8 thoughts on “Cherry Audio SH-MAX Fuses Features From 3 Classic Roland Synths”

1. If you have the space and money, Behringer MS-5, based on SH-5, is $449.

2. I bought the SH Max but not before trying the demo. On paper it looked great but the videos I saw didnt sit right with me. After an hour trying out patches and creating my own, I understood where my reservations originated. Many of the patches are soaked in FX. Dont get me wrong, the FX are fantastic and the way they can be added to separate components is great. However, the factory patches seemed to be about showcasing the FX, often at the expense of the underlying sound. It felt like overkill or trying too hard. There was no subtlety. I experimented turning down the FX a little, then a lot and instantly the synth sound shined thru. So, I created a couple of patches from scratch, adding small amounts of FX and again, it sounded great. I feel CA are doing themselves a disservice here and should consider dialing back on the FX. But thats just my opinion.

   1. I have the same opinion when I watch demos of hardware synths drenched in FX like microcosm… lol

   2. Larry, I hear you. I only disagree at a certain point, because there are few synths that kick properly without effects. I had an SH-5 and it felt semi-lifeless until I added a dusting of delay. I have several Cherry Audio synths. The effects aren’t covering any lacks. Instead, they bring out the strengths & delicate shadings. I like putting Valhalla’s SuperMassive on the master bus and then nudging each synth to compliment it.

      CA has a savvy staff. IMO, they’re the Apple of the synth world. They start from the end-user’s perspective and then work their way IN.

      1. I create synth patches – primarily for Arturia synths. They also have a varied selection of FX built in and when creating patches I am mindful not to swamp them in FX unless I am using the FX to intentionally create an effect. I know that sounds silly. Many of the SH-Max patches (and it wasnt all) had FX that seemed pointlessly heavy handed IMO. I totally agree about some synths sounding great without them. For me, that is Pigments, where, like you say I add a dusting of FX to “make the patch shine”. But in Pigments, I also go wild with the FX sometimes, especially where they can be modulated and then start to be effecting an effect which becomes an effect in itself.

   3. Ok this is cool “these features with modern software” the words underneath said expandable with micro portals . This is cool so I’m going to give you some advice. What I mean is you wrote something cool and valid here a while loop that does this forever would work that fast have you ever watched an infinite loop execute is that thab it does like a udp stream of whatever binary whatever from whatever virtual serial port so I like midi I don’t see a point got more than midi 1.0 except a very expressive virtual acoustic master instrument players could even afford it . Alot of eurorack manufacturers contract manufactured things they designed in China meaning 4ns kits they assemble there . So what I’m going to say is that there are boss effects boxes that cost 299$ that Have midi Inputs btw never connect the network into your studio this is do you even know what an os update is well that’s the midi out of your computer into tone generators I record into the computer use it for big audio files that aren’t a sampler vocal tracks computers dying never helped working with vocalists who could be semi unreliable as miserable and depressed as I was . Ok but programmers advice implement midi 1.9 you’ll have to read a click input oh this is what you bought has had an operating system unique to the device And manufacturer an unfamiliar manufacturers new operating system . Did the electric ever have like an os not really but it responded did normally what it was designed for I have a desktop computer with no wifi for my studio computer but to read clock is important but here’s one I haven’t developed a data flanger what is a flanger a frequency sweep phaser data phasing like drunk quantization a nineties qy-70 swing yet can turn to bs I liked shuffle beats on a drumset they feel good to do. Aphex Twin lacks syncopation it’s the name of a drum notation book . Draw a line across a step sew by ear maybe ok so randomization what percentage isn’t music composition entering notes I made a eurorack device that reads midi clock outputs a stream of xxxthnd notes there are twenty four of the number is it what I thought it was 240 on the serial oort I looked in the midi 1.0 specification my bible for being an artist for being able to read Arduino programming in 24 hours buy components learn what they are how to read schematics pay attention to a soldering snd test tutorial for a multimeter you could repair stuff with burnt ojt components I did in high school Forrest mims is Charles Tandy and they turned him into a child snd stole his company take a soldering tutorial or get certified snd try to get a job even with educational experience I went through community college don’t on the FAFSA pell grant program tried a shitty university program I didn’t like I learned what I wanted about the concept can get the same degree finish my journeyman certification for being an industrial electronics technician I could see what it was during covid without trying to live there so that was cool. can’t be responsible sunk the company when I knew like Intel gary killdall wrote office for whatever it’s worth and it was like the number before that flashes twenty four times per quarter note on the hardware or software /virtual serial port where numbers appear in fake places what software is what computers are Sherman fairchilds mother hates computers . As far as I knew . So a data flanger maybe notes from a channel stream become double swept shifted as a chord. My final is worth money . I won’t tell you what it is . My unethical engineering teacher stole it and the real digital website the ics he used in class stole Jeff bezos mother from knowing me. Or something right . Ok so what does an aro do ill tell you to have a stream of xxxthnd notes if the same fucking note as a drummer I enjoy improvising over the sequences like Car if which Hokver Chulzkay was a member tangerine dream and kraftwerk invented entrance and house but they creep me out totally so ok so . The difference between a data flanger a chord that and an aroegiattor what I was about to say from my eurorack module is that there is a stop input for when our sq-64 throws a note high gets a good I know this as a percussionist what a finished prototype would do of course more of it should exist and i don’t feel like it isn’t that it what about a thre note chord how would where would the third note come from on a real aroegiattor an up down alternate which is double best in drumline an alternating aroegiattor ok that could be used in the flanger a phaser how is that like fm a number conjugates to melt to another number the number that appears to change another number how digital fm radio probably also works . Ok so that the fuck I gave away the real aroegiattor invention and finished it when I did just now do there it’s worth reading Arduino programming in 24 hours learning about electronic components even ic integrated circuit microchips you still hsve to melt metal.over like eight wires a soldering tutorial a schematics what’s that components little pieces of metal most elements are conductive silver metal I thejr pure form the crystal ball denier hate criminal subsets cursing tool

3. Why does the SH-MAX not have the SH-7 fab 24dB OTA filter? Seems like an obvious feature!

   1. Unless I’m missing something, Cherry appear focussed on bringing out new synths ratherv than adding to existing ones. You can see they get on top of new features and these appear in several synths in a row (the one that lets you tweak subsequent notes played for example). I own a good number of them and I wouldn’t mind a revisit by Cherry to add an extra filter type or similar. Make me love an already love synth some more