Roland Gaia SH-01 Synthesizer 

Comments about Roland Gaia SH-01 Synthesizer:

I've owned quite a few VA's and I when this came out I was so excited to get one. I got it and was not impressed, at all w/ the sound. Quite honestly, it's cheesy, plastic and just terrible. It's a real shame too because the interface of this instrument is absolutely AMAZING! It basically has 1 for 1 controls for every parameter. It's a great synth for a beginner to learn subtractive synthesis on but as much as I loved the interface I couldn't get past the horrible sampled synth engine!!! C'mon Roland, really?

Comments about Roland Gaia SH-01 Synthesizer:

I have this synth after 1 month of its release and I'm in love since then by its features! Because I am not a very good sound designer I downloaded also the Alba Ecstasy patches for Roland Gaia and I have to say that I didn't knew that SH-01 can sound that good!!!
It sounds very clean and clear, with great leads or deep pads.

As cons, I am wondering why doesn't have aftertouch at this price. Also, Roland should solve the problem the memory stick: I need a stick for every new set of 64 patches that I am making or buying and let's be clear: I will not spend so much money for Roland's software...

Finally, if you afford it, you should buy the Roland Gaia SH-01!

Comments about Roland Gaia SH-01 Synthesizer:

Great instrument. I went from using a cheap akai usb controller and softsynths to this beauty and there is no remorse in my purchase. The only drag about this is that Roland didn't include the editor software. It's a separate purchase.

Comments about Roland Gaia SH-01 Synthesizer:

The right choice for my first synth. The user interface is the best in the business by far. Roland always was good in this department. This is why many pros also like this synth: Lady Gaga, Dream Theatre, Gary Neuman to name a few. No menu-diving or complex parameter matrixes. You may never hear the same sound twice! The beauty of sound design.
BUYERS READ: Roland dropped the ball with marketing this synth. Don't get fooled by the presets, this does not show what Gaia does See on youtube: 'Luftrum Gaia Patches' and 'Gaia Patches by Alba Ecstacy' they are pro sound designers.
Sound is better than expected, don't go by videos, hear for yourself. It does not sound like a Virus or Nord. The sound is as good or better than the Korg R3 or MicroKorg and the UI is not even dabatable. Korgs are not for beginners
Overall the Gaia to me is the best combination of sound, interface, and features in this price range and covers all the classic synth sounds like those of: Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, and all decades inbetween.
Could have been multi-timbrle, but thats why we multi-track. Not happy about having to pay for a Software Editor when the SH-201s was free. Arpeggio (Roland Gaia Too) editor FREE online as the "Gaia Tool," also lets you name presets and other features NOT in the Roland Editor.
Just bought it, but other Rolands seem to have held up fine. No better or worse than Korgs and others in this price range. Have not heard complaints.
Considering all it does, its a great value, but again the lack of software editor takes points away.

Comments about Roland Gaia SH-01 Synthesizer:

After spending several years relying on software synths for keyboard sounds in my songs, I finally decided I wanted a hands-on, dedicated hardware synth instead. I'm a big fan of that '80s synth-pop sound, so I knew I wanted either a vintage analog synth or a good analog modeling synth. After some careful research, I decided that an analog synth would require too much maintenance and repair, and since MIDI support is a must, few of the old machines have a very solid MIDI implementation. It turns out the Gaia was the perfect choice for me. It gives me that hands-on control I desired, with all its lighted buttons, sliders and knobs, it has a warm, realistic analog sound, and it's incredibly easy to program. I didn't find many of the presets to be very inspiring, and unfortunately, none of them show off the sound quality of the unit. The Gaia is for people who are into making their own patches, not relying on presets. I feel it's a better machine than others in its class (such as the MicroKorg XL, Alesis Micron and Korg R3) because of the excellent interface. I'm excited to use this new keyboard in my recordings and eventually on stage. I'd like to have seen the synth priced more comparably to its competitors, but whatever price you find it for, it's well worth it overall. Lastly, this keyboard looks really sweet! It has that stylish '80s analog look to it, and the build feels very solid and reliable. Great keyboard!

Comments about Roland Gaia SH-01 Synthesizer:

Let me start by saying I been a fan of roland for years. I bought the Gaia after much debate over whether to get Gaia or A Korg R3...I decided on the Korg, but when I finally played the Gaia I liked the sounds and controls so much I bought it too. I've had it a couple of months and I love it. However, I do have a few complaints. First of all while the basic controls are all right up front, to edit any more advanced settings you will definitely need to read the manual (every time).If your not familiar with Roland's particular system this might seem like a strange complaint. All the buttons have alternate settings when you hold down shift (then hold down the V-link then...) and none of them are printed on the board. It sometimes seems to me that whoever designs their controls intends to make them as complicated as possible. If anyone is curious what the difference between Roland and Korg is, Roland has better sounds, Korgs are easier to program. I have a Korg Electribe MX that I use as my sequencer and was surprised when I plugged it in to find that Gaia has GM drums! This might be a cool feature if I could figure how to change the kit or channel there on, and I can't mute them without muting my sequencers drums, no matter what midi channel Gaia's set to, and the manual's midi section doesn't mention anything about it or even have a list of default instruments assigned to midi tracks. I just needed a lead synth sound. If you need a synth that you can walk up and play and has punchy classic sounds like depeche mode or many of the classic synth-pop bands this is a great board. If you are using this as a live midi module however, know that it might difficult (at least if you have several Tracks going at once).

Comments about Roland Gaia SH-01 Synthesizer:

I?ve owned the Roland Gaia for about two months now. I learned to program synth on a Korg MS2000 first and later on the micro-korg using the midi based sound editor, which I find quite straight forward. I?m throwing this in there because most of this review is going to be a direct comparison of the Gaia to the MS2000/microkorg.The first thing I did when I got the Gaia was to try and recreate all my favorite patches from the microkorg/MS2000 on the Gaia. So, here the Gaia has one really big problem: when you use the sync mode it puts the filter into bypass mode!! This really bugged me, I have this cheesy patch on my microkorg that I just can?t duplicate without the oscillator sync. So practically speaking the Gaia doesn?t ?really? have the sync feature because you can?t shape the sound you get from the oscillator. It?s kind of like advertising a new car that has a great stereo, only when you take it off the lot you realize that the stereo only works when the car is in neutral; not very useful! The ring modulator doesn?t have this problem and works as expected.The next difference (advantage or disadvantage depending on taste) are the options you have with routing the envelopes and LFOs. I happen to respect how the Gaia was designed with simplicity in mind, however there are a quite a few patches on the MS2000 that you won?t be able to get on the Gaia because you can?t route the envelops (e.g. the ?GoldenSynth? patch on the MS2000). I do like a few things about the Gaia and it would be unfair not to mention them. First off, I love the 80s look of the Gaia, which goes along with the great layout (easy to use sliders and knobs, OSC->Filter->FX). I like the feel of the Gaia, both the microkorg and the MS2000 have these really spongy keys that just don?t satisfy, the Gaia has some snap which I appreciate. Like the microkorg, the battery use feature is great; a real life saver if you?re touring. Also, I haven?t really experimented yet with the capabilities of having three oscillators with three independent filters and envelopes. The microkorg has two oscillators that route into the same filter and envelope. So, it?s fair to assume that there are some patches on the Gaia that are going to be impossible to make on the microkorg. Overall, I would be satisfied with the Gaia if it didn?t have the problem with the oscillator sync; that kills it for me. If you own ?Welsh?s synthesizer cookbook?, check out how many of the patches use the oscillator sync?.lots. I feel cheated in general by my purchase of the Gaia; its borderline false advertizing in regards to the sync function. If you?re deciding between the Gaia and a Korg, get the Korg, it is much more versatile and a better value. Finally, I don?t buy the sales guys rebuttal that at this price point you can?t expect the chips to handle too many features. A few months back I bought a laptop computer for less than I paid for the Gaia! At this price point they could use Intel chips and my Gaia could run Windows 7!