I absolutely love the SH5. not just the sound but the looks. and to me, there’s something very ugly about this clone. I can’t put my finger on it, it’s just hideous to me. maybe it’s just me liking the original so much and seeing it in my studio for so long… I mean it does looks pretty damn close, and all they did was shorten it to three octaves and bring the BPF underneath the mixer. but it just looks wrong to me now, I guess
anyway, it’s cool they’re making it. not something I would call an “iconic” synth but I guess they’re kind of past that and on to higher hanging fruit now. I will say the standout to me is what they didn’t include: modulation for the band pass filter. this is the absolute number one complaint of anyone whose ever played an SH5. the BPF is the star of the show here and it’s a shame Roland didn’t provide a modulation option, and absolutely insane that B didn’t either. the only other thing I’d like to see would be a switch for linear or exponential envelopes. the original’s are linear, so slow and not good for fast or percussive sounds. and you’d want these included, for sure. but it’d be great to have the exponential ones as well.
really, this is always my biggest complaint about B. they don’t take old synths and make better versions, they just clone them. but anyway… it’s cool more people will be able to experience the SH5 sound now!