Novation Peak Audio Examples

This video captures a wide range of audio examples of the new Novation Peak synthesizer.

We recently had the opportunity to get a Novation Peak demo (embedded below) from product specialist Enrique Martinez, and also captured this extended patch demo. 

Audio was recorded direct to a portable digital audio recorder. Effects used are the Peak’s built-in effects.

30 thoughts on “Novation Peak Audio Examples

    1. Agreed. It sounds very good – you’ll all laugh, but for some reason it reminds me of my Evolver?

      I see people quarreling about the Peak vs the DM12; sure, it’s human nature to compare and contrast and pick a favorite but c’mon, folks, we live in an age of near-miraculous abundance and variety. I don’t want one or the other – I want them *both*. The debate I’m having is “how can I afford all of this stuff?” Oh, and “how do I sneak it in past my wife?” Frankly, if there’s one area that the synth developers are sadly lagging behind, it’s stealth technology. I guarantee you that both the Peak and the DM12 would sell 8x better if you could push a button and the controller morphs into a Tiffany’s gift box with a card that says “do not open until Christmas”.

  1. Right now with what I’ve heard The Novation Peak sounds way to clinical for my tastes. I have a Deepmind12…creamy rich voluptuous sound. I will say this about the Peak though, it’s early in the game n who knows what will surface as far as video demos go.. I’ll listen to them. I’ll keep an open ear and mind.

    1. DeepMind 12 is a great bargain and tailor made for pads, but the Peak completely runs circles around it when it comes to synthesis possibilities.

      The DM12 is based on the idea of recreating a Roland Juno synth and updating it. The Juno’s are extremely limited, but also do what they do really well. The DM 12 follows suit.

      If you pay attention to the specs or the demos for the Peak, you’ll see that it’s got lots of options that the DM 12 doesn’t have.

      Not dissing either – but they are different beasts, with different goals, and I think it’s f***ing amazing that Novation & Behringer are putting out very nice synths at these prices.

  2. this synth has obviously shaken the world of Deepmind12 owners, generally when people don’t feel threatened they ignore something.

    1. This idea that synth building and buying is a competition to be won is ridiculous, and antithetical to music making. Stop, please, everyone. Synthesizers are not sports teams, and your instrument collection is not a fantasy football team.

      1. This is so true. Synths aren’t race cars. Each has its own unique personality, and some just, excuse the pun, resonate with people.

        It’s still helpful to compare features, sound, and price. But I don’t think anyone who buys this is making a mistake. A synth is what you make of it.

  3. Sounds very versatile and modern, in a good way. Looking forward to more demos. I really feel people still don’t get what this synth is really about.

    1. “I really feel people still don’t get what this synth is really about.”

      Yes – it seems like a lot of people have no clue what a difference three oscillators vs two means, or the potential of wavetable oscillators vs simple wave form oscillators.

      1. The FPGA deisgn is very new within analog / hybrid synth products which typically depend on microcontrollers and DSP and offers huge new dimensions of things which may be possible just by future software updates. Who works with UADs FPGA-DSP systems might have an idea what’s sonically possible on such a platform design.

        From the specs and demos it seems that this design was selected wisely – it takes significant new development work instead of just designing another Microcontroller / DSP synth with some kind of analog filter. But it will depend on what future work Novation will put into that box’S “firmware” and/or how the community is growing.

    1. As far as I have seen, no plans for a keyboard version. However, they outline the benefits of the no-keyboard design: “The keyboardless design not only looks contemporary, but saves on desk space with its reduced footprint. This is a serious consideration for home studio producers who may only have room for (or the desire to use) a single master keyboard, and live performers looking to keep their stage setup under control.”

      In addition, Novation also offers end cheeks for the Peak that act as a stand: https://d19ulaff0trnck.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/styles/cta_scale_1280/public/07-peak-stand_0.jpg

      Also worthy to say (as I have not heard it mentioned yet) it has a Control Voltage “in” jack: “For interfacing with analogue control voltages, Peak has an external 1/8th-inch jack CV input which, can track 0-5Volt control voltage signals at rates up to 1.2kHz?—?well into audio range?—?for external modular control.

  4. I get the impression Novation have seen the comments about its uninspiring sound and have put together this video to try to address that. I think this guy is pushing this thing to its limits and really trying his hardest to show what range it has. It’s an improvement on the other videos but it still sounds disappointingly dull and limited. High quality components are one thing, but you need unique timbres and interesting architecture to actually make a synthesizer attractive enough to justify this kind of cost. (Also, I really wish they’d stop demoing it with these stupid pad controllers and just use an actual keyboard.)

  5. I’d buy it in a heartbeat if it had more and more dramatic-sounding wavetables. At least those of the Ultranova, but beyond that would be great, too.

  6. I hate to say it. I am not digging the sound. I really wanted to like this. People are saying ‘how can you compare this to the DM12’? Well at the end of the day it does not matter how many bells and whistles you have it is the SOUND! t is an instrument for God’s sake. The sound is super important. Maybe a great demo will come about. I will keep an open mind until then.

  7. I did a complete track with Peak (incl. percussion) and self build patches which is a nice Peak demo:
    http://dettenbach.com/music/from_zero

    used patches:
    http://dettenbach.com/sounds/synthesizer_presets/bb_for_novation_peak

    have fun.

    for me, the peak is currently the most forwarded analog/hybride synth which is underrated by many, because classic subtractive analog patches sound a bit “sterile” on this new architecture if programmed “as usual”, but the analog “warmth”, ” vibe” and “dirt” has to be tweaked too – as the peak allows many colors of analog by unique features. This is where the “Oxford OSC” plays out their Rolle and power.

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