- Roland's SH series synths need little introduction. From the SH-1000 almost 40 years ago to the enduringly fashionable SH-101 and more recently the SH-201, they've played a major role in modern music production. The Gaia SH-01 follows in the SH-201's footsteps by combining hands-on control and playability with a stable, reliable virtual analogue (VA) engine. With a smaller keyboard and only one layer of synthesis per patch, at first glance the Gaia could seem a bit simpler than the SH-201. But with three tones (rather than two), 64-note polyphony (rather than ten) and improved effects, things are clearly moving in the right direction. It's also worth noting that the Gaia looks considerably sexier.
In typical retro style the Gaia includes 64 presets and 64 user patches (a further 64 can be saved via the USB stick port on the back). And while we're on multiples of eight, you also get 64 arpeggiator patterns and a dedicated single-track phrase recorder (eight recordable phrases of up to eight bars each). It includes MIDI in and out but more importantly these days USB MIDI connectivity. The same USB2 connection also makes Gaia a 2 in 2 out audio interface (44.1kHz at 24-bit) allowing you to send the synth's own audio output direct to your DAW. You can also patch a stereo mini jack source into the top panel and using the level control blend this with the synth's main outputs. Beyond this you've got a phones output on the back, the USB stick connector (as mentioned) and a DC power connector. You can also run Gaia on eight rechargeable AA batteries (they quote five hours of battery life for continuous use; four hours with a USB stick plugged in). Other Roland features include V-Link and D-Beam, with the latter giving you control of volume, pitch and an assignable parameter using Roland's infrared performance controller.
The synth engine itself follows a pretty typical subtractive structure of oscillator/filter/amplifier, with LFO modulation and a global master effects section. There are seven oscillator waveforms (saw, square, pulse/PWM, triangle, sine, super saw and noise) with three variations for each. Oscillators 1 and 2 can be synced or ring modulated (in both cases 2 follows 1), and you get pulse width and pulse width modulation sliders for the pulse waveform.
The filters come in four flavours (low pass, high pass, band pass and peaking) with 12dB and 24dB per octave options, and there are six LFO types (triangle, sine, saw, square, sample and hold, and random). Envelope duties for each section are handled by the sliders, with attack and decay for the oscillators, and ADSR for filters and amplitude. The effects section includes four sequential stages: distortion, modulation, delay and reverb, and includes nine options in total; distortion, fuzz, bit crash, flanger, phaser, pitch shifter, delay, panning delay and reverb. Following this there's a simple low boost button and a master effects bypass. Finally, rather bizarrely, Gaia includes eight PCM sounds accessible from the keyboard (organ, strings and so on), and has a 16 instrument GM set playable via MIDI channels 1 to 16, although Gaia's own MIDI channel will always make one of these unavailable.
Building sounds involves combining up to three tones and these are switched on and off to the left of the LFO section. Editing tones simply involves pressing their corresponding select button, and pressing buttons together allows you to edit up to three tones together. Each tone has independent oscillator, filter and amplitude parameters. It's also worth mentioning that oscillator sync also makes Gaia monophonic. If you were looking for a lesson in subtractive synthesizer layout and design, then Gaia is pretty much it. Clever use of labelling, colour coding, backlit buttons and layout make signal flow and operation obvious. However, there are some caveats. First up, the knobs and faders are not rotary encoders (like a Nord 3 for example), so if you load up a patch, as soon as you move a knob the parameter will jump to the knob's physical value. Interestingly, they've included a manual option that grabs all parameters from the current knob, button and fader positions; great for generating random sounds.
Next up, although the majority of functions can be accessed directly, for deeper features there's a shift key. Simple enough, but I found the fact that this didn't latch pretty annoying, particularly when I was editing and playing at the same time, or editing the second layer of effects parameters. It's also worth saying that in most situations the lack of a screen is not a problem, but some options do require multiple key presses. The manual is vital: Adjusting the pitch bend range for example is less than obvious, similarly the unit ships with keyboard velocity in fixed mode, so I found myself hunting for that setting pretty quickly. Other deep features include setting of modulation LFO type and adjustment of velocity sensitivity for filter and amplitude. While I'm whingeing it's also worth pointing out that not all the faders send out MIDI CCs (although the knobs do), and you also can't edit the arpeggiator patterns (only mildly annoying). And finally, in use it transpired that syncing the oscillators also disabled the filter across oscillator 1, though not oscillator 2, although I couldn't find this specified in the manual anywhere.
So what about the positives? First up, I'd forgotten just how tactile Roland synths are, and although there's a lot of plastic in Gaia's construction (and it's quite light), it does feel solid and considerably better made than some keyboards I could mention. The keyboard itself plays well, and the use of knobs and faders is just right for quick editing. The D-Beam is also great fun and perfect for this kind of synth. Sonically it does pack a serious punch, and when you consider that you've got three independent tones with fully independent LFO, filter and amplitude control, and 64 notes of polyphony to play with, flexibility is the name of the game. So, for lush pads, thick fizzy super saw sounds, deep basses and general effects and noises there's plenty of fun to be had; Gaia certainly offers more than the 64 factory presets demonstrate. Admittedly, it doesn't match the spec of some of the competition, but it's also not as expensive.
Overall, in their efforts to make Gaia fun and easy to program Roland could have left lots of features out. However, there are plenty of subtleties here and it pays to look through the manual to check what you can edit and control. It's certainly not perfect, but at this sort of price you'll struggle to find a new synth with this selection of features or one quite as easy to program.
Ratings:
COST: 4/5
VERSATILITY: 4/5
SOUND: 4/5
EASE OF USE: 4/5 TracklistKeyboard: 37 keys
Polyphony: 64 voices
Patch memories: 64 preset, 64 user
Sound generation: virtual analogue 3 tones (oscillator, filter, amplifier, 3 envelopes, 2 LFOs)
Oscillator types: saw, square, pulse/PWM, triangle, sine, noise, super saw (similar to 7 saws stacked and detuned)
Filter types: LPF, HPF, BPR, peaking (12dB and 24dB / octave).
LFO types: triangle, sine, saw, square, sample & hold, random
Effects: distortion, flanger, delay, reverb, low boost,
Arpeggiator: 64 patterns
Phrase recorder: 8 memories
Connectors: stereo output (1/4 inch jacks), headphones, sustain pedal, MIDI in & out, USB computer, USB stick, external input (stereo minijack), DC power.
Dimensions: 689 (w) x 317 (d) x 99 (h) mm
Weight: 4.2kg