Generalmusic S2

I think this keyboard is very easy to use. The manual is OK - compared to others - but not great. I like the patches. I don't have a patch editor, but the large bright LCD screen makes patch editing a breeze. Considering that this keyboard is from the early - mid 90s the LCD screen is amazing in size and brightness. I love some of the sounds, great guitars, basses and specially synth and fantasy sounds.

Polyphony 32. The keyboard action is the BEST I have ever tried in a non weighted synth style keyboard. No clicking, very quiet. The on board effects section is good - I do like the fact that there is a button that lets you bypass the effects instantly - for checking what your sounds are dry. I have never used the internal sequencer so I cannot comment on that one. But now comes the part where this keyboard really shines:
MIDI! This thing is the most awesome Midi controller, Polyphonic after touch! 8 real time sliders to control things like filter cutoff etc all through Midi and much more.
Here is one special "feature" - love it or hate it: It has NO battery backed RAM. Which means all custom sounds, presets, etc are lost when turned off - they have to be saved to floppy which takes a little time. The great thing about this is that there is an almost unlimited amount of custom patches that can be loaded into the board by just having the floppy in there during boot up. Depending on the setup that is loaded from the floppy it can be almost a completely different keyboard every time (things like Midi base channel etc etc are saved in those setups too). It can also load samples from a floppy but I have never figured out how to do that.

Some instruments are great: Bass, guitars. Some are OK: Strings, Brass. The piano sucks ( actually I have never had a synth where the Piano didn't suck - but maybe that's because I am playing on a real Grand a lot). Synth and analog sounds are impressive on this keyboard. Drum kits are rather weak. I use this keyboard mostly for ambient, new age kind of music, but 99 percent of the time it's sounds are off and its used as a Midi controller.

This thing is built like a tank. Its heavy and made out of metal - covered with some layer of rubberized surface. Very scratch and dent resistant. I would definitely use it without a backup. It has never crashed on me - ever.

Never dealt with the company. Their web site sucks. Seems like they drop support for their products immediately after release. Never had a problem with the board - I think it is unbreakable - heh.

If it was lost or stolen I would probably try to find one again as a midi controller. I looked at some new USB Midi controllers but they all feel like plastic toy crap compared to the GEM, and I don't want weighted keys on a synth keyboard. I play for about 15 years. I have a wide selection of different sound modules and 2 other keyboards (Fantom FA and EMU XK6). Generally I love the GEM S2. If I could wish for an improvement, it would be 76 keys instead of 61 but then it would be even heavier an this thing is heavy already. I would say it compares to a Korg M1 (built twice as tough for half the price). They now sell for under 300 bucks on EBay. If you want a super heavy duty solid keyboard with unbelievable controller function - go buy one. This thing is definitely way underrated.

I have the S2 Turbo and it isn't too difficult to use, the manual is in the usual Martian. Editing is a simple, even for a novice

Polypony isn't that good but considering how old it is, I can't complain. Effects are good but dead when you want to apply them to external sound sources. The RAM expansion kit is a waste of #300, should have been #30. Where S2 does do really well is the controller features, nothing I have used, is anywhere near as good.Most of my marks are for this aspect

Sounds aren't anything to write home about, in fact it sounds too much like a Korg. The piano's are like the dog's dinner. no decent tines but Rhodes are quite nice. The controllers used as drawbar is quite effective but overall the acoustic sounds are far too unrealistic.

It is built like a tank, most rugged bit of gear out there but crasses more than an F1 driver. No good for live gigging but great in studio

They are hopeless, the fact that they never support the instrument, says a lot and the fact that all of the follow up instruments have never been supported says even more

I may buy one again, purely as a controller but as a synth, never, as a workstation, maybe, as a piano, are you dreaming?

I've exchanged the synth with a used EMU proteus and KORG 05RW,and I must confess I fell in love with this synth.
It's torn and broken,but that makes it more sexy,all the body is constructed from metal so it has a very solid standing.
The presets, ,if you are into complete experimental music like me, are wonderful.Only exception is the Grand Piano sound ; but there is an excuse..when this synth was built up (I think 1993) no other synth was filling your ears like a steinway either.
Strings ; Cello,Viola and such are not for the musician who starves for a "realistic" feeling.But they sound very nice in an electronic mixture of tonalities.
Synth sounds : GREAT!, I think the OBX imitation and the Synthex-like analog implementations of S2 are uncompareable.They are very very inspiring.Noises and synth pads are also unique.
Ideal for ambient or new age.Editing is adied with on-screen graphics and diagrams and very easy.I solved all the editing features without a manual.Even if you are a less experienced user of PCM or AWM-like synthesis systems, I think you could manage doing some preset editing on your own.

I don' have the manual's technical specs but S2 never lacks on polyphony.I think it's 64 or so.The built in effects are modarate.I can't say this synth acts like an external effects processor.But the reverb and delay are fine enough to use directly on tracks.S2 has an optional turbo kit-I don't know what it adds to the machine but even without the turbo with the aid of a computer it can do anything you like.Keyboard has poly-aftertouch and the keys are medium-hard- like the old M1 or O1 Korg key feeling.
This one has got a very powerfull 16track sequencer.For geginners with Gem machines it may take some time to use the sequencer(may be the most hard to use part of the synth) ,but that's ok,there's a large screen helping you and you can get used to the seq easily.
There are 7 silde bars on the body of the keyboard,so you can assign for instance the resonance or cutoff to those bars and edit real-time while recording your songs

Acoustic sounds are not satisfactory(from the view point of a studio professinal).But with some serious editing they may even surpass the most expensive synths.Except Grand Piano which really has nothing to give to the user.
But the rest of the sounds,including the electric pianos, are very expressive.Especially synth pads,leads and noises.You can built up a variety of new sounds by editing the internal waveforms.
Drums are weak.I never use S2's internal drum kits.
Another disappointing feature of all GEM synths I used is the hissing sound coming from behind.You have to use some digital noise reduction to get rid of the hissing.

Whan I bought it the floppy driver was not working.(Years before I bought another GEM product the WX-2,and its floppy had problems with it too).The whell for searching the presets is going back all the time so you have to use the increment/decrement keys instead.(That problem is a fundamental thing when you consider GEM synths.The wheel was also out of order on my WX-2).
All the other parts and buttons stands solid enough.

Never dealt with them.

It's twice the worth I paid.This synth is very futuristic and definitely I would try to find another one if it was stolen-a classic indeed.
I used sytnhs from every brand for years , altough GEM products are usually ignored by professionals,they have a classical futuristic style and that inspires me too much like the Technics or Kawai synths.GEM synth's second hand prices are very low ; so if you have a low budget those synths absolutely would be the best choice compared with Roland or Korg chicks.
I wish it had a nard-drive to copy wave files into(S2 reads wave files),but I think that's a turbo kit option , also I wish it had some more powerfull drum kids.But the synth is ok.I really don't want this one to be modified,it's so beautiful.
I mainly compose with S2,and I rarely use any other synth except the soft synths and software rhytm boxes.It has 2 MIDI ins 2 MIDI outs and 2 MIDI thrus ; and it's the heart of my home studio.
I wish it had some digital outs.The hissing makes life difficult sometimes.
I love it,that's all :))