SH-101

Name: SH-101
Price: 99 USD
Author: Roland

by Roland · Synth · SH-101 analog monosynth emulation

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SH-101 is Roland's circuit-modeled software version of the 1982 SH-101 monosynth, with a VCO, sub-oscillator, noise and a self-oscillating filter.

It adds a filter envelope, extra LFO shapes, reverb, bit-crusher, delay and an arpeggiator; it is sold through Roland Cloud.

Best for: Keys & Synths, Bass, Sound Design. Genres: Electronic & EDM, Pop, Hip-Hop & Trap.

Keywords: hardware emulation, monophonic, analog, arpeggiator, 80s, circuit-modelled, basses, licensed emulation, simple, classic, leads, plucks, sound design, subtractive, tempo-synced, vintage.

What it does

SH-101 is Roland's software model of its 1982 single-oscillator monosynth. Roland says it was developed with direct involvement from the original SH-101 engineers, using circuit-level modeling to capture how the analog parts behave and interact.

VCO: one oscillator with six ranges from 64' to 2' (extended beyond the original), plus pulse width from 50% to minimum, modulated manually or by the LFO, VCF envelope or VCA envelope.
Sub-oscillator and mixer: a sub-oscillator with 1-octave-down square, 2-octave-down square and 2-octave-down pulse, mixed with the square/pulse, saw and noise sources.
Filter: a resonant VCF from 10 Hz to 20 kHz that self-oscillates, with bipolar envelope depth, key follow and a dedicated ADSR filter envelope that the hardware lacked.
VCA: envelope or gate mode, a new tone control, and an ADSR whose trigger can be the gate, the LFO or gate plus trigger.
LFO and portamento: rate from 0.1 to 30 Hz with sine, triangle, saw, square, random and noise shapes, two of them added to the original's set, and portamento up to 5 seconds with On, Auto and Off modes.
Arpeggiator: 1- and 2-octave up, down and up/down patterns with steps from 1/4 to 1/16, including triplets.
Effects and skins: reverb, bit-crusher and tempo-synced delay, plus gray, blue and red skins after the original colour variants.

Presets come in banks of 64 patches, and you can make your own banks. It also works as a PLUG-OUT for Roland's SYSTEM-1, SYSTEM-1m and SYSTEM-8 hardware. It is sold through Roland Cloud.

Source: Roland product page

When to use it

SH-101 is the official model of one of the most used bassline synths, with the original's simple one-oscillator layout plus a filter envelope, wider VCO range and a built-in arpeggiator and effects. Compared with Diva, it is far narrower: one voice and one oscillator, against Diva's several analog-style oscillator and filter models, but it is quicker for classic 101 sounds. Serum 2 and Vital can build similar basses, but you shape them from scratch rather than getting the 101's own behaviour. Gearnews heard TAL-BassLine-101 as darker and more realistic, so SH-101 is the pick when you want Roland's own version and SYSTEM-8 PLUG-OUT use rather than the closest feel.

Best for: bouncy basslines, plucks, acid-style lines, arpeggios and simple leads.
Genres: electronic, techno, house, synth-pop and hip-hop.
Look elsewhere if: you need polyphony or complex modulation (Diva or Vital), or the most hardware-like 101 feel and sequencer (TAL-BassLine-101).

What producers say

Gearnews treats it as an accurate official emulation that still misses some of the hardware's quirks.

Gearnews said it reproduces SH-101 sounds "accurately" but that it "behaves slightly differently" in how parts of the synth interact.
Criticisms: Gearnews found that slow, automated modulation gives a different result from the hardware and that the sequencer has a slightly different feel.

Gearnews: the best SH-101 plugins

Where to buy

Plugin Boutique: $99
Roland: see store

Tutorials and reviews

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