Boutique Synths

SH-01A Volume Very Low

SH-01A Volume Very Low

1 Oct 2017, 17:15
Sorry if this has been answered already- trying to save myself a bit of time.

My SH-01A is very (very) quiet compared to me JU-06. Obviously volume is at same level, have tried different inputs for each, different cables, etc. still can't figure it out. Any help? Should I return it?

p.s. love these synths

Re: SH-01A Volume Very Low

5 Oct 2017, 04:34
I dont know if this helps but a friend of mine had that problem first day, he was using a stereo cable for the output and the volume was almost nothing. He changed to mono cable and then the volume was as loud as the rest of equipement.

Re: SH-01A Volume Very Low

6 Oct 2017, 10:00
I also used a mono cord and it sounds ok on my mixer. However when I plug the output into Eurorack the sound is very low.

Re: SH-01A Volume Very Low

19 Jan 2018, 23:58
Same thing here - purchased today. Using usb for power and audio - very quiet (esp compared to SE-02)
Attachments
quiet sh01a.mov (12.9 MB, 4318 downloads) · file not available
QUite usb audio example

Re: SH-01A Volume Very Low

23 Jan 2018, 09:54
I can confirm this. I am using the SH-01a with USB for both power and audio, straight into Logic Pro X. The signal barely hits the halfway mark on the recording VU meter.
afewster wrote:
Same thing here - purchased today. Using usb for power and audio - very quiet (esp compared to SE-02)

Re: SH-01A Volume Very Low

23 Jan 2018, 17:06
[quote="hafizimran"]I can confirm this. I am using the SH-01a with USB for both power and audio, straight into Logic Pro X. The signal barely hits the halfway mark on the recording VU meter.

I actually took it back to the store to exchange it - before I completed the switch I tested the output on the new model - same thing! This can't be right - I'm on mac 10.13.2, using the 1.0.2 driver.

Re: SH-01A Volume Very Low

9 Feb 2018, 12:25
hafizimran wrote:
I can confirm this. I am using the SH-01a with USB for both power and audio, straight into Logic Pro X. The signal barely hits the halfway mark on the recording VU meter.
afewster wrote:
Same thing here - purchased today. Using usb for power and audio - very quiet (esp compared to SE-02)


I had low audio issues a while back when I was trying to connect my Gaia Sh01 to Logic via USB. I posted on a forum about it and was told that while the digital USB signal would be nice and clean, it would also be low. Adding a compressor to the channel strip in Logic and turning up the gain fixed the problem.

Re: SH-01A Volume Very Low

14 Feb 2018, 05:21
Crumb wrote:
I had low audio issues a while back when I was trying to connect my Gaia Sh01 to Logic via USB. I posted on a forum about it and was told that while the digital USB signal would be nice and clean, it would also be low. Adding a compressor to the channel strip in Logic and turning up the gain fixed the problem.
Hey Mr Crumb thank you for your response, very much appreciated!

And yes, as a workaround, I apply compression during the mixing process to boost levels coming in from the SH-01A. I also observe that the signal via USB is very clean, just like you said, so boosting it this way isn't all too bad. It just goes against my existing approach where I try to record a signal as hot as I can without clipping.

To add to the body of observations, today I purchased the Roland Boutique D-05 and I also own the TR-08. I can confirm that the D-05 exhibits THE EXACT SAME CHARACTERISTICS as the SH-01A when it comes to signal output via USB.

The TR-08 somehow does not exhibit this symptom. I have no hands-on experience with the SE-02.

Re: SH-01A Volume Very Low

8 Jul 2018, 14:02
Same here.
The most problematic thing is that if you plug anything into the INPUT, that volume is ridiculously higher than the one produced by the SH-01a, and there is no way to trim it down.

Re: SH-01A Volume Very Low

29 Jul 2018, 10:59
laneo wrote:
Same here.
The most problematic thing is that if you plug anything into the INPUT, that volume is ridiculously higher than the one produced by the SH-01a, and there is no way to trim it down.
I can see how this could be a real problem. Roland should release a firmware update and fix this already, you would think. Let's hope they do soon.

Re: SH-01A Volume Very Low

10 Oct 2018, 08:39
I have the very same problem:
The Audio-Signal via USB is very low compared to my tb-3 via USB.
Please fix this Roland!

Re: SH-01A Volume Very Low

2 Nov 2018, 22:38
I don't know that this solves this issue or necessarily will fix it for anyone, but I was running into the same issue myself -- very low input level coming from the SH-01A, via the audio jacks, whether on Output or Phones, running into a normal channel on a Behringer X-18 mixer. Then I switched the input to a hi-Z channel, and it fixed the issue -- I'm getting a perfectly good signal with relatively little noise (there's always some noise from the Boutiques). So one solution is definitely to connect the SH-01A to a mixer with a hi-Z input (like it's a guitar). That probably doesn't help people who are getting the audio via USB.

Re: SH-01A Volume Very Low

9 Dec 2019, 05:39
Don't know why the output is so low, but I solved this by adding +12 dB gain to the SH-01A in the various DAWs I use it with. Depending on the patch I sometimes need up to +16 dB. I also often add a saturation plugin (I recommend the free Saturation Knob by Softube) to make the signal hotter in a way that gives it a touch of analog-style punch.

Would be nice to have a +12 dB output option on the SH-01A itself.

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