New Roland Gaia 2 synth

[Paul Woodward]

I didn’t even know this was in the works…

https://www.roland.com/uk/products/gaia_2/

 

initial thoughts are its very Korg Wavestate, but the different synth engines that can be loaded expand its sonic arsenal. Why, in this age, are they still selling a wireless adaptor?

Not particularly excited by it, and almost £800.

 

[stoken6]

Looks quite nice, sounds a bit meh. 

 

Cheers, Mike.

[DeltaJockey]

Yes very Korgish, reminds me a bit of a Minilogue.

 

Why is it when they do demonstration videos, and I mean all companies, they always show the person twiddling knobs to the sound in a way like, they're having to strain to turn the knob. The put all their might into it. You can can just see the fingers tightly tensed up, like they're turning an old steering wheel style water pipe valve, and needing to put enormous amounts of grunt into it. Maybe this one isn't quite as pronounced, but I'm wondering if anyone else ever notices this?

[DeltaJockey]

Found this one in my Inbox just now..

 

[ElmerJFudd]

 

[Jose EB5AGV]

 

[RABid]

In stock. $900. Here is Loopop on it. (You might consider editing the title and putting "Gaia 2" to make it easier to find in the future.

 

 

[time4jazz]

3 hours ago, DeltaJockey said:

they always show the person twiddling knobs to the sound in a way like, they're having to strain to turn the knob. The put all their might into it.

That’s the best a keyboardist can do to get that rock look a guitarist gets when pushing up on the strings, back arched, strained expression…

[ElmerJFudd]

The synth specs suggest the main engine is like a VA - perhaps based on JP8000.  It appears you can add a license for the  SH-101 model. 

[Baldwin Funster]

Oh good. A new synth for making the kind of music I try very hard to avoid. 

[CEB]

Yuck.  Roland guy here.  Longtime Roland synth guy.
 

They are wrecking the Roland interface.  Too many knobs and not enough sliders.   It look like a Korg.  

[Threadslayer]

This is going to reveal how out of touch I am these days, but has Roland completely abandoned the horizontal pitch bender?

[ElmerJFudd]

There are really two engines here, even though each is digital. Oscillators 2 + 3 are based on ZEN-Core, Roland’s current do-all digital platform. Oscillator 1 is an entirely new wavetable engine.

 

 Expansion: The SH-101 is pre-installed, so you don’t need Roland Cloud for that. But with a Roland Cloud subscription, you can also add model expansions. At launch, that’s the JUPITER-8, JUNO-106, and JX-8P.

 

USB-C provides power, and it’s a class-compliant MIDI and audio interface. There’s also a USB-A host port that provides MIDI and storage capability. That means you can connect other devices via USB instead of just MIDI DIN. 
 

https://cdm.link/2023/09/roland-gaia-2-model-expansions/

[RABid]

1 hour ago, Threadslayer said:

This is going to reveal how out of touch I am these days, but has Roland completely abandoned the horizontal pitch bender?

That was the first thing I noticed. I prefer a joystick. They left it off.

[zephonic]

The original Gaia had the lever, not wheels. Why on Earth they would change that, I don’t know

 

[Paul Woodward]

I just parted with a JDXi, wheels look similar on this. 

[Bill H.]

... As on the Jupiter Xm, which also used mini wheels and no pitch-mod lever. It wouldn't be quite so bad with full sized wheels, but I guess Roland wants you to pay more for a keyboard with them. I just wished they had put the lever on it, and called it good. 

 

Looks aside, with it's Zencore engine the new Gaia seems to be more aligned with the Jupiter Xm than anything else Roland. It just doesn't look like a Roland, but seems to be well laid out - and with full sized keys this time. 

[ElmerJFudd]

32 minutes ago, Bill H. said:

... As on the Jupiter Xm, which also used mini wheels and no pitch-mod lever. It wouldn't be quite so bad with full sized wheels, but I guess Roland wants you to pay more for a keyboard with them. I just wished they had put the lever on it, and called it good. 

 

Looks aside, with it's Zencore engine the new Gaia seems to be more aligned with the Jupiter Xm than anything else Roland. It just doesn't look like a Roland, but seems to be well laid out - and with full sized keys this time. 

It’s not as flexible a ZEN-core box as the X or Xm - it does have a ZEN-Core VA but is limited to loading specific analogue synth models from their collection.  And obviously they have not included things like SN pianos, no d50, no jd800, no xv5080 no SRX, blah blah blah. 
 

So adding to the complexity of their lineup - one really has to investigate closely with their current post ZEN-core based  instruments what is and what isn’t being supported on the hardware.  

[Mighty Motif Max]

Not sure I see this as very related to the original Gaia SH-09. It is interesting to note though that there was some discussion years back that the Gaia's supersaw was using sampled waveforms in the VA process, so I suppose I shouldn't be terribly surprised that they went with a ZenCore system again.

[ABECK]

I actually like the sound and the interface.

But maybe it's just me getting older....I don't have the patience to sit through synth demos anymore.  The noodling and knob tweaking seems so musically unfocused.  And don't get me started on never ending arpeggios accompanied by two handed knob turning and hipster head bobbing.  For the love of all things holy, can I hear a cohesive musical thought please!   (that being said, the Music Track is typically one of the better demo guys.)  Now, get off my lawn.

[David Emm]

Listening to synth demos is a separate skill. You have to apply all of your hands-on experiences to the limitations of MP3 conversion and fill in some of the blanks. Its easy to feel put off by the quick leap to EDM that you usually get, but even so, it doesn't take long for me to hear the base character of most things. I'm finding the GAIA2 oddly appealing. It may not be multitimbral or fully ZEN-Core'd, but so far, it feels refreshingly solid.

[Bill H.]

^ Yeah me too. As a straight up VA with a few bells and whistles it looks and sounds pretty cool. From what I've seen so far, it seems to be much more one knob per function than Roland's recent Junos and Jupiters. I think I could dig right into it without doing a lot of head scratching menu diving. From the videos, the keybed looks OK too. There seems to be a bit of length to them anyway. 

 

A few minuses for me are the aforementioned lack of Roland's really convenient pitch/mod lever, multiitmbrality, and a big red flag when the reviewer in the RABid post said a button was balky and had to be pressed more than once. For me, this has been a recurring problem with this brand that just gets worse over time. 

[mate stubb]

Might have to update my long running sig.

[Adan]

I thought the GAIA was one of the most fun VA synths I played, just because of the 1 to 1 knob to function aspect of it -- it sort of gave the same hands on experience as full analog.  It was my main synth for a Michael Jackson tribute I did for 3 years, and no one ever said hey that synth sounds too thin.  It did sound thin, but the thinness never mattered in a cover/tribute band context. Pretty good example of how the insider/purist viewpoint doesn't translate to pleasing audiences.

 

I don't need any kind of synth right now, but if I did I'd start by taking a hard look at this as an affordable way back into it.

[Tusker]

11 hours ago, mate stubb said:

Might have to update my long running sig.

 

Ha Ha! I feel very honored to have been on all your posts MS. 😎

 

My wise-ass comment shouldn't deter anyone from owning these synths. Gaia 1 is super easy to dial in and if you are not expecting something massively old-school it can be a solid utility player. Adan and CEB have both gigged Gaia 1 with no problems. They should know.

 

Gaia 2 seems like a big step up in both old-school tone and new kinds of flexibility also. Wouldn't it be ironic if I added it to my live rig?  "Hey weren't you that snarky guy who ...?" 😉

[lsj]

just my opinion but I love the pitch and mod wheels.  better than that tiny little fragile stick I have on my argon 8.

[CEB]

I gigged with the Gaia SH-01. I liked it. I like the traditional  Roland slider interfaces.  I still have my gray SH-101.  The Gaia is easy and fun to program.  
 

The only knock against the Gaia is that oscillators are a little flakey. You can notice it with high pitch triangle waves.  But the aliasing is minor enough it isn’t a problem for Rock n Roll or … playing Gaga at 115 db. 

[CHarrell]

It's been all but confirmed that OG Gaia used sampled waveforms, it's not surprising but still very welcome they changed that for the sequel.

[lsj]

I like the sound of the gaia 2.  wondering if this would be a good addition to my collection since I own Korg wavestate and modwave, Argon 8, Hydrasynth desktop, Waldorf blofeld and Waldorf Iridium desktop in my digital collection.  any comments would be appreciated.

[David Emm]

On 9/30/2023 at 9:19 AM, lsj said:

I like the sound of the gaia 2.  wondering if this would be a good addition to my collection since I own Korg wavestate and modwave, Argon 8, Hydrasynth desktop, Waldorf blofeld and Waldorf Iridium desktop in my digital collection.  any comments would be appreciated.

 

I'd ask "What does the GAIA 2 offer that I don't already have covered?" You're well-supplied with both wavetable and VA options. It would be more of a balance if you went for a real analog synth or a ROMpler that offered sampled sounds of drums and guitars, for instance. It depends on your main goals and how you record your work.

 

If you want to utilize a DAW, consider a mixer (or a bigger one than you have now) that will feed it readily. If not, look into trackers that will let you use each of your synths for Berlin-style music, as one example. Your Korgs and Argon 8 already bring keys to the table, so its a matter of finding a balance between your existing gear, your studio space and level of "disposable" income. In Synth World, GAS sometimes means "I can buy it without losing my home or my wife." 😜