Still have my SH201 from 2007. It was my first synth. No fix or repair. Good synth and very underestimate because of the digital engine... Love it so much
I just got a SH-201 a couple of weeks ago, and I think your video was one of two I watched before I made the decision. Thanks for this demo! Looks like the headphone out is faulty on mine, it really easily starts to distort at certain frequencies, but otherwise it is fully working and in almost mint condition. My first impression it that this is a great synth with a certain digital flavour in the sound. And there seem to be a lot of features hidden under key combinations like adjusting the effects and similar, so I need to take a look at the manual. But otherwise it is really nice have most of the buttons and knobs at your fingertips for instant tweaking!
I'm back again to learn more on what this synth can do. I've had mine for a few months now. It's the synth for my second smaller studio away from the big studio at home. I use it to do most of the stuff that I do on the Korg Prologue and the Moog Sub37. It can't do everything but it does sound decent and I can get my ideas out with it so I'm happy. It most definitely works in these times
SH-201 was my first hardware synth, I sold it immediately after bought JP-8000, But my JP-8000 got broken and I am regret to sold that, because it is best JP-8000 alternative, it is almost pure JP-8000 clone, and SH-201 has louder outputs than JP-8000. But JP-8000 has better filters, I don't know my SH-201 had dirty and cold filters as far as I remember, it was long ago, I think I will get another one =) Thanks for this nice video, I felt regret again lol for supersaw lovers, SH-201 is really cheap and good choice. imho.
Oh yes , the JP8000 is a great synth too, and the 201 is the “perfect clone” sorry to hear that you sold it.. but you can get them Quite cheap nowadays 😃😃😃
Whoa !!! As a bass player of 42 years who only within the past few months started down the rabbit hole with synths and midi, this thing is sick !! I'll be keeping my eyes open to grab one of these for sure.
Thank you very much Glenn... 🙂 I love these "nostalgic synths" you present so I hope you continue with this! The SH-201 can almost smell it (hehehe) Thanks again for a lovely trip back in time, by the way I couldn't remember the enormously warm sound in this little synth 🤘
This is a perfect gear. I agree with you Glenn. This is not a bad gear at all . Thanks for sharing. I am in love with mine(SH-201) from 2010...and I am sure that I could not not sell it. I bought it for only 200euro back then at excellent codition. Here in Greece now it costs as you said about 300 euro or $ ...at excellent condition. Ty again.Sub of course.❤
@@tristantheuerkorn5124 The sh 201 has powerful sound. The microkorg ...no so powerful. I bought a new microkorg back in 2009. One year later I bought a second hand SH 201. Working with both of these...I decided that Korg microkorg has no place to be on my home studio anymore. Awful little keys with continuous problems(no response ) after a while...and weak sound. My second hand sh201 has no any problem since now. And...big keys, powerful sound...there is no comparison. Here....Roland rules.
I think the strongest testament and use-case to this synth as still being a viable, standout, unique pro tool is the supersaw lead sound it was used for in Calvin Harris' "No Alone." I remember when I first heard it playing on TV back in the day, it striking me how fresh ❄️🏂 and modern/futuristic it sounded, and when I heard him live at a music festival in Auckland, New Zealand, it was incredibly uncanny and like nothing else. Despite SH201's most commonly mentioned setback being filter anti-aliasing (high transient frequencies being cut - losing the 'air' and aggressiveness/epicness of the JP80x0), I believe it's actually a strength for the upper-mid range in some cases where immense lushness in tonality is found. This is so unique and pronounced with this synth that it alone is a reason to have it in one's arsenal if they're making music that calls for such sounds. Similar to the unmistakable qualities in Alpha Juno 1 & 2's "hoover" sound, except in the SH201's case more upper-mid dense, colder, richer and also more aggressive in that range as well. Applied in a more "airy" way and you have supreme lush colouring and crispness (again, in the upper-mids).
I play guitar mostly and have been wanting to add a synth to my stage setup. I found a micro korg for 175. Had i known about these I probably would have grabbed one but i do like the compact size of the micro.
Welcome back Glenn, missed you and your beautiful smile and of course love the Roland SH -201 had not heard of this model before, thanks for your mastery and effort to bring this to us, cheers from New Zealand.
Thank you for your review. I think that the SH201 has good sounding VA osc, what I don't like is the sound of the digital filter and its resonance, it reminds to me the Roland SH32 (I tried it and the filter sounded horrible). Anyway thank you again for your demo! cheers
Nice! I have the sh-101 with the charger and original bag.. mine is blue (came as red as well) still works wireless (power) with the batteries. But it’s 100% analog and the internal clock (tempo) speeds up if the room is warmer or slows down if the room is colder .. so I use an Akai max-49 cv/gate controller to sync notes to the daws. ❤️ Roland analog synthesizers.. or everything native /retro 🥰
I was already dying to have one bc of its leads and pads, deep reverb and ease to use but you definitely had me on the split thing. I'll go after one rightaway lol Great demo. Showed all the good and different things, not only the sounds themselves
Hi, with the comeback of analog synths the sounds of this Synth are right on! I am a drummer and not a synth player but as a band owner I remember buying a Roland Juno 106 back in the 80's when it came out. Regret selling it ever since and learned my lesson NOT TO SELL any Roland synths ever again. They sound majestic and in a way always steps ahead of the rest! Great video👍🏻👍🏻
A very, very underated synth. I have the Roland Gaia SH01 and love it! The synths that are thought of as the underdogs sometimes end up being the most loved ! Point in question - my Korg MS2000r.
I really don't understand why people don't like the SH201 and give it a hard time. There is no such thing as 'bad gear', it's how you use it. Remember OMD used really cheap synths but sounded great.
The SH-201 sounds very good, but having a Roland Fantom with the Zen engine, there's no need for another virtual analog synth. You also can get the Zen engine in the cheap MC-101.
Wish they gave an option to disable anti-aliasing on these. And quicker envelopes. Could have sounded much closer or perhaps even better than JP80x0!! I can't remember if the JP80x0 was multitimbral though. Also don't forget the SH201 has chorus (or at least a pseudo reverb chorus) available with combo button presses!
Nice, very nice synth. Power leads, acid-like basses and string pads are sounds also cool. Thanks for the demonstration and especially for the JM Jarre shorts =) But. What a strange digital noise mixed with a patch sound? It sounds like the working decimator or digital saturator, sync-oscillator or something. This effect sometimes I hear when use the famous free Synth1 VSTi. But it`s an Fx that add to regular sound this digital noises. Without one activated the sound is clean. Here, in SH-201 this noise sounds disturbing. For instance if you listen carefully programs from 3:26 to 7:15. I think it`s very noticible in string/soft pad sounds. I'm sure this noise shouldn't be in the sound. Is any external effects was connected into this SH-201?
Thats a Good idea 😃😃 All the sounds I played was sounds from the Roland libary. There are some extra sound banks available on Roland pages .. or at least used to be..:) 😃😃😃😃
@@GlennMainMusic Awesome! I did download a lot of presets online and we are getting ready to build sh-201 and sh-01 editors with jp-8000 / jp-8080 import =)
I think they both have their own feel .. so I love them Both. But if I had to choose, I think I would go for the Gaia because it has 3 synths in one .. as of the 201 has 2 (upper /lower) But lucky for me I will keep them Both 🤣😃
I don’t remember … but as soon as I have my new studio set up I will check it… and please remind me if you don’t get the answer when you see my “new Studio” video soon 😃😃😃
Are you bothered about the aliasing? Any difference in the timbre/warmth to Gaia SH-101? Yes, I love mine too 😊. Too bad it's unsupported after win 8 (I made a RU-vid video on updating the drivers). Also miss the copy between lower/upper. Even though possible in the editor.
Its worth as long as it inspires you. Could you please tell the music's name you played at around 18:53. In the late 70s it was played up and down in my country's radio but I suffer a bit having forgotten the name. 😭
Hey Guys. I love my SH-201. Now i have a new PC with Win 11... i tried to install the Win8 Driver on it but it don´t work. Has anybody maby a solution for this?
Oh yes. The Gaia is very much the same, just a “smaller” form factor.. and the Gaia has 3 layers of sounds that makes the Gaia fantastic 😃😃😃 There is a “Gaia” video coming up soon 😃😃
@@GlennMainMusic That explains it then because they look really similar and came out around the same time in 2010. The Gaia is much more expensive second hand, I liked what I heard of the SH 201, I think it would be a good cheap option as a first synth since you have all the panels in a logical and simple to understand way, you also get full size keys which is a plus over the MicroKorg.
You can👍 do it bro! Or any synthesizers. But it is a positive feature and best if that synth you connect to has envelope filter, and can modulate the filter for you or even connect the filter to the modulation wheel. That way you can use the wheel on the key tar to modulate the synth’s filter. Just a tip! 😉👍
No, but I can hear on the recording that I probably had some audio card issues using my Adat input… so thanx for noticing, then I know about the issue 😃😃😃
Both 😂😂 No.. it all depends on your preferences. The SH201 is a very lightweight synth , still very powerful.. the Gaia has fewer keys.. so it’s all a preference thing :) Peraonally I would go for the Gaia if I was forced to make a choice… but the price tag on the SH 201 is maybe a bit lower than the Gaia… 😃😃😃
🤔 the only drawback it has is its "sub-sampling" rate that cause aliasing for higher notes🤨 ... Nyquist's theorem 😑 for the rest i fully agree 😍- lovely : pumping effect ⛽ could be done with a lfo _/‾\_/‾\_/‾\ (synch to tempo) using + filter and - volume, while controlling pluck 🎸 could be done with a snd lfo. |\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\ (sync to x 2 tempo) using - -filter and ++ volume deadmau5 like sounds ... i have a video on my channel for "knobs replacements" ... but also using a close (but not exact) sound used in it
I wish they gave an option to disable anti-aliasing on these. And quicker envelopes. Could have sounded much closer or perhaps even better than JP80x0!! I can't remember if the JP80x0 was multitimbral though.
@@kekethetoad aliasing is mainly due to the sampling frequency used for higher notes i suspect the CPU power (NEC ?) is ("was" in 2005) not enough for effects + polyphony ... {reducing polyphony would help increasing it ... but there is no way to do it ... unfortunately}
@@GlennMainMusic yeah, true. Now it's a dust collector. I don't like the plastic cheap quality of this synth, also filter is not the best...Also this synth has some issues with the buttons. They starts to work bad and requires replacement. Sometimes you need to press these buttons several times to change the program etc.
@GlennMainMusic Yup I agree:) I was just reading through the comments and seeing mostly people saying that this is an amazing synth just because they own it. and praise this mp3 sounding synth just got to me I guess :( I like more warm Thick sounding Synthesizers like the OB 8 Or Moog Voyager Juno106 or the more affordable Micro Korg😄 These days plugins do a far better job then this Roland plastic thing tries to do (if you ask me) But I do like your reply and videos. Thanks
