Roland SH-201 Synthesizer Review 

😀 Thank You Man... I just bought the Roland SH-201..

Very Good Review ! Roland should give you one more synth as a present !

It's the same in many ways except that it's digitally reproduced analog sounds and effects; they're done tastefully though, so don't worry. It includes an intuitive layout of controls for LFOs and things like that that mirrors the sliders and knobs of the Jup 8. The fact that it can save arppegiators, portamento, split, and layers makes it a lot like the old Roland.

@Laura041974 Electronic gear is a lot tougher than you might think. A friend of mine keeps about 15000 bucks worth of p.a. equipment, solid state amplifiers, mixers, equaliziers and speakers in a droughty shed, and the equipment is fine. When I first saw the shed, my thoughts were the same as yours, but since my buddy is a professionaly trained electronics expert I have to accept his assesment that this kind of storage is even better for the circuitry since there is hardly any dust.

Just bought one, can't wait for it to arrive

That one I tweaked a little if I remember correctly. There are several heavy lead tones like that as well as a lot of weird sounds like bells and things... there are also nice basses and pads. It's possible to make just about any sonic pleasure imaginable with that synth.

Intro tune is almost longer than the review!!

So many people talk shit about the D-Beam. If you use it right, it can be awesome.

I came so close to buying one of these today.

@JockRonayne Got that right... I used it at a hip-hop gig the other night, though, and the crowd went nuts! I think the D-Beam's sole purpose is to blow the minds of over-indulging audiences when used sparingly. Now that dubstep is huge, it makes for some really fun drops, too ;)

Sure, it would just take some tweaking and practice with the arppegiator and cutoff and such. This synth is incredibly capable as long as you know how to use it.

I live in Wyoming... there is no moisture. As for the cold, electricity flows better through cold conductors, though there are many components to electronic devices that don't like the cold. Fortunately, that garage doesn't get very cold, and the synth doesn't live there full-time. Thanks for your concern, though!

I think so. It's an unfortunate limitation. You can still get a lot of cool sounds out of those available controls, just not as many as if it allowed you to use the whole synth. As for using the output of another synth, go for it! It's a great way to control a looping device like a Kaossilator or a KAOSS Pad, through the SH-201.

Sure, it's nice to know that I have 600 preset sounds on my other keyboard... but I NEVER use all of them. I have gone through all the presets a couple times to see if there's anything that I can use and I probably only use 10 sounds in a performance. Obviously, while playing the synth I use the D-Beam and the "drawbars" on my other keyboard to tweak the sounds as I go, but there isn't really a huge need for all those extra sounds.

Thnx Quantum

I want to see a video that shows how deep you can make a bass sound. Or someone making a "reese" sound with it. Seems like it could be the easiest synth to use. I have a v-synth and it took a loooong time to learn. Seems like the loop feature would be quick too. I didn't know about the loop until this vid. Well done nice close ups. Cheers,

found one of these gently used for 150$, should I jump on it?

Thanks, Flashrape, I take you seriously. All kidding aside, I actually do agree with you. I'm not sure why this has had so many views.

@phatmoose94 The Microkorg is a totally different beast. It makes some fantastic sounds, it has a vocoder, and it has 49 crappy, tiny keys. The D-Beam may be completely useless, but it isn't a weakness of the SH-201. Everything on that board is solid.

hey i'd use that D-beam like anything. Reminds me of a theremin. Lots of potential with things like those.

Yes. lt just seems to cheapen everything they stick it on

This review made me buy it.

Nice one

Can this think produce some jean michel jarre sounds?

You didn't even mention the way it sounds!

@dudewhosaysarrh To be fair, synthesizers are a little different from speakers, and I know how wet the UK is. It's not that I recommend leaving musical equipment in a garage, it's that I didn't have much other space to put my setup at that time. Keep your stuff where you think is best!

Yeah, but I think it also depends on the style of music u make. If you wanna go for Synthpop like Depeche Mode or something, you need a load of sounds. But when you're just one instrument in a band, like in my band for example. You need some pads, some leads, and maybe one or two bass sounds. Thats it.

Mine was about $570 which was awesome but you can get them even cheaper if you look hard enough. I got mine on musician's friend.

is it only cutoff and resonance that you can do with external sounds (the two knobs on the red region)? can you play with sounds coming from another synth? thanks :)

Alright so I can learn this premake any kind of lets say arpeggios and configure the filters I want to use when I'm playing live and it will all be there when I write it and hit the preset button??? If thats true then I'm buying

does anyone know where i can download some patches for the sh201? im dying for a hammond organ VST amonsgst other for retro style rock and roll (deep purple and pink floyd mainly :) )great instrument never looked back from buying one, i just havnt explored many of its capabilities yet

@phatmoose94 D-Beam would be a lot better if you could, for example, control the reverb or delay with it.

Thank you.

Thank you

hey...i'm actually hesitating between this and an XW-P1....any suggestions?

How much would one of these cost exactly?

Seriuously check out a band called hadouken! They use this very synth and they are awsome im tryin to save up for one just now, i got £110 so far

Where can we buy this ?

how much do they cost

Why is it pointless to run stereo out? Stereo effect on stage is often desirable.

@gareebee And recording.

This synth IS awesome. Hadouken, not so much.

193 VIEWS?! Garage reviews FTW.

More examples! just play some damn notes!

And next time - adjust the audio output.

i wish it had a screen it really needs that

Replying to this 2 years later lol... D beam is now pretty useful in genres like dubsteb, brostep etc...

lay off the powder mate haha

damn don't trip and watch this video

why does roland keep pushing the d-beam? it's the most useless thing they have on their instruments... if they improved its techology at least