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Roland revives its 2010 synth with Gaia 2, a new hybrid wavetable and virtual analogue sound engine. The tweak-friendly instrument also offers Model Expansion support and has a built-in SH-101 emulation.

We were expecting Roland’s next release to be a successor to its 2010 Gaia SH-01 synth. Gaia 2 appears to be a significant step up from Gaia SH-01 synth, being based on a new hybrid sound engine that puts a wavetable oscillator alongside two virtual analogue ones.

Said wavetable oscillator is capable of morphing between multiple waveforms, with phase and shape modulation options being on hand to distort these waveforms and create complex overtones. The VA oscillators, meanwhile, are tasked with emulating classic synth tones and generating more contemporary ones.

Speaking of classic synths, Gaia 2 is compatible with Roland’s Model Expansions, which means that you can load it up with an instrument – the Jupiter-8 or Juno-106, for example – from the company’s illustrious back catalogue and play it on the 37-note full-size keyboard. One such Expansion, the SH-101, comes pre-installed.

The Gaia 2’s one-control-per-function interface is set against a white anodised aluminium panel, while the assignable X/Y Motional Pad enables real-time parameter morphing with a drag of your finger. These movements can be recorded, too.

Other features include a sequencer that offers random pattern generation, 50 ‘MFX’ effects, dedicated chorus and reverb/delay sections and class-compliant USB-C MIDI/audio interfacing with  your computer, phone or tablet. There’s support for Roland Cloud Connect, too, meaning that you can access Roland Cloud content via your mobile device if you buy the requisite wireless adapter.

Roland GAIA 2 Synthesizer Demo Song by Gattobus :


The GAIA 2 is available now for $899.99 Find out more about Gaia 2 on the Roland website.

Could we be entering a new era of inter-platform compatibility, and will other developers support it?

There might be industry-wide plugin formats – VST, AU, etc – but seamless sharing of entire DAW projects between different digital audio workstations has always been a no-no answer. That could be about to change, though, thanks to the launch of Bitwig and PreSonus collaboration new open DAWproject file format.

It is an idea so good that it really should have been implemented before: create a single format that’s compatible with all DAWs. DAWproject files contain all information related to time, tracks and channels, along with note and automation data. Both audio and MIDI data is supported, and even the state of plugins used can be carried across (providing everyone has the requisite instrument and effects installed, of course).

Bitwig has posted a handy DAWproject FAQ that details the key features of the format and compares it to sharing projects as Standard MIDI Files or AAFs. Surprisingly, it’s far more comprehensive and flexible than either of these file types.

Assuming it works reliably, then, DAWproject could be an extremely elegant solution that could save producers from having to export their projects as audio stems (the traditional way of doing things if you want someone with a different DAW to be able to work on them).

However, the only software to support DAWproject is Bitwig Studio 5.09 and PreSonus Studio One 6.5. It’ll only become a standard if other developers choose to implement it in their DAWs, as well. Hope that they will follow suit, as it does have the potential to be a game-changer for producers and artists working across different workstations. Needless to say, we can’t wait to see how it works.

The good news is that they can do this for free – the specs and documentation are available now on GitHub.

Check out this full list of features currently supported with Bitwig Studio.

Here’s hoping that DAWproject fares better – you can find out more on the Bitwig website.