Just got a Roland Gaia and like it a lot: see the SOS review for many of the reasons why*.

One thing puzzles me: if you want to run it on batteries, the manual specifically says use nickel-metal hydrides, and specifically says not to use alkaline batteries.

Having been a Duracell user man and boy, I am wondering why this is. Is it because disposable batteries are not great for the environment, or is there some reason why nickel-metal hydrides are less likely to stuff up the instrument ?

If any of you can supply the answer it would make me a more effective know-all in pub quizzes.

Cheers
Sam







*P.S. A two-minute review in case anyone is thinking of buying one:

Not as aggressive as, say, a Virus. Paul Nagle's review comments about the understated filter resonance are very valid.

However, it produces a lot of very good stuff, has wonderful saw and supersaw sounds, and everything it does will sit well in a mix. Most of all, it is a hoot to use. I got my head around it in about ten minutes. The manual takes about 40 minutes to read. It has the Phun Phactor.

Build quality is good for a synth this cheap and this light. Handling is great: the controls are well spaced and weighted, and the light weight and rounded edges mean you can park off on the sofa or in bed with the thing on your knee for a lazy approach to sound design. The keyboard is unexpectedly good considering the box's weight: positive, precise action and no wobbly flimsiness.

The external power supply does at least have a good connection to the box, and the battery option is very handy.

Can't comment on the GM sounds, and won't ever use them. Can't think why they are there.

Very odd that oscillator sync removes the polyphony and makes the unit a temporary monosynth. Also, the oscillator tune function is stepped in semitones, not continuous (handy in most cases but not so much for sync sweeps), and the detune has only a plus-or-minus one semitone range. So let's agree that moist, spankable sync naughtiness is not the machine's forte, although it is at least usable in that way.

However, there are so many toys here that this won't ruin your day. Arpeggiators, phrase recorder, LFO with a sort of mixer control to assign it flexibly to the Osc, filter and amp, grababble portamento control, three concurrent FX with all controls on the surface ...

It's a joy to play. The easiest-to-use synth I have seen since the SH-09 and SH-101 back in the '80s (haven't played a Little Phatty yet ...). But with polyphony and three stackable, independent oscillator/filter/VCA combinations, and a load more FX.

Even the documentation is good.

An ideal first synth to learn programming on (or to encourage a lazy git like me to stop using presets), and together with a DAW and some drum samples it may be all you ever need to write floor-fillers. A very welcome addition to the playroom.

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Instant gratification is actually pretty good. It's fast as well.

Environmental reasons will be one factor but it's not just that, Ni-Mh batteries last longer (much longer if you splash the cash on ultra high capacity ones) and output a steadier voltage than alkalines.

As an example, I use high capacity (2700mAh) Ni-Mh bateries in my Zoom H4. With Alkalines, a 3 hour battery life is expected. With the Ni-Mh batteries, I often get 10-12 hours of recording from a full charge.

It's not just that though, rechargables are a damned sight cheaper in the long run.

Thanks Shreddie.

Off I go to the battery shop.

Sam

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Instant gratification is actually pretty good. It's fast as well.

Is it really that good though?

I mean they're still flogging the old supersaw wave as if it's something new. They did it with the sh-201 aswell. Why not come up with something new? The TI came up with LOADS of stuff, including the hypersaw wave. Yet roland don't seem to have added much since the JP over 10 years ago

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www.myspace.com/michaeldow www.myspace.com/portasoundband

Where next, though. The gigasaw? Terasaw?

Quote Sam Inglis:

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Where next, though. The gigasaw? Terasaw?

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Surely it's time to leave the saws behind and venture into angle grinder territory.

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New album 'Fantasy Bridge' available now!
Making of Fantasy Bridge Diary

I don't think it does anything new at all.

But what it does, it does in a very friendly way.

Don't get me wrong: I won't be throwing out my Virus or my Microwave XT anytime soon.

Both the Virus and the XT sound better than the Gaia. But the point is that I will happily sit and mess about with the Gaia and can come up with useable stuff very quickly. Programming the others is a bit like work, and needs a fair bit of background reading and forethought.

Let's be honest: if you have a Virus, then most of the sounds on it will be presets. Come on, you know it's true. If you have a Gaia, you will roll your own all the time. Simple as that.

To give you some idea of the magnetism of the thing: my girlfriend, whose previous contact with music creation was piano lessons at school, has spent about four hours with the Gaia in the two days I have had it.

I would suggest that the vilification it is attracting (see Gearslutz for many, many examples) is a fair indication of how important this instrument is going to be. The SH-101 and TB-303 (and the iPod for that matter) were similarly slated when they came out, and for similar reasons: shiny plastic case, nothing new technically, looks a bit like a toy.

Lighten up, gents. This is a very useful gadget for days when you want to work with big-picture rather than detail, or when you just want to remind yourself that it doesn't have to be difficult.

Of course, if you already have a Jupiter 8 and an Odyssey, or do sound design for a living, then YMMV.

Cheers
Sam

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Instant gratification is actually pretty good. It's fast as well.

... actually, reading that post again, I am sounding a bit earnest and generally like an Apple fanboy. Sorry !

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Instant gratification is actually pretty good. It's fast as well.

Have copied the user comments to the User Reports forum: seems more appropriate there.

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Instant gratification is actually pretty good. It's fast as well.

I'll be honest i rareley use my virus c's presets. i;ve made 3 banks of my own sounds and still making more! The presets are for most part never quite what i need, althogh it does have some nice ones tha i have used, a handful though. Same with anything, i'd far rather make my own. The JP was a breeze to use too.

My virus is very had now days, the buttons have taken it upon themselves to do their own things and a lot of them do the wrong function (stupid digital software!) LFO nob changes patch, fx button changes octave.... nightmare!

But anyway, i still think they should have tried to put something new on it! They're falling behind it seems!

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www.myspace.com/michaeldow www.myspace.com/portasoundband

Nice one, Michael. Three banks of Virus sounds is very good going !

I have probably a dozen of my own Virus sounds that I use regularly. I use a lot of Vengeance sounds, but still use some of the factory stuff, tweaked a bit. But preset-and-tweak doesn't really count as my own sound now does it ?

Good luck with filling banks D to H. You could always work the ideas out on a Gaia, then punch them into the Virus when you have more time ;-)

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Instant gratification is actually pretty good. It's fast as well.

Admittedly a lot of them are slight variations for different tunes. IE different amount of wobble, or unison modes or effects. I save each one as a new one so that if i ever go back to the track i have the exact sound that was used.

I dont think on the gaia you could mak half the amount of sounds as the virus though. If the JP is anything to go by (and i love my jp8080 muchly!) it's range of sounds isn't huge, and i know it inside out! The fact it's only simple waveforms is fairly restricting.

I'm actuall interested in having a play with the gaia now though on aftethought. I'm after a new easy to use fun keyboard for my band. The sh-09 is just not doing it anymore when it comes to range of sounds!

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www.myspace.com/michaeldow www.myspace.com/portasoundband

One problem with NiMH is self-discharge though.

Leave an alkaline for a year, you'll still have damn near the same charge you started with. Leave a NiMH for a week, and you'll have significantly less than a full tank. So anyone using anything battery-powered for anything serious is well-advised to keep some alkalines on hand for spare. Maybe they're not as environmentally friendly, maybe they're not as smooth, but you can 100% guarantee they'll be working when you've forgotten to recharge your NiMHs!

Hi Michael

I was just kidding: the Virus has a very different architecture and very different-sounding oscillators and filters, so you wouldn't really transfer sounds from one to the other.

You are making me queasy with envy of your synth collection. If you already have an SH-09 and a JP8080, you may not get much extra out of the Gaia. I wish they still made the SH-09. It was very easy to use and sounded triffik.

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Instant gratification is actually pretty good. It's fast as well.

Hehe, yeah it's a dream to have them about that's for sure

I'm selling my 303 and 606 ...... much to my dismay. I just don't use them and i need the cash so badly now. Gutted! But if im sitting on over a grand when i only bought the 303 for 600 2 years ago, then it cant be all bad right?
Still got the old mks-50 though.... really don't want to sell anything!

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www.myspace.com/michaeldow www.myspace.com/portasoundband