Roland Boutique SH-01A

Sacramento, California. PM if interested, probably gonna sell this BS2 now for the SH-01A. Unless somebody talks me out of it. :grin:

Well, I can try hahaā€¦
*just trying to give you some reasons for not buying it, if youā€™re into it just go for it :wink:

Disclaimer: I only played the bs2 at a friends studio a couple of times, and i dont own the sh01a, but i did own the jx03 and the keyboard (km25 i think itā€™s called).

I also considered buying the sh01a a couple of times, played it at the store, listened to demoā€™s and to me it sounds awesome, both as a mono and a poly. The controls (pretty much knob per function) are also great.

My reason for not buying it in the end was the fact that the jx03 just never felt like a real instrument to me. Without the keyboard it felt incomplete, like just a controller with software inside, but then the keyboard kind of sucks, and itā€™s also too limited to function as a midi controller for other gear or your daw. Also: the fact it only has a minijack output really annoyed me cause it feels quite vulnerable. It looks nice and feels solidly built besides that, but it just cant be compared to the full size keys and knobs of the bs2, whichh does feel like a real instrument to me. Also, the fact itā€™s a tiny (digital, but great sounding) emulation of an analog original kind of bugged me, this might be irrational, but i prefer something that has a style/sound of its own instead of immitating something else.

So while i do agree it sounds great, the form factor might disappoint you. It always felt a bit like ā€˜fastfoodā€™ gear to me if you understand what i mean.

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The mini jack outputs annoyed me too. So I settled for only using it in the studio but I donā€™t think Iā€™ll ever consider using it live. Too unstable. Iā€™ll just sample into the Digitakt if I want to ā€˜playā€™ those sounds in a live context.

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My BS2 and Yamaha Reface CS keyboards never get used in the studio. Theyā€™re both sequenced from my Digitone. It almost makes more sense to have an SH01 than the BS2 in that sense.

If thats the case it sounds like a good choice to trade for the sh01a, iā€™m sure youll get a lot of mileage out of it!

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Well, I bit the bullet. Have an SH-01A in grey that will be here next week. Got it at $200 cheap due to this one having the metal portamento bar missing, but seller says the toggle switch still works. Getting pretty excited for this synth! Iā€™ve heard that the SH-01A has really low audio output and a little bit of noise, hoping thatā€™s not an issue with my interface. Thanks for all the information.

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Well, the audio is kind of low in mono mode, using all ā€œoriginalā€ settings. When using poly mode and ā€œmodernā€ settings this thing can easily get loud, or at least normal. So Roland had to adjust single voice levels due to poly mode, I guess. But of course, this can make switching between custom patches using different settings quite jarring. Better organize your banks accordingly.

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All the boutiques can suffer from noise on the output depending on the USB power supply youā€™re using. Especially when hooked up to a computer over USB you can get ground loop issues.

In that case, just pop in some batteries when itā€™s time to record. They even have a mode to power from batteries while using USB for MIDI.

All of this is of course not an issue if you use audio over USB.

I have a lot of boutiques, in order to avoid the humming you need a quality PSU with USB, I started with the white Iphone chargers but ended up with this one

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While Iā€™m waiting for my sh01a to ship, I had a question for all the 01a users here. Is anybody using the ext. clk in for advancing the sequencer from another piece of gear? Any tips on programming the internal sequencer in conjunction with the other sequencer the triggers will be sent from?

Iā€™m just now seeing the capability of this feature in providing variation and polyrhythm to my sequences. Thanks!

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I used it a few times in conjunction with a TR-08. Each step of my SH-01A contained a 4-note chord and then the Click Out (or whatever it is called) on the TR-08 advanced to the next chord once a bar. Nothing revolutionary, but it enabled me to use long chord sequences without hitting the step sequencer limit on the SH-01A. Ultimately, I abandoned the idea though, and just programmed all my chord sequences within Ableton Live to have a great level of control, and sampled my TR-08 into my DT so I could get those sounds to hit harder.

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I trigger mine from my A4 using trigger out. Here is a video that gave me some insight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC_g_hDGTcM

Have fun !

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one argument pro BS2 :wink:

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Hard to argue against thatā€¦

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This is the classic 101 sequencing trick, how you get some really fun patterns that seem ā€œoffā€ but have major funk + mojo.

It works great on the 01A with other boutiques triggering.

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Can you trigger one SH01A with the other SHO1A and have them feed each other like two acidic new lovers?

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Loving the Sh-01a so far, but need advice / recommendation. Iā€™m looking for an instrument cable for this unit and am not finding a ton of 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch cables. Iā€™m currently using a traditional 1/4 inch cable with an 1/8 inch adapter on the end, but itā€™s super long coming out the back of the unit. Any recommendations? Iā€™m running this into an input on my Motu Ultralite in mono. Iā€™d like something that is good quality, low interference / good shielding. Thanks!

Build it at www.redco.com

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This is a life saver! Gonna have to get to work on some new cables. Thanks @AdamJay

Though it wouldnā€™t be a Y-Cable, itā€™s just single 1/4 Male to single 1/8 male. Not sure if you were designing that for me :blush:

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