Roland Jupiter-50 Review

Posted on May 3, 2012 by synthhead

Dan Goldman takes a deep look (30 min) at the new Roland Jupiter-50 keyboard synthesizer, the portable version of Roland’s Jupiter-80 synthesizer.

The Jupiter-50 inherits the sounds and Live Set architecture of the Jupiter-80, but packs them into a relatively lightweight keyboard.

The Jupiter-50 offers the synthesizer and acoustic tones found in the Jupiter-80. With the Jupiter-50, though, Roland puts the synth engine in a portable instrument designed for live performance.

Goldman’s bottom line? “It’s a great board. You really are getting the quality of sound that’s in Roland’s flagship synthesizer.”

via musicradartv

Nord Drum Virtual Analog Drum Synth (Review)

Posted on April 23, 2012 by synthhead

In this video review, Nick Batt takes a look a the Nord Drum – a new virtual analog drum synth that was introduced at the 2012 NAMM Show:

“The Nord Drum is certainly a usable little unit, with the range of sounds on board even with the limited number of Tone waves, it will find a home in many a drummers arsenal as a way to enhance an acoustic setup or perhaps as a drum aspect to an electronic music setup. Its a shame that it was not possible to extend the wave palette more and give it a stereo output.”

See Nick’s full review of the Nord Drum analog drum synth at the Sonic State site.

The Novation Launchpad (Review) – The Affordable, Portable Controller For Ableton Live

Posted on April 19, 2012 by synthhead

The Novation Launchpad is the MIDI controller that took the 8 x 8 button matrix mainstream.

While it’s been out a few years, we thought it was time to revisit it, in part because the monome-style button matrix has become a de facto interface for working with Ableton Live and also because the Launchpad’s street price has dropped to a very affordable $150.

If you’ve been under a rock, the Novation Launchpad is a MIDI controller designed specifically for Ableton Live, designed in conjuntion with Ableton. It comes with an introductory version of Live and is extremely easy to set up. It’s USB powered, so you basically plug it in, launch Live and get busy.

The primary use for the Launchpad is triggering loops and sounds in Live’s Session View. The Launchpad automatically lights up its buttons to mirror the arrangement of your clips in Live. This makes it easy to navigate the grid of otherwise identical buttons.

Here’s how Novation positions the Launchpad:

The Launchpad transforms your experience of using Ableton Live, making it more like working with hardware than working with a computer & mouse.

While using the matrix buttons instead of a mouse delivers obvious speed improvements, the benefits of the Launchpad are deeper than that.

The Launchpad turns the Session View into something that you can really ‘play’, making it easy to trigger samples and loops on a much more granular level. This makes it much easier to experiment with arrangements and rearrange things while playing live.

Continue reading →

Keith McmIllen 12 Step Foot Controller Review

Posted on March 8, 2012 by synthhead

Here’s a review,via sonicstate, of the Keith McmIllen 12 Step Chromatic Keyboard Foot Controller, a unique MIDI controller designed to be played with the foot, but offering an unusual range of expression for a foot pedal.

For example, the 12 Step offers:

5 note polyphony;
Polyphonic aftertouch and pitch bend; and
Velocity sensitive response

Polyphonic aftertouch, especially, is rare on both controllers and keyboard synths. We’ve heard of people using these as keyboards because of this capability.

The KMI 12 Step Chromatic Keyboard Foot Controller is US $290, with a street price of about $260.

If you’ve used the 12 Step controller, let us know what you think of it!

Teenage Engineering OP-1 Synthesizer Review

Posted on February 2, 2012 by synthhead

Chris at ohdratdigital offers his take on the Teenage Engineering OP-1 synthesizer:

The Teenage Engineering OP-1 is a synth, sampler, and virtual four track tape recorder all in a chassis that looks akin to a classic home synth instrument – the Casio VL Tone looks like it might have been a big design inspiration. In our epic review we go through our likes and dislikes about the instrument, show you some sounds, and show off a beat we made by performing it live.

The review includes a demo and some beatmaking, which kick in around 5:30. The audio is direct in, so it offers a preview of what the OP-1 is capable of.

Tempest Analog Drum Machine Review

Posted on December 24, 2011 by synthhead

Sonic State’s Nick Batt reviews the Tempest Analog Drum Machine – a partnership between two of the most respected names in electronic music gear, Roger Linn and Dave Smith.

More background info on the Tempest below.

If you’re a Tempest user, let us know what you think of it!

Continue reading →

Geo Synthesizer Review

Posted on November 1, 2011 by synthhead

This video, via Nick at The365AppChallenge, takes a look at Wizdom Music’s new Geo Synthesizer.

Geo Synthesizer is a collaboration between Wizdom Music’s Jordan Rudess, Kevin Chartier (MorphWiz, SampleWiz) and Rob Fielding (Mugician). Geo Synthesizer is intended to be an ‘expressive musical instrument specifically created for a multitouch surface’.

Some of the more unique features of Geo Synthesizer are microtonal support, ‘snap speed control’ – which allows for accurate pitch control on a continuously pitched instrument and a unique key layout.

If you’ve tried out Geo Synthesizer, let us know what you think of it!

GrainBender Synthesizer For iPad Review

Posted on August 26, 2011 by guest

dischord offers his take on GrainBender for iPad:

BurgerKone’s new synth app brings a lot of innovation to automation, providing some of the most interesting sound design on iPad. The inclusion of a robust MIDI implementation, as well as AudioCopy, makes this a serious tool for anyone who enjoys exploring sound.

GrainBender has added CoreMIDI support since we first reported on it.

GrainBender is $8.99 in the App Store.

Teenage Engineering OP-1 Synthesizer Review – A ‘Tour de Force’?

Posted on August 18, 2011 by synthhead

The Teenage Engineering OP-1 synthesizer has been one of the hotly anticipated and discussed new synths since it was introduced.

The quirky portable synth offers an unique range of features:

Midi Controller with Transport and Four Endless Encoders
Fm Synth
Sampler with mic or line in, built in speaker
FM Radio that allows you sample Young Jeezy.
8 synthesizer models, 8 samplers and effects like Delay, Flutter, Filters and EQ all built in.
Step sequencer/arpegiato
Built in Motion Sensor

The OP-1′s $799 price, though, left a lot of Synthtopia readers thinking the synth is an over-priced toy.

Here’s a full Teenage Engineering OP-1 synthesizer review, via Nick at Sonic State. He calls the OP-1 synth a ‘design tour de force’ and sums his thoughts up on it by saying “Do you want it? Hell yeah!”

The Teenage Engineering OP-1 is a niche, high-end product – one that we think it going to continue to be met with a lot of skepticism, even while early adopters sing its praises.

Check out the OP-1 review video – and then let us know what you think!

Alesis IO Dock Review

Posted on August 9, 2011 by synthhead

Here’s a in-depth review, via Sonic State’s Nick Batt, of the new Alesis IO Dock- a universal docking station for the iPad that connects it to microphones, instruments, professional speaker and PA systems, MIDI controllers, sound modules and video projectors.

The Alesis IO Dock retails for about $199, and adds two combination XLR and 1/4-inch inputs, each with its own gain control and switchable phantom power for condenser microphones.

See the Sonic Lab review page for more of their thoughts on the new device and our post on the Alesis IO Dock for full specifications.

If you’ve used the Alesis IO Dock yourself, what do you think of it?

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