From Mike SynMike Sent Mon, Mar 5th 2018, 06:26
From Mike SynMike Sent Mon, Mar 5th 2018, 06:26
Well I=E2=80=99ve had this for 10 days. I ended up buying it without = trying it. The store had it on clearance for cheap, but packaged in the = box ready to go. I decided to rely on the 30 day return policy. I wish = it was the back one with reverse keys, but this is only one they had and = they sat on it for a long time so a black model would have cost several = hundred more. I=E2=80=99ve put in less than 2 hours with it. Life is busy. For the = first hour of play I was pretty convinced it was going back. The factory = patches sounded terrible. It is no wonder the dealer sat on this one = forever and then dumped it. Then... A couple days ago I found a system setting that was making it sound = sucky. If you have the pedal input set to control filter, but do not = have a pedal connected, the filter cutoff is offset very high on factory = presets. Even if you turned the cutoff knob all the way down you could = not close the filter properly. When I turned that setting off, I found = much better factory sounds overall. Okay, this has some quirks for sure. No master patch volume so if you = want to balance patches you have to use the mixer inputs to adjust each = oscillator volume. If you create a split or layered patch, you can only = edit the upper sound. The effects are just passable. Aftertouch can only = control whatever you set the mod wheel to. The only source for mod wheel = and aftertouch is an LFO. It will take some time to learn how to work = around some of the oddities. The arpeggiator knob does not turn n the = arpeggiator, but brings up a display where you can turn it on and off = with the edit knob. Supposedly this new OS has faster EG times. But the = attack time at minimum still seems to lack some snap. I expect to bump = into more quirks or annoyances as I get to know it. Quirks aside, I have decided to I keep it and I=E2=80=99m starting to = create sounds that I like. When using only 2 oscillators it falls short of my Prophet-600 and JP-8 = for typical analog stuff. But I=E2=80=99m not looking for more of those = basic polysynth sounds. I=E2=80=99m appreciating it for 3 oscillator = sounds and wavetable stuff. I still have to upgrade from 2.1 to 2.5 OS , = then play with the sample import software. There may be some interesting = FM sounds, too. I arrived at this in a quest for a new synth with 5 octave keyboard. = Prophet Rev 2 or Prophet 12 are also on my wanted list. Their vastly = more capable modulation routings and punchier sound will fit alongside = this just fine. This is not what I would classify as a _great_ instrument; it has too = many odd quirks and a pretty simple voice architecture. But at the low = price it=E2=80=99s pretty darn good. The interface is a good part of the = value. It=E2=80=99s fun to use. I would not recommend this for everyone. = But for someone like me who has a lot of synths already, this is a = unique addition that gives me some new sounds. Mike.