Another little nice one from Roland - The GAIA SH-01. Good decision on Colour. I don't wish to sound like a girl, but it is amazing how many times you see Artists who have products made specially in white. Why ? - because they look so good on stage. Access did it with their "Limited Edition" Virus. If people like the"White" look, why is it that manufacturers do not get this fact from their market research?
Anyway, back to the GAIA. GAIA is a word from Greek Mythology meaning "Goddess of the Earth". Well it certainly gives that impression when you first see this white keyboard with a black panel full of colourful lights and tweakable knobs to create powerful analogue sounds easily. All the controls are laid out for you in a very logical fashion. Roland have designed this instrument vey much like it's predessors to be a fun and very inviting,
pulling you in to make your own fat sounds.
Here is it's high points:-
* Huge sound with three virtual analogue engines onboard, each with a dedicated oscillator, filter, amplifier, envelope, and LFO
* Layer up to five simultaneous effects, including distortion, flanger, delay, reverb, low boost, and more
* 64-voice polyphony for massive sounds without note drop out
* Fun, hands-on control panel
* Lightweight - only 4.2 kgs (9lbs 5oz), compact body with 37 full-size keys - velocity sensitive
* Runs on AC or battery power for about 5 hours for portable convenience
* D Beam, arpeggiator with 64 preset patterns, and Phrase Recorder onboard
* USB ports for saving user patches to USB flash drives, and for audio/MIDI connection to computers
* Great Price
Pads sound like a Jupiter 8, bass sounds are very powerful and there are some very intersting arpeggiators. Gritty acid sounds. It has amazing filters too and nine envelope generators. Once you get your teeth into it's triple-stacked virtual analogue engine of three complete synths you will be creating incredible thick, poweful sounds. The EXT input lets you connect external audio sources such as an MP3-player to play along with your favorite
songs or backing tracks.Alternatively you can even manipulate the incoming audio with three Center Cancel modes, which let you eliminate pre-recorded vocals, guitars, or bass.
The effects chain can be stacked with up to 5 effects being used simultaneously, the effects include reverb, distortion, fuzz, bit crash, flanger, phaser, pitch shifter, low boost, and delay with panning and tempo sync, whilst dedicated control knobs are provided for tweaking the effects in real time.
This is a great little synth for about $650 / £490
Full Specifications:-
■ Keyboard 37 keys (velocity sensitive)
■ Maximum Polyphony 64 voices
■ Sound Generator Section - Virtual analog synthesizer sound generator (Number of part: 1), (Oscillator + Filter + Amp + Envelopes
for each section + LFO) x 3, PCM sound generator (Number of parts: 15)
■ Patch Memory Preset: 64, User: 64
■ OSC Section Oscillator waveform: SAW, SQUARE, PULSE/PWM, TRIANGLE, SINE, NOISE, SUPER SAW, Knobs/Sliders: PITCH, DETUNE, Pulse Width, Pulse Width Modulation, Envelope: Attack, Decay, Envelope Depth, Modulation: Oscillator Sync, Ring Modulation (Tone 2’s OSC 2 is applied as modulation to Tone 1’s OSC 1.)
■ FILTER Section Filter Type: LPF, HPF, BPF, PKG (-12 dB / -24 dB), BYPASS, knobs: CUTOFF, RESONANCE, KEY FOLLOW, Envelope: Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release, Envelope Depth
■ AMP Section Knobs: LEVEL, Envelope: Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release
■ LFO Section LFO Shape:
TRIANGLE, SINE, SAW, SQUARE, Sample&Hold, Random, Knobs/Sliders: RATE, FADE TIME, PITCH DEPTH, FILTER DEPTH, AMP DEPTH, Tempo Sync: ON/OFF
■ Effects DIST: Distortion, Fuzz, Bit Crash, FLANGER: Flanger, Phaser, Pitch Shifter, DELAY: Delay, Panning Delay (with tempo sync function), REVERB: REVERB, LOW BOOST: LOW BOOST, Knobs: CONTROL 1, LEVEL ■ Controllers Pitch Bend/Modulation lever, D BEAM Controller
■ Arpeggiator Preset pattern: 64
■ Phrase Recorder User: 8, Number of Track: 1
■ Jacks/Connectors OUTPUT jacks (L/MONO, R) (1/4 inch phone type), Headphone jack (Stereo 1/4 inch phone type), PEDAL jack (TRS phone type), MIDI Connectors (IN, OUT), USB COMPUTER (supports USB Hi-Speed Audio/MIDI), USB MEMORY (supports USB 2.0 Hi-Speed flash memory), EXT IN jack (Stereo miniature phone type), DC IN jack ■ Power Supply DC 9 V (AC Adaptor or rechargeable nickel-metal hydride AA batteries (sold separately) x 8)
■ Current Draw 600 mA, Battery life for continuous use (differs depending on the conditions of use), Rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries: Approximately 5 hours (approximately 4 hours if USB memory is connected), Zinc-carbon batteries or alkaline batteries cannot be used
■ Dimensions 689.3 (W) x 316.9 (D) x 99.5 (H) mm/27-3/16 (W) x 12-1/2 (D) x 3-15/16 (H) inches
■ Weight 4.2 kg/9 lbs 5 oz (excluding AC Adaptor)
■ Accessories Owner’s Manual, Guide Book, CD-ROM (USB DRIVER), DVD Video, AC Adaptor, Power Cord
■ Options Keyboard Stand: KS-18Z (Make sure that this instrument is mounted at a height that is no higher than 1 meter.), Pedal Switch: DP series, Expression Pedal: EV-5, USB Memory (M-UF2G)
More info and a great price at :-
Absolutemusic