SH-5

Back in 1975, this synth punched way above its weight by packing a ring modulator with external audio input into a compact keyboard design—something rare for the era that let players process guitars or vocals through its wild analog heart.

Dual analog oscillators deliver sawtooth, square, pulse-width, and triangle waves, with soft and hard sync options for thick leads and basses, while pink and white noise plus that flexible ring mod add gritty textures via a five-source mixer. Switchable multimode filters—low-pass, high-pass, band-pass, even parallel routing—pair with two VCAs and multiple envelopes (ADSR, AR, fixed) for dynamic shaping, all modulated by dual LFOs with sine, square, triangle, ramp, and sample-and-hold. The 44-key synth-action keyboard sits under a hands-on panel of sliders and switches, with pitch/filter wheels, stereo outs with panning, and CV/gate I/O for modular integration in a sleek black finish.

Players love its warm, versatile tones that outshine many SH-series siblings in depth and experimentation, though some note its brighter Roland character leans thinner than burly American monosynths like the Minimoog.