Roland SH-5 -VS- Roland System 100 (101&102)

[MindDead]

I am going to drop some $ and want to know someone's experience with either of these synths.

It's between the Roland SH-5 & the Roland System 100 (the 101& the 102).

Both seem similar, but the S100 is Semi-modular, which would give it more modulation options (right?).

I make Jungle/Drum & Bass music and want something mean & evil.

Has anyone used both? Any differences that I am not seeing between the 2 that I am not picking up on from the vintage synth sites?

Thank you for any help.

[amino]

I have quite of lot of experience of both actually. I had a System 100 for about 4 years I think, but used it to trade for a Oberheim 4-Voice half a year ago. I also had a SH-5 for a year or so, sold it when I had to move, but picked up another one last Friday!

First of all, they are both very, very nice synths. Their sound characters are very similar and they also share design on a lot stuff. For instance they've got the same oscillators. Mean and evil is definitely a good way to describe the sound. The oscillators sound massive and the filters are really dirty and thicken things up even more.

As you said, with System 100 you get the patch possibilities. Even if there aren't too many of them jacks, you can do a lot of crazy stuff, especially if you got some other modulation sources for them. You can use 101 and 102 in parallell so get some wide stereo sounds, or you can use one of them simply for modulations. The S/H on 102 is somewhat crazy. It lives its life on its own and it is great for weird effects and stuff.

The SH-5 however is one h**l of a synth too. A big plus is of course its filters. The main filter is a multimode filter, and even though the lowpass mode (same as System 100) is the strongest mode, the others are nice to have as well. The separate bandpass filter is simply amazing and can make the the floor rumble. The mixer section is one of the best on any synth ever made and the SH-5 has got lots of modulation possibilites as well.

If I had to recommend one of them it would have to be the SH-5, but you really can't go wrong with any them.

[amino]

BTW, this thread should be moved to "Electronic Music Instruments & Electronic Music Production"...

[Sounds Great]

The thing I remember most about my system 100 is that it did a great thunderstorm. thumbsup

[MindDead]

Originally Posted by amino

BTW, this thread should be moved to "Electronic Music Instruments & Electronic Music Production"...

How do I move it?

[Sounds Great]

Originally Posted by MindDead

How do I move it?

The mods can move it if they notice.

[tommygee]

Honestly the bandpass filter in the SH5 is the best i EVER heard !!!!!!! Its beyond any description ;-)

[Evanskyler]

Your making jungle? You want a juno 6. (not the 60 or the 106)

[JOliver]

the SH-5 is superior to the system 100 because you get that amazing bandpass filter and it also much of the routing capability you would probably want from the 100 anyway and its so much easier with the nice little mixer.
Then again you lose an ADSR envelope on the 5. if you have both the 101 and 102 on the system 100 you have two ADSRs versus the SH-5s one ADSR and AR.

[sleestack]

I think the bandpass in the sh5 is what makes it a great synth. Otherwise its just ok. There are schematics of the bandpass on the net. Maybe have a clone made. Since sh5's are going for upwards of 3 k.

[LNerell]

If those were my only two choices I would go with the SH5. I never really liked the 100 system, just a little too odd and a little too limited for me. Besides these days if you want to go the modular route their are so many better options with new systems. I think for the money you could start building a small euro-rack system (Analogue Systems, Doepfer, Plan B, Livewire, etc) and just add to it over time as your budget and desires permit. Just some food for thought.

[Arturo00]

Originally Posted by Evanskyler

Your making jungle? You want a juno 6. (not the 60 or the 106)

sorry for resurrecting such an old thread, but...I find this statement a little odd. I could understand if you said to choose the 6 *or* the 60 over the 106, but the 6 and the 60 are identical, save for the memory on the 60.

unless you were being sarcastic...but who can ever really tell over these internets. 8[

[Sounds Great]

Originally Posted by Arturo00

sorry for resurrecting such an old thread, but...I find this statement a little odd. I could understand if you said to choose the 6 *or* the 60 over the 106, but the 6 and the 60 are identical, save for the memory on the 60.

unless you were being sarcastic...but who can ever really tell over these internets. 8[

That is true. As far as I know the 60 added memory recall to parameters and changed nothing else. The 106 is a much different beast.

[dlmorley]

Originally Posted by Arturo00

sorry for resurrecting such an old thread, but...I find this statement a little odd. I could understand if you said to choose the 6 *or* the 60 over the 106, but the 6 and the 60 are identical, save for the memory on the 60.

unless you were being sarcastic...but who can ever really tell over these internets. 8[

Just to be pedantic, the 6 has a variable hipass filter whereas on the 60 it has 3 positions I believe!