8 or 16 voices?

[aaronsimsg]

Hi everyone, I have my eyes set on the Rev2 however I would be stretching my budget for the 16 voice module.
I intend to use the Rev2 for studio use only and would like to hear your opinions on areas where the 16 voice will shine in comparison to the 8 voice module.

Besides stacking voices to have a thicker/fuller sound or playing 2x 8-voice presets bi-timbral, what else will I be missing out on?

[Gerry Havinga]

Hi everyone, I have my eyes set on the Rev2 however I would be stretching my budget for the 16 voice module.
I intend to use the Rev2 for studio use only and would like to hear your opinions on areas where the 16 voice will shine in comparison to the 8 voice module.

Besides stacking voices to have a thicker/fuller sound or playing 2x 8-voice presets bi-timbral, what else will I be missing out on?

I have been using the Rev2 8 voice for the last year in my studio setup. I only use multi mode, so effectively I have two synths with 4 voices each. Till now (one year!) I have not missed the additional voices. I am very glad I took the decision for the 8 voice version and I know I have the option to install the additional board to double voice count at any time.

I have build my studio over the last three years to have a variety of synths (see my current list in the footer). The Rev2 is another set of "voices" together with the other synths. The Rev2 is my primary synth, I almost always start writing a track with designing a set of patches for layer A & B on the Rev2 and from there on move to create patches on my other synths.

This is my experience and opinion, see for yourself if this fits yours.

[Razmo]

Well... just get the 8 voice version, and buy the upgrade later when you have the money... that's one good thing about the REV2, that it's expandable.

Regarding having 16 voices in comparison to 8, that is about it really... the polyphony... personally I would not be able to do with just 8 voices, simply because the joint forces of two layers is a lot more flexible than you'd expect really... especially if the sounds you want to use demands chord playing, or have long release times... it's really when those two layers combine to form a sound, that you can do so much more with the REV2, especially when you have 16 voices available.

But other than the polyphony, there are no differences... the only one I can think of is if someone made a program on a 16-voice that use unison with full amount of voices allocated... then it would not sound the same... a program can be programmed to use a single layer, with unison set to 16 voices... if you play that on an 8'voice, the REV2 of course automatically makes that 8 voices... samt thing in stacked or split mode... if it's programmed to use more than 4 voices each, then an 8-voice REV2 would not play the program like it was meant to be played.

[MPM]

Besides stacking voices to have a thicker/fuller sound or playing 2x 8-voice presets bi-timbral, what else will I be missing out on?

Absolutely nothing. And for a "thicker/fuller sound" this synth doesn't need more than 4 voices in unison.

[LoboLives]

Personally I find 8 is enough. I tried out the 16 in the store and I actually preferred the 8 voice. A lot of classic and iconic synths were only 8 voices. Personally I think 16 voices is only good if you have a multitimbral synth (ala Alesis Andromeda).

[Montyrivers]

I like making 2 voice unison patches by copying layer A to layer B and using stack mode so having 16 voices has been pretty important for me.  Otherwise I would be stuck with 4 notes when layered.

[Razmo]

8 is not enough in my case mostly because I do Ambient music... pads quickly eat up polyphony when you need both chords and long release times... it may just do it for single layer sounds, but if you want just a little bit more complexity to the sounds you're making you would need to stack layer A+B... it depend on how you want to use the synth so there really is no right and wrong here... so if you're uncertain, the way to go would still be to get an 8 voice version, try it out, and if you experience too much note-stealing, buy the upgrade... in Europe, buying the 8-voice and upgrade separatly is actually a bit cheaper than buying a 16 voice from the get go...

[Quatschmacher]

You might wish to have extra voices if creating polyphonic sequences and wish to play over the top of them with the remaining voices.

[Sleep of Reason]

As it is, I have the 16 voice and come across limitations of polyphony quite a bit.

[aaronsimsg]

8 is not enough in my case mostly because I do Ambient music... pads quickly eat up polyphony when you need both chords and long release times... it may just do it for single layer sounds, but if you want just a little bit more complexity to the sounds you're making you would need to stack layer A+B... it depend on how you want to use the synth so there really is no right and wrong here... so if you're uncertain, the way to go would still be to get an 8 voice version, try it out, and if you experience too much note-stealing, buy the upgrade... in Europe, buying the 8-voice and upgrade separatly is actually a bit cheaper than buying a 16 voice from the get go...

Seems like that will be the right path, to use 8-voice till I meet any polyphony limitations. If none, then there's no reason to expand to 16-voice. And yeah I noticed that too, slightly cheaper to get the 8-voice and upgrade separately

[latoxine]

8 is not enough in my case mostly because I do Ambient music... pads quickly eat up polyphony when you need both chords and long release times... it may just do it for single layer sounds, but if you want just a little bit more complexity to the sounds you're making you would need to stack layer A+B... it depend on how you want to use the synth so there really is no right and wrong here... so if you're uncertain, the way to go would still be to get an 8 voice version, try it out, and if you experience too much note-stealing, buy the upgrade... in Europe, buying the 8-voice and upgrade separatly is actually a bit cheaper than buying a 16 voice from the get go...

Seems like that will be the right path, to use 8-voice till I meet any polyphony limitations. If none, then there's no reason to expand to 16-voice. And yeah I noticed that too, slightly cheaper to get the 8-voice and upgrade separately

hello,
the fact that upgrading  is not more expensive compare to the 16 voices version is fantastic. You can't do a bad choice: except if you take the 16 version, and only use 2 of them ...you know...one finger on each hands ! :-) like all synth players ! And because the rev2 can do beautifull things with only few notes....

[Razmo]

The cheaper solution only goes for Europe... probably because of currency differences etc... besides... the saving you'd do is even greater if it's the 8-voice module you buy plus an upgrade... in that case it's rather substantial actually...

[aaronsimsg]

hello,
the fact that upgrading  is not more expensive compare to the 16 voices version is fantastic. You can't do a bad choice: except if you take the 16 version, and only use 2 of them ...you know...one finger on each hands ! :-) like all synth players ! And because the rev2 can do beautifull things with only few notes....

The cheaper solution only goes for Europe... probably because of currency differences etc... besides... the saving you'd do is even greater if it's the 8-voice module you buy plus an upgrade... in that case it's rather substantial actually...

yes agreed! however I have to wait for next month to order the 16 voice version and the wait is killing me. also since I'm purchasing from Thomann, it's slightly cheaper to get them separate. And I get to play with the 8 voice version before deciding if I need the extra 8 voices.

[latoxine]

I suppose that even more it depends of the country.
Because before to buy I checked the price differences ( 8 voices + extension or 16 voices ) and no differences at Thomann store for a French ( world champions !    )  order.

[guyaguy]

If you don't have 3 16-voice Rev2s stacked, all with the same patch but each detuned, you're missing out.

[aaronsimsg]

 

If you don't have 3 16-voice Rev2s stacked, all with the same patch but each detuned, you're missing out.

 

[Troy92Evans]

8 voices definitely wouldn’t cut it for me. I like dense chords and play piano so a left hand 4 note chord is already the voice limit when stacked on an 8 voice. If you get super colorful/textury and want any release on your patch you’ll get voice stealing really quick.

[AlainHubert]

I agree that 8 voice would also not cut it for me, too. That's why I went with 16 voice and don't regret it one bit. But that's just me...
Besides, you can get the REV2 16 voice for only $500 more than the 8 voice model.