Is it just me, or is the sound on this video considerably better than other SH-4d reviews, including Roland's own ones? This really sounds lovely, detailed and bass heavy. Bravo!!
I guess we have different preamps, DAWs, plugins, monitors etc as well as making our own sounds to our own taste. Perhaps those change the vibe of the same instrument in different environments?
Just like most Roland gear, I thought this sounded super digital and lifeless, despite the lovely features, until this demo... And now I'm wondering what I should sell :)
All the little demos you make sounds amazing. You are the only one who can create so many "music gems" like its nothing. Most musicians only make 1 or 2 good pieces in their live. But you, it is a strike 95% of the time.
That's because He has done this for a very long time and only pulish what actually sounds good. He probably has alot of bad sounding stuff that you will never hear.
Really love the 2002 "look at this weird synth I bought at a pawn shop while on vacationn" energy you bring to these synth demos. I get all the vibe I need in 15 minutes or it's free.
im very skeptical of any new roland releases but at 2:49 you really got my attention. this seems like a cool groovebox tbh. finally a roland device that isn't purposely gimped
As much as it seems popular to bag the new Roland gear, I must say I think they're nailing some of these. This little guy sounds wonderful! I love my System 8 and that is coming from someone intimately familiar with their vintage gear.
Legend has it a lost SH32 and a JD-Xi tried to escape a dark forgotten stock room of the Roland factory before becoming the subject of a BadGear episode , but security chased them into one of Dr Seth Brundle’s Telepods where a they stored Zip Disks of Zencore code and somehow activated it ….the rest as they say is history. 😂
I also thought the JD-Xi team must have had a hand in this. It's like a JD-Xi with all the hidden internals broken out and then a bit more. Pretty cool.
the problem is that I can't gauge how good the device is because the operator is too good. I swear man you could make the shittiest synths in history produce bangers. *sudden realization*
Another Roland classic. Awesome sounds controlled via a 1x2 pixel display and 2 knobs so close to it you cant actually see it while adjusting them. Old skool Roland letterbox. Maybe roland engineers have got tiny hands and huge eyes (and golden ears)
RU-vid offered me around 39 videos to watch about the sh4d. I don’t watch them, i just need two videos: one to learn about the machine without consulting the manual and one video to hear what talented people can do with it. Guess which one this is 😊 Good job as always
Here's an idea Alex: How about a video on the various kinds of synthesis (additive, subtractive, wavetable, FM, etc.) and what the difference is between them. Unless you've already done a video on that.
This is what I love about videos by mr. Ball - Not too much deep dive into specs, but rather showing what can be done with a piece of kit. In regards to the Roland SH-4D I have to say that as I watched this video I started guessing at a price. From my impressions of modern day Roland I figured that since this is a more "normal sized" machine, all the different engines built into and so forth it had to be priced at somewhere north of €1000. I was all primed and ready to go on a rant about how Roland should learn from mr. Amstrad, Alan Sugar, and offer a feature packed machine for a good price. Imagine my surprise when I googled this little beauty and found Gearnews mentioning that Thomann would ask €599 for the SH-4D! That is a great price for all the included stuff here: I think that this might be a top-seller for Roland. I for sure am considering a purchase!
Cheers. Yes, I think the RU-vid crowd have different complimentary approaches and mine has become the quickfire, 10 minute summary. Price - yep, fairly priced for what it does. I think it will do well.
Price didn't surprise me, I was briefly considering snagging one to have a more hands on sound design machine to compliment my MC-707 and compared to the normal Zen Core experience the engine is intentionally cut way down in what it can do but that's also what allows it to be so hands on. I'm still kind of considering one just for a more hands on synth though it would inherently sonically have a huge amount of overlap with what a MC-707 can do just on it's own with the right patch programming.
@@justjoeblow420 yeah, the only Roland thing I currently own is a VP-550, so I think I'd be good on that front. I have a few drum machines or mainly drum machines, but not an actual "heart of performance" type of kit if you know what I mean...
A lot of these music examples are super reminding of the synth songs I wrote in the early to mid aughts. I might go revisit some of those! Cheers Alex's Balls!
Jesus…between the number of synth engines, the feature set, and the price tag ($650 at the time of this comment) this may very well be the first new Roland instrument to give me some *serious* GAS 😳
I came here to comment basically the same thing: First piece of gear in a loooong time which I might want to get - just to play around with it. I _guess_ it's because it's more a groovebox than just a synth?
@@henninghoefer It’s a perfect balance between both, enough parameters for dedicated sound design and enough sequencing capabilities to be groovebox-capable 👌
I really understand why Roland wants you to showcase this. Great stuff! Although-I think they did something a bit weird with this, putting it into the SH series. No matter how lovely that Data 70 typeface is. : ) This one would fit much better in a separate product line. Nevertheless it'a amazing what quality and flexibility we can get today in one single box. Considering what we needed to do the same in the 80s.
I consider this an evolution of the SH-32 and JD-Xi product philosophies. Yeah, they're inconsistent with the SH and JD prefixes especially... and oddly enough, also with the Jupiter and Juno names. Yet, they're pretty consistent with MC, and somewhat consistent with TR. WTH?
I have the Roland JD-Xi (which also does drums and has lots of options for different sounds over four channels), and absolutely love it! I’m so excited for my new SH-4D! Can’t wait to take it out to some beautiful places and make some music. It’s damn close to perfect in my eyes. 😊
This is definitely on my radar. I wish it had a few slight changes though. 1. Instead of the Pitch buttons I wish it had a small joystick so it could also enable a mod wheel instead of having to use D-motion (demoted to motion, more like) 2. The ability to import your own wavetables 3. An additional USB port that enabled the use of an external D-motion sensor so the unit could be on a desk and not moved to enable D-motion use. The other quirks, such as how you have to save etc. are something to get used to if not fixed in firmware.
I'm really hoping you get your grubby hands on the Groove Synthesis Third Wave and Melbourne Instruments Nina. In the meantime, this is another great video of a synth I had no desire to purchase but now it's tempting. Darn you, you evil temptress! And once again, I am checking your channel every few days starving for another Alex Ball offering of funky tunes and humorous and informative commentary! This ticks all the boxes of course, as usual.
Funny that you should mention the Third Wave as a video has been setup, we're just waiting on an available unit. Really looking forward to that one. I heard of the Nina I think. Is that with the knobs that move by themselves? Thanks for the support by-the-way, much appreciated! (Sorry for the G.A.S)
as a groovebox I do like that it's bigger than the MC101 with lots of knobs but not quite as gargantuan as the MC707. I'll probably stick with the MC101 for now but it's neat to know there's an option like this.
You really nailed it with the funky demos! How do you like the sequencer for jamming? Is it one pattern to switch or a individual pattern per part? Thnx! Oh, and microtiming is not possible, right??
I purchased one last night. There are so many awesome things about this one (specifically the portability and accessible layout) but it is tragic that it lacks individual channel outputs. I know its early days on this release, but if they ever revise this model...I really hope they add more outputs! amazing demo as usual!
Coming back to this video for the second time, because I really like this thing. One thing that is missing from this video though is: what you did not like? Thanks
Before watching this video: "I don't need any new gear." Me 3/4 of the way through this video: "I see the Guitar Center by my office has them in stock..."
Do I detect Some Jexus vibes/nods in the video aesthetics, processing and B-movie clips? One preset was called 'Syncgarb' You two are my favourite synth-operators. Because you both bring out the best of the synths, and their character. SH-1000 was the star here. This and a TR-6S together would probably friendlier to a beginner than say, Syntakt+Model:samples. I guess those limitations are the same thing that make it more approachable. But, I'd choose a Digitakt+Arturia Minifreak or microfreak+model:cycles, or Digitone + Model:samples over this. The lack of song mode (for now?) and user samples, plus the restricted programmability make this bit of a creative cul de sac.
It reminded me of Jexus also. That's not a bad thing. I don't think this is meant to be a groovebox. The Roland site markets it only as a desktop synth and an evolution of the Boutique stuff.
Looks interesting! I like the form factor and mobility. The design seems reasonably intuituitive as well. Any idea if this thing can also be used as a MIDI controller for soft synths (without too much trickery)? That would be fantastic.
