Hey - I didn't make this OS, just to be clear, I'm only showcasing it. I'm glad you have it installed - it's very nice! Hopefully you can thank the original developer :) It's a great sounding synth too - a shame Mutable Instruments is no longer making anything :/
I have purchased tons of synthesizers since owning this. The Prophet 12, the Futuresonus Parva, REV2 - and it is easily better than all of them. It's probably one of the best synths I own.
@@MIDERA I'm still waiting on components in the BOM to become available. Been waiting 7 months to start my build. This is a good reminder of the reward ahead though. BTW...hello from NE Minnesota.
@@impulsecoupling Ah - you must be in the Duluth area? Or, where-ever you are, it's probably a lot prettier than in Minneapolis, which is where I'm at. I can't get rid of my Ambika, it's one of the best sounding synths I own. Beats the P12 for sure. Don't play it too often sadly :/ I don't know why.
MIDERA, the sample and hold reminds me of my wavestation A/D. This Ambika synth seems a very capable instrument. Perhaps you could merge this synth with your guitar work. Love your channel my friend, your TOPS in my book !!!
I could do that merge with the guitar work... though I like exclusively using my SY77 for now! Thanks, I appreciate your comments! I've always wanted a wavestation, but I think it just never worked out, now I have too many synths :/
I remember the A/D so well. When it came to market I sold synths in a music store as a side job in college. It's an exceptional machine with a lot of personality. My first ever synth was a Poly-800 and it kinda destroyed my appreciation for the brand. The A/D helped me to recover from that trauma.
@@MIDERA I'm about to cop one as well, I can't wait! A keyboard with more knobs per function would be really cool, but given it's all open-source we can pray we see someone make something like that in the future.
Hi mate I really appreciate what you do. Especially when I look at views and likes. If you name one of your videos "ten ways to get rich with your music" you'd reach a much wider audience but you don't. Much much respect
Hah, thanks. I think I should start naming my videos “do this one trick to improve your music production” or “the top 80s synth riffs”. Hah, oh well :D It’s ok. As much as I’d love a larger audience, I’m just gonna do what I do, which is to just make music or demos with gear I have, even if it’s not new. Thanks!!!!
used to have an SVF one and loved it but was in need of cash so had to sell. years later your demos are making it very hard for me to not pull the trigger on an SMR4 one right now lol
Yeah, I've never had an SVF one - It would have interested me more if it had continuously variable filters, but I think you have to switch between them.
Yeah, absolutely. Just to note a few things: I think Eventide space really adds a lot to the sound here. While it frustrates me when I hear people say that the space is the reason it sounds good, it does impart some extra “wow” to it. I have found that I can get my virus TI to sound similar. Also, since the virus A, B, etc all sound identical (I have a kb), you could always look out for them too. I don’t particularly like the UI of the ambika. I don’t know why.
@@MIDERA It's a gorgeous demo, indeed. AND an exceptional effect makes it hard to get a true sense of a synth's sound. I remember years ago, I saw a video that said something like "Demo of a VolcaFM". The VolcaFM was routed through a Big Sky... which effectively quadrupled the budget you'd need to get the sound in the demo. :-D
Hah, yeah. I remember when the volcas came out. Seemed like they were the start of the extreme budget gear - now there’s tons of budget gear, which is totally great, although I feel there’s probably a ton of waste when people buy every little cheap thing around. Not that I’m not a part of that culture... But I never have bought a volca.
Hi, did you finally sell it? I've always been intrigued by this synth... I wonder how does it compare with a modern hybrid like the Super6, Waldorf M or the cheaper Minifreak? I own many, many synths, mostly analog but also digital and hybrids, do you think it's worth giving the Ambika a try? It seems special somehow... Thanks!
I have not sold it - but it sits in my local group, waiting to be sold. No one's interested for some reason. I think because my specific unit has 3X of the 4P and 3X SMR filters. Maybe turns people off to that. I think the Ambika sounds better than most of my synths. Amazing filters, amazing envelopes... just sort of wish it was a keyboard version, even if I have too many keyboards! I just don't usually connect with desktop units as much ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I had one in 2016. Since I loved the Shruthi I had an excellent builder make me an Ambika, thinking it was a polyphonic version of it. But no, the "improved" oscillators (16 bits instead of 8 in the Shruthi) lost the charm of the monophonic one. It sounds a little lifeless, with flat, dull oscillators and OK filters, but nothing more than that. I think the Minifreak is a much better synth now, both in sound and features, and also with a better user interface. Now I have the M and it´s in another league, it´s all you can expect from its lineage, a true future classic.
0e0 100% love the kez OS that I am using here. Having the latch feature for arpeggiator is great, although it is a little weird in that pressing new notes doesn’t inactivate old notes, they just get added. Otherwise it’s rock solid.
This is pretty cool .. not knowing about this, til now. I just busted into modular, a year ago. Mostly have Mutable Instruments .. err, so far .. :) .. certainly has stereo capabilities, doesn't it.
I don't think it adds tooooo much on top of the YAM version, but it is a little newer and I think a few additional changes were made, enough to warrant me getting it!
@@MIDERA is the ambika hard to learn? (i dont have one). Is the sequencer suited for live performance recording with a keyboard or step sequencing? I like the polivoks sound of some shruthi demos ...mhhh
And I’m always sitting here telling myself I should sell it, or at least fix the thing... mine has 3x SMR and 3x 4P filters. Maybe that adds to the complexity of the sound. I don’t know... the lack of uniformity can be annoying, but I suppose I don’t really notice it that often.
@@MIDERA There's a guy in italy building them ATM for relatively low money. Also, I am pretty certain, that with a bit of patience, you could get the filter boards traded without any additional cost. I saw in another video that you pondered to let that one go in exchange for a P5. I personally believe the musical value of the Ambika by far exceeds the money you'd get for it if you sold it.
Well, now that I have the P5, I don’t really have a need to sell the ambika. Apart from the fact that I really have too much gear: I will say that I think the ambika has the snappiest envelopes of all the gear I’ve ever owned, so there is that. My other problem is that I don’t know what voice board I’d get. I think I prefer the 4P, but I’m just not sure... so then I never commit to either.
That is a fantastic question. I just listened to it and… have no idea. I may have made that? The names on the device are already weird, but I may have altered the patch that was there. I’m sorry, I usually don’t label my patches in ways that make sense.
Interface and total number of things you can do with the Virus is obviously better. That said - I think they're just different enough. I feel like I can create a sound on the Ambika that sounds fantastic, and then I try to replicate it on the virus and I get 80% there... but it's that 20% that keeps me from selling the Ambika. I also really like 6 voice synths. I wish I could make my Virus use only 6 voices, but I have to sort of add unison which sort of destroys the sound to do it. It's weird, I know that, but limited voice numbers actually make the sound less full and fit in a mix better. I could talk all day on this subject - so perhaps if you have specific questions I could answer them?
@@MIDERA thanks for the answer. The reason I asked is that my Virus C doesn't seem to get a ton of deep diving from myself, so I usually just use bread and butter type sounds. I've been looking for something that can dial in Juno style pads / chords really quickly. My Reface CS does a great job but I think the Ambika might sound a hair better. I think I'm just gassing during the quarantine. Hope things are well!
So - I have a JX3P which is not a juno but I'd say 'close' and I don't think my virus or my Ambika sound at all like it. Mostly due to the chorus chip. Reface CS is more similar to an an1x which I also had, but felt it didn't sound THAT different from my Virus to warrant keeping it (it's a great synth and I think if I were looking to get the AN1x or Virus, I'd go for the AN1x, but since I already have the virus, I kept it, hard to explain). I do think my Ambika gets sort of an 'instantly good' sound out of it, like I do with my JX3P, but they're just too different to say the sounds would be interchangeable. That said, my Ambika gets closer than the Virus does. Virus ends up just sounding a bit too polished when it comes to replicating DCO sounds. I'm gassing too, don't worry :) Looking at a MODOR NF-1, a Juno 60, etc... It never ends. Things are ok here for now. Just hunkered down at home, working and watching my daughter. How are you holding up?
@@MIDERA the gas is real. I had just sold an AN200 that I really liked for the pads, but I made a good profit on it. My SH01A in poly mode is about as close as I can get to the Juno sound at the moment. Hunkered down as well, watching my 2 daughters while my wife still is working. Putting together a few different projects right now which I would like to release for free due to money being tight for folks and maybe a good way to gain a few followers. Mostly IDM / Electro type stuff. Also gassing here for Digitakt. Ugh
@@Cepheid-IDM Elektron gear is like cancer: get one and it starts metastasizing in your studio and eats up the space for all else. I started all the way back with a SIDstation. ;-)
All 6 voices are going into discrete channels in my mixer, each mixer channel is slightly panned in various ways. There's really nothing else I did with this! Hope that helps :)
Once you go six outs from one polysynth it's hard to imagine otherwise. So immersive. I forgot, (and I know you told me) is that running SMR4 filters? I absolutely love your patches. They generally lead toward the SVF filter texture. The SVFs are smooth and a little gritty; like SEM filters or milder Curtis filters. It may be why I love my Mopho so much. It's smooth and dirty at the same time. I ran YAM on my Ambika's. Loved the additional waveforms. I'll have to read up on the differences with Kez.
Hey thanks - I actually have 3 SMR and 3 4P filters... As much as I 'thought' I could tell the differences between them, it's barely noticeable, like, not at all even worth thinking about. At very high resonance sometimes you high piercing resonance, other times not, but it's actually a benefit because it changes things up quite nicely. With this new OS there is this cycling of voices, so I wouldn't have one note always hitting the SMR or 4P, now they'll interchange between the two. I thought they sounded great here - I actually really like the envelopes, they feel/sound snappy to me. And yeah, I really like the 6 outputs. Since there are no internal FX it's easy to justify sending them all out.
@@MIDERA Ah okay. So yeah, if you do further analysis you may find the SMR4 filter to be a bit smoother than the 4P. The 4P is my second favorite to the SVF; it's basically a slightly dirtier SMR4. Sounds great on every kind of patch.
I never came and said thanks. I got this installed and its been my most used piece of kit. I cannot thank you enough as this video changed my life.
Hey - I didn't make this OS, just to be clear, I'm only showcasing it. I'm glad you have it installed - it's very nice! Hopefully you can thank the original developer :) It's a great sounding synth too - a shame Mutable Instruments is no longer making anything :/
it was your demo that made me get it.:-)@@MIDERA
Ah, I see. Cool :)
Forgot about this synth for years but this is a great demo - ordered one!
I have purchased tons of synthesizers since owning this. The Prophet 12, the Futuresonus Parva, REV2 - and it is easily better than all of them. It's probably one of the best synths I own.
@@MIDERA I'm still waiting on components in the BOM to become available. Been waiting 7 months to start my build. This is a good reminder of the reward ahead though.
BTW...hello from NE Minnesota.
@@impulsecoupling Ah - you must be in the Duluth area? Or, where-ever you are, it's probably a lot prettier than in Minneapolis, which is where I'm at.
I can't get rid of my Ambika, it's one of the best sounding synths I own. Beats the P12 for sure.
Don't play it too often sadly :/ I don't know why.
@@MIDERA even further north 😎 on a lake outside Eveleth. Still working on getting the studio set back up.
It looks beautiful up there too! Didn’t realize (or forgot) that you’re in Minnesota. We try to get to the north shore as often as possible.
MIDERA, the sample and hold reminds me of my wavestation A/D. This Ambika synth seems a very capable instrument. Perhaps you could merge this synth with your guitar work. Love your channel my friend, your TOPS in my book !!!
I could do that merge with the guitar work... though I like exclusively using my SY77 for now!
Thanks, I appreciate your comments!
I've always wanted a wavestation, but I think it just never worked out, now I have too many synths :/
I remember the A/D so well. When it came to market I sold synths in a music store as a side job in college. It's an exceptional machine with a lot of personality. My first ever synth was a Poly-800 and it kinda destroyed my appreciation for the brand. The A/D helped me to recover from that trauma.
Sounds really good, it has a real juicy sheen to it.
It's one of the best sounding synths I own. I just kinda wish it was a full keyboard.
@@MIDERA I'm about to cop one as well, I can't wait! A keyboard with more knobs per function would be really cool, but given it's all open-source we can pray we see someone make something like that in the future.
Hi mate I really appreciate what you do. Especially when I look at views and likes. If you name one of your videos "ten ways to get rich with your music" you'd reach a much wider audience but you don't. Much much respect
Hah, thanks. I think I should start naming my videos “do this one trick to improve your music production” or “the top 80s synth riffs”. Hah, oh well :D
It’s ok. As much as I’d love a larger audience, I’m just gonna do what I do, which is to just make music or demos with gear I have, even if it’s not new.
Thanks!!!!
this video inspired me to do a performance with my ambika on monday
0e0 nice! Good luck :)
used to have an SVF one and loved it but was in need of cash so had to sell. years later your demos are making it very hard for me to not pull the trigger on an SMR4 one right now lol
Yeah, I've never had an SVF one - It would have interested me more if it had continuously variable filters, but I think you have to switch between them.
@@MIDERA yeah it's switchable only, would've been even harder for me to part with if they were state variable
Yeah, absolutely. Just to note a few things: I think Eventide space really adds a lot to the sound here. While it frustrates me when I hear people say that the space is the reason it sounds good, it does impart some extra “wow” to it.
I have found that I can get my virus TI to sound similar. Also, since the virus A, B, etc all sound identical (I have a kb), you could always look out for them too. I don’t particularly like the UI of the ambika. I don’t know why.
@@MIDERA It's a gorgeous demo, indeed.
AND an exceptional effect makes it hard to get a true sense of a synth's sound. I remember years ago, I saw a video that said something like "Demo of a VolcaFM". The VolcaFM was routed through a Big Sky... which effectively quadrupled the budget you'd need to get the sound in the demo. :-D
Hah, yeah. I remember when the volcas came out. Seemed like they were the start of the extreme budget gear - now there’s tons of budget gear, which is totally great, although I feel there’s probably a ton of waste when people buy every little cheap thing around. Not that I’m not a part of that culture...
But I never have bought a volca.
Very beautiful Sounds! Nice demo :-D
Thanks iFaber!
Darn that sounds very nice !
Thanks!
Hi, did you finally sell it? I've always been intrigued by this synth... I wonder how does it compare with a modern hybrid like the Super6, Waldorf M or the cheaper Minifreak? I own many, many synths, mostly analog but also digital and hybrids, do you think it's worth giving the Ambika a try? It seems special somehow... Thanks!
I have not sold it - but it sits in my local group, waiting to be sold. No one's interested for some reason. I think because my specific unit has 3X of the 4P and 3X SMR filters. Maybe turns people off to that.
I think the Ambika sounds better than most of my synths. Amazing filters, amazing envelopes... just sort of wish it was a keyboard version, even if I have too many keyboards!
I just don't usually connect with desktop units as much ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I had one in 2016. Since I loved the Shruthi I had an excellent builder make me an Ambika, thinking it was a polyphonic version of it.
But no, the "improved" oscillators (16 bits instead of 8 in the Shruthi) lost the charm of the monophonic one.
It sounds a little lifeless, with flat, dull oscillators and OK filters, but nothing more than that.
I think the Minifreak is a much better synth now, both in sound and features, and also with a better user interface.
Now I have the M and it´s in another league, it´s all you can expect from its lineage, a true future classic.
quick Q. which is your fave os so far? i only have the stock one right now...I wouldn't mind the better resolution oscillators
is it worth upgrading?
0e0 100% love the kez OS that I am using here. Having the latch feature for arpeggiator is great, although it is a little weird in that pressing new notes doesn’t inactivate old notes, they just get added.
Otherwise it’s rock solid.
This synth is fuckin dope!
Yes! I’ve bought a ton of synths, this still sounds a lot better than most. Worlds better than the Prophet 12.
nice.❤️ What Kind of reverb are you using?
Eventide Blackhole VST most likely
This is pretty cool .. not knowing about this, til now. I just busted into modular, a year ago. Mostly have Mutable Instruments .. err, so far .. :) .. certainly has stereo capabilities, doesn't it.
It does if you connect all 6 outputs to different mixer inputs. If you use the main output it’s in mono. Thanks!
cool wasn't aware of this OS
I don't think it adds tooooo much on top of the YAM version, but it is a little newer and I think a few additional changes were made, enough to warrant me getting it!
@@MIDERA I think the biggest benefit of the Kez OS is how fast it is to name patches.
I don’t remember what it was like before! I don’t think I had tried saving patches...
@@matrix12x Try the Chord Sequencer ;)
@@MIDERA is the ambika hard to learn? (i dont have one). Is the sequencer suited for live performance recording with a keyboard or step sequencing? I like the polivoks sound of some shruthi demos ...mhhh
What are you using to sequence the Ambika?
Everything was done using the Ambika alone.
@@MIDERA nice
I have been holding myself back on the Amibika for years now, and everytime I check out the demos I ask myself: why?
And I’m always sitting here telling myself I should sell it, or at least fix the thing... mine has 3x SMR and 3x 4P filters. Maybe that adds to the complexity of the sound. I don’t know... the lack of uniformity can be annoying, but I suppose I don’t really notice it that often.
@@MIDERA There's a guy in italy building them ATM for relatively low money. Also, I am pretty certain, that with a bit of patience, you could get the filter boards traded without any additional cost.
I saw in another video that you pondered to let that one go in exchange for a P5. I personally believe the musical value of the Ambika by far exceeds the money you'd get for it if you sold it.
Well, now that I have the P5, I don’t really have a need to sell the ambika. Apart from the fact that I really have too much gear: I will say that I think the ambika has the snappiest envelopes of all the gear I’ve ever owned, so there is that.
My other problem is that I don’t know what voice board I’d get. I think I prefer the 4P, but I’m just not sure... so then I never commit to either.
The Globba patch is beautiful - is it a stock preset?
That is a fantastic question. I just listened to it and… have no idea. I may have made that? The names on the device are already weird, but I may have altered the patch that was there. I’m sorry, I usually don’t label my patches in ways that make sense.
I gotta get this
I definitely think it's one of the best synths out there. I do wish it was bigger and more knobs per function - but it's really easy to navigate.
Agree what wonderful sounding Instrument thanks Midera 🤟🙂
What are your thoughts when comparing this to an Access Virus?
Interface and total number of things you can do with the Virus is obviously better. That said - I think they're just different enough. I feel like I can create a sound on the Ambika that sounds fantastic, and then I try to replicate it on the virus and I get 80% there... but it's that 20% that keeps me from selling the Ambika. I also really like 6 voice synths. I wish I could make my Virus use only 6 voices, but I have to sort of add unison which sort of destroys the sound to do it. It's weird, I know that, but limited voice numbers actually make the sound less full and fit in a mix better.
I could talk all day on this subject - so perhaps if you have specific questions I could answer them?
@@MIDERA thanks for the answer. The reason I asked is that my Virus C doesn't seem to get a ton of deep diving from myself, so I usually just use bread and butter type sounds. I've been looking for something that can dial in Juno style pads / chords really quickly. My Reface CS does a great job but I think the Ambika might sound a hair better. I think I'm just gassing during the quarantine. Hope things are well!
So - I have a JX3P which is not a juno but I'd say 'close' and I don't think my virus or my Ambika sound at all like it. Mostly due to the chorus chip. Reface CS is more similar to an an1x which I also had, but felt it didn't sound THAT different from my Virus to warrant keeping it (it's a great synth and I think if I were looking to get the AN1x or Virus, I'd go for the AN1x, but since I already have the virus, I kept it, hard to explain).
I do think my Ambika gets sort of an 'instantly good' sound out of it, like I do with my JX3P, but they're just too different to say the sounds would be interchangeable. That said, my Ambika gets closer than the Virus does. Virus ends up just sounding a bit too polished when it comes to replicating DCO sounds.
I'm gassing too, don't worry :) Looking at a MODOR NF-1, a Juno 60, etc... It never ends.
Things are ok here for now. Just hunkered down at home, working and watching my daughter. How are you holding up?
@@MIDERA the gas is real. I had just sold an AN200 that I really liked for the pads, but I made a good profit on it. My SH01A in poly mode is about as close as I can get to the Juno sound at the moment.
Hunkered down as well, watching my 2 daughters while my wife still is working. Putting together a few different projects right now which I would like to release for free due to money being tight for folks and maybe a good way to gain a few followers. Mostly IDM / Electro type stuff. Also gassing here for Digitakt. Ugh
@@Cepheid-IDM Elektron gear is like cancer: get one and it starts metastasizing in your studio and eats up the space for all else. I started all the way back with a SIDstation. ;-)
Mate; could you please explain your voice allocation
All 6 voices are going into discrete channels in my mixer, each mixer channel is slightly panned in various ways. There's really nothing else I did with this! Hope that helps :)
Once you go six outs from one polysynth it's hard to imagine otherwise. So immersive. I forgot, (and I know you told me) is that running SMR4 filters?
I absolutely love your patches. They generally lead toward the SVF filter texture. The SVFs are smooth and a little gritty; like SEM filters or milder Curtis filters. It may be why I love my Mopho so much. It's smooth and dirty at the same time.
I ran YAM on my Ambika's. Loved the additional waveforms. I'll have to read up on the differences with Kez.
Hey thanks - I actually have 3 SMR and 3 4P filters... As much as I 'thought' I could tell the differences between them, it's barely noticeable, like, not at all even worth thinking about. At very high resonance sometimes you high piercing resonance, other times not, but it's actually a benefit because it changes things up quite nicely. With this new OS there is this cycling of voices, so I wouldn't have one note always hitting the SMR or 4P, now they'll interchange between the two.
I thought they sounded great here - I actually really like the envelopes, they feel/sound snappy to me.
And yeah, I really like the 6 outputs. Since there are no internal FX it's easy to justify sending them all out.
@@MIDERA Ah okay. So yeah, if you do further analysis you may find the SMR4 filter to be a bit smoother than the 4P. The 4P is my second favorite to the SVF; it's basically a slightly dirtier SMR4. Sounds great on every kind of patch.
Do you share your patches?
I do not typically - no. Sorry :(
any plans to sell patches?
Not really...I only have like 5-10 patches and don't remember which I even made :/
@@MIDERA well these sound amazing, I cannot quite get mine sounding as amazing yet
Well, I would certainly add some reverb to spice it up, if you haven’t yet!
@@blackrabbitgeorge5845 What do you have for FX?