First ever synth - Rev2 [First impressions & Questions]

[graymec]

Hello all - This week I unboxed and setup my first ever analog synth - Prophet Rev2. Never owned a synth but heard great things about DSI Prophet 6, 8, and 12 and also about the amazing service from DSI. For me- service was was absolutely critical deciding factor.

I write melodic techno and progressive house and will be integrating this synth (slowly) into my workflow with Ableton Live and my two eventide H9 pedals.

Took a dive with rev2 because I read about the significant improvements on DAW integration on newer synths.

The moment I played the first key - I fell in love with the warmth. Dont have kids yet but certainly envision playing this with my children in the years ahead

I did have some first day impressions to share:

IMPRESSIONS:

1) The key bed feels great - Perhaps the key deciding factor for my purchase was 5 octaves - since I'm taking piano lessons virtually beginning in February and she recommended 5 octaves at a minimum.

2) I was surprised the Arp mode selector didn't have presets. For some reason - I thought this mode selector would enable me to have access to robust set of arp algorithms as opposed to being this being a path to program custom arp sequences. I'm use to DAW Soft synths (like Omnisphere 2 and Serum) that have hundreds of arp patterns. Even the programming path lacked depth on options I felt.  I'd love if a future firmware release adds more arp presets - so we can apply on the fly to the existing factory presets. Perhaps this function is there but was not intuitive to me. I know there are sound patches that have their own arp sequences but what about quickly change those sequences for the existing patch because of the preferred timbre

3) Overall build is very good - Keys feel much more premium relative to some of the Arturia and Moog synths I tried hands on.

BEGINNER QUESTIONS:

I did have some newbie questions & guidance needed - this is my first synth so apologies if offend anyone

Question 1: The master volume: Where does everyone set this at when integrating with Ableton Live?

Question 2: Midi signal issues: I connected this to my Scarlet 18i20 interface and with my Windows 10 laptop on Ableton Live. I was able to hear, play, and record audio by setting up in the Ableton preferences selecting rev 2 input and output then setting an audio track with auto from the stereo input channels that I used from Rev 2's Main/Output A Stereo connectors.
          - However, I did not see any midi signal or could not record it. I did not buy midi cables - only relying on the USBA cable from the laptop to the Rev2. Any guidance you can provide here on whether i need to buy MIDI cables or alter my settings? I included a screen below.

         - I did not see Rev2 listed in the Control Surfaces drop down - any feedback here?


I look forward to contributing to this forum and helping others as well as my experience expands going forward. Apologies for the long first post - super excited and privileged. Below is a photo of the new member of our family in my studio

[gernotreininger]

Hi and welcome. Like you the rev 2 is my first ever Synth and I like it very much. Congrats to your purchase.
I have integrated the rev 2 in my Cubase setup. First thing you can do is to make sure that in the globals menu you choose USB as midi out und to select midi cc as send and receive.
My volume on the rev 2 is set to around 12 o'clock. This prevents the rev 2 to clip intern.
Have fun and let me know if it helps.

[graymec]

Hi and welcome. Like you the rev 2 is my first ever Synth and I like it very much. Congrats to your purchase.
I have integrated the rev 2 in my Cubase setup. First thing you can do is to make sure that in the globals menu you choose USB as midi out und to select midi cc as send and receive.
My volume on the rev 2 is set to around 12 o'clock. This prevents the rev 2 to clip intern.
Have fun and let me know if it helps.

Thank you! Yes, your tips saved me a ton of time - I'm set to go now.

Also, question within your Cubase or Ableton track - I assume you would reduce the Rev2 track volume before recording or printing - when mixing in the context of all the other tracks for your larger project. As opposed to leaving it at 0 dB then reducing the volume afterwards?

Just curious as I'm still learning in integrating my first HW synth into my daily workflow

Cheers