What a POS.
Ha!
What did you not like about it ?
Everyone will have the opinion on it. I played it when it first hit the stores and spent some time programming it. Not a bad synth for that price point, while maybe not “true analog” it has a lot of potential for very useful, warm, punchy sounds. One of the cool things is it is really like three individual 1 osc synths. Think of it as the review in Keyboard said as three SH101under one hood. Each of the three can be adjusted individually, in pairs or all three together. I think it’s worth a look for anyone thinking of a “analog” poly whether they are an experienced player or programmer or someone starting out. Does it look like a “toy” yeah kind of, but it can and does sound good. I honestly did not dive into the presets too far.
All that being said, am I rushing out to add one to my set-up ? No, not at this point. Would I consider one in the future ? Sure. The reason not now is I have other synths that I can combine to achieve many of the same results.
You obviously didn’t mess with the D-Beam.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist. 
One sweep of the filter in a youtube demo told me all I need to know This is why we like Moog.
Regards,
B
I love all of my Moogs, and the other “tools” in my studio. Each has something to offer .
Each works well alone and in combination with something esle.
We all know YouTube videos are the best way to hear how something works
Is the Gaia the be all end all ? No. Is it another tool worth looking at ? Yes. Is it for everyone ? No…
I didn’t think the filters sounded all that bad in the youtube demo I watched. Having a multimode filter is nice.
The filters sounded weak and cheap honestly. The whole thing sounded weak and cheap. Honestly I don’t know why a person would buy this over a microkorg or vice versa… It’s the same realm of cheapness if you ask me. As soon as you play a note u can tell what this whole thing is gonna be like… and after playing around with it more, it just proves it to you.. it sounds horrible.
Is it worth checking out? I wouldnt recommend anyone to check it out, although I acknowledge a lot of people would, and they wouldnt from their perspective always see the same problems I see with it… hell half the people I talk to still boast about their microkorg, telling me its oh so cool.
Yes I did play with the D-beam haha. That was just embarrassing haha. Especially getting the “oh god look at this guy” look from the dude that worked there hahaha.
I’m not one of those guys who’s all Moog or all Analog or nothing (though I do side with analog), and I have a long list of various tools I use in my studio… but the GAIA is just cheap crap… end of story. It’s another addition to the ever growing list of cheap crap beginner synthesizers. Beyond that I’m not sure how anyone with a real ear for sound could take this thing seriously.
I played one at the local music shop and I have to agree it does sound pretty empty. Out of all the sounds I ran through I found a few that were interesting, but this synth would definitely limit my style. I think the SH201 is way cooler, and that also has a D-beam.
HA!
i’m definately not a fan of roland, a good majority of their new gear sounds and feels like garbage to me. i was talking to their sales rep and asked him about a new sweet analog anything and he laughed in my face and said something like “HAH ANALOG THATS LIKE SELLING A 65 CHEVY KID!”
then he showed me their brochure of new products with shit like the V-CORDIAN with awesome interchangable fire and tribal graphix.
cool roland!
thanks for discontinuing the vsynth too!
I actually like the interface, but the filter sounds buzzy, and annoying. The D-Beam in theory sounds good, but many years ago, I had a Roland with a D-Beam, and I really couldn’t find any use for it. It really is…uh, useless.
Proved my point exactly.
Just as cheap and gimmicky as the lighting effect in the video.
I actually thought that was a sweet demo.
I am biting my tounge on the D-Beam though.
Eric
Very impressive demo, it puts a better light on it. Well, not literally like in the video! The D-Beam as usual is stupid and makes you look stupid. I am very impressed with Gaia’s sounds, but the filter is thin and brittle for filter sweeps. You can expect terrible stepping with fast envelopes and modulation. After analog, digital synth envelopes are just plain wrong and audio range modulation is shite, yes I’m looking at you Roland.
IMHO of course,
B
THe guy who owned the local music store had a lot of crappy guitars in his shop. Samick and lots of other no name instruments in there selling for under 300 dollars. I once asked him (on the subject of salesmanship) how is a salesman supposed to knowingly sell someone a product that he think is crap and won’t last long, and personally wouldn’t play if it was the last instrument on earth?
Basically his answer was that you put a particular product in the hands of someone who has those particular neds in mind. A Beginner won’t need a boutique guitar. A child doesn’t need a guitar for adults. You give them a product that is appropriate for their needs.
The Gaia, is a very appropriate product, but a lot of people here are spoiled by those damn fine Moog filters, quality construction, knob per function interfaces, that we often forget sometimes that not everyone has such discriminating tastes, and not a lot of other products of of that particular calibre.
Im not dissing the gaia, i can’t comment anything about it because I haven’t seen or heard one in person.
But when I briefly owned a 1980 Honda CB-650, I came across a Harley Website that read “Don’t laugh at people who drive hondas”.
LOL!
The filters are so weak, it can emulate a VOX organ!
Hi Voltor,
I get that you needed to come up with a clever joke
quickly and didn’t have a lot of time to think of one,
but it shows a lack of understanding of how these
types of 60’s combo organ sounds are created.
The least I can do is use this forum to help explain
to you the method of synthesizing that organ sound.
Contrary to your hilarious statement, filters play
little to no role in that timbre. You achieve that
sound by making a Pulse Width wave very narrow.
I then used the three oscillators available to create
the desired octaves and doubling effects.
The resulting sound is so thin and tweezy that
the only thing you might use filters for is to
slightly soften the top end.
But, other than that one technical detail, your
joke was very funny. Kudos Chris!
Thanks Dan! Glad you got a laugh out of it. The Gaia, while not my cup of tea, (Roland has yet to make something I am interested in buying) doesn’t seem like a “bad” machine. The interface is straightforward, and while, yes, it is mostly digital, I can see why someone would buy this over a Moog, especially if money is tight.
Hi Voltor,
As you know from our conversations I am a lifelong Moog fan (I played my
first Moog in the mid-seventies) and, like you, own thousands of dollars
worth of Moog products. I use them live for paying audiences, and they’re
also an important part of my synthesizer classes at Indiana Perdue University,
The University of St. Francis, and my Sweetwater U. classes.
No one has to convince either of us of the unquestionable differences between
100% true analog instruments (both electronic and acoustic) and any other
method of simulating those instruments. But I have always tried to appreciate
and celebrate every attempt at providing musical tools for the public whether
they’re top-dollar, hand-crafted flagships, $4.99 phone apps, or anything in
between. And, if there’s a way to program them to make them even more
enjoyable to play, I’m going to take a shot at it.
But there’s a polarizing anger that rises up when multiple brands are mentioned
in music forums that is hard to justify. (Comparisons to US politics could be
made but would only spawn another one of those non-musically useful threads.)
In my mind, I see a monophonic analog synth and a 64-voice analog modeling
synth as two related, but non-exclusive tools. And I think it’s fantastic that a
Slim Phatty and something like a GAIA can be owned for a combined total of
$1,494.
Now you’d have 100% analog for the moments when nothing else will do and 64
voices at once when you need 'em. I suspect that a lot of people underestimate
how staggeringly useful it is to never worry if your sound is going to experience
voice stealing. Yes, two voices is considered “polyphony”, as are four, six, and
eight voices. But if your sound has a medium or exaggerated release time,
you’re going to find yourself tiptoeing through your performance to avoid the
vibe-killing artifacts of voice stealing.
Obviously, a 64-voice all-analog Moog with 3 oscillators, 3 multi-mode filters,
9 envelopes, 6 LFOs, 18 sliders, 11 knobs, 58 lit buttons, 28 panel LEDs, and 4
simultaneous effects would be a glorious thing indeed. but it wouldn’t fit on your
lap or run on batteries.
This, of course, is only my way of looking at it. But it’s disappointing that potentially
interesting conversations about various keyboards often seem to revolve around
words for excrement and sex acts.