cAn'T bElIEvE yOu fOrGoT tHe pOlYbRuTe {EDIT} To clarify this comment, it's not specific to the Polybrute. I was referring to general "I can't believe you forgot.." comments I get on every video as if I have a warehouse of every synth ever made and can wheel them all out for every single video. This video is about five polysynths I actually had to noodle upon with my twinkle fingins. {EDIT 2} I spoke to Arturia yesterday. 😉 {EDIT 3} A Polybrute arrived this morning. 😜
Sure sure. Bbbbbbbbbut da polybrooooot is (genuinely) amaziiiiiing wah wah wahhhh - anyway looking forward to your upcoming amazing KPM library music vibe album.
... and the video is brilliant (as usual), despite it doesn’t feature that French poly synth. No excuse needed for too much talking, btw. Your sense of humour and puns are absolutely enjoyable. :)
What nobody ever mentions about the hydrasynth is that its envelops can be synced to midi clock. Instead of adjusting your ADSR values of 0 to 127 or values in miliseconds you can actually set the values as 1/64, 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4 etc etc also includes dotted and triplet values. So what I hear you say. This kind of precision is amazing for creating very well timed pads that don't get too muddy when you change chords. It's great for doing some really interesting arp sequences. It's something you really have to try out for yourself to understand.
Also the fact that you can send any modulation parameter out via midi is something people often overlook when talking about the hydra. Sending out a non poly stepped LFO in one shot mode to modulate post processing in the DAW is incredibly powerful. It can be a really intuitive workflow for sound design since once the modulation is set up you can just dial in a few strengths and it's off to the races. Also the native MPE support. I wish more people would mention that since MPE is becoming standard in DAW piano rolls and the Hydra has one of the better MPE implementations in hardware.
my stomach was feeling upset but I juiced two lemons and drank the juice with salt. I almost expected it to make it worse but it seems to have helped 🍋
My prophet 10 and jupiter X live in the same room. They are set up right next to each other. I play the prophet literally every day. The jupiter, I only use it when I am building a synth track and need some of those Roland specific sounds. To me, the jupiter x is a comprehensive tool, but the prophet 10 is a beautiful instrument, A true work of art that can only truly be appreciated via the finer details one only tends to notice when sitting in a room with it, playing it, and filling the room with sound. I have owned many synths, guitars, basses, lutes, violins, etc. etc. the prophet is the finest instrument I have ever owned bar none.
The P5/10 is the ideal polyphonic synth. Its strength is the middle register to which a keyboardist normally contributes his performance in context of the other musicians of a band/group.
Well put! The JPX is a versatile music making machine. Even though i don't own a sequential or Moog, I'd choose them for the craftsmanship and love of synthesizers.
@@marmite-landDuran Duran's Rio album wouldn't exist without JP8, same with Japans "Tin Drum". Trance would exist without JP8000 and the super saw that defines a whole genre. Later Rolands explore virtual analogue that I increasingly appreciate for their "perfect" character, somewhat opposite to the nostalgia of vintage gear.
For me the new Prophet rev 4 is the perfect synth. Simple to use, fantastic sound, very versatile (bass, pads, lead, strings), with great keybed and it looks and feel gorgeous!
Indeed. I forgot to mention that you hold one button and press another to connect them. Then the screen pops up with the matrix and asks which parameter you wanted to modulate and by how much. How easy is that?!
@@AlexBallMusic Absolutely. You can even do that with parameters that you can't usually map with just a button press - for example, if you go into the matrix and select something like the aftertouch, move down to the "destination" block, and then press the button for the destination zone you want, it will jump to that instead of having to scroll through the whole list. But of course the fastest way is definitely still to press, hold, press, when dealing with things that have a button. On a side note, back to the "digital" thing - maybe my ear just isn't well-tuned enough but to be honest, when you mess with some parameters and turn on random phase mode....I'm hard pressed to tell the difference between "analog" and "digital" (as a test,. playing a single note on the hydra followed by the same note on the mother-32). I'm sure the distinction exists but if you learn the instrument, you can make it sound like just about anything you want, at least in the electronic space.
@Alex Ball They obviously took a cue from Ensoniq. The interface is a descendant of the ESQ-1/SQ-80 and poly aftertouch was present on a couple of their boards. Just from an oscillator perspective, this thing is a monster!
@@jbognap yep. Designer mentioned this in the Syntaur interview. The SQ80 and CS80. When I heard his rationale my ears really perked up and I started watching and listening to every video I could find. Now it's on my list...
Yeah, I deliberately only demo gear that I'm comfortable in recommending. You can't go wrong with any of these (as you say), it's just a taste thing as to which suits you best.
I've just bought a Summit and hanging for Holidays to really get into it, some of the sounds it has, blows me away and wish I had this back in the late 80's for the band I was playing at the time.
The main thing with hydra is that you can spend too much time discovering it! One day you find that you can use loopable envelopes which can be modulated by lfos, another day you discover that you can completely modulate the arpeggiator, then you find the Analog Feel option, then you learn to make binaural sounds with osc panning and 2 independent filters, then you finally get your hands at ASM-PWM mutator which can be used surprisingly well as a wave shape fine tuning, then you start to map wave selection on all oscs to a macro knob and all your patches begin to breathe with new life and so on and on and on...
I'm about to buy my very first synth and I think I'll just go for the Novation Summit. This thing sounds really fantastic to my ears and it does exactly everything what I'm looking for. Thanks for the comparison!
The P5 is the ideal polyphonic synth. Its strength is the middle register to which a keyboardist normally contributes his performance in context of the other musicians of a band/group. It sounds so rich! Never sell it! I sold mine 17 years ago for 1500USD which I do regret today.
Firstly, great video as always! I love my Hydrasynth desktop. It gets used a lot on my productions. To my ears I find it can sound quite satisfyingly analogue for an all digital synth and I love that it's so quick to go quite deep when programming it. With all those modulation options, and the Mutants, I can pretty much get any sound I want. Best purchase I've made in a long time!
If you ever get a chance, upgrade to a hydrasynth keyboard. I can not stress how good that aftertouch is. I never really "got" aftertouch until this thing, and now, its just a whole new world.
Great video. No matter how many synths I hear I can’t help being a Roland Fangirl. They just sound so lush and wonderful to me that everything else pales in comparison.
I agree Roland knows how to make synthesizers, I think the only synths that make me look away from Roland are the Prophet-5, Oberheim Ob-XA, or any Moog with polyphony because those are seriously fat and warm 😂 Every other synth just sounds like half a synth or that it’s trying to hard to emulate another synth, oh well Roland is where it’s at 🔥
You didn’t talk “an awful lot”. This video was super useful and informative. And peppered with your sense of humour which I really enjoy. In the end, I thought several things. 1. I’m super glad I have my prophet rev2. Basic synth but with loads of modulation and bi timbral. 2. Very curious now about the Hydrasynth explorer and the Jupiter XM. Don’t have enough room for another big poly and these small digital synths are really versatile and interesting! 3. Alex Ball is an awesome synth UA-camr.
We’re very fortunate to live in a time in which there is such a broad range of prices, features and sounds. None of these sound just a bit different from each other, as you demonstrate. I can’t imagine that many couldn’t find their perfect synth from these choices (I picked Jupiter-X, love it everyday). Pick two and you’re set for the rest of the decade. Okay, maybe until 2025 😄 But the landscape is so different now than it was 5 years ago, and it’s amazing. Oh, and great matrix at the end btw!
I own the UDO Super 6. I have had quite a few synths over the years (and sold many of them except for my Virus-C, ASR-10 and TX81Z) but none of them have ever meshed with me quite like the Super 6. It's fantastically made, a joy to make sounds with and throws surprises at me all the time.
I'm an analog nut, but I love my Hydrasynth. Sounds great, and the poly-aftertouch and ribbon strip make it one of the most unique and special synths on the market.
I have 7 digital and 7 analog synths. The Hydrasynth is my favourite digital one, too. Maybe the Wavestate is even more versatile, but the Hydra is much more hands on. My favourite analogue, btw, is the Po … oops … 🤭
I bought the Peak before the Summit was announced, but tbh I never felt like I missed out. It's a very versatile bit of kit, and nicely straddles the mid 80s hybrid / modern analogue zone. You're not wrong about that filter drive, it's perfect for a bit of rough. What gets me most about the Peak is that almost 3 years on I'm still getting new sounds from it every time I switch on. It's consistently inspiring. So if the Summit is a bit much, I'd very much recommend the Peak.
I saved up and got rid of 2 smaller synths and replaced it with the summit as my only hardware synth. Honestly sometimes I feel like I'm not even worthy of it because I'm still not amazing at sound design and I don't think I will ever use it to it's fullest potential. But I do love every second of playing it and that's what counts. I fell in love with the bass station 2 filter many years ago and the summit has the same character but so much more if desired. It might not have the most "character" compared to some synths but fuck, it's just always sounds good
I also bought the peak before the summit was released, and also feel left out. Of these 5, the summit is the obvious choice to me personally. edit: I'd love a Peak 2, with the audio ins and keyboard, I don't need a double peak...
I joke that the Summit should have been called "Twin Peaks". But if the Peak is broadly one part of the Summit then that's pretty darn powerful, especially in a compact box. I think they brought some features to the front panel that are in menus on the Peak, but still. Win-win really.
After a year with this instrument, I can confidently say that it is the most elegant and beautiful sounding synthesizer I have ever had the pleasure of playing. The Super 6 is lush, immediate, well designed, and SO expressive.
The Super 6 is the most visually attractive and sounds really good, the Jup X is a very complete [digital!] beast, the P10 is an 80's heritage monster, don't know much about the Summit (it sure is a beast), and the analog-like price-capabilities-ratio of the Hydrasynth is unmatched. Having all of them together is a totally different level of "gearmanship". Even though these are all very different beasts, very nice head-to-head juxtaposing by AB. Great job. Personally, if anything, as a hobbyist, Hydrasynth Explorer is probably the way to go.
@@AlexBallMusic I'm currently playing my P12 desktop from my Pro3 keys.... it's a combination so inspirational and powerful i dream about it... Still haven't found a way to stop midi volume control getting sent out though, i think all Dave Smith synths do it?
I just picked up a P12 and being new to synths, it's overwhelming. It has its own character, hard to find a smooth sound,. (I've been assured it's there, buried among the vast array of knobs) A/B split/stack, routing everywhere, a little buzzy in the background. (an evolution of the Poly Evolver) But if you like beast mode, it will growl like one with little effort. Thanks for this post Alex. Talking was peachy keen with great examples. If I had heard it two weeks ago, I might have gone Summit.
Yes, I bought one about a year or two ago, (what is time now?) and think it's a blast. I don't have children but if I did then it's one that I would keep for them for sure. I've got an OB-6 desktop and Pro 2 and I love all three of them but, to my surprise, it's the Prophet 12 that I give the most attention. I sort of find it's my happy medium between those other models that I bought eagerly upon release. I picked up the P-12 a bit reluctantly - I'd dismissed at the point when I'd committed to getting the other DSI gear, but felt obliged to pick one up when production ended. Maybe it was my low expectations, or maybe it was because I bought a ghastly white machine just because it had the Sequential badge, but it was love at first sound.
@@AlexBallMusic Yeah, it has a Juno architecture and supposedly Juno filters. It's surprisingly deep, you can control effect parameters from any mod source and things like that. Definitely a good budget choice, at least if you like Rolands.
Thanks for putting out these synthesizers, which are all great pieces for sure! The Hydrasynth is really something. I really love to see complex functions been made simple and accessible. In software development you see very often that persons are either very technical but don't fully grasp how the end user thinks, or one does understand how the end user thinks but does not grasp the deep internals and possibilities. Here's where the "bridging" engineer comes in that masters both areas - and they are not common. Or have a team that works _really_ well together in thinking out concepts, what can/could/should we do. Either way, cool stuff!
There was a point during this video where I was all "wait my AX Edge does what?". Turns out there was an update for it almost 2 years ago that I never thought to look for. Thanks for alerting me to that!
Entertaining and informative, great review! What I find most fascinating about ASM and the Hydrasynth: that a new brand is able to "spit" such a super interesting synth almost out of the blue. And then its built this solidly and sold at a very competitive price. Mission accomplished, I need to get one!
I tested the Jupiter-X, Novation Summit, Korg Prologue and Nord Wave 2. I wasn't tied to pure analogue or any particular brand. Jup-X was amazing, heavy, very well constructed, but not at all intuitive to use or accessible. Manual also seemed difficult. I didn't want to be tied to Xen Core for upgrades etc. Korg Prologue had really nice deep sounds but was let down by the keyboard for me. Too light and no aftertouch. The Novation Summit sounded brilliant, I very nearly went for it, but I seemed to only be able to split the keyboard into 2 MIDI control sections, where as the Nord had 4. The Summit needed time to design sounds and plumb the depths of what it could do. I needed something I could take 20 minutes from my day and connect with straight away. I ended up getting the Nord Wave 2 because of it's incredible ease of use, great construction, superb sample library and potential expansion of new sounds. I compliment this with a Dreadbox Typhon, for True analogue monosynth sounds and a Korg-NTS-1 for the Prologue digital oscillator and effects capability. I still wonder about the Summit though.
I don't want one, not because it would be a bad synth - in fact it sounds gorgeous - but I have decided to avoid buying things from China where I can, for a variety of reasons of which sustainability is only one. It's not that the Hydrasynth is entirely unique and I'd prefer products getting support for many years. But that's just me and I appreciate that a decision like that is a luxury that's not always affordable.
26:39 I find hearing you describe the synths more informative than the playing at times (though the playing is great!). There's often many sources out there when it comes to hearing a synth, but expertise and insight isn't that readily available so thanks for sharing! Keep up the great work
When you do a Polybrute review, can I humbly suggest that you explore the musicality and expressiveness of the instrument from a player’s perspective? Most reviews seem to focus on evolving time-based modulation bathed in effect, and while these are strengths, the Polybrute can do so much more. I’ve never experienced an analog poly capable of such a wide range of timbres without ever touching the mod matrix.
I have the Prophet 5 with the expansion and it's been a lifelong dream to own one (along with my ARP2600). I'll admit I heard a lot of sounds on the other synths which approached and even eclipsed the Prophet sound... I think what makes the Prophet 5 so desirable is the look and feel of the instrument as well as the large sweet spot when programming sounds. Also the wonkiness of some sounds imparts an organic non perfect sound. When I program my own sounds on the Prophet I frequently come across sounds I heard on albums from the late 70s such as Weather Report, Edgar Froese's Stuntman as well as Tangerine Dream's output from that period However, I think if I was in the market for a polysynth and funds were tight I probably would go for one of the other synths. Having a synth which does have a wide stereo field is an important sound in modern production I find. Jupiter had a cold sort of sound compared to the others but it still sounded pretty good.
Really interesting comments about the prophet 10, as I have an old korg polysix that only has a mono out, and the way I use it is exactly how you described the best way to use the prophet, lots of parts panned all over the place and together you get this epic warm loveliness that is very hard to get from modern synths.
I already bought one. It is a new 2020 Roland Fantom. It ables to reproduce 99% of any vintage synth tone. But, I like how you demo vintage synths. Great job Alex!
I'm an old synth guy (and an old guy), but my favorite synths of late have been the Hydrasynth and the OB-6. The Hydra is just so versatile, powerful, and well designed, and the OB-6 just, well, sounds like why anyone got interested in synths in the first place.
Oh, and the Prophet 12. I think it's an incredibly overlooked synth. Dave Smith himself called it his favorite synth he ever made. Gotta take that seriously. 🏆
@@cortical1 Just bought a Prophet 12 Desktop after several years of not finding the price right or not having money for it. It truly is a super powerful beast. I have the desktop version and it's incredible how much this thing can do.
@@danielprieto1967 That's great! Mine has become that addiction synth that I can't resist. So versatile, sounds so good in so many different ways but has its own character too. I haven't seen any demos that do justice to its depth. Enjoy it!
I ended up with a Prophet 5 rev4 and a PolyBrute. The Prophet goes to band practice as I tend to prefer the mono out and use simpler sounds. The polybrute is more of my experimental home studio synth. I use the morphing feature on the polybrute often.
I really enjoyed the comparison. Also, I appreciate the "why shouldn't you buy it" section - I feel like it's missing from a lot of reviews out there and I think it's an essential part to paint a whole picture. Also, I enjoy the fact that a lot of synths out there have a desktop version. Not a single regular version of these would fit in my gear space ^^''
Thanks Alex, really helpful overview and after watching many many videos you helped me make my final decision (its the Summit I'm going for - love its sound AND the looks)
Great video showing their capabilities. I have a Prophet X, a Fantom 6, and a Hydrasynth Deluxe and find each has its unique strengths that compliment each other.
To my own surprise the UDO convinced me the most. But my absolute dream synth when I’m finally grown up (probably never) is the Polybrute 12. Sorry for having mentioned it, Alex. Great enlightening video, cheers for that and sleepless greetings from Berlin
Personally i'd go for either the Summit or the Hyrda Synth (Deluxe), cause i'm looking for more of a modern sound and a deep synth engine. The Summit would be the upgrade from the Peak, i already have and adore to no end. :D The Peak / Summit sound just sooooo good and since user wavetables were added, this synth reeeally shines! I had the opportunity to test the Hydra for some time and it's just gorgeous! It has a nice character, is intuitively usable and has some features like the Ribbon and poly aftertouch, which are pretty rare to find. Back then it was just too expensive for me. But maybe, i'll get the Deluxe Version next year. :) But all in all, all of those synths seem to be very good in their own right. :)
Waldorf M and Iridium might be worth a look also if you are ok with module versions. I've been loving the M, really quite deep with its complex envelopes but also has great character and charm if you want. Too many good options for synths these days :)
@@SLRPS Yeah, those two seem to be very good as well. If i had to choose, i guess, i'd go with the Iridium as it has way more sonic possibilities than the M. :)
If I were made of money and space, I think I'd go for the same. I'm all about those weird, aggressive, and noisy sorts of sounds, especially when they fit into a mix with other instruments... those two both seem to do that kind of stuff really well. More likely the Summit if it is fully analog, 'cause pure analog sounds are the spot where my own setup is the weakest right now.
@Splotch the Cat-Thing The Peak and Summit are hybrid synths. Their oscillators are digital, but calculated by an FPGA at (i believe) 12 MHz sampling frequency. They're almost indistinguishable from analog oscillators. But they have the advantage of being able to use wavetables, some kind of super saw and wavefolding on the triangle wave.
I'm game for another 5-piece comparo video, for sure. This was very informative, & hearing you play them made it quite enjoyable, as well. I guarantee you've sold several of each model with this video. Excellent work, as usual, Alex. Thank you.
Brilliant overview! I myself (only) own the Hydrasynth (keyboard and desktop) out of these, but also a Peak. When the Deluxe hits the shelves, I'm certainly gonna buy one. Totally love my Hydra! PS: I'm liker 808. ;)
My DSI Synths have fantastic stereo panning patches. I feel like the prophet rev 2 must as well. The Tetra and MophoX4 let you route panning to anything.. envelope velocity an an lfo controlled by the mod wheel
Why does no one ever talk about the Poly Brute? Aha got you! Having you on. This demo was brilliant and mind blowing. I now have a rebuttal to my wife asking “Why does anyone ever need 5 Poly Synths”??? Having owned a Jupiter 6 and a Prophet 5, the Prophet 10 still grabs me every time as the best arranging instrument. Having said that I no longer have deep pockets or the wherewithal. Don’t tell the wife. God bless you 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Always fun to watch as well as informative and inspiring. The Hydrasynth reminded me of the Yamaha CS80 with its poly aftertouch and ribbon controller. I have a Studiologic Sledge which despite being a cheap VA with Waldorf guts, the knob per (most) functions is so much fun and quick with hardly any menu diving. Reliability seems to be an ongoing thing though as the software does seem rather buggy at times, which is a shame for an otherwise well-designed synth with some sonic pedigree - different to these bad boys obviously both in price and ability. Would be interested in a synth comparison video for the lower end of the market. Keep up the great work!
I have a Blofeld, which uses the full version of the Sledge's engine but has hardly any physical controls. It sounds nice, and it's small and inexpensive, but the bugs and the lack of controls makes it a pain to use. Someday I'd like to replace it with a Hydrasynth.
The fact that the Hydrasynth has the control abilities of the CS80 (poly AT and ribbon) is what swung it for me and I’ve not been disappointed. At some stage I’ll probably trade it in for the Deluxe version, amazingly powerful in terms of synthesis, accessible editing and so expressive.
What I find incredible is how cheap these synths were compared to yesteryear. When the Prophet 5 came out in 1978 it was £3,500. The first "affordable" poly I remember was the Juno 6 in 1982. That was £699 then. The DX7 was something like £1,200 in 1985. Most of the polys now are much cheaper in realtive terms and in many cases in absolute figures.
Because most of them are digital modeling synths and most of the effort is put into the software. The Prophet 10 is the only authentic analog synth here.
@@wishusknight3009 The Prophet 10 was £5600 back in 1980 - I bought a car for that. Now it's £3,600. So you made my point. The 6 voice Memory Moog was £3600 in 1980 (allowing for inflaction that would be £15,000) compared to £5500 for an 8 voice Moog One. It's hard to find direct comparisons that someone won't quibble with but the same goes for digital. Korg Wavestate now £488, Wavestation was £1575. There many other examples and having been someone who wanted to buy a polysynth, any polysynth, analogue or digital in the 80s it's absolutely blindingly obvious how cheap hardware synths are now compared with then.
@@markgriffiths5122 Except that the only actual hardware synth here again is the prophet 10. The rest are mostly software save for 2 having analog filters. And of course they would become relatively cheaper compared to the 70's. Manufacturing has been made more efficient up and down the stack as it has with everything else. As you point out, the digital synths have fallen dramatically more in price than the analog counterparts.... Because that is the nature of digital synths.
Thank you for your comparison. It confirms my decision to attend the Novation Summit. I need an analog sounding synthesizer for my stage setup, with which I can play two split sounds live at the same time. Too many features are unnecessary for me - I want to make music and not study computer science or reinvent the wheel in terms of sound. My first choice would have been the UB-Xa if Uncle Ulli had managed to publish it - as announced - in the 4th quarter of 2021.
Thanks! I don't own any of these synths but wanting to acquire one very soon and this video is helpful. The Hydrasynth excites me the most due to the sound and expression. My second choice would be the Summitt. It looks easy to understand and fun to play. The Roland sounds great but is too much like a workstation, which I'm tired of. The Prophet is a Prophet, which I love for its simplicity and raw sound. I hope there is a 61-note keyboard for a future UDO. That's as small as I want to go for a poly.
21:20 I've been wanting to make my first big-ish purchase of a "serious synth." I have a MiniNova, which is especially fun with my Strymon Night Sky. But The Hydrasynth Deluxe has had my attention. I've been on the fence because I like more atmospheric and ambient stuff. I've been put off by the Hydrasynth's overly glitchy distortion I've seen in many demos. Your demo here pretty much sold me on it because it's a side of the Hydrasynth I haven't seen much of. (Ultimately, I just wish there was an update to the Waldorf Blofeld that isn't as expensive as a Quantum/Iridium/Kyra/M. The Hydrasynth might fill that for me other than its lacking user samples...)
That was an absolutely fantastic video, you didn't talk too much, and your demos are worth every every minute of it! I can only dream of having all the "toys" you have the pleasure of creating on, thanks for sharing!
I would have bought it gladly, it is like a workstation and it can do so much. Especially the Xm is great for travelling and small workplaces, but has no aftertouch despite the price (€ 1400). However, as a workstation it is trying to emulate all these old synths from Rolands' past too much, and what can be seen as a big advantage, the Zen-Core, makes it, at least for me, a vst (Zenology pro) pressed into hardware five times, without providing a versatile user interface for that kind of massive functionality. I have 2.5 cheaper examples where that fails, M-Audio Venom, Akai MiniAk and Jd-Xi. Not comparable ? Well one way or another, they are subtractive synths and at least MiniAk and JD-Xi can be (painfully) tweaked to sound similiar to most of the Zenology models. Which I personally do not need, since I find this sound realm worn out. I won't say that Yamaha is better in terms of usability, since I have also a DX-200´which has a nearly (manually) uneditable DX-7 inside. But my next try will be - as weird as it sounds, a relatively unsexy Modx. Hydra and Wavestate were already a success.
@@pontram I had a Jupiter X returned it to use Roland cloud and missed the Jupiter X. If it’s your main keyboard and you invest into learn it which is not to difficult it’s an amazing instrument.
jupiter x is completely overrated. it's just another zencore modding case. underrated would be a real analog reissue of a juno 6/60 who none attention about.
Hello Alex: After a break, I'm now back to watching music videos. The Summit at around 11:40 reminded me of a passage in Blade Runner. Excellent job. Keep up the good work. Stay well and safe.
I love the sound of the Summit, it ticks a lot of the boxes I want in a synth. However for my work flow, the bug it has is really proving to be difficult to work around. Voices 9-16 are not affected by performance data sent from external MIDI sources, so writing in automation and reording the MIDI to audio in a DAW is not possisble in nomral 16 voice mode. My only workaround has been to manually recreate my patches as part A of a multi, effectively turning the synth into just 8 voices.
I'm new to synths and I fell In love with the Prophet 5 / 10 a few months back. I have been listening a lot to Saga and found the monooutput sound better for me. So time to drop a few $ on a banger of a synth.
The microphone's and pop filter's shadows look disconcertingly like a perspiration patch. Really enjoyed this, though, and Alex has demonstrated the longevity and desirability of the P5 (and 10) really well.
All I keep hearing is a song you created for sole purpose of infecting my brain. “Roland, has made synthesizers since 1973…..”. Just got a Jupiter X and it’s more than a polysynth. Your awesome!
Awesome video! Thank you for putting it together and giving honest opinions! I have the Hydrasynth and it has an enormous amount of range and can sound really amazing... But the wavescan oscillator modes are... not great. They are the one area of the synth that feels largely unfinished. I was hoping for more updates that would make it easier to navigate and add smoother wavetable interpolation and hope now that the larger and smaller siblings are out, they circle back and flesh the concept out further. Still, the number of filter emulations alone are amazing to see. And it's nearly a DX7 when it comes to FM. And the PWM options are really flexible and unique.
I'm on Team Sequential, 100%. But I have also played the Udo (at Synthplex 2022), it is definitely a viable alternative. I used the Hydra for a bit, lots of tweaking features, but sound was underwhelming. I would rec it to noodlers, but not composers. Thank you for posting this :)
Really good feature Alex, I could listen to you talking about synths all day! I am considering the Jupiter Xm as I’m running out of space. The last slot was recently taken up by a mint DX7 Mk2. Thank you as ever.
As I say to people, the Hydrasynth is like a modern digital Xpander with a keyboard. Almost identical in how they deal with mod matrix and shared menu.
Yes, not dissimilar. The Hydrasynth goes a lot further being that it's 40 years newer, but the Xpander is really ace. I was going to do a proper video on it and try to speak to Marcus Ryle who designed it, but the unit I borrowed broke down repeatedly and went for an overhaul. Next year hopefully.
@@AlexBallMusic if you are going to do that give me a prod, I have a synthaxe that might be able to feature in your video. Worth noting the Xpander was built for the synthaxe, hence why it has 6 voices and weird per voice settings which nowadays can be utilized with an rk002 cable with a polyat keyboard.
I had the hydra but swapped it to a Summit. I didn't explored both synths a lot. Anyway i think the sounds of the Hydra are a bit over the top for my taste if it comes to resonance. A lot of sound that ive heard do sound like metal bowls. One strong point of the Summit is it's reverb. If a person doesn't have much time... the Summit has realy lovely standart soundbanks. The prophet 10 and super 6 are a bit to expensive imo. Don't have a strong opinion about the Roland but i still would pick up the Summit from your 70'ish carpet.
@@AlexBallMusic you obviously know a thing or two about composing and arranging as well. I'm new to your channel so i don't know if there's content about that already, but for a professional nut like me who spends their days in studio's, i would very much welcome more insight in how to compose.with synth sounds / synthesizers. For example: the part about the prophet 5 being mono and utilising that to actually broaden the spectrum, blew my mind. Inspiring stuff. Cheers.
Cheers. I've done some tutorials in the past, but never one specifically on arranging for synths or on composition itself which really is the crucial thing which sound design and arranging hang from. Perhaps I'll look at doing something next year.
@@AlexBallMusic it's not that easy to explain. Composition, arrangement and sound tie in to each other so neatly that it almost becomes too complex to fathom really. I do think however that you posses a talent to educate about this relation though. Fingers crossed :)
Based on your demonstration of these synths, if I had a gun to my head and had to pick one of these after watching this video, it would hands down be the Summit
I'm currently looking for my first synth. Being new to this and learning as I go I don't know a whole lot about them but I can say that Prophet sounded awesome.
@M Castile Thanks for the recommendations. That's a bit pricey. I'd have to save up for that. I'd probably dip my toe in the hardware synth waters first because saving up that much cash I'd probably talk myself into a new tube amp or guitar instead. In the meantime I have Logic X and Maschine MK3 so there are lots of softsynths to play with. My Nektar Panorama T4 gives me the hands on thing but I still want a hardware synth. Probably $500-$1000 range.
man these synths sound awesome(especially liked the experimental sounds on the summit) Thanks for the demonstration Now the real question is do i pay my rent for the next year or become homelles and buy one.
I think the Prophet REV-2 covers a lot of the ground of both the UDO Super 6 and the Prophet 10. Even some of the Summit’s. It's a good alternative for people looking for vintage analog vibes on a lower budget. On the used market It's about the same as the Hydra new but otherwise it’s more affordable than any other synth on this video.
The Rev 2 was my workhorse synth for 3 years. It excels with its 16 voices incl. layers and splits - but sorry, compared to a P5/6/10 or that French poly synth from Grenoble it sounds somehow cheap. And the 8-slot mod matrix is pathetique.
@@RayyMusik don’t mistake me for a fanboy but, when you say the 8 slot mod matrix is pathetic, what other synth are you comparing it to? Because the way I see it, it’s a lot more modulation possibilities than the Prophet 5 / 6 / 10 have.
I didn’t really like my Rev 2. I sold it. It just don’t have the fizz for me. Just a personal thing. I’ve got a peak alongside a matriarch and pro 3. Works well for me.
These are all great. I particularly love the Hydrasynth and Peak/Summit. I'm barely scratching the surface of my Pro 3 though, and I'm low on space, so a nice poly synth will have to remain just a dream for now. Thanks for the pleasant dream!
Any synth can be used. It's the player that makes the difference. All of the synths shown here are with no doubt great machines. However, I own a Summit and I believe it sounds the most versatile of them all.
As you said, "it's the player that makes a difference." It's also the player's ability to program a synth that makes the synth sound the most versatile.
@@gravyguns Yes. On top, bad sound does not exist. Give me any sound, and I'll try to play an acceptable riff with it. And finally, I would want all synths in this video. But my studio is full. And i mean full. ;-)
This is a great review. Such a pleasant change to have someone who is a good player as well as having the knowledge of synthesis. A rare combo when it comes to these sorts of vids!..
Oh and btw, am still getting truly surprised after all these years by how good a live synth my Access V***s TI2 can be (not the best name just now!) … so tweakable, and the whole sound of it is stunning
As a hardware nut aside from a jp8 and a memmorymoog ive been though almost every poly, i recently i tried the arturia v collection and was blown away how good it is, im now seriously considering selling all my gear and getting a top spec computer and a midi keyboard
If vintage/classic is your thing then it is more practical. Perhaps this whole fad of living in the 1980s synth world will pass at some point and the value of them will drop or they'll end up as museum pieces because they become too valuable to play.
I have Arturia V too & it is an amazing collection for the price. Not gonna sell my polysynths though, as well as sounding great they just look so good!
Thanks for this video. I think you covered the five synths very concisely and gave a good overall impression of each's strengths and weakness'. I am particularly interested in the Hydro Synth and I found that although others have more in-depth reviews on it, you really brought it home how easy it is to use, well done!
@@bimguff It can still be a bit temperamental with its tuning but that’s VCOs for ya. It all depends on the weather lol 😂 Also I’ll never understand why they didn’t include the motion sequencer from the other logue synths. It does sound really nice.
I had put off watching this video at first in case it usurped my own research before settling on the Super 6. But I’ve come out of it feeling vindicated haha. I was drawn to the warm wide lush sound and one knob per function with zero screens. So as great as these all sound; your “why not to buy?” sections confirmed to me that my research was adequate :)
Love the sounds you get out of the Prophet 10 and the Super 6! The Jupiter and the Hydra, meh... Sounds like plastic. The Summit sounds quite good and modern, but I'm a sucker for vintage sounds :)
You were channelling Kraftwerk at the beginning! Very insightful demo of these amzing machines. Thanks as always for a through video and entertaining of course!
Of course I'd love any or all of these, given room and budget, but I've got a DeepMind 12D and I'm very much enjoying it. 🦜 My first analog poly 😁 I enjoy your Prophet 10 very much, by the way. 😍
I've just clicked the 2,000th like! 😃 Cool video! I hadn't actually heard many of these before. I'm not an expert on what gear is out there. My favourites here are Prophet 10 & Hydrasynth. That Prophet 10 sounds so warm!
I was planning to buy the Hydrasynth but after trying it in the store i felt it just missed knobs, buttons and sliders. Also i did not like the lack of responsiveness i got from the ribbon bar. Sounded great though but ended up buying the synth that shall not be named (as Alex doesn't own it....)
Those are my two contenders. They seem different enough that, if one had cash & space for both, they’d pair, but both so deep, so you’d need an abundance of time too. How are you like the synth non grata? Observations?
LOL on your comment about the synth you ended up buying. I love my Hydra, but not everyone has the same 'workflow'. If you end up with the synth you feel good about, that's perfect. In the end it all comes down to having fun making music. And enjoying the process of creating it.
@@bentropy It is insane how much fun you can have with it. I often get lost in sound design and am just scratching the surface of what is possible. Got some sounds out of it that i thought would only be possible with samples or an fm synth!
Really enjoyed the comparisons. Last synth I purchased was a Roland JX8P, regrettably had to sell my Roland Juno 60 and Roland Cube amp to get my wisdom teeth removed circa 1985!! Now that our boys are nearly out of college I’m looking to splurge on a new synth - your comparisons were very helpful.
cAn'T bElIEvE yOu fOrGoT tHe pOlYbRuTe
{EDIT} To clarify this comment, it's not specific to the Polybrute. I was referring to general "I can't believe you forgot.." comments I get on every video as if I have a warehouse of every synth ever made and can wheel them all out for every single video.
This video is about five polysynths I actually had to noodle upon with my twinkle fingins.
{EDIT 2} I spoke to Arturia yesterday. 😉
{EDIT 3} A Polybrute arrived this morning. 😜
DUHH
I really want a polybrute 😅 I do tho
I feel attacked.
Sure sure. Bbbbbbbbbut da polybrooooot is (genuinely) amaziiiiiing wah wah wahhhh - anyway looking forward to your upcoming amazing KPM library music vibe album.
... and the video is brilliant (as usual), despite it doesn’t feature that French poly synth.
No excuse needed for too much talking, btw. Your sense of humour and puns are absolutely enjoyable. :)
What nobody ever mentions about the hydrasynth is that its envelops can be synced to midi clock. Instead of adjusting your ADSR values of 0 to 127 or values in miliseconds you can actually set the values as 1/64, 1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4 etc etc also includes dotted and triplet values. So what I hear you say. This kind of precision is amazing for creating very well timed pads that don't get too muddy when you change chords. It's great for doing some really interesting arp sequences. It's something you really have to try out for yourself to understand.
Indeed. I went into tempo synced envelopes and polyrhythmic step LFOs in the dedicated Hydrasynth video. It is indeed a monster synth.
That's a nice feature. Getting envelopes right is probably my biggest time suck if I'm building a patch.
Also the fact that you can send any modulation parameter out via midi is something people often overlook when talking about the hydra. Sending out a non poly stepped LFO in one shot mode to modulate post processing in the DAW is incredibly powerful. It can be a really intuitive workflow for sound design since once the modulation is set up you can just dial in a few strengths and it's off to the races.
Also the native MPE support. I wish more people would mention that since MPE is becoming standard in DAW piano rolls and the Hydra has one of the better MPE implementations in hardware.
Wow, that’s awesome. Another tick ✅ I’m getting more and more keen on one.
my stomach was feeling upset but I juiced two lemons and drank the juice with salt. I almost expected it to make it worse but it seems to have helped 🍋
My prophet 10 and jupiter X live in the same room. They are set up right next to each other. I play the prophet literally every day. The jupiter, I only use it when I am building a synth track and need some of those Roland specific sounds. To me, the jupiter x is a comprehensive tool, but the prophet 10 is a beautiful instrument, A true work of art that can only truly be appreciated via the finer details one only tends to notice when sitting in a room with it, playing it, and filling the room with sound. I have owned many synths, guitars, basses, lutes, violins, etc. etc. the prophet is the finest instrument I have ever owned bar none.
The P5/10 is the ideal polyphonic synth. Its strength is the middle register to which a keyboardist normally contributes his performance in context of the other musicians of a band/group.
Same here..
what sounds specifically are roland specific ?
Well put! The JPX is a versatile music making machine. Even though i don't own a sequential or Moog, I'd choose them for the craftsmanship and love of synthesizers.
@@marmite-landDuran Duran's Rio album wouldn't exist without JP8, same with Japans "Tin Drum". Trance would exist without JP8000 and the super saw that defines a whole genre. Later Rolands explore virtual analogue that I increasingly appreciate for their "perfect" character, somewhat opposite to the nostalgia of vintage gear.
For me the new Prophet rev 4 is the perfect synth. Simple to use, fantastic sound, very versatile (bass, pads, lead, strings), with great keybed and it looks and feel gorgeous!
Absolutely love my Hydrasynth, I've had it for coming up on a year. The interface is just so accessible. Digital or not, I highly recommend it.
Indeed. I forgot to mention that you hold one button and press another to connect them. Then the screen pops up with the matrix and asks which parameter you wanted to modulate and by how much.
How easy is that?!
@@AlexBallMusic Absolutely. You can even do that with parameters that you can't usually map with just a button press - for example, if you go into the matrix and select something like the aftertouch, move down to the "destination" block, and then press the button for the destination zone you want, it will jump to that instead of having to scroll through the whole list.
But of course the fastest way is definitely still to press, hold, press, when dealing with things that have a button.
On a side note, back to the "digital" thing - maybe my ear just isn't well-tuned enough but to be honest, when you mess with some parameters and turn on random phase mode....I'm hard pressed to tell the difference between "analog" and "digital" (as a test,. playing a single note on the hydra followed by the same note on the mother-32). I'm sure the distinction exists but if you learn the instrument, you can make it sound like just about anything you want, at least in the electronic space.
@Alex Ball They obviously took a cue from Ensoniq. The interface is a descendant of the ESQ-1/SQ-80 and poly aftertouch was present on a couple of their boards. Just from an oscillator perspective, this thing is a monster!
@@jbognap yep. Designer mentioned this in the Syntaur interview. The SQ80 and CS80. When I heard his rationale my ears really perked up and I started watching and listening to every video I could find. Now it's on my list...
I exchanged rack for deluxe and finally happy
The Summit and the Hydrasynth are freaking amazing!! All in all you can’t go wrong with either in this line up. Wonderful video per usual AB
Yeah, I deliberately only demo gear that I'm comfortable in recommending. You can't go wrong with any of these (as you say), it's just a taste thing as to which suits you best.
Went out and bought the Summit. It sounds amazing.
Good choice! I've had mine for 2 years and absolutely love it. I'm still surprised by it all the time
I've just bought a Summit and hanging for Holidays to really get into it, some of the sounds it has, blows me away and wish I had this back in the late 80's for the band I was playing at the time.
The main thing with hydra is that you can spend too much time discovering it! One day you find that you can use loopable envelopes which can be modulated by lfos, another day you discover that you can completely modulate the arpeggiator, then you find the Analog Feel option, then you learn to make binaural sounds with osc panning and 2 independent filters, then you finally get your hands at ASM-PWM mutator which can be used surprisingly well as a wave shape fine tuning, then you start to map wave selection on all oscs to a macro knob and all your patches begin to breathe with new life and so on and on and on...
Yeah it’s sometimes overwhelming 😅
We truly live in a golden age for polys
I appreciate your selection and review- excellent as always!
I am very fortunate to have enough space to have a few. A few more on my list:
Summit
Moog one
Osmose
Take 5
Iridium
Op six
Mod wave
Modx
Some have argued that you can get 2 prophet 6 and poly chain vs the prophet 10
We do indeed.
Wait, do you have ALL 5 on this list PLUS those, good lord?! If this is the golden age, you’re living at the golden gates 😁cheers
Great video, it's a good time to be a synth freak!
Indeed!
I'm about to buy my very first synth and I think I'll just go for the Novation Summit. This thing sounds really fantastic to my ears and it does exactly everything what I'm looking for. Thanks for the comparison!
I bought a Prophet 5 some time ago. Together with a Lexicon PCM-70, I've reached a point where I can die happy now.
The P5 is the ideal polyphonic synth. Its strength is the middle register to which a keyboardist normally contributes his performance in context of the other musicians of a band/group. It sounds so rich! Never sell it! I sold mine 17 years ago for 1500USD which I do regret today.
A side note: I got a PCM-81, and had a guitarist in the studio. He was ready to die happy in the spot :) Greetings from Sonic Peak Studio
The Hydrasynth is a lifelong effort synth , thinking of trading up to the Deluxe , love it.
What do you mean lifelong effort?
@@smallpeople172 Poor wording...a lifetime synth for anyone to use , do you doubt that ?
@@ejh1100 well I'm just asking what that means
@@smallpeople172 One you can spend a lifetime with.
I am very happy with my Summit. A lovely piece of instrument and a very good value for the money. Since the 2.0 fw update it is simply brilliant.
Firstly, great video as always! I love my Hydrasynth desktop. It gets used a lot on my productions. To my ears I find it can sound quite satisfyingly analogue for an all digital synth and I love that it's so quick to go quite deep when programming it. With all those modulation options, and the Mutants, I can pretty much get any sound I want. Best purchase I've made in a long time!
If you ever get a chance, upgrade to a hydrasynth keyboard. I can not stress how good that aftertouch is. I never really "got" aftertouch until this thing, and now, its just a whole new world.
Great video. No matter how many synths I hear I can’t help being a Roland Fangirl. They just sound so lush and wonderful to me that everything else pales in comparison.
I agree Roland knows how to make synthesizers,
I think the only synths that make me look away from Roland are the Prophet-5, Oberheim Ob-XA, or any Moog with polyphony because those are seriously fat and warm 😂
Every other synth just sounds like half a synth or that it’s trying to hard to emulate another synth, oh well Roland is where it’s at 🔥
You didn’t talk “an awful lot”. This video was super useful and informative. And peppered with your sense of humour which I really enjoy. In the end, I thought several things. 1. I’m super glad I have my prophet rev2. Basic synth but with loads of modulation and bi timbral. 2. Very curious now about the Hydrasynth explorer and the Jupiter XM. Don’t have enough room for another big poly and these small digital synths are really versatile and interesting! 3. Alex Ball is an awesome synth UA-camr.
We’re very fortunate to live in a time in which there is such a broad range of prices, features and sounds. None of these sound just a bit different from each other, as you demonstrate. I can’t imagine that many couldn’t find their perfect synth from these choices (I picked Jupiter-X, love it everyday). Pick two and you’re set for the rest of the decade. Okay, maybe until 2025 😄 But the landscape is so different now than it was 5 years ago, and it’s amazing. Oh, and great matrix at the end btw!
I own the UDO Super 6. I have had quite a few synths over the years (and sold many of them except for my Virus-C, ASR-10 and TX81Z) but none of them have ever meshed with me quite like the Super 6. It's fantastically made, a joy to make sounds with and throws surprises at me all the time.
I have jupiter-x, but I enjoyed watching the video comparing it with the famous synth. It's a dream-like video. Wonderful.
Prophet-10 hands down.
It's a beaut.
I'm an analog nut, but I love my Hydrasynth. Sounds great, and the poly-aftertouch and ribbon strip make it one of the most unique and special synths on the market.
I have 7 digital and 7 analog synths. The Hydrasynth is my favourite digital one, too. Maybe the Wavestate is even more versatile, but the Hydra is much more hands on. My favourite analogue, btw, is the Po … oops … 🤭
@@RayyMusik Po?
"Sounds great, and the poly-aftertouch and ribbon strip". Polybrute!!!
I bought the Peak before the Summit was announced, but tbh I never felt like I missed out. It's a very versatile bit of kit, and nicely straddles the mid 80s hybrid / modern analogue zone. You're not wrong about that filter drive, it's perfect for a bit of rough. What gets me most about the Peak is that almost 3 years on I'm still getting new sounds from it every time I switch on. It's consistently inspiring. So if the Summit is a bit much, I'd very much recommend the Peak.
I totally agree! Peak is a very cool and flexible synth
I saved up and got rid of 2 smaller synths and replaced it with the summit as my only hardware synth. Honestly sometimes I feel like I'm not even worthy of it because I'm still not amazing at sound design and I don't think I will ever use it to it's fullest potential. But I do love every second of playing it and that's what counts.
I fell in love with the bass station 2 filter many years ago and the summit has the same character but so much more if desired. It might not have the most "character" compared to some synths but fuck, it's just always sounds good
well I know people who've bought a Summit and decided to keep their Peak too..
I also bought the peak before the summit was released, and also feel left out. Of these 5, the summit is the obvious choice to me personally.
edit: I'd love a Peak 2, with the audio ins and keyboard, I don't need a double peak...
I joke that the Summit should have been called "Twin Peaks". But if the Peak is broadly one part of the Summit then that's pretty darn powerful, especially in a compact box.
I think they brought some features to the front panel that are in menus on the Peak, but still. Win-win really.
The Super 6 just sounds and feels like home to me ❤️❤️❤️
After a year with this instrument, I can confidently say that it is the most elegant and beautiful sounding synthesizer I have ever had the pleasure of playing. The Super 6 is lush, immediate, well designed, and SO expressive.
@@rayfinkle4086 Could not agree more
I doesn't sound exactly like a Jupiter-8, but it definitely has that palette like no other new synth on the market.
@@rayfinkle4086 greatest design of a synthesizer imo. Gives heavy SH-101 vibes
What makes it so much better than the Summit?! It seems comparable, yet rather more expensive … ?!
The Super 6 is the most visually attractive and sounds really good, the Jup X is a very complete [digital!] beast, the P10 is an 80's heritage monster, don't know much about the Summit (it sure is a beast), and the analog-like price-capabilities-ratio of the Hydrasynth is unmatched. Having all of them together is a totally different level of "gearmanship". Even though these are all very different beasts, very nice head-to-head juxtaposing by AB. Great job. Personally, if anything, as a hobbyist, Hydrasynth Explorer is probably the way to go.
I just picked up a Prophet 12... unbelievable synth blows me away every time, and great value.
Good on ya. I have this as the Poly in my arsenal as well. Seems like no one gives this synth any love.
Always wanted to try one of those. The PolyEvolver too.
I've played the Pro-2 and that was great.
@@AlexBallMusic I'm currently playing my P12 desktop from my Pro3 keys.... it's a combination so inspirational and powerful i dream about it...
Still haven't found a way to stop midi volume control getting sent out though, i think all Dave Smith synths do it?
I just picked up a P12 and being new to synths, it's overwhelming. It has its own character, hard to find a smooth sound,. (I've been assured it's there, buried among the vast array of knobs) A/B split/stack, routing everywhere, a little buzzy in the background. (an evolution of the Poly Evolver) But if you like beast mode, it will growl like one with little effort. Thanks for this post Alex. Talking was peachy keen with great examples. If I had heard it two weeks ago, I might have gone Summit.
Yes, I bought one about a year or two ago, (what is time now?) and think it's a blast. I don't have children but if I did then it's one that I would keep for them for sure.
I've got an OB-6 desktop and Pro 2 and I love all three of them but, to my surprise, it's the Prophet 12 that I give the most attention. I sort of find it's my happy medium between those other models that I bought eagerly upon release. I picked up the P-12 a bit reluctantly - I'd dismissed at the point when I'd committed to getting the other DSI gear, but felt obliged to pick one up when production ended. Maybe it was my low expectations, or maybe it was because I bought a ghastly white machine just because it had the Sequential badge, but it was love at first sound.
I got a Deepmind12, it’s what I could afford. I absolutely love your playing!!
Same here. Also, it does a surprisingly decent Jupiter-8 impression.
@@RegebroRepairs it can also approximate really interesting string machine sounds! Juno stuff too, it can do with ease.
"Deepmind" always sounds like a character from Halo to me. 😄
I've never played one but it's like a beefed up Juno plus, right?
@@AlexBallMusic Yeah, it has a Juno architecture and supposedly Juno filters. It's surprisingly deep, you can control effect parameters from any mod source and things like that. Definitely a good budget choice, at least if you like Rolands.
@@graxjpg Yeah, it can sound really warm. I could never get pads to sound any good on my Nord Modular, I have no idea why, super-easy on the DM12.
Dear Arturia, please send Alex a PolyBrute for Christmas.
I have a MiniBrute but I thought it would take too long to record one note at a time. 😉
Your terms became acceptable 😁
Thanks for putting out these synthesizers, which are all great pieces for sure! The Hydrasynth is really something. I really love to see complex functions been made simple and accessible. In software development you see very often that persons are either very technical but don't fully grasp how the end user thinks, or one does understand how the end user thinks but does not grasp the deep internals and possibilities. Here's where the "bridging" engineer comes in that masters both areas - and they are not common. Or have a team that works _really_ well together in thinking out concepts, what can/could/should we do. Either way, cool stuff!
The summit was surprising. Never was a fan of novation, but here it sounded the best
It's definitely the best novation ever made, seriously capable Synth.
There was a point during this video where I was all "wait my AX Edge does what?". Turns out there was an update for it almost 2 years ago that I never thought to look for. Thanks for alerting me to that!
Entertaining and informative, great review! What I find most fascinating about ASM and the Hydrasynth: that a new brand is able to "spit" such a super interesting synth almost out of the blue. And then its built this solidly and sold at a very competitive price. Mission accomplished, I need to get one!
I tested the Jupiter-X, Novation Summit, Korg Prologue and Nord Wave 2. I wasn't tied to pure analogue or any particular brand. Jup-X was amazing, heavy, very well constructed, but not at all intuitive to use or accessible. Manual also seemed difficult. I didn't want to be tied to Xen Core for upgrades etc. Korg Prologue had really nice deep sounds but was let down by the keyboard for me. Too light and no aftertouch. The Novation Summit sounded brilliant, I very nearly went for it, but I seemed to only be able to split the keyboard into 2 MIDI control sections, where as the Nord had 4. The Summit needed time to design sounds and plumb the depths of what it could do. I needed something I could take 20 minutes from my day and connect with straight away. I ended up getting the Nord Wave 2 because of it's incredible ease of use, great construction, superb sample library and potential expansion of new sounds. I compliment this with a Dreadbox Typhon, for True analogue monosynth sounds and a Korg-NTS-1 for the Prologue digital oscillator and effects capability. I still wonder about the Summit though.
Hydra synth is the last one shown with most unique features, gorgeous sound, and lowest price. Who doesn’t want one?
muh analog
I don't want one, not because it would be a bad synth - in fact it sounds gorgeous - but I have decided to avoid buying things from China where I can, for a variety of reasons of which sustainability is only one. It's not that the Hydrasynth is entirely unique and I'd prefer products getting support for many years. But that's just me and I appreciate that a decision like that is a luxury that's not always affordable.
it kind of sounds a bit flat
@@cymbolic_space1832 Only on some of the sounds. But, on yet other of their sounds, they sound very rich, and indistinguishable from robust analog.
@@judethree4405 maybe! i am by no means an analog purist, but i find the hydrasynth just feels a bit sterile or lacks some sort of personality.
26:39 I find hearing you describe the synths more informative than the playing at times (though the playing is great!). There's often many sources out there when it comes to hearing a synth, but expertise and insight isn't that readily available so thanks for sharing! Keep up the great work
When you do a Polybrute review, can I humbly suggest that you explore the musicality and expressiveness of the instrument from a player’s perspective? Most reviews seem to focus on evolving time-based modulation bathed in effect, and while these are strengths, the Polybrute can do so much more. I’ve never experienced an analog poly capable of such a wide range of timbres without ever touching the mod matrix.
100% this
I have the Prophet 5 with the expansion and it's been a lifelong dream to own one (along with my ARP2600). I'll admit I heard a lot of sounds on the other synths which approached and even eclipsed the Prophet sound... I think what makes the Prophet 5 so desirable is the look and feel of the instrument as well as the large sweet spot when programming sounds. Also the wonkiness of some sounds imparts an organic non perfect sound. When I program my own sounds on the Prophet I frequently come across sounds I heard on albums from the late 70s such as Weather Report, Edgar Froese's Stuntman as well as Tangerine Dream's output from that period
However, I think if I was in the market for a polysynth and funds were tight I probably would go for one of the other synths. Having a synth which does have a wide stereo field is an important sound in modern production I find. Jupiter had a cold sort of sound compared to the others but it still sounded pretty good.
My pizza tasted twice as good because I watched this video while I was eating. Thank you Alex.
Really interesting comments about the prophet 10, as I have an old korg polysix that only has a mono out, and the way I use it is exactly how you described the best way to use the prophet, lots of parts panned all over the place and together you get this epic warm loveliness that is very hard to get from modern synths.
Yep, that very thing. It means that you approach it in a different way, which suits me just fine.
I already bought one. It is a new 2020 Roland Fantom. It ables to reproduce 99% of any vintage synth tone. But, I like how you demo vintage synths. Great job Alex!
I have 3 of your 5 - and the Polybrute :)
Summit, Jupiter x, Hydrasynth (desktop) - good choices
Wow, that’s some collection
I'm an old synth guy (and an old guy), but my favorite synths of late have been the Hydrasynth and the OB-6. The Hydra is just so versatile, powerful, and well designed, and the OB-6 just, well, sounds like why anyone got interested in synths in the first place.
Oh, and the Prophet 12. I think it's an incredibly overlooked synth. Dave Smith himself called it his favorite synth he ever made. Gotta take that seriously. 🏆
@@cortical1 Just bought a Prophet 12 Desktop after several years of not finding the price right or not having money for it. It truly is a super powerful beast. I have the desktop version and it's incredible how much this thing can do.
@@danielprieto1967 That's great! Mine has become that addiction synth that I can't resist. So versatile, sounds so good in so many different ways but has its own character too. I haven't seen any demos that do justice to its depth. Enjoy it!
I agree.
I ended up with a Prophet 5 rev4 and a PolyBrute. The Prophet goes to band practice as I tend to prefer the mono out and use simpler sounds. The polybrute is more of my experimental home studio synth. I use the morphing feature on the polybrute often.
I really enjoyed the comparison. Also, I appreciate the "why shouldn't you buy it" section - I feel like it's missing from a lot of reviews out there and I think it's an essential part to paint a whole picture. Also, I enjoy the fact that a lot of synths out there have a desktop version. Not a single regular version of these would fit in my gear space ^^''
Thanks Alex, really helpful overview and after watching many many videos you helped me make my final decision (its the Summit I'm going for - love its sound AND the looks)
Great video showing their capabilities. I have a Prophet X, a Fantom 6, and a Hydrasynth Deluxe and find each has its unique strengths that compliment each other.
To my own surprise the UDO convinced me the most.
But my absolute dream synth when I’m finally grown up (probably never) is the Polybrute 12. Sorry for having mentioned it, Alex. Great enlightening video, cheers for that and sleepless greetings from Berlin
Personally i'd go for either the Summit or the Hyrda Synth (Deluxe), cause i'm looking for more of a modern sound and a deep synth engine.
The Summit would be the upgrade from the Peak, i already have and adore to no end. :D
The Peak / Summit sound just sooooo good and since user wavetables were added, this synth reeeally shines!
I had the opportunity to test the Hydra for some time and it's just gorgeous! It has a nice character, is intuitively usable and has some features like the Ribbon and poly aftertouch, which are pretty rare to find. Back then it was just too expensive for me. But maybe, i'll get the Deluxe Version next year. :)
But all in all, all of those synths seem to be very good in their own right. :)
Waldorf M and Iridium might be worth a look also if you are ok with module versions. I've been loving the M, really quite deep with its complex envelopes but also has great character and charm if you want. Too many good options for synths these days :)
@@SLRPS Yeah, those two seem to be very good as well. If i had to choose, i guess, i'd go with the Iridium as it has way more sonic possibilities than the M. :)
If I were made of money and space, I think I'd go for the same. I'm all about those weird, aggressive, and noisy sorts of sounds, especially when they fit into a mix with other instruments... those two both seem to do that kind of stuff really well.
More likely the Summit if it is fully analog, 'cause pure analog sounds are the spot where my own setup is the weakest right now.
@Splotch the Cat-Thing The Peak and Summit are hybrid synths. Their oscillators are digital, but calculated by an FPGA at (i believe) 12 MHz sampling frequency. They're almost indistinguishable from analog oscillators. But they have the advantage of being able to use wavetables, some kind of super saw and wavefolding on the triangle wave.
It's next year. Time for a Hydra Deluxe!🐉🐲
I'm game for another 5-piece comparo video, for sure. This was very informative, & hearing you play them made it quite enjoyable, as well. I guarantee you've sold several of each model with this video. Excellent work, as usual, Alex. Thank you.
The hydra synth is an amazing synth that also works great as a midi controller for other external synths
That Prophet 10 jam was sublime. Caught me off guard. Came for the polysynths, stayed for the bangers.
Brilliant overview!
I myself (only) own the Hydrasynth (keyboard and desktop) out of these, but also a Peak. When the Deluxe hits the shelves, I'm certainly gonna buy one. Totally love my Hydra!
PS: I'm liker 808. ;)
My DSI Synths have fantastic stereo panning patches. I feel like the prophet rev 2 must as well. The Tetra and MophoX4 let you route panning to anything.. envelope velocity an an lfo controlled by the mod wheel
Well...I’m not likely to ever own any of those, but I did get my hands on the XD module, so I’m set. Great demo’s. That Udo is killer!
Why does no one ever talk about the Poly Brute? Aha got you! Having you on. This demo was brilliant and mind blowing. I now have a rebuttal to my wife asking “Why does anyone ever need 5 Poly Synths”??? Having owned a Jupiter 6 and a Prophet 5, the Prophet 10 still grabs me every time as the best arranging instrument. Having said that I no longer have deep pockets or the wherewithal. Don’t tell the wife. God bless you 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Always fun to watch as well as informative and inspiring. The Hydrasynth reminded me of the Yamaha CS80 with its poly aftertouch and ribbon controller. I have a Studiologic Sledge which despite being a cheap VA with Waldorf guts, the knob per (most) functions is so much fun and quick with hardly any menu diving. Reliability seems to be an ongoing thing though as the software does seem rather buggy at times, which is a shame for an otherwise well-designed synth with some sonic pedigree - different to these bad boys obviously both in price and ability. Would be interested in a synth comparison video for the lower end of the market. Keep up the great work!
I have a Blofeld, which uses the full version of the Sledge's engine but has hardly any physical controls. It sounds nice, and it's small and inexpensive, but the bugs and the lack of controls makes it a pain to use. Someday I'd like to replace it with a Hydrasynth.
The fact that the Hydrasynth has the control abilities of the CS80 (poly AT and ribbon) is what swung it for me and I’ve not been disappointed. At some stage I’ll probably trade it in for the Deluxe version, amazingly powerful in terms of synthesis, accessible editing and so expressive.
Waldorf Q is a legend in its own right. And decent as VA's go.
That first patch you did on the super 6 was MAGICAL
What I find incredible is how cheap these synths were compared to yesteryear. When the Prophet 5 came out in 1978 it was £3,500. The first "affordable" poly I remember was the Juno 6 in 1982. That was £699 then. The DX7 was something like £1,200 in 1985. Most of the polys now are much cheaper in realtive terms and in many cases in absolute figures.
Because most of them are digital modeling synths and most of the effort is put into the software. The Prophet 10 is the only authentic analog synth here.
@@wishusknight3009 The Prophet 10 was £5600 back in 1980 - I bought a car for that. Now it's £3,600. So you made my point. The 6 voice Memory Moog was £3600 in 1980 (allowing for inflaction that would be £15,000) compared to £5500 for an 8 voice Moog One. It's hard to find direct comparisons that someone won't quibble with but the same goes for digital. Korg Wavestate now £488, Wavestation was £1575. There many other examples and having been someone who wanted to buy a polysynth, any polysynth, analogue or digital in the 80s it's absolutely blindingly obvious how cheap hardware synths are now compared with then.
@@markgriffiths5122 Except that the only actual hardware synth here again is the prophet 10. The rest are mostly software save for 2 having analog filters. And of course they would become relatively cheaper compared to the 70's. Manufacturing has been made more efficient up and down the stack as it has with everything else.
As you point out, the digital synths have fallen dramatically more in price than the analog counterparts.... Because that is the nature of digital synths.
Thank you for your comparison. It confirms my decision to attend the Novation Summit. I need an analog sounding synthesizer for my stage setup, with which I can play two split sounds live at the same time. Too many features are unnecessary for me - I want to make music and not study computer science or reinvent the wheel in terms of sound.
My first choice would have been the UB-Xa if Uncle Ulli had managed to publish it - as announced - in the 4th quarter of 2021.
I'm not a musician and I can't play any instrument. Just came to say I love the sound of the Prophet.
Thanks! I don't own any of these synths but wanting to acquire one very soon and this video is helpful. The Hydrasynth excites me the most due to the sound and expression. My second choice would be the Summitt. It looks easy to understand and fun to play. The Roland sounds great but is too much like a workstation, which I'm tired of. The Prophet is a Prophet, which I love for its simplicity and raw sound. I hope there is a 61-note keyboard for a future UDO. That's as small as I want to go for a poly.
21:20 I've been wanting to make my first big-ish purchase of a "serious synth." I have a MiniNova, which is especially fun with my Strymon Night Sky. But The Hydrasynth Deluxe has had my attention. I've been on the fence because I like more atmospheric and ambient stuff. I've been put off by the Hydrasynth's overly glitchy distortion I've seen in many demos. Your demo here pretty much sold me on it because it's a side of the Hydrasynth I haven't seen much of. (Ultimately, I just wish there was an update to the Waldorf Blofeld that isn't as expensive as a Quantum/Iridium/Kyra/M. The Hydrasynth might fill that for me other than its lacking user samples...)
That was an absolutely fantastic video, you didn't talk too much, and your demos are worth every every minute of it! I can only dream of having all the "toys" you have the pleasure of creating on, thanks for sharing!
I think the Jupiter X is very underrated. It’s well made minus the paint issues. Otherwise it’s a real value and sound lovely.
I would have bought it gladly, it is like a workstation and it can do so much. Especially the Xm is great for travelling and small workplaces, but has no aftertouch despite the price (€ 1400). However, as a workstation it is trying to emulate all these old synths from Rolands' past too much, and what can be seen as a big advantage, the Zen-Core, makes it, at least for me, a vst (Zenology pro) pressed into hardware five times, without providing a versatile user interface for that kind of massive functionality. I have 2.5 cheaper examples where that fails, M-Audio Venom, Akai MiniAk and Jd-Xi. Not comparable ? Well one way or another, they are subtractive synths and at least MiniAk and JD-Xi can be (painfully) tweaked to sound similiar to most of the Zenology models. Which I personally do not need, since I find this sound realm worn out. I won't say that Yamaha is better in terms of usability, since I have also a DX-200´which has a nearly (manually) uneditable DX-7 inside. But my next try will be - as weird as it sounds, a relatively unsexy Modx. Hydra and Wavestate were already a success.
@@pontram I had a Jupiter X returned it to use Roland cloud and missed the Jupiter X. If it’s your main keyboard and you invest into learn it which is not to difficult it’s an amazing instrument.
Just wish it didn’t have giant pulsating buttons on it
jupiter x is completely overrated. it's just another zencore modding case. underrated would be a real analog reissue of a juno 6/60 who none attention about.
what paint issues. ?
Hello Alex: After a break, I'm now back to watching music videos. The Summit at around 11:40 reminded me of a passage in Blade Runner. Excellent job. Keep up the good work. Stay well and safe.
I love the sound of the Summit, it ticks a lot of the boxes I want in a synth. However for my work flow, the bug it has is really proving to be difficult to work around. Voices 9-16 are not affected by performance data sent from external MIDI sources, so writing in automation and reording the MIDI to audio in a DAW is not possisble in nomral 16 voice mode. My only workaround has been to manually recreate my patches as part A of a multi, effectively turning the synth into just 8 voices.
Do you run into the bug when operating in split mode?
Didn't know about the bug, but then I didn't use that functionality in this video.
@@dcarmich00 I haven't tested it in split mode, but I'm fairly certain the issue would still be there for voices 9-16.
Alex, Was a great watch & listen while my 'GEARLUST' takes broader roots.
Thanks & best wishes are sent.
I'm new to synths and I fell In love with the Prophet 5 / 10 a few months back. I have been listening a lot to Saga and found the monooutput sound better for me. So time to drop a few $ on a banger of a synth.
saga is awesome!
Prophet 10 wins to me :D, i got the Hydrasynth and the Novation Peak i love them.
The microphone's and pop filter's shadows look disconcertingly like a perspiration patch. Really enjoyed this, though, and Alex has demonstrated the longevity and desirability of the P5 (and 10) really well.
All I keep hearing is a song you created for sole purpose of infecting my brain.
“Roland, has made synthesizers since 1973…..”. Just got a Jupiter X and it’s more than a polysynth. Your awesome!
Awesome video! Thank you for putting it together and giving honest opinions! I have the Hydrasynth and it has an enormous amount of range and can sound really amazing... But the wavescan oscillator modes are... not great. They are the one area of the synth that feels largely unfinished. I was hoping for more updates that would make it easier to navigate and add smoother wavetable interpolation and hope now that the larger and smaller siblings are out, they circle back and flesh the concept out further.
Still, the number of filter emulations alone are amazing to see. And it's nearly a DX7 when it comes to FM. And the PWM options are really flexible and unique.
I'm on Team Sequential, 100%. But I have also played the Udo (at Synthplex 2022), it is definitely a viable alternative. I used the Hydra for a bit, lots of tweaking features, but sound was underwhelming. I would rec it to noodlers, but not composers. Thank you for posting this :)
This just made me want the Hydrasynth even more. I want the Deluxe.
Its got a CS-80 in it, along with so much more
Really good feature Alex, I could listen to you talking about synths all day! I am considering the Jupiter Xm as I’m running out of space. The last slot was recently taken up by a mint DX7 Mk2. Thank you as ever.
As I say to people, the Hydrasynth is like a modern digital Xpander with a keyboard. Almost identical in how they deal with mod matrix and shared menu.
Yes, not dissimilar. The Hydrasynth goes a lot further being that it's 40 years newer, but the Xpander is really ace. I was going to do a proper video on it and try to speak to Marcus Ryle who designed it, but the unit I borrowed broke down repeatedly and went for an overhaul. Next year hopefully.
@@AlexBallMusic if you are going to do that give me a prod, I have a synthaxe that might be able to feature in your video. Worth noting the Xpander was built for the synthaxe, hence why it has 6 voices and weird per voice settings which nowadays can be utilized with an rk002 cable with a polyat keyboard.
@@AdamRobertshaw Didn't know that. Thank you!
@@AlexBallMusic yer turns out all the Synthaxe creators all live around Bristol area, quite easy to chat to them about it all!
Thank you very much. Nice sound design skills. I'm glad you went for some mellow stuff on the Hydra showing thats it's not just for havoc.
I had the hydra but swapped it to a Summit. I didn't explored both synths a lot. Anyway i think the sounds of the Hydra are a bit over the top for my taste if it comes to resonance. A lot of sound that ive heard do sound like metal bowls. One strong point of the Summit is it's reverb. If a person doesn't have much time... the Summit has realy lovely standart soundbanks.
The prophet 10 and super 6 are a bit to expensive imo. Don't have a strong opinion about the Roland but i still would pick up the Summit from your 70'ish carpet.
OMFG it's so refreshing to hear unique opinions about (in this case) polysynths. Love the way you explain and in the proces inspire us. Thank you!
Thanks! Good to know.
@@AlexBallMusic you obviously know a thing or two about composing and arranging as well. I'm new to your channel so i don't know if there's content about that already, but for a professional nut like me who spends their days in studio's, i would very much welcome more insight in how to compose.with synth sounds / synthesizers. For example: the part about the prophet 5 being mono and utilising that to actually broaden the spectrum, blew my mind. Inspiring stuff. Cheers.
Cheers. I've done some tutorials in the past, but never one specifically on arranging for synths or on composition itself which really is the crucial thing which sound design and arranging hang from.
Perhaps I'll look at doing something next year.
@@AlexBallMusic it's not that easy to explain. Composition, arrangement and sound tie in to each other so neatly that it almost becomes too complex to fathom really. I do think however that you posses a talent to educate about this relation though. Fingers crossed :)
The only answer is all of them
Of course.....that's why he has them all 😂😂😂😂😂😂 the rest of us will get there soon 😎
I thought the answer to how many synths should you get is “one more than I currently have”
Just like guitars.
And amps.
😜
@@mhoppy6639 that's a good one
The answer is the super 6
Only answer is Akai Timbre Wolf
Fantastic video Alex - I think you've really captured the essence of each model and demonstrated their role. Great stuff!
Based on your demonstration of these synths, if I had a gun to my head and had to pick one of these after watching this video, it would hands down be the Summit
I'm currently looking for my first synth. Being new to this and learning as I go I don't know a whole lot about them but I can say that Prophet sounded awesome.
@M Castile Thanks for the recommendations. That's a bit pricey. I'd have to save up for that. I'd probably dip my toe in the hardware synth waters first because saving up that much cash I'd probably talk myself into a new tube amp or guitar instead. In the meantime I have Logic X and Maschine MK3 so there are lots of softsynths to play with. My Nektar Panorama T4 gives me the hands on thing but I still want a hardware synth. Probably $500-$1000 range.
man these synths sound awesome(especially liked the experimental sounds on the summit)
Thanks for the demonstration
Now the real question is do i pay my rent for the next year or become homelles and buy one.
Now I know what to ask my parents for for Christmas. Thanks Mr Ball!
I think the Prophet REV-2 covers a lot of the ground of both the UDO Super 6 and the Prophet 10. Even some of the Summit’s. It's a good alternative for people looking for vintage analog vibes on a lower budget. On the used market It's about the same as the Hydra new but otherwise it’s more affordable than any other synth on this video.
Rev 2 will be remembered very fondly in the future.
The Rev 2 was my workhorse synth for 3 years. It excels with its 16 voices incl. layers and splits - but sorry, compared to a P5/6/10 or that French poly synth from Grenoble it sounds somehow cheap. And the 8-slot mod matrix is pathetique.
@@RayyMusik don’t mistake me for a fanboy but, when you say the 8 slot mod matrix is pathetic, what other synth are you comparing it to? Because the way I see it, it’s a lot more modulation possibilities than the Prophet 5 / 6 / 10 have.
I didn’t really like my Rev 2. I sold it. It just don’t have the fizz for me. Just a personal thing. I’ve got a peak alongside a matriarch and pro 3. Works well for me.
@@raistaparta The ‘real‘ Prophets have quite another philosophy. I compare the mod matrix to those of the Prophet X (16 freely assignable), the synth whose name I dare not mention (32) or the Hydrasynth (32). Furthermore, I need at least 2 slots of the Rev 2 for VCM (©️ Creative Spiral) because of the DCOs and lack of a fine-tune destination in the gated sequencer.
These are all great. I particularly love the Hydrasynth and Peak/Summit. I'm barely scratching the surface of my Pro 3 though, and I'm low on space, so a nice poly synth will have to remain just a dream for now.
Thanks for the pleasant dream!
Any synth can be used. It's the player that makes the difference. All of the synths shown here are with no doubt great machines. However, I own a Summit and I believe it sounds the most versatile of them all.
As you said, "it's the player that makes a difference." It's also the player's ability to program a synth that makes the synth sound the most versatile.
@@gravyguns Yes. On top, bad sound does not exist. Give me any sound, and I'll try to play an acceptable riff with it. And finally, I would want all synths in this video. But my studio is full. And i mean full. ;-)
This is a great review. Such a pleasant change to have someone who is a good player as well as having the knowledge of synthesis. A rare combo when it comes to these sorts of vids!..
Oh and btw, am still getting truly surprised after all these years by how good a live synth my Access V***s TI2 can be (not the best name just now!) … so tweakable, and the whole sound of it is stunning
As a hardware nut aside from a jp8 and a memmorymoog ive been though almost every poly, i recently i tried the arturia v collection and was blown away how good it is, im now seriously considering selling all my gear and getting a top spec computer and a midi keyboard
If vintage/classic is your thing then it is more practical. Perhaps this whole fad of living in the 1980s synth world will pass at some point and the value of them will drop or they'll end up as museum pieces because they become too valuable to play.
You may regret doing that.
I have Arturia V too & it is an amazing collection for the price. Not gonna sell my polysynths though, as well as sounding great they just look so good!
Not a good idea. Vst’s are only supported for a few years.
Thanks for this video. I think you covered the five synths very concisely and gave a good overall impression of each's strengths and weakness'. I am particularly interested in the Hydro Synth and I found that although others have more in-depth reviews on it, you really brought it home how easy it is to use, well done!
The Korg Prologue 16 is underrated. The VCO's sound great.
The prologue has the programmable oscilator like the NTS aswell doesnt it? Makes it pretty damn powerful..
Yeah I think Korg really shot themselves in the foot with those initial tuning problems.
@@bimguff It can still be a bit temperamental with its tuning but that’s VCOs for ya. It all depends on the weather lol 😂 Also I’ll never understand why they didn’t include the motion sequencer from the other logue synths. It does sound really nice.
No MIDI though
I had put off watching this video at first in case it usurped my own research before settling on the Super 6. But I’ve come out of it feeling vindicated haha. I was drawn to the warm wide lush sound and one knob per function with zero screens. So as great as these all sound; your “why not to buy?” sections confirmed to me that my research was adequate :)
Love the sounds you get out of the Prophet 10 and the Super 6! The Jupiter and the Hydra, meh... Sounds like plastic. The Summit sounds quite good and modern, but I'm a sucker for vintage sounds :)
You were channelling Kraftwerk at the beginning! Very insightful demo of these amzing machines. Thanks as always for a through video and entertaining of course!
Of course I'd love any or all of these, given room and budget, but I've got a DeepMind 12D and I'm very much enjoying it. 🦜 My first analog poly 😁 I enjoy your Prophet 10 very much, by the way. 😍
I love my affordable Deepmind 12!
I've just clicked the 2,000th like! 😃
Cool video! I hadn't actually heard many of these before. I'm not an expert on what gear is out there. My favourites here are Prophet 10 & Hydrasynth. That Prophet 10 sounds so warm!
I was planning to buy the Hydrasynth but after trying it in the store i felt it just missed knobs, buttons and sliders. Also i did not like the lack of responsiveness i got from the ribbon bar. Sounded great though but ended up buying the synth that shall not be named (as Alex doesn't own it....)
Those are my two contenders. They seem different enough that, if one had cash & space for both, they’d pair, but both so deep, so you’d need an abundance of time too. How are you like the synth non grata? Observations?
LOL on your comment about the synth you ended up buying.
I love my Hydra, but not everyone has the same 'workflow'. If you end up with the synth you feel good about, that's perfect. In the end it all comes down to having fun making music. And enjoying the process of creating it.
Hi And after your purchase, what is your return on your new secret name synth made in Grenoble ?
@@bentropy It is insane how much fun you can have with it. I often get lost in sound design and am just scratching the surface of what is possible. Got some sounds out of it that i thought would only be possible with samples or an fm synth!
@@GertBoers True and i am having fun. Though might still buy the hydrasynth in the future just for the poly aftertouch :)
Really enjoyed the comparisons. Last synth I purchased was a Roland JX8P, regrettably had to sell my Roland Juno 60 and Roland Cube amp to get my wisdom teeth removed circa 1985!! Now that our boys are nearly out of college I’m looking to splurge on a new synth - your comparisons were very helpful.