy one of these 2nd hand. And yes, I first checked for a Bad Gear episode and saw nothing on the SH-01a - just the other boutiques. So I'm like "well people say this is good, and Florian DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER doing a video on it so it MUST be super good, right?!" 😍 One day later.....DOH!! 🤣🤣🤣 So yeah....NOT watching this episode lol. Well, not until I've had time to get to know the unit myself. Fwiw I'm not actually pissed this has come up on Bad Gear - it is a boutique, so of course it's not going to tick boxes like a Moog One or OB-X8 or something. Meanwhile, I needed a simple hands-on synth for learning synthesis. The SH-101 is well known for that experience, and I almost got a 'cheap' one (AUS $1200 with a faulty keybed is 'cheap' 🙃😂) - but it sold to someone else. And then I remembered the boutiques' ACB tech sounds pretty much spot on. Plus unlike the S-1, the controls and layout on the SH-01a duplicate the original, and isn't fiddly (imo), so now I have that ridiculously good SH-101 bass tone in my arsenal (I blame Alex Ball's 'how to' videos for this GAS by the way...him and that dodgy geezer Geert Van Schlanger 😜). Spent $400 not $1200, and unlike the vintage synth it's got patches, I can save my own, it has midi, etc etc etc. Oh, and I've barely played around with it, and it already sounds awesome 😁
As odd as it is, I've been buying synths since the late 90s and this is the only Roland synth I've ever purchased. I use it as an extra voice (or chords) for my other 101 that sounds better from Behringer. I don't like small synths like this, but because it's mostly sliders which are better than tiny knobs, it doesn't annoy me. I don't think it sounds great like an analog version, but if you send it through an Elektron analog heat, you can't tell anymore except for the filter. Behringer has the best 101 imo now, but this is a nice little addition to one if you want another voice.
Dude! I always come back to this synth when I want that 80's sound. I feel that is more of a workhorse than the ju-06a. you cant deny the built quality on boutiques is sexy compared to the new aira plastic line, yuk! I'm keeping my rare blue one for sure!
Great video as always. I havnt uses any boutique gear and I'm not a synth purist but I feel that while Roland have done a great job sound wise, they keep missing the mark with thr interface/form factor with this kind of thing. I'm not sure of the solution but I think it might be good for them to not be quite so small so that they aren't tedious to use physically. That said, it seems like they sound great!
