The more cool grooveboxes come out, the more I think there may never be a perfect all-in-one for me.
I guess I just wish some kind of FM Electribe existed that has 16 velocity sensitive pads, a butt-ton of polyphony, arps, a solid sequencer and scales. I’ve pretty much got that with the Syntakt and Opsix together, but imagine that as one instrument…
Like a beefier Digitone with RYTM style pads?
Or shoot, yeah. Elektron is it possible to just squeeze in a polyphonic machine and arp into the Syntakt?
The SH-4D is pretty neat though.
If I was just starting out this would be something I would get for sure.
I liked all the sounds I could get out of the MC-707, but in my case using it unfortunately felt unintuitive and got in the way of getting that zen flow making music.
I hope having all those knobs helps make that connection easier for anyone interested in getting this new machine.
Thanks for the video on the 4D, very useful. I noticed you created drum sounds on the 4D in the video, how would say it compares to the drum capabilities of the Syntakt? Would you pick one over the other based on the quality and tweak-ability of the drum sounds?
Just catching up with your posts and I feel that.
I love my set up, but that’s kind of how it is: set up! It’s just enough of a pain to unplug stuff to bring the ST to a thing, or figure out what I’m doing between the two synths at times when I sit down to practice or write. If it was just in one easy portable thing…
This product announcement actually has peaked my interest in the MC-707. While I can appreciate the knob per function and the more simplistic, to-the-point, jamming vibe from the SH-4D, the sequencer doesn’t seem to have any interesting properties.
Not sure why the MC-707 wasn’t on my radar before but it does appear the sequencer is pretty flexible. I’m always on the hunt for “groove boxes” that can do things like polyrhythms, polytempo, etc.
Roland’s new gear is great for people that are getting into make electronic music, but if you have been doing it for a few years they don’t offer enough in terms of sound design and control(and yes I know it has a ton of buttons… so many I can’t control them all at once).
FX’s — who cares… just give me a good synth engine and better USB audio/VST implemention… it’s a waste of CPU/FPGA space… if you sample into a daw then you have more FX power then you could ever want… and if they had proper USB audio/VST software, or actual audio outs(at least 5) you could multitrack and put FX on again in your DAW. This lead too…
USB Audio/Sofware/CC — The stupid USB audio crap roland does now(thank you so much for making a box that can multitrack but only by itself and not with anything else playing along with it… so just for sampling??? not for using as a live device… fucking stupid… but all the real time controls… lol)…
No software for ease of design, and creating automation. Also looking at the CC list it looks very much like the TR series where you can not actually control all sound design parameters through CC(??? it’s a digital interface so this is just laziness and saving $$)
Syntakt comparisons are silly… they are not the same aside from calling them grooveboxes(I mean you could say the OBX-8 is a groovebox)… Elektron gear has been(thankfully even with personal changes) made for professionals with professionals in mind… are they the only company no… I mean for a comparison, what about the blast beats? more sound design, more outs, about the same price… digitone(again FM) but you can do plenty of drums on a single track and then you have 3 for sounds…more about the same price point… and there are TON’s of stuff released in the last 20 years that try to do the same thing(many of them made by roland themselves)…
Things that are nice about the Sh-4d — nice price point, nice idea to give everyone all those knobs(trendy isn’t it???), like selection of roland history if you don’t have them or are not sick of hearing them.
I really wonder when roland is going to stop cashing in and make interesting stuff again… it would be nice when there are plenty of synth designers out there doing interesting things/ pushing the tech and music forward… not just their bank account…
These are my major requirements for the ST! I hope Elektron is listening.
IMO the initial Sh-4d firmware has a sort of “baby” status at the moment. Let’s wait how it develops and growth within the next 12 month. Maybe then it will generate some GAS - particularly if ST doesn’t get polyphony.
An internal ST arp would be more than nice but at least there is the workaround of a keyboard (e.g. Keystep 37) arp sequencing the ST.
Nevertheless to all future SH-4d owners: Have fun and make noise!
professional has nothing to do music output or what you do with product… all I mean is in terms of offering the end user the most in access to the system… Elektron is good at it… there are some that are open source… even better…
This was a look at the product purely as a electronic device, not what sound you get out of it(aside from maybe the FX rant)…
I do love my Elektron stuff… not gonna lie… been with them since the sidstation days… that said there are other doing it too(Twisted electrons, Fred’s lab, audio things, Meeblip, sonic potions, to name a few).
I get you point though… I am no professional… just another ass with a opinion:)
Also I get that you like the roland sound… nothing wrong with that but as someone that has been doing it for a few years as you said… don’;t you have all that this synth is offer already? That was my point about new to making music… Roland just releases the same thing in different boxes/combos… again that’s cool and price point is nice but is it something new?
This would not fit Elektron product line to put arp and poly on syntakt when it is available on a different digi box that you could buy for sweet sweet money.
Elektron seems pretty clever about making sure not a single of their product cannibilize another.
Ah, this makes sense! I forget some people really value portability and self-contained-ness. In that context, a mediocre sequencer could be an a footer dealbreaker. Hopefully my earlier comment didn’t come across as condescending.
Not at all! I saw it as an opportunity to provide a different perspective. To me, portability (or rather, designing my environment to maximize the moments throughout the day when I can make music) is key and a single box makes all the difference.
Thanks, I checked the manual which answers many questions.
I’m looking forward to someone doing a side by side video of sh-4d and mc101 which frequently seems to be used as a sound module rather than a groovebox.
That proteus library looks great. Forgive my lack of understanding but do they give you a load of wavs to put in a sampler or is it more like a soft synth? I don’t know kontakt.
They’re absolutely comparable as multitimbral synthesizers with competent sequencers and effects built in - aka “grooveboxes”. People buy these because they want to make music with hardware without committing to a full-blown studio of gear.
This comes across as a bit elitist. I’d assume that Roland is used by professionals as much as Elektron is. What do I know though, I’m no professional.
Arguably this is the most interesting release from Roland in years!
You could make the same argument about the Syntakt though? It’s just a bit of Model:Cycles coupled with a bit of Analog Rytm packaged in a Digitakt form factor.
To me, portability (or rather, designing my environment to maximize the moments throughout the day when I can make music) is key and a single box makes all the difference.