New Synth: Roland Sh-4d

[Jeanne]

@Unifono

There is always workarounds, but they still are workarounds

This was about the sound. Sounds itself are the most important thing for me. 1024 voice polyphony are useless if the sounds are not the sounds I want.

[djst]

Syntakt tangent

Yeah, it’s just that the workaround means I can’t noodle the way I love to do with polyphony, that’s a big part of how I “discover” new song ideas. Even just having the previous note ring out while the next one is playing makes a big difference for these kinds of sounds. But that’s maybe just me. And it’s good that there are ways and workarounds on the Syntakt.

A master chorus send on the Syntakt would be lovely but I guess is unlikely to happen.

[zaezur]

I believe Cuckoo did this in his video on it. He showed a shortcut to saving everything you’re working on while you’re working on it. Can’t recall if it was playing but he was in the creative flow when he did it

[djst]

Shift+Write, Write, Enter.

[StudioES]

Curious about the logic Roland is using when designing their sequencers.

So they left out micro-timing on the SH-4d, but if has First & Last Step?
On the MV-1, Roland left out First & Last Step, but it has micro-timing and a basic Song mode.
And the MC/MV/SH all have substeps and play-direction.

Wouldn’t it be easier to code all the sequencers the same?

[RealTinyPenguin]

I’d wager they mean polyphonic strings which is more annoying to do on the Syntakt. That’s my guess anyway. I do love my Syntakt, but the mono limitation of most Elektron devices is annoying.

[RealTinyPenguin]

They can be good to explore and understand how a sound was crafted. Especially with the Syntakt where it’s not using traditional synth generation workflows.

[RealTinyPenguin]

@zaezur yeah I’m unclear if the sound can be saved while it’s playing though.

[Jeanne]

@RealTinyPenguin

polyphonic strings which is more annoying to do on the Syntakt. That’s my guess anyway. I do love my Syntakt, but the mono limitation of most Elektron devices is annoying.

What for one is a mono limitation, is for others a multitimbral liberation

[RealTinyPenguin]

My guess from those I know in other synth companies is that each team is working on their specific gear. I’d wager that more features will trickle into the device over its lifetime. I would be surprised if they don’t add more models.

[CCMP]

I’ve realised today that the SH-4d is very closely aligned to the 4x Digital Parts found on the Roland JD-XA… I don’t think there’s much that the SH-4d can do that the JD-Xa can’t, but the latter does a lot more.

I would love that SH-4d screen on the JD-Xa though!

[adamc]

@Jukka

The eleven models :

• SH-4d – a 4-oscillator algorithm inspired by Roland SH synthesizers from the past.
• SH-3d – SH-4d algorithm with three oscillators and a second LFO
• chord uses the SH-4d algo in paraphonic
• ring – two oscillators shaped by a ring modulator
• sync – two oscillators + sync
• cross FM – 2-operator FM synthesis
• wavetable – 31 wavetables for modern and futuristic sounds
• drawing allows you draw custom waveshapes
• SH-101 – emulation of the iconic Roland SH-101
• Juno-106 – emulation of the iconic Roland Juno-106
• PCM allows you to mix up to 4 PCM parts choosing from a wide range of sounds

from SynthAnatomy.

Roland ZenFreak

This looks like something with the elements of Zen Core but stripped down to not have everything all at once and instead has something more like the complex oscillator modes of the Freaks or the oscillator algorithms of the Cobalt.

[dhunterrr]

My thoughts too. It is basically a microfreak groovebox. Very tempting!

[ddiamond84]

I like the syntakt more. I’ve had both.

[Lwhdrmnjyr]

fair enough, From all the videos I have seen of the Syntakt I have not been impressed. Sounds pretty basic to me compared to MnM.

[Jeanne]

@Schnork

Drive/Amp
Overdrive
Distortiom
T-Scream
Fuzz
Tone Fattener
HMS Distortion
Saturator
Worm Saturator
Guitar Amp Sim
RD EP Amp Sim
Speaker Sim

Though I’d give this thing a try for sure I wish it was not bigger as a Digi, though. And didn’t look so ugly …

[Paraphonique]

Just thinking… A plug-in based on the SH4d implementation of the Zen-Core engine could work very well alongside Zenology Pro (or as a “model expansion”) on a DAW.

[Humanprogram]

@CCMP

SH-4d can do that the JD-Xa can’t

@StudioES

MV-1, Roland left out First & Last Step, but it has micro-timing and a basic Song mode.
And the MC/MV/SH

@dhunterrr

side by side video with mc101 and sh4d for two use cases: (1) stand-alone groovebox and (2) multitimbral sound module/sound design synth externally sequenced.

At a certain point my head spins at the sprawling multiverse of Roland legacy sounds. There are different versions, market niches, and design philosophies that they’ve used to repackage a half-dozen synths from the 80s/90s as—at least!— the Boutique series and its earlier iterations that (TB-3 etc), Juno X, Jupiter XM, Roland Cloud, Gaia SH-01, the JD-XA, the MC 101 and 707, MV-1, the TR-8s and -6s, ZenBeats … and then there are the different VA synth engines Zenology, Zencore, ACB.

[Edit: forgot the new Aira compact series and Juno DS88, lol, and I bet there are still more…]

After some initial skepticism, though, I think that if I were wanting to go beyond samples and the occasional bit using Analog Lab Intro, the SH-4D would be a good sound module for those Roland Sounds for me. Especially having multitimbrality and patch changes and a mod matrix that’s available to PC and CC messages respectively makes this stand out … though I feel overwhelmed by the prospect of having to confirm that this, and not a literal dozen other similar products, would have the right combination of features for me…

[RealTinyPenguin]

I think picking one and committing is the way to go. Or return gear if it doesn’t work. Decision paralysis is definitely something I understand and can relate to, especially when a lot of options exist.

[isaac_anthony]

I think the “gyro” is a god-awful idea, sooner or later, your cords are going to come out, you know this to be true…