SH-7

Back in 1978, this synth pushed Roland's SH series into duophonic territory, letting you play two notes at once on its 44-key keyboard for those rich interval performances that monosynths just couldn't touch.

Dual analog VCOs deliver sawtooth, triangle, pulse with PWM, plus sine waves, and you get oscillator sync, FM from LFO or sample/hold, and detuning for thick textures. The filter section shines with a resonant low-pass that self-oscillates, a manual high-pass, and clever FM options from envelopes, LFO, or even an envelope follower on external signals. Two full ADSR envelopes handle filter and VCA duties, while the LFO offers saw, pulse, and sine with delay and keyboard trigger sync. A dedicated mixer blends five audio sources including white/pink noise and ext input, sample/hold with lag, portamento in normal/up/down modes, and performance bender controls for VCO/VCF/VCA. It's a hefty 34-pound beast at 34x16x7 inches with mono out, headphones, CV/GATE I/O, and VCF pedal jack—pure analog hands-on tweaking.

Players love its flexibility for techno growls and experimental effects, with that classic Roland bite, though some note it needs occasional tuning tweaks like any vintage analog. A true performance powerhouse that still inspires.