I’ve had two constant complaints about most Roland gear: a lack of hands-on controls and an pointless quantity of diving by incomprehensible menus. However, earlier this yr the corporate shipped the Aira Compact S-1 Tweak Synth. Its menu despatched me right into a rage spiral, but it surely did provide a good variety of hands-on controls. Then, not lengthy after, Roland debuted the SH-4D which not solely had loads of knobs, buttons and faders, however a streamlined menu and a display screen that didn’t predate dwelling computer systems. My largest problem was the shape issue; I simply actually wished it to be a devoted synthesizer with a keyboard, but it surely was extra of a pseudo groovebox.
So, when Roland introduced the Gaia 2 — an extended overdue replace to its 13-year-old digital analog synth — I used to be cautiously optimistic. The S-1 and SH-4D had been indicators the corporate was not off course interface-wise, they usually each sounded nice. At first look the Gaia 2 gave the impression to be the whole lot I’ve been searching for in a Roland synth: loads of hands-on controls, an honest display screen, a simplified menu and a full-size 37-key keybed. And but, on the threat of seeming unattainable to please, I walked away from the Gaia 2 a bit unhappy.
All sounds, apart from the drums, come straight from the Gaia 2. The one further processing being some EQ and compression.
{Hardware}
Essentially the most instantly underwhelming factor is the construct. Now, to be clear, the Gaia 2 doesn’t really feel low cost, however I anticipated barely extra from a $900 synth. The highest panel is steel, however the remainder is plastic. The keyboard is great, however lacks aftertouch. The knobs are largely wonderful, however there are a number of encoders that really feel free and have an excellent quantity of wiggle. The detents on some are weak too, making it simple to overlook your mark. Plus the pitch and mod wheels are bizarrely small. All of these items could be simply forgiven on a $600 synthesizer, however at this value I felt a bit let down.
The Korg Minilogue XD, as an example, solely prices $650 and usually feels extra rugged, even when the keybed isn’t nearly as good. And Elektron’s Digitakt and Digitone lack a keyboard however really feel damn-near indestructible at $949 (and for under $50 extra).
The controls are in depth, although. Roland hasn’t solved all of its menu-diving issues, however the Gaia 2 will get fairly shut. There are extra knobs and buttons than I care to depend. Every part is organized logically and, whereas there are some shift capabilities, lots of the controls are single goal, leaving you free to tweak virtually something with one hand whilst you play. That is getting more durable and more durable to return by as clients anticipate extra highly effective synth engines with extra modulation choices, whereas additionally wanting devices to be compact.
The Gaia 2 isn’t precisely small. At roughly 26 inches huge and 13 inches deep, it does command an honest quantity of desk area, but it surely’s hardly onerous. And it makes probably the most of its entrance panel, cramming it stuffed with controls and an honest sized display screen.
It’s inevitable that your eyes might be drawn to the “Motional” touchpad straight under that. It’s one of many highlights of the synth, with my one criticism being its placement. It’s lifeless heart, which is sensible in the event you’re utilizing it to navigate the menus with a cursor. However, it’s a lot sooner to only use the knobs. The touchpad simply doesn’t really feel pure for navigating the interface, and it might be a lot much less cumbersome for efficiency on the left aspect — there’s definitely room for it alongside the toy-sized pitch and mod wheels.
The Motional Pad is nice, the horrible title apart. It looks as if a little bit of a gimmick at first — a big X/Y touchpad, not in contrast to the Korg Kaoss Pad, devoted to modulation. However when you get previous the preliminary strangeness (and Roland’s manufacturing unit patches that lean laborious into its gimmicky aspect), it’s laborious to not see the worth. It’s used to manage the waveshaping and section modulation of oscillator one, however you may as well assign virtually any parameter you wish to the X and Y axis and alter them by merely dragging your finger round.
What’s extra, you possibly can document that movement, basically providing you with a 3rd, advanced LFO. It information not simply the form of your finger actions, however the timing too. So you would draw small circles slowly working your means from the underside left to the highest proper, to open up the filter and improve the resonance earlier than rapidly zigzagging your means again to the beginning. Most of the manufacturing unit presets deal with this animated modulation sequence as a novelty, sketching out small individuals, leaves and, in fact, the Roland emblem.
Sound engine
This clearly isn’t a deal breaker, but it surely does communicate to a broader problem I’ve with the Gaia 2: lots of the presets really feel like tech demos and I don’t discover them significantly usable. Now, I can already hear individuals getting up in arms. “Effectively, an actual musician could be designing all their very own patches from scratch anyway!” you is likely to be saying. I’m right here to let you know to go kick rocks. There’s no disgrace in taking part in presets, particularly in the event you’re making music as a pastime. Moreover, the manufacturing unit presets ought to be a showcase of what a synth is able to, not simply technically, however musically. And judging by that, the Gaia 2 is firmly caught within the early aughts.
That is in the end what left me feeling chilly in regards to the Gaia 2: It sounds dated. The unique Gaia was a strictly virtual analog affair. Its successor stored the identical three oscillator construction, however swapped in a wavetable engine for one in all them (the opposite two stay digital analog). There are many nice, modern-sounding synthesizers on the market that use wavetables, however Gaia 2 focuses on a specific model of Roland cheese. It’s good for scoring a flip of the century cyber thriller, and whereas some individuals will like it, others gained’t.
The 2 digital analog oscillators sound scientific and lack oomph within the decrease registers. The filter is extraordinarily versatile with three totally different slope choices (-12dB/Oct, -18dB/Oct or -24dB/Oct) for every of its three modes (lowpass, bandpass and highpass) and a drive choice. It could sound a contact skinny, but it surely’s serviceable.
I want I may say I used to be extra enamored with the sound engine, as a result of in any other case that is in all probability probably the most gratifying fashionable Roland synth I’ve used. The Gaia 2 strikes a near-perfect steadiness between complexity and approachability. The three oscillators, multimode filter, twin LFOs, Motional Pad and wealthy results part provide fairly a little bit of depth, however are extremely simple to dial in. Every part is labeled clearly and all the most important parameters have direct hands-on controls. Even most issues that require shift capabilities or some menu diving are all fairly intuitive. It’s legitimately enjoyable to program. The Gaia 2 would make a wonderful instrument to study synthesis on if it wasn’t so costly.
Making use of the LFO to any parameter is so simple as holding a button and turning the knob of no matter you wish to modulate. And there’s even a step mode the place you possibly can design a 16-step customized wave. The Motional Pad and wonderful sequencer are a cinch to make use of. And having faders as an alternative of knobs for the 2 envelopes (amp and filter) is a pleasant contact. There’s no modulation matrix and you’ll’t reroute the envelopes, however I didn’t thoughts a lot. I hardly ever ran right into a scenario the place I actually wished to do one thing when designing a patch, however couldn’t. It’s a simple synth with sufficient depth to maintain even skilled gamers twiddling knobs for hours.
Mannequin Expansions
When you develop bored of the principle Gaia engine, you possibly can load Mannequin Expansions so as to add emulations of traditional Roland synths just like the Jupiter-8 or Juno-106. It even comes with an SH-101 emulation pre-installed. Actually, that sounds higher than the default digital analog engine.
After all, the mannequin expansions aren’t low cost at $149. And loading them on the Gaia is, let’s say, aggravating. You’ve got two choices: You should buy an optionally available $100 wireless USB adapter and ship them out of your telephone. Or, you possibly can copy recordsdata to a USB key after which load them manually from there. (You understand, identical to it’s 2001.) This is among the few locations the place Roland stays stubbornly archaic. Though the Gaia 2 has a USB-C port able to transmitting each audio and MIDI (and energy), it will probably’t connect with the Roland Cloud supervisor app to load Mannequin Expansions.
Results
The intense spot within the sound engine, although, is certainly the results. There are seven reverb and delay choices, three sorts of wonderful sounding refrain, and 53 different results together with compressors, bit crushers, lo-fi and scatter. The brand new shimmer reverb algorithm, particularly, is attractive. There’s virtually as a lot room for sound design within the FX part alone as there may be in the remainder of the synth. That is additionally your finest guess for including some character to the customarily cold-sounding most important oscillators.
Wrap-up
Finally, what makes the Gaia disappointing is that it will get a lot proper, however can’t fairly stick the touchdown. It’s extraordinarily enjoyable to program patches on, however I simply didn’t click on with the outcomes. It expertly blends approachability with depth, but it surely’s too costly to advocate to a newbie. And it lastly delivers the hands-on controls individuals have been begging for, however the high quality of the encoders, pots and buttons depart one thing to be desired. I wished to love the Gaia 2, and I’m certain there’s loads of individuals on the market who will, but it surely’s simply not for me.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/roland-gaia-2-review-roland-finally-delivers-the-hands-on-synthesizer-weve-been-begging-for-150058035.html?src=rss
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