Roland SH-201

The signal path is printed on the panel, so you know exactly where your tweaking is acting.
Knobs, buttons and sliders are big enough to be clearly seen on a dark stage. If you are not going to use it midi-sync'ed, the only way to set tempo is by pressing the tap button, what may be
complicated. I would have provided something like a pedal to do that. Important: read the manual, since (as another reviewer properly noticed) the combinations required to change some important parameters
are not intuitive at all. I printed a copy of the settings from the pdf on Roland's site, for day-to-day use.
The connections are easy to set up, and the AC adaptor has two cords,
so you won't have a brick hanging from the wall and occupying precious space, that??s nice. It also is bivolted, preventing wrong-voltage damage. Very very easy to use, quite dumb-proof.
It does not come with the USB cable, so you should get one (with A-B type connectors) to plug it to your computer (just in case you, like me, are one of those who desperately needs to try out all of the features of any new toy right-out-of-the-box-!). The included software has the menus somewhat hidden. I mean, they are not at the top of the main window, instead they are accessed by buttons that simulate the looks of real buttons of the keyboard... The interface should have a better design. The software help is useless. One big problem I'm having with it is that I must uninstall/reinstall the USB driver almost everytime I need to connect it, wether to control/be controlled via computer, or to edit the patches. Once you turn off you computer, be prepared to install the driver the next time. And always use the same USB port you connected it when installing, otherwise it won't recognize the SH-201 at all. Luckily, it needs no batteries (wich are not even an available power source) to keep the user's patches. I can say that the driver (now I'm using v.1.0.1.0) is really poorly written. Sometimes it works properly, but mostly not.
Due to the software issues, 8 is fair.

The d-beam can be assigned to control any of the top panel knobs, wonderful feature to a synth in that price range. The oscillators (two for the upper tone, two for the lower tone, total 4) can be set to generate sawtooth, square, asymmetrical square (or pulse, some say rectangular), triangle, sine, noise, feedback oscillator (similar to guitar feedback, with adjustable feedback amount), roland's supersaw
(something like "seven sawtooth waves played simultaneously", similar to strings) and audio-in.
All these waves can be combined in mix, sync (one of the waveforms will start when the other starts) and ring (waves are multiplied, resulting in bell-like sound). Sync and ring modes can not be used with audio-in sound as source.
The LFO's (two per tone) can be assigned to change pitches, pulse-width, filter amount, amp amount and audio filter.
The LFO may be tempo-sync'ed, good when you want some rythm over an already programmed pattern.
The keyboard layout can be splitted, so you can play sounds of the upper tone on the left, and lower on the right, for example. You can also program an arpeggio pattern to play one of the tones, or both.

The recorder is really useless, if you need it go get an external sequencer.

Other feature I only discovered after purchasing is that it can be used as a limited audio/midi USB interface.
I had no idea of such capabilities, Roland is being foolish not to market it as such.
As a midi controller, the manual says that the knobs and buttons can control external sound modules, but only one knob (the audio cutoff) can be assigned. Keyboard section and pitchbend/modulation lever work well. Forget about controlling soft synths. Tried on Propellerheads Reason and Native Instruments FM7.
It can stream audio through USB, so you can use it's out connectors to hear the sounds from your computer, or use it to record audio into the computer, because it is an audio interface. I recorded some guitar sounds, and it's own synth sound into my PC, good quality. Rates of A/D D/A convertion: 44.1kHz/32bits (nowhere else you find this information, not on the roland's site, nor in the manual, and I only got to know this from my ASIO4ALL screen). That??s very useful since my soundcard is a very cheap and ordinary one.
I can bypass the need of a full-duplex sound card, being able to route some channels of my soundcard to monitor or to external FX, e.g.

Using the editor software you can detail the sound you create, and also program arpeggios yourself. But the arpeggio editor is a real mess to work with, I wish it had some feature that allowed me to
record the arpeggios on realtime, quantized, directly into the editor by just playing the keyboard.

I am experimenting with ways to use the SH-201 as an effect-box, since the stereo audio-in can be chained to the filters and LFO's as any of the other waves. You can filter the audio-in signal with the LFO's, thus getting tremolo, vibrato and other interesting effects for use with mics and guitars, as long as you provide some preamping first (since it's a line-level input).

(I really wanted to open it up and make some mods, a tap-tempo pedal, circuit-bending and so. Think I will do that someday, but found it would be something too cruel to do to something that already sounds great. Unlike the cheap casio's that I've pimped this way)

Since the main reason I got this was performing on stage, it is perfect so far. As midi interface, it is very limited. If Roland ever fixes this button/slider/knob issue on the next driver, that would great.

You can easily get many original sounds from the SH-201. The preset sounds are not extraordinary, but offer some classic sounds. Downloading the 1.10 version of the sound editor you obtain patches from Richard Barbieri, Jean Michel Jarre, Jordan Rudess and Hisashi Saito, but I don't believe I will use any of them.
I'm not into straight electronic music, I play like alt/indie/electro rock. And I really like to create my own stuff. Satisfied. The overdrive is adjustable, useful to obtain fat sounds and add body to lo-frequency waves if you like "pure sine". The reverb and delay effects have time and depth controls, so you can get flange, phaser, delay and reverb using them with criteria.

Issue: when slowly tweaking the knobs or activating the d-beam, you will hear the sound changing in a sort of "stepped" fashion.
At it's heart it's digital, so it was expected to happen, but the degrees of change could be more subtle.
No problem if you tweak fast, or with some reverb. Another issue: you can set the keys sensitivity, but proceding as prescribed in the manual (using a combination of buttons) don't work. I had to go into the editor software to get it. I took weeks to discover that. So, if you don't have, or don't like, don't want, or can't use a computer, forget about key-sensitivity.

I think it will last long. Weighs 5,2 kg, light for it's size. All-plastic. Only to be careful about liquids that would erase the printed panel. Sometimes I leave it on for hours, no heating, no sound alteration. The knobs are a little elevated, so one should be careful if not transporting it in a good case.

Here in Brasil we do not believe such esoteric entities to exist at all. Never needed, plain trust in Roland. But I sent an e-mail about some details, they did take long to reply "submit your question to the technical section of our site"... very ugly manners!

I bought it aiming at its performing capabilities. Still had no opportunity to test it on stage, but rehearsals are going well. As I said, I'm into alt/indie/electro rock. I get the sounds I need, and being it my first synth, is very easy to use. I considered to go soft and use a midi interface, but dealing with computers and their connections on the stage was something I didn't want.
The lesser the possibilities of crashes and bsod (blue screen of death) on live situations, the better.
The D-beam can be really very useful. I think it should have more patch memory, because I think I will use more than the 32 available for the user, but connected to a laptop I can have infinite (not exactly, but depending of HD size) user patches made by myself (but will have to keep the files well organized).

Considering its price, deserves a 10.

hi. SUPER wonderfully easy to use. manual is probably fine, but I never had to look at it. I'm a relatively experienced synthesist and as such, the layout of this piece couldn't be any easier to work with. and they weren't lying about it being fun. it is just straight up FUN to use.

features are fine for the price point

here's the thing...i had to take mine back. it just sounds horrible. I had myself talked into the fact that i could just cajole a reasonable sound out of this thing with compressors eqs etc ... and sort of a can, but It got boring quickly trying to be a sound designer anytime i wanted to wrestle a good sound out of this. I get that its only $600, and its wonderful...it is aimed for a novice user, but I'd like to suggest that if roland made a high end version of this thing that looked and felt like their 80's synths...the way that the voyager looks and feels relative to what moog is, that there would be an enthusiastic audience for it. this synth is my dream synth in terms of sitting down and making what i want right away, but if only it SOUNDED good. the dave smith poly evolver is brilliant, right? great? but I, and I'd argue a lot of people like me, are too damn busy to get into it. if a synth sounded that great and was as easy as the sh 201 to play with. i say big winner.

i think so, yeah.

if you are just starting out and looking for a way to get into making sounds, adding a piece to add some fun to making music becuase soft synths aren't fun...(they aren't...)...then by all means, get this. but if you demand a pro level out of your gear, this might not be for you. in context for what it is, i give it a 9, as a synth on its own merits agains everyting else out there, i give it 5, so lets split the diff and giver it a 7
SO, ROLAND JUST MAKE A HIGH END VERSION, TOO! C'MON!!!!

The SH-201 is designed to be easy to use, so good marks here.
The layout of the controls is such that you understand the signal path through the synth. All controls that you need are hard-wired, so no browsing through all sorts of menus. You switch it on, and you can go to work. Do not get thrown off by the presets that Roland have included. They still don't seem te realise that we no longer live in the '90s.
The manual looks OK, but I haven't really needed it so far, because the instrument is so easy to start out with.

It's a basic but decently equipped virtual analog synth. It has 2 voices per patch, which can be used on their own, together or split. Each voice has 2 OSCs, a LP/HP/BP filter, 2 LFOs, and some basic effects.
The option to use an audio input signal as the basis for your sound is cool of course. I would like to have seen an FM-option on this synth, but alas. Even though nearly all necessary controls are present on the synth, it has an extra PC_based editor. This allows you to store many patches on your PC easily (This is usefull, because 32 user patches is not that much), and fine-tune some more parameters. You can also create custom arpeggios.

The sound is distinctively digital. The presets, as noted, are not that great, but in the end it's what /you/ make of it.
The oscillators sound nice, the filter isn't too great, but not useless either. You can create screaming leads, moody pads, and some nice basses as well. If you want to create a realistic piano or strings: Buy something else. This puppy was designed for electronic sounds. It's obvious digitality gives it a harsh sound, and for me, that's what I was looking for. For its price, it sounds pretty good. I'm using it in electro/punk/rock music, and their it's right at place.

It's plastic, lightweight and cheap (and ugly). It don't think it will survive a 10 foot drop, or the kind of violence I tend to apply to an electric guitar. Still, I trust it enough to gig with it. There is one thing which I noticed, and that is if you connect it to a computer and you turn the computer off, it loses it's tempo, so it's arpeggiator won't work any more, nor will the LFO's sync to the clock. I haven't tested this effect while it was connected to another device tough, but if I find out more, I'll post a follow-up.
But the bottom line is: I own several pieces of Roland (and Boss) equipment, but I have never needed their support for anything. Which means something like: Treat your instrument right, and it'll be fine.

Like I said, no experience with Roland whatsoever.

I was looking for 2 things: A synth capable of delivering the type of sounds that will scare children out of a room, and a synth which is build for live performace and easy tweakability. In this regard it definitely delivers. It is the first 'big' synthesizer I bought, and so far I'm very happy with it. For me, this is a creativity booster, I find playing around with it gives me new ideas for tunes & tracks, and I think it will continue to do so for the forseable future.
However, I'm aware that there are better products available, so if this unit were stolen or lost, I don't know if I would buy it again, or maybe save up some more cash and go for a Nord Lead or Korg RADIAS or so.
But it definitely is a fun unit to play with. It's easy to understand, and offers a broad enough range of possibilities. I like its aggressive sounds, and its hands-on layout. I find myself spending a lot of time with it.

Very straightforward. Basic synth controls with basically one knob or button for each function, like an old school analog synth which is one of the reasons why I bought it. Editing and saving patches is easy.
The manual is good if you dont already know about basic synthesis...but as far as the USB/MIDI stuff is concerned...forget it. I'm really bad when it comes to MIDI and this thing didnt help.

Effects are cool, sounds are great. Keyboard action is typical of synths. The USB audio/MIDI thing is cool, but I still havent figured out the MIDI part. One of the best features is the tap-tempo arpeggiator......great idea and I think this is the only synth I've ever seen with this feature. Also the audio input is fun for doing cool filter effects with your turntables/iPod etc.

I like the sounds...very Juno-ish. From fat basses and screaming leads to trippy pads and cheesy horns.

Is suspiciously lightweight, like a MIDI controller and seems a bit flimsy. I would use caution when packing it up for the gig.

I called customer support because I couldnt get the USB to send audio into Ableton Live 6. The smart ass I spoke to told me that USB audio didnt work with Ableton. He was kind of rude and made me feel stupid. 5 Minutes after I spoke to him, I figured out that I needed to set one of my audio prefernces in order for the USB to work. It works just fine. I felt like calling him back and telling him that he was wrong and Ableton works with USB audio just fine, but I'd rather be making music.

Ive been making music all my life and have tons of gear from pedal steels to synths. This is a good synth for what i am doing, although more experienced users may wish for more features. I got a great deal on it at Guitar Center Dallas, TX and its alot of bang for the buck.

Internal Software version unavailable, VST version 1.0

The SH201 is unprecidented in ease of use and high quality of sound. Included with the physical synth is a USB based midi/audio USB port and VST instrument interface. It's cool for those addicted to computer editing and because you have a free stereo pair of inputs, saving your Audio device the cost of using the SH201. This is teriffic for Audio interfaces that only have a few channels available.
You don't understand any of what was written? That's fine - you don't have to use any of those features to use the SH201, they just help make it easier to work with. Remember, the VSTi is essentially a patch editor on a synth that has plenty of interface elements just begging to be used instead.

The manual is a bit dry but well written. Go through the 80 pages and you'll understand the SH201 and how to program it. Personally, no matter your synth programming level, I'd suggest spending some hands on time without the manual as hearing what knob changes a sound is very effective to learning how a synth works. I would use the manual as it will help fill in the information and contains button combinations that you won't figure out without the manual.
That said, most of the combinations will probably not be used by a good amount of programmers.

Play the sounds, all 64. You will get an idea of what the SH201 can do, and a few of the patches will change your mind about the overall flexibility of this wonderful synth.

Presets are okay but too polite.

Hands on will give much greater satisfaction and allow for more rubbish and agressivity.

It has a finite feature set but they are well thought out and all very useful. Nothing is redundant and has a key role in performance.

Really, paired with my Ion, it is a nearly perfect complement (as also would the FM capabilities of a Fusion or DX/SY).

Always wanted to have a JP-8000 ever since I played with the "Chariots" preset back in the days.

So the synth is very capable. Roland always put a lot of effort in making sure the workflow and performance aspects do not deceive. It is fast.

If you want quick Skinny Puppy Front 242 type of sounds, that will get you there quickly too.

All the oscillators modes is impressive too.

The feature set may seem limited but in reality isn't.

Since the Ion already does a lot, the SH allows me to get started immediately with a very different tone. Much more aggresive.


The build quality? Heck, its will probably last 10x longer than my Juno 106. I dont use the Juno because I am afraid of losing a voice chip. I couldn't care less about leaving the SH powered on for days.

The audio in allows me to route my Ion in the SH and simply take the output of the SH to my sound system. Much simpler to deal with.

Will probably outlast any other vintage gear I have,

Sent an email without any reply

would probably want to byuy it again considering the price point.

This synth is pretty straight forward which IMO is its' main strength. The editor and librarian software lets you archive and manage sounds. The manual is very informative but it would have also been nice of them to include sound creating tips like they did with the JP-8000. If part of the target consumers with this are beginners, then they should have included a few pages to help them along.

10 Voice polyphony. The key action is good but not great. Seems to have the same key action as the JP-8000. There's worse out there (Nord Lead). Velocity can be adjusted but there's no aftertouch. The built in effects are also good but not great. I was happy that their choices was a delay and reverb since one can setup a delay to also chorus, phase, and flange. The recorder makes it easy to capture your riffs and the arpeggiator can be setup for your own phrases. It's too bad you need the software to really get at that but again, at this price point I'm not complaining.

All manner of synth sounds here. Nothing realistic and you don't buy something like this for realism. IMO, the general tone is too bright. Easily adjustable with an outboard EQ though. Does it sound good? Yes it does but not as good in all manner of sounds as my Nord Rack 2X IMO. It does beat it out in the pads and strings department and anything else you may use those Super Saws for but bear in mine that the Nord is about $400 more, has a really crap keybed, no recorder, and no phrase arpeggiator. The sound is awesome enough to handle any needs in any genre of music but as always, there are some thing better and worse in certain sound categories.

Don't know yet as I've just gotten it. The VST plug-in doesn't currently work for me within Live 5.2. I've done some trouble shooting but to no avail. The standalone editor works along with Live running just fine though.

The've been cool with me but I understand that they get a lot of flak. As humans, there is but so much of that one can take. Bear that in mind.

If this were lost or stolen, I would definitely replace it. I find it refreshing to use and for the money, there's really no reason to add this to your tool kit unless you already have a V-Synth or your completely satisfied with you JP-80x0. Gear List: PolyEvolver KB, Voyager RME, S90 ES, Nord Rack 2X, and SH-201. The SH-201 is the main synth in my arsenal in the pads and strings department. It's also the polysynth gig board that goes where the S90 ES goes. Fantastic Value!

The synth is larger than I expected. The sliders and knobs feel solid. Dozens of multi-colored leds give a very good feedback. The layout is clear and logical. The lack of screen is, honestly, not an issue.

The SH-201 is simple to use. In an hour or two you'll know everything there is to know about it.

Some parameters are adjusted with strange knobs combinations, impossible to figure out without reading the manual. The CANCEL button often acts as a shift button to access hidden features. For example: "to set the keyboard split point hold down the CANCEL button and press the TAP button, then hold down the DUAL/SPLIT button, press a key, press the CANCEL button". It can't be worse than that!

It's a shame that there are no dedicated hardware controllers for the Amplitude/Filter velocity sensitivity and the LFO fade in time. I'd rather have knobs or sliders for these standard features than the D-Beam, the Recorder or the Arpeggio...

The manual is well written. The surrealist Japanese to English translation of the old Roland manuals is, luckily, a thing of the past. The manual doesn't talk about all the available features so make sure to check the "Parameter List" at the end. You'll find there all the "magical" operation required to adjust the hidden features.

The Presets library is disappointing. It is full of outdated techno sounds that could have been created with any Roland synths from the last 15 years. I can make the same sounds with an old JV or XP synth. None of these presets use velocity sensitivity, it makes them sound totally static and lifeless. As it is a child play to create your own sound, this is a minor problem.

This is a "solo" unitimbral synth with a simple sound engine. It's not a workstation like the Roland Phantom or an hybrid digital synth like the Access Virus. The features are therefore limited.

The signal flow is simple and classic: a sound can be made of 2 tones (Upper/Lower). For each tone you get 2 oscillators, 2 LFO (amplitude, filter, pulse width or pitch modulation) a filter, and envelopes for the pitch, the amplitude and the filter. Finally there's an effect section.

The oscillators can be mixed in normal "mix" mode (a balance) in "sync" (Oscillator 1 in sync with 2) or "ring" mode (multiply). The last one creates interesting metallic sounds.

There's a D-Beam controller, an arpeggio and an "external in" with its own filter. The memory is made of 32 presets and 32 user patches. It's not much, but I doubt that you'll need more...

A rather useless MIDI "recorder" is included. It allows you to record 8 phrases of 8 measures. You cannot loop the phrases, play them one after the other or trigger them live easily (to play different phrases you have to use one of these magical knobs combination). It is rather frustrating. One track of 100 or 200 measures would have been more useful.

The audio interface is a great feature. It can stream audio from and to the PC through USB. It means you can record directly the sounds of the SH-201 + its audio input in your DAW. The AD conversion of the audio input is of a good quality. I compared with other AD converter and was pleasantly surprised by the SH-201.

The PC editor works as expected. With it you to adjust the parameters more precisely and use the SH-201 as a VST instrument.

The SH-201 is not a very convincing analog emulation synth. Its "Analog Modeling Sound Engine" is not impressive. Many exceptional analog emulation synth have been released in the last few years. They are all more expressive and more powerful than the SH-201. The word "Analog Modeling" is misleading here, I think. You can create some decent Jupiter/Prophet pads with it, sure, but you can do this with any other Roland synth.

The interface and the signal flow might be "analog-like", but the synth sounds totally digital. Compare the SH-201 to a Creamware Minimax ASB (one of the best analog emulation synth available, in my opinion) or, better, a real analog synth, and you'll see what I mean.

Bad analog emulation doesn't necessarily mean bad synth. The Supersaw (7 Saw waves) oscillator is wonderful. It generates very fat and spacious "Vangelis" pads. The Feedback oscillator is great to create screaming metallic effects. I also like the very flexible dual LFO. The effects - basic distortion, reverb and delay - are excellent. The reverb is rich and warm. Roland always make really good amp simulation and effects, so I didn't expect less.

You can easily make the SH-201 sound like nothing else. The combination of Feedback and Supersaw oscillators with a strong delay generates very original soundscapes.

I was not impressed by the filter section. The filters (low-pass, high-pass, band-pass) sound thin. It's the same old Cutoff/Resonance combo that we can find in all Roland synths...

"Naked", the sounds are quite static. Luckily the LFOs, the D-Beam and all the sliders and knobs helps to add variations and modulation during a performance.

The range of sound that the SH-201 can produce is rather limited. In the 32 presets there are already many repetitions. It's good at creating screaming lead, synthetic sound pad, "acid" bass and "gated" sound effect. So if you don't like electronic music, skip it!


I'm rather suspicious about the algorithms used for the standard oscillators (Sine, Square, etc...). Playing low or high notes creates uniform and almost atonal noises ("rrrrr" for low frequencies, "sssshhh" for high).This problem is typical of sampled waveform or badly processed one (the first software synths had all this problem). To reach such a low price, Roland might have cheated a little bit to spare processor power... Don't worry, this is a minor critic, the synth sounds OK.

The synth weights nothing. It's an empty plastic box! I'd be curious to see the inside...

I never had problem with Roland products in the past (They are all still up and running). So I expect the SH-201 to last long.

I'm using Roland products since 15 years. I never had to contact Roland's customer support. I hope I'll never have to!

I would buy it again only for the Feedback and SuperSaw oscillators, the flexible LFO and the audio interface. The synth is not expensive, so its weakness are acceptable.

The SH-201 is a fun to use digital synth, but I wouldn't recommend this synth for beginner, it's too specific. In the same price range, a Roland Juno-D would be more appropriate.

If you're looking for an analog emulation synths you should search somewhere else (the Creamware Minimax ASB cost a bit more, has no keyboard, but sounds REALLY analog).

The sound engine is not exceptional but the real-time performance tools are great. Somehow the limitation of the SH-201 are also its strengh. As you'll know what the SH-201 is capable of in a day or two, you'll focus very quickly on playing it.

Overall, it's a very stimulating musical instrument!