ROLAND GAIA VA Synth

[dlmorley]

the above video is exactly what I hate about demos.

[Nu Mixer]

I just won one on ebay-- can't wait til it gets here!! I played it at GC for a few minutes and had a blast. VERY usable. I personally think it looks really cool and love the size and fact that it takes batteries.

Sure it's not quite as raw or fat as the original SH101.. but running it thru my Fatso and Neve should help with that.

I'm psyched on the GM bank. To be able to run those bread and butter sounds thru it's filters and LFO's will give great creative fodder.

[Nu Mixer]

Got the synth yesterday. I don't care what the purists say... I love it!

But the GM sounds do NOT go thru the filters. They are a PCM bank.. completely separate from the VA engine. I even called Roland to confirm. Oh well... I still love this synth.

[cane creek]

With the Gaia all Roland had to do was put Analog oscillators & filters inside it add £200 to the asking price and everybody would of watched the Phoenix rise, Roland would of been stuff of legend once again.

maybe next time ?

[ChristianRock]

No, there will be no analog oscillators and filters from Roland. Much less for 200 quid.

[boon]

Originally Posted by SonicBern

that sounds awful.

[boon]

Originally Posted by cane creek

With the Gaia all Roland had to do was put Analog oscillators & filters inside it add £200 to the asking price and everybody would of watched the Phoenix rise, Roland would of been stuff of legend once again.

why does it matter if Roland is "stuff of legend once again"?

i mean, there are plenty of other very nice analog synths out there that are new, innovative, sound great and are well made.

sure, we'd all love new inexpensive sh2's, 101's etc but roland is bent on doing other things.. so be it.

[PaPi61]

I was going to buy a GAIA. I tested it extensively and then came to the conclusion that my Korg R3 (with the Radias engine/vocoder) is a much, much better VA synth (heck, even my humble Micron is!) Needless to say, any comparison between the GAIA and my Virus is an exercise in futility: not even in the same ballpark.

First of all the construction reminds me of a Fisher-Price toy rather than any professional synth. Yeah, my R3 is also all-plastic, but it feels a lot sturdier and the knobs are actually pretty accurate, unlike the GAIA's sliders, which are very coarse and inconsistent. But I was willing to forgive the shoddy construction, the pathetic keyboard and the toy-ish looks if the sound really impressed me (after all, that's all that counts, right?) But, unfortunately, it didn't. Truly, this thing lacks any bite and stacking the three individual virtual synths doesn't really seem to help either. So, you can say it was quite of a let down. The final insult is the price. $700 is way too much, considering you can have an R3 for as little as $450 and a used Virus TI Snow on eBay for as little as $800.

[asynchro_nous]

Originally Posted by SonicBern

Roland GAGA?

[SynthesizerPatel]

Originally Posted by PaPi61

I was going to buy a GAIA. I tested it extensively and then came to the conclusion that my Korg R3 (with the Radias engine/vocoder) is a much, much better VA synth (heck, even my humble Micron is!) Needless to say, any comparison between the GAIA and my Virus is an exercise in futility: not even in the same ballpark.

First of all the construction reminds me of a Fisher-Price toy rather than any professional synth. Yeah, my R3 is also all-plastic, but it feels a lot sturdier and the knobs are actually pretty accurate, unlike the GAIA's sliders, which are very coarse and inconsistent. But I was willing to forgive the shoddy construction, the pathetic keyboard and the toy-ish looks if the sound really impressed me (after all, that's all that counts, right?) But, unfortunately, it didn't. Truly, this thing lacks any bite and stacking the three individual virtual synths doesn't really seem to help either. So, you can say it was quite of a let down. The final insult is the price. $700 is way too much, considering you can have an R3 for as little as $450 and a used Virus TI Snow on eBay for as little as $800.

I think it's pretty decent build quality - especially the keyboard (spend time with a Korg M-50 66, now THAT'S a shoddy board). I suppose the looks might not be to everyone's tastes but I really like it aesthetically.

As for the sounds, after getting to know mine a bit better and tweaking it lots, I think it sounds luuuuurvely (again, down to personal tastes).

I REALLY don't think it deserves the amount of flak it gets on here (not that the above post was particularly vitriolic, in comparison). If, like me, you're after something fairly inexpensive that's good for pads, bass and the occasional (moog-a-like) lead, without going down the used route, then the Gaia's pretty damn good, I reckon.

[cane creek]

Originally Posted by boon

why does it matter if Roland is "stuff of legend once again"?

i mean, there are plenty of other very nice analog synths out there that are new, innovative, sound great and are well made.

sure, we'd all love new inexpensive sh2's, 101's etc but roland is bent on doing other things.. so be it.

I agree there are plenty of very nice Analogs synths out there however i own a little phatty & Doepfer DE and i'm in the market for another 100% Analog with keyboard and because i don't like the Dave smith offerings the word 'Plenty' turns into 'Non' ..... Something 100% Analog set-out like the Gaia would be perfect and would sell by the truck load however theres nothing on the market unless i pay £2300 for a voyager or get a steppy Analog hybrid dave smith offering.

[SonicBern]

[SonicBern]

Originally Posted by boon

that sounds awful.

[flat earth]

Originally Posted by SonicBern

Theres some nice sounds in that demo, but nothing most other cheap VA's couldn't pull off tbh.

Was nice to listen too though thumbsup

[boon]

Originally Posted by SonicBern

what? it does sound awful as do 99% of the other sounds i've heard from that synth. can't say i care much though. it's not really an exciting synth or something i had high expectations for when it was announced.

[PaPi61]

Originally Posted by SynthesizerPatel

If, like me, you're after something fairly inexpensive that's good for pads, bass and the occasional (moog-a-like) lead, without going down the used route, then the Gaia's pretty damn good, I reckon.

$700 isn't exactly inexpensive. Like I said, with $800 you can buy a used Virus TI Snow on eBay and get the best VA synth ever made.

[wackdaddy]

thousands of voices but 1 stereo out?

[wakestyle]

this one is nice

http://www.keyboardmag.com/ArtistVid...d=589206017001

[SynthesizerPatel]

Originally Posted by PaPi61

you can buy a used Virus TI Snow on eBay and get the best VA synth ever made.

Well I didn't. I bought a Gaia. And I really like it.

[KRE8A]

Originally Posted by kilon

And I really want a synth on batteries.

A lot of manufactured keyboards in this stone age aren't battery operative. That's th3 good part about this synth, I reckon. Also you don't have to buy batteries all the time :] Just buying a charger console with rechargeable batteries will do.

[wladymeer]

In case you don't desperately need batteries and "full-on-board-control" try getting Akai Miniak or Alesis Micron instead, much better price: sound quality ratio in my opinion. Better built, has very well-made gooseneck mic (Akai only), a lot of premade grovebox essentials. As a matter of fact, I find Akai $400 probably the best deal in VA currently! Bought one along with Blofeld and believe me that I don't know which one to play first!

[SBX-80]

I have no comment on the sound of the GAIA, as I haven't tried one out for myself yet, but I do like the look of it. It reminds me of a Casio keyboard I used to have ages ago, the MT-70. The color scheme seems kind of similar.

[B.A.R.F]

I Don't Care what anyone says about the Roland Gaia. I have one and I must say.... I like it. I can get some pretty cool sounds out of it. I've used it on a few recordings now and have gotten a lot of "What did you use to make that sound?" questions from people. It's another sound tool in my toolbox. I also love using the Korg Monotron and the Gakken SX-150. Fun stuff. Don't get me wrong i still wanna get a modular setup and or anything I can get my hands on.... as long as I can Find a use for it... it's welcome in my setup. I love The Gaia.

[natrixgli]

"But the GM sounds do NOT go thru the filters."

Actually try sending CC#74 to the same midi channel...... (#71 for Resonance)

-n8

[Estin]

Originally Posted by boon

that sounds awful.

i thought it sounded great. Not my choice in music but i am very much a fan of the digital VA sound.