Don’t see any specific threads for this unit or its keyboard variant. Looking to pick one up and was wondering what people think of it? I want it almost exclusively for the SH101 even though I’ve got the SH01A. I want to be able to rack it and control it from euro rack. It would be fantastic to be able to load up the other plug outs as well. Just seems like a better value proposition.
Thoughts on the S1M?
I had one for a pretty long time, and thought it was great. It is missing quite a few patch points someone might want but still enough to get by, probably the most important thing to look at when deciding if you are going to be using it with eurorack. Sound of the system 1 engine is pretty great, lots of fun wavetypes while still keeping a roland character of with easy to get good sounds, the interface was great also minus a few hotkeys combos that were hard to remember. After I got a Pro2 I thought i might use them together but ultimately it ended up on the chopping block… do kind of miss how easy it was to get a good sound going on it though.
A few things to know, midi is the only way to play polyphonic and the unison modes, with midi it has fixed velocity and aftertouch routings that I found not really to my liking in how they respond.
Long and short of it is I think it is a great synth, might end up with one again someday.
I had a System-1 for a while and really liked it, and I still intend to buy a 1m at some point (even though I’ve gone chasing the vintage Roland sound in eurorack a bit). The SH-2 plugout is a monster.
+1 for the regular System-1 here. Great for all your bread 'n butter Roland sounds and you can easily go off to weirder territories as well with the different waveforms.
Currently have the Promars plugout installed and I think that’s my fav of the bunch.
And this is where I’m at. I am enamored with my SH01A and I’ve gone chasing that sound in euro rack. Without opening up the discussion about the Atlantis, I’m looking to get that with the Rubicon 2, Dixie II+, Quadrax, and Ripples. Ripples en route but I don’t think I’ll be able to do the envelopes that I like with Quadrax. Not looking for long sustained stuff with an ADSR (which Quadrax can’t do). It’s just getting expensive and frustrating.
I love my SH01A every time I fire it up. I just wish I could rack the damned thing. The System 1M seems to fit the bill a little better and gives me a bit more with the plug outs. I’ll ultimately save money by cancelling the 7U 104HP Intellijel case I’ve been waiting months for. I won’t have to drop another $700 on 1U modules and I can just drop the S1M into one of my custom 84HP cases.
Appreciate the thoughts from everyone regarding the module. Just looking to find a used one in good condition now. 
This part I was aware of. I’ll likely leave a MIDI cable hanging out of the case or see about getting a DIN MIDI module and wiring it up internally.
I was also hoping that there was a Juno plug out for it but it looks like it’s ‘just’ the four:
A lot of ground covered there but the Juno would really ice the cake.
Yeah if the System 100 plug out had full functionality in the hardware I would probably still have it, I suppose you could set up a few preset starting points in software and then use those as jumping off points and still have the 1M patching options available on top of the software routings. Really that System 100 ACB is fantastic sounding, would be great if they made a standalone version of that full of patch points.
Yeah they never did a Juno plugout for it, only for the System-8, even though they eventually released the JU-06 with only four voices. 
A Dixie II+ through the Jove / 860 filter is pure magic. It really does nail that sound. As does the System80 810 synth voice (with a slightly different flavour). And actually the Roland / Malekko 500 series modules get there too.
But it’s less flexible than a System-1m in all the digital aspects, preset recall, etc.
I wanted one for a long time, but the lights scare me
Definitely not a fan of the lights but apparently they do serve a purpose other than looking wretched. They will only illuminate the knobs and sliders that are usable with a specific plug out. Apart from that they’re just god awful. Would’ve been great to at least change the colour from green to something cooler.
I’ve got one here that is barely used ( and a system 1)!can’t recall which plug out is in it, one of them is 101 . The librarian for system1 was available for free at one point. Can’t recall even how to find it anymore.
The downside is that the plug outs and support are dead in terms of Roland support but the plug outs are around 
Patch points only work for mono sounds.
So, I liked it , sounds nice but the downside is Roland and plug outs … also likely to be an issue with system8 and other synths that use that system … it gets messy and obsolete and I think being swallowed into the hell of Roland cloud.
They’re on Roland Cloud as far as I can tell. I signed up for an account to check in advance. You can buy a lifetime license for each one of the supported plug outs for $99. I believe you get the VST as well as access to the plug out. So still available through Roland. Didn’t check for a librarian though.
Ah , I had the 101 plug out free when I bought system 1… I don’t think they transferred them into cloud.
I’m not planning on changing it … haven’t used it for years probably. ( got sh01a , ms1, lush , the other 101 by tal)
I rate it. Mine came second hand with the SH2 plugout, & never bothered purchasing other plugouts. I mostly use the built in synth though as it also sounds great, with the added oscillator types, and the concept is a bit different than anything else Roland have going on.
on the system 8 you can at least dim them ams even switch them off.
If you bought the plugout license pre-Cloud you still have them and can use them forever. IIRC there was a way to transfer them to a free Cloud account, which gives you a lifetime key for the Cloud versions (which still have the plugout functionality). I definitely have lifetime keys for all of mine.
The plugouts themselves, if you own them, can be used on any System-1 / 1m. I checked with Roland support before I sold mine because there was a hardware device ID that was used to register the plugouts when they were bought. They confirmed I could buy another S-1/1m and load them onto it.
I always quite fancied the 1M, but honestly the whole plug out thing really put me off, seems like a scam, and having used the free trial of Roland cloud for a while I can’t possibly understand why people would pay for it, because it is shite from a UX perspective, a hot mess. The content is very good, but accessing it all is rage inducing, and one day “poof” it will all be gone, because computer software as a service bollocks.
All that aside the core sound of the 1/1m does sound very nice to me, seems to be quite a lot of scope for interesting sounds, especially the updated waves and whatnot.
I think the core sound and nicely-designed physical UI is worth the price of entry. The plug-outs are kind of a bonus (albeit a bonus you have to pay for) and what most people seem to do is find their favourite and leave it in there.
Also I am convinced that the 96kHz ACB sounds ever so slightly better than the (48kHz) boutiques in the high frequencies.
You are absolutely right about the SAAS stuff though, the Aira modular FX editor being abandonware already makes me nervous with the rate that new Mac OSs seem to break software.
I have the 1m and I really enjoy the sound of it. When I first bought it I got the cloud for a month, downloaded the sh-2 plug out, and unsubscribed. I still have the sh-2 on it, and it works great if I want that sort of sound. The original engine is mostly what I use. Really diverse amount of harmonics can be coaxed out of it. Love the super saw and the FM waveforms the most. The color doesn’t bother me anymore. It’s really fun to program. Great for leads/pads/chords.