The Official Sequential/Oberheim Forum
OTHER DISCUSSIONS => General Synthesis => Other Hardware/Software => Topic started by: RobH on April 19, 2017, 12:43:21 PM
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Novation enter the market with a nifty little polysynth it seems! 8 voice digital/analog hybrid synth with a shed load of modulations, 2 envelopes, effects and some other neat touches mod matrix being one of them!
£1250uk
Could be a nice little synth! The sound on sound review comes out tommorow but i think i already know that its going to say two things. It sounds good and the price is right!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfKzF_9KdCQ
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The design looks relatively easy to operate–and there is definitely something to be said for the inclusion of sliders for the envelopes, as a nod to Roland's conventions in that area.
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This and the new Waldorf would definitely give a PolyRevolver a run for it's money... who knew we'd have 2 new awesome hybrids this spring?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5f86IYxTY0
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Shame it's not a keyboard version.
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Waldorf Quantum will not be out until the end of the year, so that makes ONE hybrid synth this spring :D
The Peak looks interesting for sure, especially that it's oscillators are run at this incredible speed which reminds me of custom chips in the old days... big step forward in my opinion, so that something can be done about all that aliasing normally associated with digital oscillators.... they say it is litterally like analog oscillators in quality... neat.
I agree though, that it's good to see more and more companies figure out, that we want hybrids, as to get best of both worlds, instead of all these analog mono and polys one after the other... it's becoming quite boring really.
Wonder what DSI will conjure up next to compete with all these new things.... except the Waldorf Quantum of course, it won't be out until much later... if at all... we know Waldorf and release dates... it may be two or three years, unless they have improved since the Pulse 2.
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Waldorf Quantum will not be out until the end of the year, so that makes ONE hybrid synth this spring :D
The Peak looks interesting for sure, especially that it's oscillators are run at this incredible speed which reminds me of custom chips in the old days... big step forward in my opinion, so that something can be done about all that aliasing normally associated with digital oscillators.... they say it is litterally like analog oscillators in quality... neat.
I agree though, that it's good to see more and more companies figure out, that we want hybrids, as to get best of both worlds, instead of all these analog mono and polys one after the other... it's becoming quite boring really.
Wonder what DSI will conjure up next to compete with all these new things.... except the Waldorf Quantum of course, it won't be out until much later... if at all... we know Waldorf and release dates... it may be two or three years, unless they have improved since the Pulse 2.
I really don't know what else DSI can do in the analog realm other than a multi-timbral 20 voice analog monster (Which I don't think we'll see) but I don't think we will see a pure digital synth from DSI/Sequential any time soon. I've said it before but I think it would be nice if they did something completely out of the ordinary and do a synth that's VS/FM based with Prophet 2000 samples included and perhaps an on board 10 track sequencer. Just something random like that. I actually think it would be quite successful because of how different it would be from everything else coming out.
With the Rev2, it just seems like such a small step. It sort of goes against Dave's whole "if you want more, use the module" mentality when people ask for more voices, more octaves etc. It's neat but it really doesn't offer that much different than if you were to polychain two P08s save for a better layout and more mod options. I mean it's a step forward but it's a baby step for a company that releases essentially 1 synth a year.
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Waldorf Quantum will not be out until the end of the year, so that makes ONE hybrid synth this spring :D
The Peak looks interesting for sure, especially that it's oscillators are run at this incredible speed which reminds me of custom chips in the old days... big step forward in my opinion, so that something can be done about all that aliasing normally associated with digital oscillators.... they say it is litterally like analog oscillators in quality... neat.
I agree though, that it's good to see more and more companies figure out, that we want hybrids, as to get best of both worlds, instead of all these analog mono and polys one after the other... it's becoming quite boring really.
Wonder what DSI will conjure up next to compete with all these new things.... except the Waldorf Quantum of course, it won't be out until much later... if at all... we know Waldorf and release dates... it may be two or three years, unless they have improved since the Pulse 2.
I really don't know what else DSI can do in the analog realm other than a multi-timbral 20 voice analog monster (Which I don't think we'll see) but I don't think we will see a pure digital synth from DSI/Sequential any time soon. I've said it before but I think it would be nice if they did something completely out of the ordinary and do a synth that's VS/FM based with Prophet 2000 samples included and perhaps an on board 10 track sequencer. Just something random like that. I actually think it would be quite successful because of how different it would be from everything else coming out.
With the Rev2, it just seems like such a small step. It sort of goes against Dave's whole "if you want more, use the module" mentality when people ask for more voices, more octaves etc. It's neat but it really doesn't offer that much different than if you were to polychain two P08s save for a better layout and more mod options. I mean it's a step forward but it's a baby step for a company that releases essentially 1 synth a year.
Well... I have been asking for a DSI sample based synth for quite some time... with analog filters and amplifiers, as such a sampler has been missing on the market for quite some time now... preferably one with modern storage fascilities, and a deep audiorate modulation engine like on the P12... but that synth is now called the QUANTUM SYNTHESIZER ... still, DSI could do one and try to compete with it...
Other than that, I have also been talking for a long time about a synth where the oscillators are based on FM, but with analog filters etc... if you had a full blown DX7 voice as a complete oscillator (of say 2-3 oscillators in total), going into an analog filter and VCA, that would create some really cool and different sounds... with eight voices like that and we would be talking... and just imagine you could load SysEx from real DX7 voices into the oscillators, giving access to thousands of voices as oscillators... maybe even a new FM algorithm would be better... as long as an algorithm has only ONE carrier, the output will essential be a "single oscillator" as there will be no beating between oscillators, but the nice part would be that these oscillators are not static... with dedicated LFO's and even EGs for each such oscillator, you could create endlessly evolving oscillator tones... it would be a goldmine of experimental sounds for Ambient music for example...
so I don't buy into the notion, that DSI is "out of idears"... they just have to start using their imagination and create something UNIQUE because I think that is what the market is drooling for right now... we do NOT want more new Prophets please!!!
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Waldorf Quantum will not be out until the end of the year, so that makes ONE hybrid synth this spring :D
The Peak looks interesting for sure, especially that it's oscillators are run at this incredible speed which reminds me of custom chips in the old days... big step forward in my opinion, so that something can be done about all that aliasing normally associated with digital oscillators.... they say it is litterally like analog oscillators in quality... neat.
I agree though, that it's good to see more and more companies figure out, that we want hybrids, as to get best of both worlds, instead of all these analog mono and polys one after the other... it's becoming quite boring really.
Wonder what DSI will conjure up next to compete with all these new things.... except the Waldorf Quantum of course, it won't be out until much later... if at all... we know Waldorf and release dates... it may be two or three years, unless they have improved since the Pulse 2.
I really don't know what else DSI can do in the analog realm other than a multi-timbral 20 voice analog monster (Which I don't think we'll see) but I don't think we will see a pure digital synth from DSI/Sequential any time soon. I've said it before but I think it would be nice if they did something completely out of the ordinary and do a synth that's VS/FM based with Prophet 2000 samples included and perhaps an on board 10 track sequencer. Just something random like that. I actually think it would be quite successful because of how different it would be from everything else coming out.
With the Rev2, it just seems like such a small step. It sort of goes against Dave's whole "if you want more, use the module" mentality when people ask for more voices, more octaves etc. It's neat but it really doesn't offer that much different than if you were to polychain two P08s save for a better layout and more mod options. I mean it's a step forward but it's a baby step for a company that releases essentially 1 synth a year.
Well... I have been asking for a DSI sample based synth for quite some time... with analog filters and amplifiers, as such a sampler has been missing on the market for quite some time now... preferably one with modern storage fascilities, and a deep audiorate modulation engine like on the P12... but that synth is now called the QUANTUM SYNTHESIZER ... still, DSI could do one and try to compete with it...
Other than that, I have also been talking for a long time about a synth where the oscillators are based on FM, but with analog filters etc... if you had a full blown DX7 voice as a complete oscillator (of say 2-3 oscillators in total), going into an analog filter and VCA, that would create some really cool and different sounds... with eight voices like that and we would be talking... and just imagine you could load SysEx from real DX7 voices into the oscillators, giving access to thousands of voices as oscillators... maybe even a new FM algorithm would be better... as long as an algorithm has only ONE carrier, the output will essential be a "single oscillator" as there will be no beating between oscillators, but the nice part would be that these oscillators are not static... with dedicated LFO's and even EGs for each such oscillator, you could create endlessly evolving oscillator tones... it would be a goldmine of experimental sounds for Ambient music for example...
so I don't buy into the notion, that DSI is "out of idears"... they just have to start using their imagination and create something UNIQUE because I think that is what the market is drooling for right now... we do NOT want more new Prophets please!!!
Unless it's a Prophet FM right ;)
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hmm.... I guess I would live with the name, but really... it's getting a little too predictable with that name :D
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hmm.... I guess I would live with the name, but really... it's getting a little too predictable with that name :D
I mean it's no different than Fender with the name Stratocaster. Sequential and DSI have been doing Prophets for a long time...butthe name has meaning and it's a brand in and of itself. Got to do what the fans and the market want because essentially that's where most synths from DSI/Sequential are going to originate from, so can't run away from it. I just hope they start using the name Sequential on more products. What a waste if they don't.
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Just read the SoS review. I couldn't deduce if there was sync (from watching the various videos), but apparently there's VSync on each oscillator that can be applied on every waveform. Furthermore there's some sort of density option for the sawtooth. I have to say that it looks like quite a tasty instrument, and the fact that it responds to poly AT is a nice plus. I'm thinking that the Peak could be a very nice complement to a REV2. :)
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Here's a really comprehensive look at it... https://youtu.be/GDf2TbhFE9M
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I have the SOS Review in PDF format if anyone is interested... Just PM me your email address.
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This and the new Waldorf would definitely give a PolyRevolver a run for it's money... who knew we'd have 2 new awesome hybrids this spring?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5f86IYxTY0
Strangely, and fortunately for my bank account, I have no desire for either the new Waldorf or the new Novation. Nothing against either brand- as I've had instruments from both. But I think I'm finally GASed out, at least with the standard form of synths we've been seeing. Just my opinion here...but Pro 2 was probably the last really innovative twist out there in keyboard synth land. I got to agree with Lobo Lives- who- I believe mentioned that something refreshing would be nice. A new hardware additive would be nice. Anyway...my wife tells me that I have more than enough equipment already to make any of the sounds touted thus far ::), so other than a curiosity buy I'll probably need to shy away.
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Consider yourself blessed, Soundquest, for not being driven by a craving for more, more, and more. It's smarter and happier to instead become an expert with what one does already own.
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But I think I'm finally GASed out, at least with the standard form of synths we've been seeing. Just my opinion here...but Pro 2 was probably the last really innovative twist out there in keyboard synth land. I got to agree with Lobo Lives- who- I believe mentioned that something refreshing would be nice. A new hardware additive would be nice.
I'm just curious. Does this mean you won't be replacing your Prophet '08 with a Prophet Rev2? What are the reasons?
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Correct, I will not be replacing my PO8 with REV 2 , or not yet at least. Before REV2 came along I had considered buying another PO8 as a back up- as I expect eventually the one I have shall one day die. REV2 is the obvious replacement choice now- if I wish to retain that type of sound in my studio, which I do.
I guess one reason I'm not buying right away was just that I had already purchased two instruments in one year, one of which was the OB6. When I do go the REV 2 route, then I'd prefer to spend the extra dollars and get all 16 voices right up front. Anyway, I started to rationalize other reasons from there..... I figure as long as my PO8 is working I can be very happy with it and not feel jealous. I really don't mind using the Lexicon and Strymon for effects. The polyphonic sequencer on the REV 2, looks wonderful, but lacks an ingredient for the way I personally like to use the sequencer on the PO8 (being able to transpose on the fly). I suppose by time I'm ready- any of the REV2 bugs should be worked out and DSI may also have decided to allow the transpose ability on the sequencer.
I think my ultimate goal with buy any synth from now on is to make sure that what I'm buying gets me something that offers a different sound than what I already own. OR....even more importantly, preserves and replaces an existing sound I love, like the PO8 and PEK. I was somewhat critical of the P12 when it first came out, partly just due to lack of good demos at that time. But after working with the Pro2 similar architecture, and seeing some wonderful P12 demos, the P12 enters my mind once in a while as an option for a future toy.
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Here's the manual... https://d2xhy469pqj8rc.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/novation/downloads/15610/peak-ug-en.pdf
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Novation refuses to release the spec of Sysex for the Peak.The MIDI implementation is an inconsistent mix of control messages. So that makes it even more easy to stay with DSI ! :-) Please DSI never stop supporting an open MIDI implementation for all instruments. You are probably the last hope. Many companies have decided to make their MIDI implementations hidden and proprietary, in the past few years, like Roland, Nord, KMI, Roli and many others...
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Here's the manual... https://d2xhy469pqj8rc.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/novation/downloads/15610/peak-ug-en.pdf
The CC / CC pair / NRPN thing makes my head hurt...imagine trying to develop an editor for that!
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The CC / CC pair / NRPN thing makes my head hurt...imagine trying to develop an editor for that!
It doesn't look too bad to me. The value ranges and controller notations look a bit funny but otherwise its a standard fixed length program vector format. Will take a few knob turns to answer these questions and some more involved checks to verify the location of parameters inside the program vector. But overall its a fairly simple format.
The valid critique of the documentation is that not all details are defined precisely. Nor do they define the sysex messages supported by the instrument.
Overall impression: about the same as current DSI documentation but without defining the sysex messages.
I would even go as far as calling Peak for Novations attempt at a Prophet 12 like design.
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Novation refuses to release the spec of Sysex for the Peak.
Have been wondering if they don't publish it because its too much work to document the format. In any case its simply bad style not to publish such information as a public specifications allows users to do more with their instrument.
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Wonder if we'll see a keyboard version at Namm?
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Here's the manual... https://d2xhy469pqj8rc.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/novation/downloads/15610/peak-ug-en.pdf
The CC / CC pair / NRPN thing makes my head hurt...imagine trying to develop an editor for that!
Oh it's truly dreadful. There's no need to use a combination of CC's and NRPN's, all it does is make it hard to configure a controller (as Daviddever said). I've looked at the MIDI implementation for my Circuit and it's like each preset has it's own set of CC's/NRPN's, not just a set bunch of parameters that are controlled by a set of universal NRPN's for every preset. It's insane, they make Roland look MIDI geniuses!
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I've looked at the MIDI implementation for my Circuit and it's like each preset has it's own set of CC's/NRPN's, not just a set bunch of parameters that are controlled by a set of universal NRPN's for every preset. It's insane, they make Roland look MIDI geniuses!
Quite the compliment! . o O ( :o :o :o )
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I've looked at the MIDI implementation for my Circuit and it's like each preset has it's own set of CC's/NRPN's, not just a set bunch of parameters that are controlled by a set of universal NRPN's for every preset. It's insane, they make Roland look MIDI geniuses!
Quite the compliment! . o O ( :o :o :o )
https://youtu.be/NoptofKbQ04
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https://youtu.be/NoptofKbQ04
You mean its time for a little sabre dance (https://youtu.be/m6m5B5TrHJo?t=2m54s)? Well, I think we are better off hoping SABRE (https://youtu.be/86X3gkLjC9Y) won't dance! ;)
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This sounds pretty good to me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKssAN1cXKo
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<rant> Won't buy anything that has not a full Sysex/midi documented spec or if the manufacturer does not want to publish it or provide support for it. These are instruments and not disposable toys that when an OS updates the software tool does not work anymore. To make an editor with this clumsy implementation is not a real problem and doable, but a bit of overhead to code. But an editor without a possibility to send/receive patches from/to the editor and the "instrument" is very clumsy and there is no reason to not publishing it. </rant>
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This sounds pretty good to me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKssAN1cXKo
They sound unreal and I'd like one.
The MIDI "issues" with the Circuit I'd hope are more pronounced considering it was supposed to be a sketch-pad with some DJ type usage also. It's a lot of fun and I'd still have bought it (2nd hand at half the store cost) if I knew there was a crappy MIDI implementation. It's not a "real" synth, I'd put it in the realm of drummachine if anything and the very crappy MIDI doesn't impact upon it's ability to blow a hole in your wall. It's weird how Novation work, they made some of the best MIDI controller, some of the few on the market that can transmit 14bit NRPN's with simple programmers that are not even needed really as it can all be done from the front face.
I've just had a look at the MIDI parameter list for the Peak, it's the same mishmash of NRPN's and CC's. They are listed in parameter order and they don't mention if the NRPN's are in hex or dec and what the hell is 0:2? It's supposed to be an NRPN number but it's a ratio, so again back to is it hex or dec?
Part of me was sure they wouldn't make it so cryptic with a real synth. They must think we all have 12 arms and can play four synths at once while tweaking dials so have no real need for that silly MIDI stuff...... I wish I could say I've dealt with worse, but I haven't.
I still want one, it'd probably become a performance machine as it needs to be tweaked live if it is to be at all with any ease. Nothing can ruin it's ability have a sequence of notes shot at it via MIDI, so at least that part would work as with any other MIDI instrument/module.
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They are listed in parameter order and they don't mention if the NRPN's are in hex or dec and what the hell is 0:2? It's supposed to be an NRPN number but it's a ratio, so again back to is it hex or dec?
NRPN messages are composed of a minor and major id and value parts. Most likely its decimal and most likely A:B means A*128 + B or A + 128 * B. The best way to determine that is to connect a MIDI monitoring program to the Peak and check what MIDI data is send when turning a corresponding knob. So that part is not a problem. Its only that they do not document the sysex messages nor the program vector layout.
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They are listed in parameter order and they don't mention if the NRPN's are in hex or dec and what the hell is 0:2? It's supposed to be an NRPN number but it's a ratio, so again back to is it hex or dec?
NRPN messages are composed of a minor and major id and value parts. Most likely its decimal and most likely A:B means A*128 + B or A + 128 * B. The best way to determine that is to connect a MIDI monitoring program to the Peak and check what MIDI data is send when turning a corresponding knob. So that part is not a problem. Its only that they do not document the sysex messages nor the program vector layout.
In general, there shouldn't be a need to mix CCs and NRPNs. It's sloppy–and for DAWs which cannot handle one or the other, it's a woefully incomplete implementation.
Sysex documentation is yet another discussion–but yes–ought to be complete and well-documented on the day the product ships, and any updates / changes to spec noted within their own docs.
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I cannot find the PEAK at Thomann anymore... and at Gear4Music they have a few "on sale"... I'm beginning to think that we'll soon see a new PEAK version from Novation... maybe a 16 voice version, maybe a keyboard version... Thomann had them on sale quite cheap when they still had them...
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I cannot find the PEAK at Thomann anymore... and at Gear4Music they have a few "on sale"... I'm beginning to think that we'll soon see a new PEAK version from Novation... maybe a 16 voice version, maybe a keyboard version... Thomann had them on sale quite cheap when they still had them...
A knobby 16 voice keyboard version would sell like hot cakes...
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I cannot find the PEAK at Thomann anymore... and at Gear4Music they have a few "on sale"... I'm beginning to think that we'll soon see a new PEAK version from Novation... maybe a 16 voice version, maybe a keyboard version... Thomann had them on sale quite cheap when they still had them...
A knobby 16 voice keyboard version would sell like hot cakes...
It will be interesting if Sequential come out with a Wavetable based or digital oscillator/analog filter around the same time as this possible Novation Superpeak or Twin Peak.
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Well... I was on the verge of buying one soon actually... been tempting for a long while, but I think I'll hold on a bit until Sequential show what they intend to replace the P12 with... and then hopefully I'll know more about the PEAK's fate by then too... I'm on the lookout for a high-end hybrid digital front end synth as my next synth and was focusing on PEAK and P12 (secondhand)... but now I am not so sure anymore...
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This sounds pretty good to me:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKssAN1cXKo
I love a lot of the sounds in that video. I've watched it a dozen times just to hear them.
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Some companies are flouting their new products for this half of the year already, while some are being quiet, possibly waiting tor the 24th to show-off their wares.
Don't think that Novation is retiring the Peak as it's still for sale on their site shop, but an increased voice, or even multitimbre Peak would be tasty indeed.
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Some companies are flouting their new products for this half of the year already, while some are being quiet, possibly waiting tor the 24th to show-off their wares.
Don't think that Novation is retiring the Peak as it's still for sale on their site shop, but an increased voice, or even multitimbre Peak would be tasty indeed.
Yeah... But the PEAK is totaly off the Thomann site and have been for some weeks now, and when they were there the price was considerably less than what they go for even now for no apparent reason... Normally at Thomann, if they are out of stock, the product is still there to be seen... But when they disappear they usually do not come back again which seems weird, as this is a rather popular synth...
I read somewhere, that Novation answered to questions about a key version, that it would depend on sales if any would see the light of day... I feel it has sold pretty well, and a 16 voice version would not be unrealistic with 16 voices becoming the trend now, and people calling for a keyboard version since its release.
It is mysterious enough for me to hold back on a PEAK for a while at least 🙂
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Yeah... But the PEAK is totaly off the Thomann site and have been for some weeks now, and when they were there the price was considerably less than what they go for even now for no apparent reason... Normally at Thomann, if they are out of stock, the product is still there to be seen... But when they disappear they usually do not come back again which seems weird, as this is a rather popular synth...
As you know, I'm living in Germany, but not only this: Treppendorf (the small village where the thomann headquarters are) is only about 30km away from me, so I'm visiting their showroom quite often. My last visit was about two weeks ago and it happened that I asked about the disappeared PEAK on their website ( I have a PEAK myself and was looking for signs of an upcoming keyboard version so I wanted to look at Thomanns current price so I noticed it disappeared, too). I was told by one of the employees that I personally know, that Thomann would not earn a single € at the PEAKs current price point but they still had costs for logistics, so they temporarily took it out of their range. I do not know if that is really all and if it's true at all, or if this is just the version that he was allowed to tell me.
At a former visit I took a (bad) picture of the shelf with the DSI synth for a friend of mine. I will leave it here for you just for fun ;-)
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Yeah... But the PEAK is totaly off the Thomann site and have been for some weeks now, and when they were there the price was considerably less than what they go for even now for no apparent reason... Normally at Thomann, if they are out of stock, the product is still there to be seen... But when they disappear they usually do not come back again which seems weird, as this is a rather popular synth...
As you know, I'm living in Germany, but not only this: Treppendorf (the small village where the thomann headquarters are) is only about 30km away from me, so I'm visiting their showroom quite often. My last visit was about two weeks ago and it happened that I asked about the disappeared PEAK on their website ( I have a PEAK myself and was looking for signs of an upcoming keyboard version so I wanted to look at Thomanns current price so I noticed it disappeared, too). I was told by one of the employees that I personally know, that Thomann would not earn a single € at the PEAKs current price point but they still had costs for logistics, so they temporarily took it out of their range. I do not know if that is really all and if it's true at all, or if this is just the version that he was allowed to tell me.
At a former visit I took a (bad) picture of the shelf with the DSI synth for a friend of mine. I will leave it here for you just for fun ;-)
Strange because nothing stops them from raising their price on the PEAK if they earn nothing on it... All other retailers have them at a much higher price so they would still be competitive.
It is just "that feeling" I have... Feels like retailers are trying to get rid of their last stock, and then it disappears. GEar4music had six left last I watched, and had a "for sale" sign on them.
Just seems odd to me...
Anyway, I will not be buying anything in that category (polysynth) until earliest June, so I'll probably know by then :)
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It sounds like bullshit for me, too. As I said: perhaps this was the version he was allowed to tell. I hope for a coming keyboard version of the PEAK, even if the price for the module decreases. Perhaps if a keyboard version shows up, it will have a polychain mode... that would be really cool and justify a purchase even if one has a module already.
But if I remember right Novation was showing the PEAK for the first time at Superbooth... so I don't have much hopes for NAMM.
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It sounds like bullshit for me, too. As I said: perhaps this was the version he was allowed to tell. I hope for a coming keyboard version of the PEAK, even if the price for the module decreases. Perhaps if a keyboard version shows up, it will have a polychain mode... that would be really cool and justify a purchase even if one has a module already.
But if I remember right Novation was showing the PEAK for the first time at Superbooth... so I don't have much hopes for NAMM.
I'm just thinking that it would probably be a bigger version that would come out if any... the trend is 16 voices these days for hybrid/analog synths... and I doubt they would stop selling it if it would still be in production... even if a 16 voice desktop version came out, there would still be a market for the 8 voice version I think... for some reason i have this feeling, that IF it happens that something new comes out, that no one would want the PEAK anymore... otherwise there would be no reason not to sell it still...
So unless they plan on selling an identical 16 voice version so cheap that it would not make sense (or be possible) to sell the 8 voice version at a profitable pricepoint, then I think they are working on an improved newer version (A MKII type of thing maybe).
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FYI thomann has dropped products in the past, the Deepmind is another example of a product series that was dropped because of low margins (it is back now, fwiw).
It makes pretty much no sense that Novation would drop the Peak IMHO, considering they just released a pretty substantial firmware update for it.
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I bought a Peak this week and I am utterly impressed with it so far, I was expecting a VA sounding instrument, I was wrong. The oscillators sound great and yes they sound as good as Analog with the power of wavetable capability and other interesting modulation features. It just sounds great and very big sweetspot.
I would love to see DSI investigate this FPGA architecture for a new Prophet 12
Type synth in the future. Those NCOs sound more Analog and rich than the DCOs in my rev2 16voice.
I ordered a Rev2 16voice and the Peak, the Rev2 got very little use in the studio, the Peak is getting heavy use alongside the P12. Kind of sad I will probably take some time nextweek to use it once I am finished with this project.
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Waldorf Quantum will not be out until the end of the year, so that makes ONE hybrid synth this spring :D
The Peak looks interesting for sure, especially that it's oscillators are run at this incredible speed which reminds me of custom chips in the old days... big step forward in my opinion, so that something can be done about all that aliasing normally associated with digital oscillators.... they say it is litterally like analog oscillators in quality... neat.
I agree though, that it's good to see more and more companies figure out, that we want hybrids, as to get best of both worlds, instead of all these analog mono and polys one after the other... it's becoming quite boring really.
Wonder what DSI will conjure up next to compete with all these new things.... except the Waldorf Quantum of course, it won't be out until much later... if at all... we know Waldorf and release dates... it may be two or three years, unless they have improved since the Pulse 2.
I hope DSI is paying close attention. This FPGA/NCO architecture is a huge step forward in the evolution of synthesizers. The sounds of the Raw oscillators sound great, you can beautiful classic rich sounds just from two slightly detuned saws for example, and a touch of wave shaping takes you plenty of places. Its a very impressive instrument and its like having aa porta le mini modular. Blind test you will think its VCO its that good. I would love to see DSI explore this for future instruments.
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Waldorf Quantum will not be out until the end of the year, so that makes ONE hybrid synth this spring :D
The Peak looks interesting for sure, especially that it's oscillators are run at this incredible speed which reminds me of custom chips in the old days... big step forward in my opinion, so that something can be done about all that aliasing normally associated with digital oscillators.... they say it is litterally like analog oscillators in quality... neat.
I agree though, that it's good to see more and more companies figure out, that we want hybrids, as to get best of both worlds, instead of all these analog mono and polys one after the other... it's becoming quite boring really.
Wonder what DSI will conjure up next to compete with all these new things.... except the Waldorf Quantum of course, it won't be out until much later... if at all... we know Waldorf and release dates... it may be two or three years, unless they have improved since the Pulse 2.
I hope DSI is paying close attention. This FPGA/NCO architecture is a huge step forward in the evolution of synthesizers. The sounds of the Raw oscillators sound great, you can beautiful classic rich sounds just from two slightly detuned saws for example, and a touch of wave shaping takes you plenty of places. Its a very impressive instrument and its like having aa porta le mini modular. Blind test you will think its VCO its that good. I would love to see DSI explore this for future instruments.
I got a PEAK about a week ago, and yes it is currently, hands down, the best digital front end sound of any synth out there in my opinion... I do hear a difference between PEAK and REV2 though... The REV2 has a bit darker tone with a bit more analog'ish tone to it... It's a bit more fuzzy and not as "controlled" in it's tone... Maybe a tad bit more "dirty fat" than PEAK, which seems more controlled... But still fat in its own way. It is like if REV2 is a bit more "blurry" in its tone... Good for some things, bad for others, but I contribute this to the analog DCOs.
When I try to decide between them, I'd probably choose PEAK, but I would rather have both... PEAK do have five major drawbacks in comparison;
Only eight voices
Lacks an ekstra per voice LFO
Lacks a modulation sequencer
Has no voice panning (that surprised me! Really disappointing)
Lacks dual timbrality
... But instead it has so much else that make up for it, and if synths did not have differencies, there would not be much need for so many of them anyway.
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Waldorf Quantum will not be out until the end of the year, so that makes ONE hybrid synth this spring :D
The Peak looks interesting for sure, especially that it's oscillators are run at this incredible speed which reminds me of custom chips in the old days... big step forward in my opinion, so that something can be done about all that aliasing normally associated with digital oscillators.... they say it is litterally like analog oscillators in quality... neat.
I agree though, that it's good to see more and more companies figure out, that we want hybrids, as to get best of both worlds, instead of all these analog mono and polys one after the other... it's becoming quite boring really.
Wonder what DSI will conjure up next to compete with all these new things.... except the Waldorf Quantum of course, it won't be out until much later... if at all... we know Waldorf and release dates... it may be two or three years, unless they have improved since the Pulse 2.
I hope DSI is paying close attention. This FPGA/NCO architecture is a huge step forward in the evolution of synthesizers. The sounds of the Raw oscillators sound great, you can beautiful classic rich sounds just from two slightly detuned saws for example, and a touch of wave shaping takes you plenty of places. Its a very impressive instrument and its like having aa porta le mini modular. Blind test you will think its VCO its that good. I would love to see DSI explore this for future instruments.
I got a PEAK about a week ago, and yes it is currently, hands down, the best digital front end sound of any synth out there in my opinion... I do hear a difference between PEAK and REV2 though... The REV2 has a bit darker tone with a bit more analog'ish tone to it... It's a bit more fuzzy and not as "controlled" in it's tone... Maybe a tad bit more "dirty fat" than PEAK, which seems more controlled... But still fat in its own way. It is like if REV2 is a bit more "blurry" in its tone... Good for some things, bad for others, but I contribute this to the analog DCOs.
When I try to decide between them, I'd probably choose PEAK, but I would rather have both... PEAK do have five major drawbacks in comparison;
Only eight voices
Lacks an ekstra per voice LFO
Lacks a modulation sequencer
Has no voice panning (that surprised me! Really disappointing)
Lacks dual timbrality
... But instead it has so much else that make up for it, and if synths did not have differencies, there would not be much need for so many of them anyway.
I hope that the Peak is simply a “testing the waters” instrument for something bigger. Voice pan is an odd omission though. I always think it’s strange when you discover synths that are missing some pretty basic features. I remeber hearing the $25K Schmidt synthesizer didn’t even have an arpeggiator!
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I used to have a peak and returned it for a rev2... on the good side I found it has a very robust construction, knobs feel real good, screen is nice. I didn’t like the vertical sliders though that I found a bit loose and inacurate. Sound wise the Peak was too creamy to my ears and the only « benefit » of the analog filter was the noise... but it certainly didn’t bring life to the sound. The rev2 is a much wilder animal very analogish and I have absolutely no noise. I thought the Peak could easily be replaced by a random vst while the rev is totally an instrument on its own with keyboard and one feature one button (almost).
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It is funny how different people hear completely different things about the same synth... But I guess that is good because otherwise only one synth would be "the best"... What a boring synth world that would be ;) ... I like both REV2 and PEAK, and the more I learn about PEAK, the more I know I cannot live without bothv ;D
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Price is down to £964 new on amazon uk.
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New Peak:
1. Sane & documented Sysex/CC implementation.
2. Official rack mount 19" ears (https://www.facebook.com/commerce/products/2156147044445085/)
3. 16 voice would be nice.
Bax, Sweet-water still sell these just $100 above a REV2/8 DT. Wonder we will see anything at Messe or Superbooth.
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New Peak:
1. Sane & documented Sysex/CC implementation.
2. Official rack mount 19" ears (https://www.facebook.com/commerce/products/2156147044445085/)
3. 16 voice would be nice.
Bax, Sweet-water still sell these just $100 above a REV2/8 DT. Wonder we will see anything at Messe or Superbooth.
I reverse engineered the SysEx of the PEAK for my editor... if anyone wants them, just write me a PM ;)
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So the rumours were correct. And the Summit looks and sounds great. I’m tempted to sell my Prophet 6 Desktop! Not that the Peak or Summit would be a replacement for the analog warmth of the P6. But for the kind of music that I do, the P6 is sometimes too lush. And I’d hope to be able to create darker, slightly more digital vibes with the Peak/Summit. Perhaps I should just opt for the security of getting/trading an OB6. Can’t go wrong with such quality eh.... And it would bring me new sound designing thrills!
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Hello everyone,
i've received my Peak last week ...
The association with the Prophet X is just awesome !!
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laurentluigi,
Glad to hear they compliment each other. I take it you're controlling the Peak with the PX?
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laurentluigi,
Glad to hear they compliment each other. I take it you're controlling the Peak with the PX?
Hello,
i'm effectively driving the peak by the px but only for the played notes !
I've got some "trouble" to have the sustain pedal ....
I'm really not a specialist about the CC or NRPN controls ....
I'm going to join the HydraSynth Desk to have the possibility to travel all around the Unviverses ....