SH-01A First Impression

Forum for boutique synths
Post Reply
MilesTag
Posts: 5
Joined: 16:17, 15 September 2017

SH-01A First Impression

Post by MilesTag »

As a former SH101 owner (my first synth) back in the early 80s, I had no hesitation to buy this. Received it yesterday and I am having a blast! Don't bother with the crap internal speaker though. I plugged it into my iLoud and it's amazing. The sliders are not too small, which I was worried about. Very simple to switch between presets and manual mode. Looking forward to creating lots of patches.

3 days later... The SH-01A (SH-101) is not a complex or deep synth by any measure, but it really is a lot of fun to go back to a true "knob-per-function" physical interface (okay, "slider-per-function"). The same money can definitely buy you a LOT more synthesis power in virtual or hardware form. I've been a big fan (and consumer) of IOS synth apps over the last year or so, and my Novation Ultranova is DEEEEP. But there really is nothing like having a piece of "vintage" hardware in front of you. Yes, it's still a "virtual" SH-101 but the sound and the feel are real enough for me. It really does sound great, especially considering there are no built-in effects. For me, the nostalgia aspect alone was well worth the price of entry. I no longer have an SH-101 to compare it to, and my memory has surely faded over these past 35 years but having your first synth in hand again (or at least a slightly miniaturized recreation) is very, very cool indeed. -JR
GSE
Posts: 3
Joined: 15:55, 6 October 2017

Re: SH-01A First Impression

Post by GSE »

I too had a real 101 recently, sold it, and missed it afterward. This boutique really fills my desire and sounds really good in the process. It's just as punchy, warm, nice PWM/Sub, and good low end just like the original. At first I missed having CV/gate in to input Eurorack signals, but the sequencer/arpeggiator make up for that. The Ext Clk input syncs up very nice w/ this unit. And w/ CV/gate outs has something to offer back to my Eurorack. Kudos to all the new features added: noise variant, shuffle, note scaling, lfo variant that goes into audio rates, polyphony, and my new favorite - chord mode sounds really good!
Ajax
Posts: 1
Joined: 18:45, 6 October 2017

Re: SH-01A First Impression

Post by Ajax »

Hi guys. first time poster here. Could one of you test an issue i am having with my SH-01A? When i hold a note, no matter the setting it eventually cuts off abruptly. The culprit might be the LFO, but never having owned a 101 before i have no way of testing this theory.

Any help would be appreciated!
User avatar
Myrk-
Posts: 329
Joined: 19:45, 27 August 2016
Location: Bristol, UK

Re: SH-01A First Impression

Post by Myrk- »

Ajax, unfortunately your question is waaaaaaay too vague to answer. I believe you have a slider pushed up that is effecting the sound. Best re-read the manual to learn all the features and track down what is making the sound change.
The culprit might be the LFO, but never having owned a 101 before i have no way of testing this theory.
You have an SH-01a in front of you... you have every means of testing your theory!
Andrie
Posts: 30
Joined: 22:19, 25 February 2016

Re: SH-01A First Impression

Post by Andrie »

@Ajax if u turn up the slider for the lfo and the speed of the sound-cutoff increases, u know it is :)
Post Reply