It's not great, but it ain't bad! A very stripped down monosynth from Roland's classic SH-series. Its single oscillator only has PWM, ramp, square and noise waveforms. It has a similar architecture to the SH-101, the VCA can switch between gate or envelope, the VCF is pretty standard, and there is a sample-hold function which is great for voltage controlled filtering into acid and back! Another cool feature is its external input which will allow you to filter external audio through its VCF. Because they are pretty old now they will most likely have some functional problems like sticky keys, and noisy knobs and signal. It is used by Orbital, Vince Clarke, BT, Conemelt, Josh Wink, Banco De Gaia, Mr. Oizo, Ladytron, Jimmy Edgar, Dave Holmes, Freddy Fresh, OMD, and 808 State.

broznik

June 2, 2013 @ 2:51 pm

just bought one of these (my first roland synth :) and love it. nice bright oscillators, squelchy filter and very fast envelope! quite different in character to my Yamaha CS-15 which sounds surprisingly more old school. Was thinking about getting an SH-101 before this but i'm getting bored of the sound of 101/303/808s which have been a bit overused i think, not to mention a bit pricey!

tom

February 15, 2013 @ 10:37 am

Had one of these up until 1993, and got one again last year. A bit limited perhaps, but with a great sound and design. I like to hook up with the SH-1, that sounds a bit different.

Defective Nation

January 29, 2013 @ 9:21 pm

PART 2

Some say this synth is limited but most synths have only one thing they are really good at. Everything the SH09 does it does superbly. However, the unbeatable aces up its sleeve are the external input & envelope follower.

Sometimes these show up on ebay but it's best to avoid those with rust (unless the seller can provide a guarantee that everything is well sound wise so that you can get your cash back if you have been lied to by the seller). Also watch out for scams, such as email this email address@gmail for a great deal etc.

These will only get rarer so get one soon.

Defective Nation

January 29, 2013 @ 9:04 pm

PART 1

I've had one of these since new & I just bought an SH-2 which seems to be an SH09 with 2 oscillators. When it arrives I'll get the 09 serviced & repainted. I'm looking forward to putting the 09 through the SH-2 and see how they sing together, especially with PWM (Possibly the best I've heard).

Even the SH09 + SH-2 together will not sound like a 101 as the filter is radically different with the 101 filter more like that of the Juno 106. Maybe one day I will get myself an SH-101 but for now the lovely tones of the 09 are hard to beat.

Alexis Nembrode

August 14, 2012 @ 8:38 am

Not trying to pick a fight or anything, but this is the better sounding analog synth from the SH series IMO. Very well built, surprisingly versatile, and can make alien boardosfcanadesque landscapes without any use of fx or anything.

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