I’m in bit of a similar situation, thinking of MM2 or SH-4d to replace some (or all) of my current DT companions (DN, Neutron, Opsix) to make setup more portable and manageable. I like MM2 demos more, but fear that two parts might not be enough.
I originally intended to use DT with my MC-707 - they seemed like perfect companions, but in practice they steer me into a completely different musical direction and they also overlap a lot, which for some reason kills my creativity.
God I love this thing so much. Our power went out last night for about 4 hours and I just sat with some headphones on battery blooping away for a chunk of it.
is there a place where roland listens to feature requests? The 4d is the most enjoyable “groovebox” i ever used and with a couple improvements it would be perfect.
the post person came early today - first tries!
actual hoover:
a happy noise wall:
I don’t get why Roland don’t make it class compilant too for use it with the iPad.
First pattern, crunchy Rhythmic Industrial 
How does the workflow compare to Elektron devices?
On a scale of 0 to 100 with zero being a DX-7 or Wavestation and 100 being the Digitakt, the SH-4d is about a 65.
It’s painful in some ways, half-baked in others, decent-ish in most. Motion sequencing can be awkward if you want to adjust a parameter after it has been motion sequenced (and also flat out doesn’t work sometimes). Only four lanes of automation per track. Copy/paste is strange (though I do actually like it). Substeps/ retrig mostly works well. Trig conditions are limited to basic probability settings. I don’t think there is micro timing, though I could be wrong on that. Holding a step and selecting a note on the keyboard is much better than selecting notes on an elektron sequencer.
It’s a perfectly serviceable sequencer, but it really served to show me yet again just how well-made the elektron sequencer is.
I’d say on that scale, sh-4d is a 40 
Seem to be a lot of people judging the SH-4D as a groove box, Roland are advertising it as a Desktop Synthesizer more than a sequencer (that stuff is just a bonus as far as I am concerned). I just cant think of any better 5 part multitimbral desktop synths with as much hands on control for £500 so I would score it very highly- linked to my Digitakt its a dream
People moaned about the mc101 and mc707 being to menu divey, Roland release an affordable hands on ‘synth’ and folk are still moaning about that because the sequencer is sub par?! It’s a synthesiser with a basic sequencer to assist sketching out ideas or use as a multitimbral synth, if you bought this as an all in one groovebox, then you’ve made the mistake, not Roland.
As for some of the synthfluencer videos, of course it’s not going to be for you if you have a studio full of 1500+ quid synths.
Personally between this the Digitakt (although i’m still in two minds about this or a SP404) and the Syntakt, I simply don’t need owt else, multiple mono synths/groovebox in the Syntakt, a Sampler in the Digitakt and multiple polyphonic synths in the SH-4d, I just need time away from the kids to actually use any of them.
I think this is the way to think about it. If you need the multi-timbrality, enjoy the hands-on control and already have a great sequencer, this is one of the best options out there. Pairing it with a Digitakt sounds like an ideal setup.
If you don’t need all the hands-on control and can live with a more menu-driven interface, the MC-101 is a great option for a lot less money.
I’m pretty sure I’ll end up buying a SH4D and run it from the DT. The way I see it, this is a 4 part multitimbral synth (plus 5th part drum track) that happens to have an OK but not great onboard sequencer attached.
Also good polyphony (60 voices although IIRC each model’s oscillator actually uses an individual voice so it’s probably more like 20-30 voices in practice).
Clicky keyboard thing will be handy for note entry in DT in grid recording mode.
And most importantly… Roland sounds (love SH101 and Junos even if SH4D is an approximation only) and a lot of hands-on control.
Writing patches is a PITA at the moment but I suspect Roland will fix that soon.
Bonus is Roland will probably sort the sequencer shortcomings eventually too, they have a good track record with firmware updates (although they’re pretty slow about it).
Yes, it’s harsh comparing the SH4D to an Elektron sequencer (the king of sequencers!) when Roland are not even marketing it as a sequencer…its just a bonus as far as I am concerned (and that it can run on batteries so it will get some use that way in the garden no doubt). If it had no sequencer functionality at all it would still be a top hands on multitimbral sound module for adding some classic Roland sounds to your studio.
They also have a notoriously bad track record of never figuring out a smooth user experience. 
I’ve wondered a few times if it would have been better without a sequencer at all, but then people would have moaned about the lack of one.
Finally had some time to dig a bit deeper with this one. Unfortunately I am getting a lot of hanging notes when playing it in real time.
It basically happens every time I play some fast notes.
Seems to be totally fine when I sequence it which is strange.
Anyone else experienced this or is it just an issue with mine?
Oh and I’m on latest firmware 1.03
Exactly. If anything, it’s sequencer should be praised, because to me it looks like one of the better sequencers on any synth. But that’s the point - it’s a synthesizer, not a groovebox, it’s even written on the front panel. It’s a great feature to have and in combination with drum track and portability can also be cool idea generator on the go.