Lobo's synth state rant.

[DavidDever]

During this time, synths with knobs were revered by players, but not provided by manufacturers. It was baffling disconnect between what musicians (said they) wanted and what the industry made.

I don't think it's that easy to characterize, from a UX perspective, given the rapid changes in technology taking place under the hood.

If you compare the one-knob-per-function Prophet-5 to the Prophet VS, or the (one knob per two functions) OB-8 to the Matrix-12, you already see the challenges in reconciling the underlying technological capabilities with a one-knob-per-function binding:

• VS: button-as-parameter-selector plus data-entry slider, as used on the Yamaha DX7
• OB-8: shift-functionality using Page 2 functions, silkscreened on the front panel
• Matrix-12 / Xpander: Page N functions with multiple contextual knob + text-display parameter values*

And it's safe to say that nearly every modern instrument which lacks a touchscreen uses some combination of these concepts in differing amounts.

In most cases, it took quite some time before a (handful of?) generally-accepted approach(es) to parameter access was an agreed-upon if understood context for instrument designers.

* - the Waldorf MicroWave falls into this category, albeit with a displaced positioning of the display relative to the knobs.

[LoboLives]

During this time, synths with knobs were revered by players, but not provided by manufacturers. It was baffling disconnect between what musicians (said they) wanted and what the industry made.

I don't think it's that easy to characterize, from a UX perspective, given the rapid changes in technology taking place under the hood.

If you compare the one-knob-per-function Prophet-5 to the Prophet VS, or the (one knob per two functions) OB-8 to the Matrix-12, you already see the challenges in reconciling the underlying technological capabilities with a one-knob-per-function binding:

• VS: button-as-parameter-selector plus data-entry slider, as used on the Yamaha DX7
• OB-8: shift-functionality using Page 2 functions, silkscreened on the front panel
• Matrix-12 / Xpander: Page N functions with multiple contextual knob + text-display parameter values*

And it's safe to say that nearly every modern instrument which lacks a touchscreen uses some combination of these concepts in differing amounts.

* - the Waldorf MicroWave falls into this category, albeit with a displaced positioning of the display relative to the knobs.

I think a lot of that had to do with lack of affordable DAWs at the time and the expense of going to the studio, so most companies wanted to offer workstations to accommodate this. Catering more towards the songwriter rather than the player.

[Sacred Synthesis]

Now I wonder if we'll see the same treatment for the Evolver, 12, Pro 2 or P6? Like I said the Rev2 is a step in the right direction in that it's inspired by an older synth but improves on it...so could this be a new thing for DSI? I'm actually curious what they bring out next.

DSI seems to be a company that is in no way out of ideas.  But if ever there was a bit of inventer's block...one quick solution would be to do just as you've suggested: go the REV2 route with the Evolvers and perhaps some other DSI/Sequential instruments.

[proteus-ix]

Not monophonic instruments with no features.

The sound is the feature.  You want the sound, you pay the price.