Roland S-1 AIRA Compact - Synthesis Beyond the SH-101 

I'm going to post this here in case it's helpful to anyone else - I got one of these this week and it sounds fantastic, but I couldn't for the life of me get it to play my midi from Ableton. I live near enough to Andertons to take it in and discuss it so went there this morning. I was assuming I was missing something or the unit was faulty. In fact, it needs you to go in to the menu and move the midi channel. It is bizarrely set to channel 3 by default (at least mine is). To fix the issue (and thanks to the guy at Anderstons today - I didn't get the dude's name but he was great) - do this: Turn it on - press shift and 15 to access menu - scroll to CH - select your correct midi channel (e.g. 1 instead of 3) - enter - exit x2. And you're away. Great customer service at Andertons today. One of my all time favourite shops in the universe.

Andy once again proving how good he is at demonstrating Roland products, and how cheeky chappy Jack at how he's brilliant at letting everything flow organically, and his passion is second to none. Also a stunning demo at the end by Andy, the S-1 looks AMAZING.

That's really cool, especially the jam at the end. Very neat.

Thanks guys, love the S1 tweak, and such a great video, respect.

I really liked this. Great stuff coming out of Roland.

This sounds excellent

Your videos on these devices have completely sold me on these! I bought the J-6 without even watching the whole video, it came yesterday and the family was having so much fun with it! I’ve actually decided to get the T-8 instead of the TR-8s just based on the fun and approachability of these devices. Thank you for your awesome review videos!

Sounds so good for it's size and price. Gonna have to snag one of these soon, always wanted an sh-101.

This is great. Very Korgy approach from Roland. It is great to see these things happening

An important finding, if you’re a Logic Pro user. Since Roland doesn’t seem to know this (May 2024), I will post this through my favourite electronica RU-vidrs. Having owned the S-1 for about 5 minutes I began thinking about how I could integrate it into my UA/Logic Pro set up. USB-C connection to the Mac. First try resulted in the S-1 taking over completely, no access to UA. The Roland “support” site said that it wasn’t possible to use it with multiple audio interfaces! Accepting the challenge I created an Aggregate Device in the the Mac’s Audio MIDI set up, with the UA as master device. Let there be audio! The MIDI part was a brain twister though. Audio still working fine when I started the S-1’s internal sequencer. But no MIDI triggering the S-1. Double checking the MIDI setting on the S-1 revealed that I had adjusted the chorus, Cho, mistaking the o for a zero. The correct parameter is called CH. Why it wasn’t already set to channel 1 is anybody’s guess. Cool box, lousy support site, as usual. Roland, please fix your extremely slow and unhelpful site Thank you for sharing a helpful video.

Pretty excited about these units,got an s1 on the way. They’re small,sound big,and are priced great. A win all around.🤘🏻

What a great time to be alive

Congratulations on the first oscilloscope on your channel. 🍾

Dang, this video has convinced me I think. This little synth is awesome!

Brilliant products of Roldmart, nice 👍🏻

Sounds big and rich, amazing from such a didi device… hats 🎩 off Roland

"I see, but I also hear", love that!

very nice indeed. Might have to add one of these to my Volcas !

I’ve been using Roland/Boss products for years. I purchased the other three AIRA devices. Not disappointed!

This looks great. Definitely been looking for a synthesizer to add to my gear. Don’t know much about them tho.

Damn, I wanted the SH-4D now i want all of these too! It's gonna have to be one or the other.

Yeah yeah, sounds cool. BUT I'm really interested in Andy's t shirt!

I got mine the week it was released. I had low expectations to prevent disappointment but man, I was wrong. It is just what I was looking for: a replacement for my Volca Bass and a Toraiz AS-1; both of which I HAD a love-hate relationship with (I’ve sold both of them). This little synth sounds surprisingly good and it’s easy to program. I was particularly sold by the fact you can change presets/programs on the fly without going out of sync (unlike the AS-1). Beware! It’s very small though.

As a drummer who runs sensory percussion to control hardware synths, physical space is a limited resource. The number one complaint from folks with the AIRA line seems to be how small it is, but if you’re like me and NEED compact powerful hardware, this is the best of the 4 they’ve released yet. Can’t put mine down

WOW. A great tool for use with their SP404MK2 (which is stunning). Yes, Roland are on the up these days.

Great device and a good companion for my T8. it would be good to see it hooked to a MIDI keyboard and explore the polyphonic capabilities.

Nice Yamaha CA-610 in the background.

DRAW mode in the frequency domain - enter the FFT and it works out the waveform! That would be cool.

I really have to ask the question everyone probably has in mind: where can I find that oscilloscope app?!

So I'm getting a Roland AIRA S-1. BTW, what's the name of the oscilloscope app? Tnx

This is not strictly for beginners at all. This thing punches way above its weight. That being said, it is accesible to beginners. I wouldnt exactly recommend it as a first synth. But if it becomes your first synth, that wont be a problem after a few yt videos and some study. I suggest watching some basic sound design videos, and basic synth concept stuff if you're totally new to it. Take the time to apply each of those concepts to the S1. Much of the basic synth functionality control is right there on the surface. No menu diving required. The deeper functionality of the S1 is not self explanatory. But the effort is worth it.

Please release a sampling drum machine in this form factor with the same class compliant capabilities of this guy. 350.00 all day long and most likely the best selling drum machine made.

Hi, what’s the name of the oscilloscope that’s used here, thanks!

Is it possible to get the wiring and cable setup for connecting the 4 devices ?

Tasty and good.

The S1 sounds really excellent and the 64 step sequencer with motion is fun and inspiring. Sadly, I couldn’t get MIDI out from Logic or Ableton to work so I returned it. 😢

Genius start! More cameraman caveman noises, please! May I have a sample library of those fantastic noises?

we going into the future bois 🦾

great video. can i control (and scale) the filter cutoff with the modwheel of an external midi keyboard?

For some reason Roland decided to pack this full of features and make it cheaper. I think Behringer is starting to get to Roland lol

Roland, please, please add pattern chaining. I know some EDM guys are not into part changes, but it would open up so much more possibiities for these..... (and yes, perfectly possible with the little pocket operators, so....)

Maybe they will do a dedicated acid yellow one....

THis looks awesome! Btw what is the name of the oscilloscope app? Is it also free by any chance?

Hello 👋 , great vid... Does the S1 do MPE Midi please, Thanks

I kinda wanna sell my MC-101 and buy two of these, but I am wondering if presets can be saved. Right now i'm using the 101 as a sound design device and switching between presets using the clips for live performance. That's not good if I have to completely rebuild the sound when I want to switch. Would work fine as a bass synth if that's the case, though.

Are the batteries user replaceable when they go bad?

A question for the experts. *How do I connect devices with built-in sounds Directly to a control keyboard that has no sounds? *Which cables do I need? And what is the friend why? - I have: launchkey 25 mk Novation control keyboard and want to connect it for example: to CIRCUIT TRACKS. Or - for the Roland device / Roland Aira S-1 and use their sounds. Many thanks to the helpers.

Great stuff. So the only thing missing is a sine wave oscillator. Is this some kind of anti-FM synth? 😉

Do i need this if i have an SH 4D? I kinda want it.

Stupid question: can I hook a midi keyboard up to this so I can play it with normal size keys? New to synths and still learning. Right now I have a Yamaha CS and a 61-keys midi keyboard.

What’s the name of the oscilloscope app?

6:46 Wait, no audio interface required? So is the audio going to sound clear?

So by manipulating the oscillator, does it become an arpeggiator or a step sequencer?

What is the oscilloscope app on the phone called?

I'm fixing to buy the S1 I think- and then add the rest as I go. I'm new to synths- played guitar most of my life though- and I understand basic theory. From what I can see, that's plenty enough to get started- and this looks like a great beginner's setup. Question- can I run this out to a standard powered FRFR cab- or do I need a DI box or something?

Can you play it while it's plugged into power? Or are you restricted to 4 hours of playtime between charges?

I can see there is definitely a market for something like this, just not me. I like at least a "mid sized" interface and HATE any menu diving.

Where do I get that Roland t-shirt? Oh man! 😍

What’s the oscilloscope app he’s using ?

What is that oscilloscope app?

Cat keeper?

Let's start with a saw wave, never said at the start of a demonstration of a synth.😁

It is a Roland so we might see it in Bad Gear next time.

Sold mine. It’s def cool… and I made a bunch of tracks I like with it, but I am mostly working in the box these days and for me the options within the pc are better. If you buy just be aware… it is as tiny as it seems… I have big hands and didn’t love it (which I don’t blame Roland for).

What a great showcase! Jack you're the best, but pronunciation... Timbre = "Tam-bah".

Are the batteries replaceable?

I can build you guys a new table that wont warp. I could even build it from your existing table which is gorgeous wood. we can plane it not stain it but oil it and make it very nice.

Will Roland correct the product defect of the S-1 having no MIDI Volume (CC07) support? All MIDI synths have supported this for over 40 years! Roland! Wake up! We no longer live in the89s!

A good YT channel would have asked at this point why people should still buy the boutique version for twice the price when the S1 is the better synth in almost every aspect. Sure, it has a smaller form factor, but it's not less fiddly than the SH 01a.

Motion record on a volca works the same 😂 it couldnt be easyier

Damn, JUNO-60 is older than he is, right? :)

There are a lot of good synthesizers in 2023, and I can't think of anything with a worse interface than the S-1 and the T-8. They've created a form factor smaller than a Volca, and they're cramming twice as many controls as any Volca onto it. Maybe it's popular because it's the cheapest synth besides a Stylophone, but how's the customer satisfaction? When you get a discount version of a classic synth that's more difficult to use than the original, does that make you want to buy more Roland gear? I see a lot of people giving great reviews to the S-1, but none of those reviewers are ever going to use it again. It's only $200, but that's no excuse for having a $0.05 display on it. The 64x32 oled display on the Model: Cycles is a $1.50 part. An even better 128x32 oled display is $5. You could even show the waveform. How much less popular do you think the Monologue and Minilogue would be if they had a display this bad? If you're going to make people dive into menus the least you can do is give them a display capable of displaying characters. It's just brutal. People would gladly pay an extra $30 or $50 to get an S-1 with a less painful display.

Now let's have all these combined into a JD-Xi 2.0! 😋

The best thing about Aira was that cute Ginger girl on the bed having fun.

Jupiter 8 reissue.......

These are awesome but honestly should be even cheaper. Maybe all four for $499 or something like that would be proper 👍👍

The vocoder is a gimmick. I actually have it.

Groove box? :(

I have just got the S-1. Seriously, we are in 2023 an they still use those “way overdue” old type of displays. For Pete sake, take a couple bucks more and give us an OLED display. It’s simply to nerdy and frustrating to decode what the heck is written. And the fonts on the black rubber buttons are really hard to read. To small and the font color is to dark.

Rolca

😳 'PromoSM'

Dear Roland, we need a new killer plastic body synth, less menu diving - lots of controls - 4 & 5 octaves synth with multi engines/synthesis types for £699-£899. You are big enough to make this happen...

Nick Batt would have asked if it could do PWM 😂

Bugger - that's another £150 gone...

Wait.... Did Roland clone one of the greatest analogue artists and train him to work for them selling their gear? It's not jus me, right? This guy is a clone of Ed DMX/DMX Krew!!!!

????

Its all fine until u realise that they are living off the old glory, nothing new or innovating, everything is based of something ancient with each time even fewer controls

This company has no idea, musical toys. What a Shame.

This is so disappointing. Roland has 0 clue. It's like a more limited version of System-8 where to not have a purposefully limited synth you have to play a game with a bunch of In-Game-Purchases for lame analog emulations. I want to see Roland focusing on inventing genius new kinds of synthesis. That idea has been put on the back burner at Roland at this point. ACB, ABM are again analog emulation platforms of reusable emulation code but they are not new kinds of synthesis. Roland is like Disney now, are they even capable of making something genius and new anymore? This is not that big of a deal, I've created plenty of new kinds of synthesis just coding random plugins. Roland is a big company and they can't even afford to have a parallel team working on an Area-51 synth with totally new synthesis that's not based on analog emulation, subtractive, wavetable, FM, etc. Using analog emulation inside certain parts of new synthesis algorithms can sound very good but that's not the important part, the important part was to make something highly harmonically correlated that is impossible to build in an analog synth without having an implausible gigantic $200,000 labyrinthine analog machine. But Roland keeps doing the same old noob stuff. They don't have someone who knows as much as me. That doesn't even make any sense. I think maybe their whole corporate structure is made up of middle management and approval by committee. Roland should be allowing inventors to spend some of Roland's money to create some masterpieces. This AIRA S-1 isn't a masterpiece, it's a watered down old technology for making corporate approved sounds. Just look at some of the Oscillator Mutants in something like the Hydrasynth, that is coming from 1 creator, it's not coming from middle management's approval. Roland doesn't really have idea leaders anymore, they have people who were polite and managed to not get fired. You're not gonna find someone like the equivalent of a young John Chowning building a hugely innovative new basic synthesis architecture at Roland. Just incremental noob stuff. Roland is dumb for not spending money once in a while to make something big. It barely even costs anything to do this, a few million dollars is not much. Salaries for a team of 10 for a couple years. Roland just doesn't have anyone who can lead that project. And apparently Roland doesn't have anyone who wants to. And if those people are working at Roland, they are being shut down.

Maybe I'm getting to old for these kind of toys.