Open Box Roland SH-4d Compact Desktop Synthesizer Level 1

I looked at a lot of YouTube videos using this product before getting mine and even downloaded the manual from the Roland webpage. It is loaded with features and can mix four sound engines at the same time. What I found is that it is great for doing trance music and can even control the tempo down below 40 bpm (for chill out trance). That being said, the unit had a fatal flaw for me. It had no sustain function to hold notes "on" and there were no updates to change this (there were only the 2 updates and it was unsupported after 1.3). I thought it had this function because of the "hold" button, but unlike the Roland S1, which has a hold button that controls the sustain function, the hold button turns on/off the arpeggio. There is a partial work around in this, in that you can play a one note arpeggio (though it is really looping), but holding down chords does not work, and you cannot add notes without the arpeggio turning off. You also have to hold down all the keys while holding down the arpeggio and the hold button. To be fair, I do not know if it can receive a sustain MIDI signal from a keyboard, and this might work very well. But I needed this function to be resident in my set up. I still give the unit 4 stars because it seems to have a lot of power and is good at what it does. But for the way I compose ambient music, I do need a sustain function. When I hold down the notes, usually a D and A harmonic fifth, I then tweak the music until all the subharmonics sound good. I was hoping that I could switch between the four sound engines while doing a sustain of the chord, but it required more complex menu diving than I had expected, and it was not easy. I found a few reviewers on YouTube had warned me about this, especially with the pattern player (sequencer). I had thought it was broke and had to dive into the manual to figure it out. Its complexity did allow one to go from one sequence to another very smoothly and control the tempo of each sequence in midstream. I could see that this would be great for a trance DJ doing a live performance. All in all, I would still recommend it to others with some qualifications. I have reservations about it from an ambient composer doing studio music point of view. My intuition is that these issues are able to be overcome if you are going to work with the manual and commit to learning everything from this and from some YT videos. I carried some expectations from the Roland S1 that were not fulfilled by the Roland SH 4D (the hold button was even in the same location of the UI and this fooled me). Because it has about 12 sound engines and you can mix 4 of them very well, it might be very good for a person who only has this instrument and is willing to master its complexities. It packs a lot into one box. That is why I got it and tried it out. I ended up returning it, because the lack of a sustain function was a deal breaker for me and I was dissatisfied with the pattern sequencer and the ability to easily switch around all its functions. It did not give me enough that I was already getting better with the Roland S1 and J6.

hoping for an upgrade to mc-101 ---- not even close, no chaining of patterns, no song mode, convoluted save functions..... and most of all weak, dull sounds.... the MC 101 is miles better --- or any of the boutiques.

Easy to use and sounds fantastic

I was worried that the preset drum and synth sounds inside the unit would just be the exact same that i have in other Roland products! I am pleased with the fact the majority of the presets sound fresh and different than all my other instruments! Lots of retro synth-pop minimal, electro and Even Industrial tones can be found or created in the SH-4d. The effects are real good, and the many dials can really change a preset into something brand new. I am pleased with my purchase!

After years of garish designs... The SH is a breath of fresh air. Eminently useable knobs, and lots of them. The menus don't get too deep, and most functionality is a click or two away. There's an interesting breadth of sounds available from the various oscillator models. It's a complete blast to whip together quick ideas... Though the current OS doesn't give a song mode or pattern transpose capability. Fantastic bang for the buck, sounds great. Maybe a bit of a niche taste... But suits me perfectly.

Sounds great fun to use Compaq. There is a learning curve though beware but once you've climbed over it, it's a great bargain.