New Synth: Roland Sh-4d

The Lounge Other Gear
#789

Thanks that is good to know.

Roland do seem to overcomplicate things for themselves with inconsistencies between products.

How does it sound pattern changing by itself though?

#790

It sounds perfect on itā€™s own

1 Like
#791

My MC-101 behaves the same way when receiving PC messages from my Syntakt. Not sure if itā€™s an Elektron or a Roland problem either, but itā€™s stupid. The workaround is to p-lock PC messages into the patterns themselves on the Syntakt, but that limits your creative freedom considerably.

#792

my brain limits my creative freedom considerably.

2 Likes
#793

Thanks for the streams , just watched them , good stuff :+1:

1 Like
#794

Thanks for the feedback, Iā€™d not done one before so was a bit of a learning curve :slight_smile:

1 Like
#795

Hope this wasnā€™t posted yet.

2 Likes
#796

Just spent the last two hours pumping some super generic trance with the superwaves oscillators, not even ashamed :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Now that I have spent about 10 hours or so with the Sh-4d, I can confidently say that I think it is great. There are definitely some improvements that could be made, the workflow is not on the same level as Elektron, though itā€™s not terrible either. The actual sound and effects are beyond amazing, itā€™s refreshing not having to work so hard just to get good sounds. The portability aspect canā€™t be understated either, great not having to worry about a power adapter.

I do hope they add a lot more PCM sounds, I want all those cheesey sounds that you hear all over 90ā€™s video games. The current PCM sounds are limited to pretty generic synth sounds which you already can achieve with the other machines.

7 Likes
#797

After seeing more demos on this it is more appealing. I think it sounds great, but Iā€™m still hesitant to deal with Roland stuff anymore after my breakup with the 707 (aside from the little J-6 and T-8). I was infatuated at first, but found it frustrating the further I wanted to push it.
The SH-4D does at least have so much more control up front.

1 Like
#798

Haha Iā€™m tempted to get one of these just to make cheesy trance.

1 Like
#799

Really want to hear someone make some Dub Techno with the Sh-4d, with those big lush chords and pads.

4 Likes
#800

This thing looks like it has some potential for me. Has anyone come across any demos that really show itā€™s jammability in a live setting? Hopefully drum mutes arenā€™t as awkward as they were on the 101.

#801

Iā€™ve got a preorder, but after watching some more demos of how the sequencer works, Iā€™m thinking the sequencing aspects of it are a lot less interesting to me. I donā€™t do very well with menus and page 1, 2, 3, etcā€¦ for creating music. It looks a lot more immediate in most aspects, but much less so in the way sounds are entered and then further modified.

Iā€™m trying to suss out if I should think of it as a simple drum machine with a 4-part multitimbral synth in it thatā€™s best sequenced externally and be ok with that or just cancel the order. I think the sounds themselves will be useful and relevant, even in contexts that arenā€™t musically vanilla, so to speak. I hear a lot of opportunity for weirdness with the 2 lfos and the very deep selection of effects.

Iā€™ve ordered from Thomann, so I suppose I could take advantage of their 30-day return policy if Iā€™m not into it. Iā€™ve yet to use that part of their services before, so perhaps this is a good time to give it a shot.

Sorry for the out-loud thinking, but I imagine a few other folks might be of the same two minds about the synth. Iā€™d be interested to hear your thinking, if so.

2 Likes
#802

Itā€™s definitely worth it just for the cheesy trance, haha. Here is a demo - I have used 2 supersaws slightly detuned, you could stack another two on as well if you wanted (I probably should have) :smile:

4 Likes
#803

Curious what you think: will this thing destroy Korgā€˜s Minilogue (XD) and motivate them to come up with something comparable? I see this more of a competition to the affordable analog synths that Korg produces rather than the Elektrons, which still have their sequencer, song mode, MIDI sequencing etc. going for them.

#804

For anyone that doesnā€™t want to watch the whole live stream from last night, hereā€™s a list of the main cons Iā€™ve found on the SH-4dā€¦

  1. USB ground noise if connected to a computer.
  2. No class compliant USB (must use Roland drivers, means you canā€™t use with an iPad).
  3. No LFO (or mod matrix) on drum parts = no movement
  4. No motion recording on drum parts = no movement
  5. No motion recording of FX sends or CTRL 1/2 on both tone or rhythm parts
  6. Saving patterns really does suck. Sounds are not saved with the pattern, you need to save/rename each of the 4 tone parts and the rhythm kit before saving a pattern. They really need to add an option to save everything with the pattern, so saving individual presets (for later use) is just an option.
  7. You cannot adjust pitch range on the pitch bend Edit: Ignore this one, thereā€™s an option in the tone menu to change pitch bend range.
  8. You cannot shift patterns left or right
  9. No metronome or pre-count
  10. The arpeggiator/drum roll isnā€™t quantised to the clock. Unusable IMO
  11. No indication of which drums are playing in mute/mixer mode. They donā€™t flash when triggered so itā€™s difficult to know which drum to mute.
  12. No Live transpose of Tone parts
  13. No brightness setting for screen (only contrast) - itā€™s really bright at the moment.
  14. You can set which pattern to load on start, but no setting to start with last used pattern.
  15. Mix In is just that, it bypasses the FX.

Edit: 16) Program Change Messages are only responded to on the Pattern page, if you move from this page during a performance then itā€™ll miss the pattern change.

Other than this itā€™s perfect LOL

14 Likes
#805

Iā€™m thinking itā€™s even more awkward. Same button+pad/trig to mute, but you also canā€™t see which pads are playing/triggering.

1 Like
#806

Firmware updates will certainly fix many of the shortcomings. One disappointing design choice however is moving away from the ā€œclipā€ architecture of the MC101/707. Having the sequence, tone, samples, motion and insert FX of a given part all consolidated in a single clip makes composing and arranging much easier.

It will be interesting to see if Roland releases more instruments based on the SH4d footprint/format.

#807

If youā€™re on the mixer page you can mute without holding shift

Yes, they need to fix this imo

1 Like
#808

I wouldnā€™t count on it. The arpeggiator has had the same wonky behaviour on the MC-707 for over a year and theyā€™ve not fixed it despite everyone complaining about it, and now they just ported it straight over to the SH-4d.

Metronome/count-in was added later to the MC-series though, as were class compliant drivers, so thereā€™s hope there.

1 Like