Korg Prologue vs. Novation Summit: Analog vs Digital
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ส.ค. 2024
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A quick comparison of two synthesizers: Korg's Prologue and Novation's Summit / Novation Peak for analog style sounds. One has analog oscillators, one has digital oscillators: does this matter?
I've tried to make them sound as close as possible without getting scientific. They're so similar in some ways, but different in others, I hope I've captured it here. Needless to say they both sound amazing!
Hopefully this one will give you an idea of which can fit in your studio and mixes best, I don't consider one better than the other - just different!
I own the summit and officially paid it off today. I’ve never been happier with an instrument. It even sounds better when you don’t owe money on it. Truth.
True that! Congrats and so happy for you! Stick around for more summit content, I actually did a tutorial on my fave sound on the summit 2 weeks ago, check it!
I had the prologue. Although i was trying hard, i never managed to create the sounds that i had in mind, never..Then, i sold the prologue and bought Summit. One of the best choices i have ever made. Mind blowing synth, great sounds, 3 osc's (digital, why not?) ,opened my imagination. Among other benefits (like the separator), the summit has very good effects and incredibly huge variety of sounds.Apart from that,you can find from great fat atmospheric basses, to ambient and cinematic sounds.Absolutely no comparison for me! No hard feelings for the prologue, just didn't make it for me. Love peak & summit. Great video, keep up the great work ❤️
Thanks for watching Nik! And that's awesome to hear
The Summit truly is so versatile, it can work perfectly as the one master synth to learn perfectly in the studio!
Summit rulez!!! Just thinking about turning it in for a Prologue makes me wanna throw up... I’ll never let go of my Summit - it is one of the best ever rich sounding synths out there. Love and light from Thailand 🇹🇭
Exactly the video I needed to see. Saving up for a Summit now. Thanks for this!
Awesome you won't regret it!
I have many analog synths, but I bought the Summit, and I was blown away by the Summit, it is a fantastic synth with the best reverb I ever heard.
great purchase! I agree its a great keyboard!
For the clean and very straightforward workflow and exremely long life product support I’ll pick the Summit. Currently I have the Peak and since the latest Peak/Summit fw update with the custom wavetables it’s hard to find anything with better price/performance ratio. Nice comparison and both synths are just great.
totally agree - I always recommend Peak as a first dip into hardware for my in-the-box producer friends!
I got my Summit today. It sounds beautiful.
Awesome how are you liking it? :)
The sound at the end 26:15 absolutely gorgeous, so tempted to get a summit
Thank you! The Summit reverb is honestly better than any plugin I have.
Great Demo mate. Thanks for this X
Thanks for watching, I love your videos man!
Soundwise, I think it's really splitting hairs between two great instruments. Featurewise, the summit comes out of the box stronger but the Prologue catches up with the third-party oscillators and effects. Like two siblings, they are different but both good.
Couldn't agree more with this. Thanks for watching!
Always interesting when people talk about natural synth(etic) sound 😂 I think they both sound great!
Thank you for these great videos!
Thank you for watching!
To me me the summit sounds like it has much richer harmonics than the prologue imo, its just has a crispier bite without the filter being incorporated. The prologue has a some nice phasing though. And a bit more midrange on its own without the filter
I love the summit filter a lot more though. And the reverb section is worth its weight in gold on that synth
Fair point! I personally prefer the Prologue sound a bit as it sounds a bit more vintage to me, but agreed, Summit reverb is worth its weight in gold and nothing compares! Check out my video on the 3rd Wave if you haven't yet. That's my all time fave flagship keyboard now
thank you for this, using the delay as a looper ...amazing
Thanks for watching - lots more coming so stay tuned :)
I will never understand why Korg didn’t put the motion sequencer on the Prologue. It’s like having 4 super LFOs. The Minilogue XD is actually more powerful than the Prologue. It just lacks the voice count. Not sure what they were thinking with that.
I totally agree, I wish that it had the motion sequencer. Pretty much the only gripe I have!
damn i was almost going to trade my minilogue XD for the prologue..but the prologue has no motion seq.??
Korg handicaps their products … the idea being, that you need to buy all of them … ?! 🙄😒
Summit I bought. It has a very dark character. And currently the synth with the best on board reverb.
Great choice it is my desert island synth! Agreed about the reverb. Thank you for watching stick around for more Summit videos! 😎
I have The Prologue 16 as well as the summit, but also have the Sequential Prophet XL. When these three are together they are just phenomenal.. In all honesty it is so hard to take one over the other... Great Comparison!
Awesome! How do you like the XL? it looks like a beautiful synth - I'd love to try it and review it one day.
@@MilesAwayOfficial It was a love hate at first (new to poly synths and still learning...) I Feel the love hate relationship was because i was treating it like a rompler a when it is really a hybrid between samples and poly synth. I am loving it now, but when it comes to some of the cool analog stuff i still go back to the prologue and summit primarily because those i had more time with. However, after getting to spend more time with the Prophet, im sure it will only get better. It really is beast. The 8Dio sounds are nice, but sometimes feels almost repetitive when doing new sounds, but there are plenty of possibilities to go around. The Poly synth is great, i wish the pitch on the OSC was smooth rather than having the ticks. The ticks make the pitch change feel/sound stepped rather than how they are on the Summit or Prologue. Overall, the layout is pretty intuitive and easy to get around. What i love most about it is the looping and reversing of the samples as you can do some pretty cool stuff with them ALONG WITH having that blend between sampled sounds and the poly synth. Still think the 3 together are fantastic for any studio though. Hope you get a chance to review and compare the Prophet X/XL to other poly synths such as the Summit and Prologue. Would love to see your take and reaction on that board. Great Channel and love the content!
Just saw the OB6 Video... Man you're making me want to get one of those now lol.. OB6 Is a fantastic board and the sounds are just amazing!
I must say, I do love the Prologue bass sound! Feels more clear to me, I hear the pitch much better! They are both great though for sure! Thanks for the vid!
thanks so much for this video bro!
Glad it helped you!
Korg Prologue vs Novation Summit! Who will win??
All jokes aside, I wanted to make this video to help any of you decide which of these great instruments you like better, and how similar they can sound despite different architecture!
There's only one way to find out!
Excellent! This was very helpful!
Happy to help Zachary!
Also, I will add that the Matriarch is also my all time favorite synth! I have the synths with the character already...I needed that deep, versatile synth to round out everything.
Great taste ;)
I also own both Synths and they sound fantastic. The Prologue is btw one of the most underrated Synths. Both are Hybrids with really good FX sections. I love the Korg for it's VCO's and the versatile and unique Multi Engine. But if I would have to choose between them, and I really hate to say this, it would be without any doubt the Summit. But dont get me wrong, the Prologue is one of the best Synths you can get!!!! Maybe it's a matter of taste......
This is so accurate. Prologue is crazy underrated, but if you had to force me to choose one to make an entire album with, the Summit is just such a swiss army knife, even though it has a bit less character. Thanks for watching!
@@MilesAwayOfficial I'm working on an album right now and I've just noticed that the one synth that is on every track so far is the Prologue. There is always something I can get from it that can go into my tracks. Now I've noticed I'm going to have to do at least one track with no Prologue in it lol.
@@RoomAtTheTopStudio its just so sick agreed. that's a good challenge haha. Always fun to work with limitations!
That was a very helpful review. Thanks Miles!
My pleasure! I've got other videos on both these synths so feel free to check them out if you still need help deciding :)
Excellent analysis and comparison
was playing the Summit in a shop today and it was just so easy to use, everything is straightforward and sounds epic, I feel the trick is to use a good amount of distortion, it really brings the oscillators to life and makes the Summit sound very analog!
100% agreed! It's a bit counterintuitive, because unlike a Moog where the oscs are massive and beautiful on their own, you really have to add to the oscillators on the Summit to get them to shine, which is easy thankfully because the filters, distortion and reverb are among the best in the industry. Thx for watching!
There is a best and that is both together. The moment you played both together I new I was going to be in trouble with my wife.
Hahahaha 🤣 hope she forgave you for bringing home these two beauties
My Wife gave up a long time ago, now she doesn't even argue.. I told her i need these like she needs purses lol
They both sound good to me. 😊
Cool comparison. I just sold my Korg Minilogue XD - because it sounded so good it inspired me to move up to the Prologue. I can't believe it has 32 VCOs. Should sound really rich and fat. I have had virtual analogs (Roland JP-8000, Korg MicroKorg) and I think pure analog is what is best for me.
Just saw your comment! that's awesome! hope you are enjoying it! I don't know if you saw but I released Custom Patches for the Prologue, check em out !
I think the Summit dumps all over the Prologue … with the exception of its raw, oscillator sound (before you started introducing drift, etc): there is just no substitute for the heft of decent/good VCOs … … … but generally speaking, Summit, all. day. long.
Fair! I personally sold the Summit and kept the Prologue as I just preferred the core sound, but agreed feature wise Summit wins everything.
The summit seems like it can just do more sounds due to having more than one filter type. I also think the fx section outclassed the prologues but that might just be personal preference.
Fully agree here! Summit is a Swiss Army knife and has better reverb and chorus. But I'm not a fan of the delay, whereas the prologue tape delay is literally beautiful. Thanks for watching!
I bet that with drift on for the Summit most people would not be able to guess the Summit from the Prologue in a blind test (if you still have these please make that happen ;) ). The "warmth" and "analogness" that people hear is 90% in what you see. Both great synths but just for the mod matrix the Summit takes it for me. I'm actually considering selling my JD-XA for a Summit after seeing this demo.
I turn on drift and diverge in this video a couple times! It's very very close! Thx for watching.
@Synthetic_Future : Thank you for this statement. I bought the Summit after testing a lot of his analog competitors. There is this mythical believe about analog synths. Mythical nostalgia I call this. Blind tests on scientific level at universities have long proven that people can not hear the difference between analog and digital. Because there is no difference. For whatever mythical reason, analog purists seem to 'hear' the difference. They describe the sound of analog synths as 'warm'. Reality however is that no calibrated measuring device to measure 'warmth' in a sound exists. And never will exist. Because what they describe is a pure personal experience, based on what they see. I fight the idea ' it's old, it's vintage, it's analog so no wonder it sounds good' Pure nonsense. Again, there have been enough scientific tests. Still some people will not agree...It's like believing the earth is flat... And do not forget the industry that makes his customers believe what they want to believe : Analog is better. Sure. The earth is flat too. And finally, for all you believers its a good thing to look for Andrew Scheps YT video on analog vs digital. To repeat this recording guru his own words : "Analog is a myth. No wait, it's a gigantic myth !"
@@sK3LeTvM1 it's tough to say - sometimes I agree, software can sound indistinguishable (check out Repro Vs Prophet 5 on TH-cam), but also there are some times when I'll create a sound on an analog synth like my Moog Matriarch that it would be near impossible to replicate on software, at least not without dozens and dozens of plugins and hours of tweaking.
Either way we live in a golden age where synths can sound this good and we are this spoiled for choice!
With hesitation I sold my Peak and bought a Polybrute. After the first couple days I actually regretted it and was thinking I should have gone Summit...but I kept getting drawn into sitting at the Polybrute. After 4 days I noticed that I was just getting lost in its sound and creation each sit-down. By day 7 now I am convinced it is the best synth I have ever played and there is just so much more to explore. It feels like you can just do anything you want with it and it does not get in the way. It is so easy to take a happy accident and build a whole patch around it, with immediate complexity. While the Peak sounded so good to me (I love the filter and effects), and is an undeniably great synth, I definitely never was drawn to it like this.
Thanks for such a great comment! You are making me want a Polybrute LOL. If I hadn't have pre-ordered the OB-X8 I would get one instead. Happy you found a synth you gel with so much ! Appreciate the chat and stick around for more synth videos weekly :)
@@MilesAwayOfficial Update, haha! After losing multiple patches to the PolyBrute locking up, I returned it. I began to really miss the filter and effects of the Peak, the higher polyphony, and the smoothness of the knobs and general operation. I have a Summit on the way, and am very excited.
Summit is awesome but I prefer Prologue ❤️
It's definitely a great synth with lots of character!
I love the sound of the prologue, but for my needs I'd go with the summit. I have an ob6 that needs a companion that has more versatility. After hearing the summit here, and how well it sounds after tweaks...it may just be what I am looking for!
I have to say that I prefer the sound of Prologue by far. That said, I like the smoothness of 12dB filters and have always been a fan of MS20's growl. 24dB is often too aggressive for me. Prologue has more weight and is just more 3D/physical sounding. The user distortion plugin is outstanding! Summit has better specs and having 4 LFO's is a blessing, but if the sound doesn't cut it, then I'd rather have 1 LFO and Prologue's heft and smoothness.
it's truly a fantastic sounding synth! did you see my shootout with it and the OB6? literally on par, which is crazy. Summit is great too and I use it all the time but Prologue is special :)
@@MilesAwayOfficial I did watch your shootout with OB6. I commented there. And my impressions from the shootout with Summit are very similar. I have to say that I like the sound of OB6 more than of Summit, but again, 12dB filter. I just like 12dB filters.
It seems, though, that the EQ curve of Summit's oscillators annoys me, or it is the sound of its VCA. There is certain hardness/harshness there. And when it comes to the filter, Prologue takes the crown, because I like it when a filter can get dirty. OB6's filter sounds nice, smooth, but quite generic and I can say the same for Summit. Sure, most people prefer cleaner filters in polysynths, but I have no problem having a MS20 style filter in a poly. In fact, I used MS20 plugin extensively during the last 15 years, many times as a polysynth.
Overall the Prologue reminds me a lot of Nord Lead 2, both in terms of sound and simple architecture. It has the same upper midrange smoothness, a slighly metallic tone (which I prefer over more plastic sounding Rolands and in this case also the Summit). But, it sounds much more refined than NL2. It's actually one of the most hi-fi sounding analog synths I've heard if not the most. But the good thing is also that it can get seriously dirty, but still in a hi-fi way. I think this is truly special. I'm hunting a well priced Prologue 8 now.
Summit all day!
Good choice! Do you have a Summit?
@@MilesAwayOfficial thanks for the reply! It's on my to-buy list this year. Really enjoying your videos and content!
Novation Summit sounds beautifully! I think sooner or later I will buy a Summit too. Korg Prologue doesn't cost as much as Novation Summit; perhaps the Korg Prologue can be combined with the 24db filter of Behringer Crave?😉 I didn't tried out yet. Thanks for your amazing review!!! 👍
My pleasure thanks for watching!
Great comparison Miles
Much love renaud!
Great video, thanks for your valuable contribution. I'm still on the fence and now my doubts have doubled. I was 51% Prologue 16 and 49 % Summit, now the opposite.
hey just saw this! What did you end up getting?
Great content bro!
Thanks for watching!
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I somehow forgot the password. I would love any help you can offer me!
@Ignacio Grant Instablaster :)
@Judah Dario Thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site thru google and im trying it out atm.
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Thank you so much you saved my account!
12:25 You make an important point here that a lot of musicians forget when they buy gear (like super expensive effects pedals or whatever)...When you are playing live, cheaper stuff works ok because it will all get washed up in the band and the room anyway. When recording it is a bit more sensitive, but in a mix it is going to be ok. It's only solos sections (with no other instruments) where that little bit of difference is going to matter. A lot of times, that little difference can mean twice the price -- or more!!!!! ... In this case, I am leaning toward the Summit (or Peak) because I want something with more than 1 LFO.
very true! love this. Summit/Peak are great - highly recommended!
@@MilesAwayOfficial I decided on the Prophet Rev2, but I still think the Peak is awesome. I appreciated your review though. It helped me to eliminate the Korg Prologue because I was looking for something with more LFOs. That said, I am keeping my Minilogue. :D
@@BTsMusicChannel nice! Rev2 is awesome. Would love to get a review done on one eventually :) enjoy!
thanks for this great VS video
Thx for watching!
This is a great video comparison even though they are both different types of synths. Seems like a lot of people in the comments are once again dissing the Prologue. So far I've seen a few gigging keyboard players for big artists have Prologues in their rigs and they rave about how it's ideal for their set up. I've not seen a Summit in a top bands keyboard players rig yet. All this modulation talk though seems silly to me though as synths like the OB-6 only have one LFO just like the Prologue but these one LFO synths sound better than these multiple LFO synths and gigging musicians seem to go for the one LFO synths for their rigs most of the time.
If you just want to mess around with sound then maybe the more non essential functions the better but if you're doing music for a living less can actually be more. Personally I have a Prologue but I would love to add a Summit at some point. I don't need to but I would like to just to mess around with the sounds.
It's a good point! I think a lot of people discount the prologue because of one LFO, one filter and no aftertouch. On paper and seems like these are criminal omissions, but when you play the prologue you just kind of worked beautifully with the simplicity and you don't miss these things. If more people actually play the prologue I don't think there would be the hate!
Bought the Summit! Looked at the Korg but the Novation is far more hands on and heaps off modulation! Plus one lfo on the Korg?
It's an amazing synth! Enjoy :)
I think saying one is better than the other is wrong. One excels where the other doesn't. If you have them both they complete eachother. It's true that one can be pushed a bit futher (summit) than the other.
This setup looks a bit like what i'm currently using: a yamaha mox8 with an prophet rev2. Yamaha for the strings and pads, prophet for the mono and other stuff.
Love this analysis! I fully agree :) thanks for watching, more synth videos coming soon
I seriously love my prologue. Sounds so unique and undeniably analog. However it really starts to fall short anytime I need to do anything that traditionally would be done with a 24db filter. So, any of your prophet, Juno, or Moog sounds... still does the job but I really wish I had that sharper filter slope
Agreed this is my only real thing I find is missing ! Hence why I got the summit. thanks for watching!
Miles Away yeah and more mod options... still love it though! We want instruments to be unique and this certainly is! Really looking at the summit though. Can’t find one to try out.
But you could say the same thing about an Oberheim.....just depends on what you want!
Analog is a myth : check this video from Andrew Scheps : th-cam.com/video/_M5aEC3-ACQ/w-d-xo.html
@@MilesAwayOfficial can you route the prologue into the summits filter?
Keep these up! This is great
Thank you! More soon!
The Summit is not a digital synth, it's a hybrid.
What a great and in depth analysis of the Prologue's and Summits features. You nailed it. How did you get the Prologue to hold the chords even after you released the keys? I first thought you just cranked up the release but the release knob isn't even turned all the way up.
Sustain Pedal!
@@jesuslovestoastyaya duh...thanks!
Watching this video made me wonder. If all of your synths were gone and you had to start over buying one at a time, what order would you go in? I know the OB-6 is your fav, but curious if that would still be your first purchase? Or would you start with more versatile options like these?
Late reply but great question. I still have a soft spot for the Prologue cause I saved for ages and it was a huge game changer coming from software only. But if I knew what I knew now and had a decent budget I would get:
-OB6
-3rd Wave
- A Moog of some kind
- A good reverb like the Merc X/Empress/Big Sky
With that set up I think I could make pretty much anything I'd ever want!
Prologue 16... what an analog powerhouse. And the multiengine with user slots... and user effects slots. Shut the front door. And for $700 less than the summit? Winner. Epic Synth. ps... nice sound set!
It’s so underrated! Thanks for watching more synth content soon :$)
Great review, I’m in the market for a new synth this was really helpful. Both awesome might just come down to price point.🎹👍👍
Thanks for watching!
For the current price (especially on used market) you seriously can't beat the Prologue 16.
However, ask yourself if you are going to be ok with the workflow that only involves 1 LFO + multiengine diving. For me I love it but I know a lot of folks feel limited by that.
Feel free to ask if you have any more questions!
I'm curious what the Prologues oscillators would sound like in the Summit. You could sample them and import them as a wavetable. I'm really interested in trying single cycle waveform analogue oscillators in the Summit as i'm still not that impressed with them - overdrive always helps though. I'm kind of on the fence about buying both of these - The Summit is an awesome synth - I'm kind of wish I liked the oscillators more - they sound a bit hollow and static - but then it's probably worth having just for the a hardware synth that does Wavetable and FM paired with great effects and lots of modulation options. I agree about the square waves - can't beat those prologue analog saw pads though. The analog character really shows with chords. I really wish the Prologue offered a lot more modulation though. I'd pick the Prologue for basic analog sounds and the Summit for creative programming. You need to make the Summit sound good but the Prologue just sounds good.
Gonna do a video of this don't worry! I've been using different analog synth samples as wavetables in the summit recently. They are very hit and miss.
Stay posted ;)
@@MilesAwayOfficial Cool thanks that's going to be a very interesting video. I've seen the Summit will be available again in a week. Tempted to pre-order. All you need is one hit and you've got some sweet new analog oscillators for life :)
"- they sound a bit hollow and static -". No, they dont. It's all about programming the Summit, the Modmatrix is the secret! The Summit is close to the Yamaha CS 80, it's rich and lush like no other Synth.
@@Ark-yq9em The point is it takes a lot of programming to get it to sound like something like analog does naturally. CS80? come on lets not be silly. Sure you can drown it in reverb and make a CS80 brass style patch. Really you can get the same sound out of almost any synth - the difference is really the basic character and tone of the sound at those same settings. Thankfully the Summit can do a lot more than just analog sounds so that makes it worthwhile.
@@MadelnMachines th-cam.com/video/5lD8wd87nUI/w-d-xo.html
19:07 of course the peak
havnt seen the whole vid yet..but its korg prologue allll dayyyy every day.
so happy to see the recent love on the prologue. When I made this video all the comments were bashing the prologue and saying summit ! how times change :)
The prologue one sounds a bit better in my opinion. Great video Miles thx for the info!
The Prologue does sound amazing! Thanks for watching!
My vote if for the summit as you can split 2 totally different synth engines. It is warm and clear. While the Prologue sounds good, it lacks in expansive capability that the summit has. IMO
The Prologue is also bi-timbral, unless that's not what you meant. Thanks for watching!
What better way to spend the nice weather than...staying inside? 😂
Nerd and proud!
@@MilesAwayOfficial Amen brother!
Full disclosure I'd probably have been doing the same thing 😁
I had Korg Polysix, Poly 61, Poly 800, M3, SV-1..., now I have Prologue (well made in Japan - not a chinatoy) and I'm very happy. Prologue can make sound easy in two ways: 1/ pure analog sounds with raw and vintage character and 2/ modern analog wavetable sounds. With Prologue I dont have a feeling that I miss Polysix or Poly 61' pads, basses and leads. It cannot be compared to all virtual analogs and software synths too (include the newest Roland Zencore engine) And effects? Prologue can generate BBD delays and choruses/ensembles, no external analog effects pedals necessary. Oh, very good video and sound, Miles ;-)
Thank you so much! I agree! Even if it's not as complicated, it has such a good sound! Did you ever check out my Korg Prologue custom sounds? Take a listen and if you like them you can purchase!
Would have liked to hear the peak with the 12db filter, specially with the bass patch near the end
Thanks for the cool review, really helpful. I use a Peak, with a Moog Sirin which has that classic weighty Moog sound, but by adding a bit of filter pre and post drive the Peak is indistinguishable. I also like the new wavetables and the reverb is gorgeous.
I'm after a new keyboard rather than a desktop module and I'm looking at either a Matriarch, a Pro 3, Super 6 or a Summit (unless I can sell one of my kids in which case I may consider a Prophet-X, which is a bit of a leftfield choice but expensive) - so far I'm thinking of part ex'ing my Peak for a Summit. Any advice gratefully accepted....
Great set up! Matriarch is my all time fave synth (check out my review), but the Super 6 and Pro 3 look great too. I wouldn't get a summit if I had a peak. Hard choice but Matriarch really is special!
27:00 beautiful!
Thank you! Welcome to the channel :)
@@MilesAwayOfficial Hello, Miles! I hear little but out of tune in my summit, when I play fifth from c5 and higher, it's normal for synth ? Sound like slow LFO and when I play higher it's faster,on all wave and ini basic patch
@@crazyFrankyy that sounds like an issue, I'd contact novation
@@jesuslovestoastyaya Hi! its interesting, tell, please whant they answer
Great video! I feel like I need both! Haha but the prologue does sound slightly more analog, because it is, and you really can hear that. That said, I don't think that is the most important thing.
Fair enough! Yea i kept both, and I probably use the Summit more, but the Prologue does really have its own character! You have a fave synth?
I am looking at the hyrdasynth for my collection. I don't need another keyboard.
Definitely can't go wrong with that beauty! Thx for watching!
Just can't get nest to the Hydrasynth sound wise. It's so appealing to the mind, but my ears remain unfulfilled.
Both sound great but it’s summit for the win no contest
If you made me choose only 1 id have to choose summit
On the Prologue, have you tried turning the oscillators down to see if that helps with the distortion from the filter?
Good question! It's definitely less noticeable but it's still very distorted. It's almost like the resonance itself is what is getting driven, hard to explain. Don't get me wrong it sounds awesome, and is probably the most unique filter on a polysynth outside of the OB-6, but it's always gonna have that MS-20 style vibe.
@@MilesAwayOfficial I think it's a Korg thing to have a filter that sounds a bit overdriven. It's probably derived from the MS 20 in some way. The MS 20 is famous for it's ripping filter sounds!
@@MilesAwayOfficial yes the filter is being driven hard when the resonance is pushed. Keeping your oscillators mixed at around 50% and pushing the master out will keep distortion down. I see a lot of videos of people maxing the the oscillators out and then complaining about distortion.... I love both of these synths and really couldn't choose one over the other. The summit is flexible and the Prologue is vibe. The user OSC on the prologue is much more flexible then most realize but the user FX are just as powerful. Gotta play with it more to really understand just how good the prologue is.The Summit is also a great sounding synth and I would imagine they play well together. I want a Summit next.
How many of you are affected by the many bugs in the Summit though ? That's something one should considere before purchasing or not ?
Very well done demo its so hard to decide they are both so unique, however I found nothing sounds like a real 80s vintage jupiter 8 or ob 8 etc >>> BTW I love the view from your window😎where is it if may ask? LOL cheers!
I totally agree! I did a comparison of Prologue vs OB6 too, check that one - nothing beats the classic! My place is BC Canada :)
Beautiful synths. I just love the versatility of the Summit. No one really talks about how dope the Novation Summit is for EDM sounds and those classic supersaw/hypersaw type sounds. I've made a couple of sounds demo videos showing how aggressive this beast can sound. Check out my latest patches, click the link below.
th-cam.com/video/pzYSZTk_f_I/w-d-xo.html
Those sound great! Love the dnb Reece bass. 😍 agreed. It is such a versatile keyboard, I’m actually working on a Summit 2 years later video right now so stick around my channel!
Can you help me out? I really really love the prologue sound and prefer it over the summit (except from the distortion part) but the prologue loses hard feature wise. I am not into really sound design yet, but I will get there and I am afraid I will miss a lot of features of the summit when I get the prologue. Do you have tips for me?
Get the one that inspires you 10/10! So I'd recommend getting the Prologue. I'm actually making a video on this but ALWAYS: "sonic inspiration and character over feature sets"
You could also get the minilogue xd if you wanna take a less expensive risk and get similar sonic character.
@@MilesAwayOfficial is it possible to place the user effects before the onboard effects? For example if I have a lpf24 user filter, can I place it before the onboard reverb?
@@NimbusAbi yes, user effects like filters etc replace the mod effect, so it would go sound>user LP filter> reverb.
Important to note that you CANNOT use a user filter and also a mod effect like chorus, they share the same spot
@@MilesAwayOfficial alright, thx for the responses. Looking forward to grab a prologue 😍
@@NimbusAbi you are gonna love it! get the 16 if you can, the extra voices and Analog Compressor are awesome.
Great video. I owned the Novation Summit for 10 days, sound designed the cr*p out of it and then returned it.
Summit is definitely the best looking and best feeling synth I have ever touched, it is built like a tank and the knobs really invite to design sounds all the time. The issue, for me, was that after one hour of playing with it, I experienced major ear fatigue. Not only once, but across all 10 days. I had to let it go and am now confused because what synth could be better than this and not show this issue?
interesting, yea I too loved designing sounds on it but sold it because I just found myself more gravitated towards other sounds of synths I owned. But features wise it is still pretty much unbeatable, and if you like the sound its a no brainer
@@MilesAwayOfficial Agreed. I am still beating myself up as to why I can not listen to it all day. Such a shame.
@@rayderrich stay tuned for my video in a couple months on the 3rd wave, I bought it to replace my Summit - just waiting for it to arrive in later march!
@@MilesAwayOfficial Would love to see what you come up with!
Exellent video , great comparison , but for tte bass sound , i can get some crazy bass sounds that can make moogs goes woah ... the key is to play with reso to make the 12 db filter more like a 18 / 24 also sometime i combine one shot lfo with the EG int for curves .... it sure takes a little time but main those bass i get are wiked !!
I tried a peak prior to get my Xd it sounded superb but less "soul" and less direct that the logue way more capable in modulation .... the drive is superb also , but again it's a choice bewteen :
Caracter / sound versus Flexibility / abilities , one is def a color in your palette , the other is like bread and butter ... people under estimate the korg FX section (and the're some hidding shift hidden menu's ) .....
I would say PEAK / Summit is like a SSL Console on a studio , you can get the job done just with it ....while the logue is like a rack full of vintage gear behind .... more mojo and personnality with the cons and limitation of old analogue gears ;)
I learned some here with the sub osc for the logue , on the XD helas it's a duo mode (witch is fat also but not one octave lower )
To conclude like i said to a friend , the korg is like what minimoog was at that time : direct , simple , mass sounds coming from and instinct primitiv relation with it , while the peak / summit is more cerebral / intellectual approach .
AS we saw in the video the combinasaon of both makes wonder .
by the way level weren't matched and korg was left heavier so i think it was a cable or mixer thing ...but nothing disturbing for the quality of the video witch is exellent , , any pro will compensate to focus on sounds , but rookies might be triked ;)
Great comment and thanks for watching! Will definitely try that tip. For what its worth I kept my Prologue but sold my Summit. Sound character is everything for me and the Korg is just mad underrated!
@@MilesAwayOfficial Not surpised !!! for real bewteen the logue and a sequential i dont see anything in bewteen worth , crazy why synth maker don't focus on those near 1000 euros lines to provide polys ....
May i ask you somthing if you don't mind : when switching fx type while laying sound (let's say reverb stypes or mod types) , do you get a click each time or is it smooth with zero notice on each switch hit ?
Thks really like your style of videos !! discovered your channel , glad i did !!
@@ZozillaThaGreat yep the clicking when changing dsp effects is normal, not to worry
@@MilesAwayOfficial Thks Miles , ypou're the only synth reveiwere that makes patches like i do , i wish i could send you the bass patches i did for the XD but don't know how to translate those for prologue .
Watching as i type the 3rd wave video , this thing is a beauty and you made it sing !!
Thks for the great video and for taking the time to give the products its due !! You're clearly not a youtuber , but a synth lover ;)
@@ZozillaThaGreat thank you so much for the kind words and for supporting me :)
Great content. 2 questions. Can the Summit get as bright as the Prologue wit the use of the distortions? I hear that it is a dark sounding synth and I love the bite of the Prologue. Also, if you had to just have one synth to cover lots of ground in Pop and Rnb for studio use what would you buy?
Hi ! Just saw this.
1. Not exactly, but kind of. The Summit oscillators are naturally darker. I get around this by using Osc 3 with a really harsh wavetable that is mixed in quietly to add top end, but then you lose osc 3.
2. Summit is more versatile but I honestly think I'd pick Prologue as its workflow and sound just inspire me a bit more!
Nice video, liked and subscribed 👍🏻
Thanks Mirko!
Great Demo Thank You!
1 Question - When routing ExternalAudio into the Summit, what Parameters are available?
I'm constantly puzzled by this Korg (and not only Korg) philosopy that a polyphonic doesn't need a 4-pole filter.
I agree i do wish there was a switch for a second filter that was either a 4-pole lowpass or a sweepable highpass with resonance, like the Peak/Summit - but can't have everything!
I can't also figure out how come they put such a great sounding and looking synth (one of the sexiest ever to my opinion) in 21st century, without even a channel aftertouch? If they put aftertouch (preferrably polyphonic), and a ribbon, it would be a killer synth even without more filter options (remember CS80 had only a 12db low-pass), and without more modulation. I would be happy to see these on a let say Prologue Xd, even if they drop the digital oscillator for keeping the price in a given range, or even if they keep it, and just bump the price accordingly.
I own both of these synth but have come to notice that after about an hour of play the back of the prologue gets warm not hot but mildly warm, is this normal ??? beside that their both excellent synth together especially when played with the Deepmind 12
I'd say that's probably ok! As long as it's not actually hot. Thanks for watching! What do you think of the deepmind?
I'm currently considering getting a deepmind or Summit for my main synth. Is the Summit worth all the extra money? I love the idea of effects on the deepmind, but the limited oscillator section has me worried. If I get the Summit, it would likely need to become the be-all-end-all synth in my set up, potentially supported with JD-XI and modal skulpt that I already have.
Any experience with the hydra? Don’t see a video on your channel. Did I miss it? Thanks. Great stuff, appreciated.
Not yet! I really want to try one, if I can get my hands on a loaner or find a good deal used I'll make a review video, and a custom patch set! So stay tuned! Right now I just bought the OBX8 so that's all my synth funds for a while lol
@@MilesAwayOfficial I’ve been going back and forth on the hydra deluxe and summit now for a bit. I kind of ruled out the prologue just because I can get them all around the same price. Yesterday I thought I concluded Hydra. Today I’m back to the summit. Haven’t hit the buy button yet :)
@@DoctorRevers You need both!! 😉 Then you’d have 73 keys of polyphonic aftertouch for each of your Summit and your Hydrasynth … 🥰👌🏼
Prologue with motion sequencer would be instabuy
For real. I'm really happy with mine as a piece of history but a motion sequencer would tempt me a lot. I love the 3rd Wave motion sequencer!
@@MilesAwayOfficial yeah I wish instead of discontinuing it they would have made a v2 with such a sequencer. its otherwise really great!
My friend, excellent. Which patches at 26.00 - 27.00 on Summit? Thanks
It’s from my custom patch bank on sale in the description, called “1 Key Universe”! Check out the link :)
at the very start when you just get into the analog drift, why does the prologue sound phasey? i'm not that into the Korg sound overall, but been curious about that one. both filters sound quite nice actually. cool video, "scientific" or not :)
Late reply, sorry for missing this! The 'phasing' sound you are hearing is the analog oscillators drifting in and out of tune slightly. It creates this wonderful warm full sound, which is one of the reasons people love analog gear!
@@MilesAwayOfficial all good! yeah i figured that's what it might be, but it just sounded more extreme over youtube i guess.
@@AByallo it’s honestly pretty extreme on the Korg, the tuning is pretty wonky LOL which is why it sounds so “vintage”! I love it personally. Tons more synth content coming !
@@MilesAwayOfficial fair nuff :)
Summit for trance?
100%! One of the most comprehensive supersaw engines, so good for trance
Thanks for the video man.
Do you think that its worth to pay $700 more for the Summit?
So Korg solved the issues of the prologue or ur facing so problems?
Many thanks
Thanks for watching! Depends on what you want - Prologue is hard to make sound bad, but isn't as deep, and isn't great for bass. Summit is the deepest synth you could ever want but you have to work harder to make it sing really beautifully. Both great! If I could only keep one I'd pick Summit.
@@MilesAwayOfficial thanks man
What's the difference between the ultranova and summit
Ultra Nova is all digital, Summit is digital oscillators envelopes and lfos but analog filters, VCAs and distortions/drives
So in other words you're going to get a higher quality sound from the summit while still keeping the flexibility of digital
@@MilesAwayOfficial thanks
Summit - How are favorite presets selected when there are no programmable buttons?
Hello, Miles ! What a true method settings a sustain pedal on summit like on piano. Mod matrix don't have sustain, only release?!
It's strange to see these compared, since that kinda implies they're comparable. But the Summit outclasses Korg's synth in almost every way. That isn't to say the Prologue is bad, because it's not. It's a fantastic instrument and it has a reasonable price. But Novation easily could have charged quite a bit more for its products due to the amount of value and quality built in. It should be in a higher price bracket than the Prologue.
Hmm, looking at current prices now, it seems the Prologue has dropped quite a bit since release, after Korg realized it wasn't competitive at its original price... And the Summit has gone up a bit. So now they actually are in different price brackets.
@@ToyKeeper Thanks for watching! I disagree personally that the Summit is objectively better. If we are talking number of LFOs and modulation destinations, sure, but that's not everything there is to a synth. Does that mean the Summit is objectively better than an OB-6 or a Juno? I don't know!
For me the Prologue is one of the most characterful synths available today, up there with the OB-6 and Matriarch :)
They're both great instruments. I'm not surprised about the price difference though.
The Summit and Peak are sort of chameleons. If the user wants it to sound like a different synth, there's usually an option to adjust to make it sound that way. The Prologue is more of a regular synth though, with its own distinct character shining through in a consistent way. It mostly doesn't have the ability to sound like other devices.
However, like most modern analog-style subtractive synths, they have more in common than not. There's a huge amount of overlap in their sonic palettes, with most common sounds being possible on both. So there's not much point paying extra for the fancier device unless the non-overlapping features are needed.
The single most important aspect of these things isn't about the technical capabilities. It is, first and foremost, an instrument. So the value depends mostly on how well it enables the player to play... which depends on who is playing it.
But we barely touched the surface on the 3rd digital oscillator on the Prologue. There is a lot of timbral variety there to be sure!
I own a Prologue and was looking to switch to the Summit. I love how Prologue sounds but limited modulation options and menu diving (and menu structure is weird!) when it comes to multi-engine are not ideal... Summit seams like a more hands-on synth with more controls on the front panel. Great video, man. Exactly what I needed. First notes you played on the Summit scared me, it sounded so digital and lifeless but after you tweaked that drift setting it got much better. Would you say that you're able to make the Summit sound analog? Also how do you find menu diving on the Summit?
Thanks for watching! It's a great synth. I definitely prefer the workflow from the Summit to the Prologue. You can definitely get the summit really close cause of its excellent filters and distortion, and in a mix no one will tell the difference. If you forced me to pick I'd go summit
Will be cool to see compare a Vermona Perfourmer with summit!
I'd love one of those! On my wishlist for synths.
The more the channel can grow the more likely I will be to get stuff sent to review from companies like that!
@@MilesAwayOfficial We will support channel!
Hi, realy nice review, what is the distortion effect you use for the prologue please?
Dirtbox synth distortion. Thanks for watching!
Korg is the unseen dark lord sounds even darker than prophet6. Summit is simply a modulation beast . But nowhere near korg's own powerful character.
The Summit's bass is closer to a DX7 than it is too a Moog.
I can't understand (about the prologue.... ) There's no after touch ! ... Why?
Defs a shame! but you know what I feel i dont miss it that much, the oscs have so much character!
What's the song on the outro? Sounds great!
Just me improvising! Thanks!
The Prologue has an impressive basic sound, but its filter modes and mod capabilities are pathetic.
Summit for me.
Next up " Waldorf Quantum vs Korg Volca Keys" lmao
hahaha would be pretty unfair ;) thanks for watching, more soon!
@@MilesAwayOfficial Thankyou for posting. Currently I'm fighting with either the Prophet Rev2 or the summit
@@electricharmonyac7354 Got Rev2 the biggest complaint is its not bassy like OB-6 but its easy to achieve in DAW with some VST post process. It can do so many sounds get 16 Voices if you can afford. Stacking on Stacking creates mammoth sounds.
@@passivehouseaustralia4406 Thankyou for the tips. I love the character of it . i had been on the fence between the Rev2 and the summit, the trouble is though Novation just doesn't have enough character. I can hear the bottom fall out on the Rev2 but if it's too bothersome i could back it up with my MODX8.
Thanks again for your advice
@@electricharmonyac7354 which did you end up getting?
@17:26 😍😍😍😍😍😍 (i plan to get a summit)
Great call! When you do, consider picking up my Custom Summit Patches
@@MilesAwayOfficialabsolutely bro! 😎
Prologue sounds liek real Analog, Summit sounds more Digital. Great comparison!
Thanks for watching!
Analog is a myth : check this video from Andrew Scheps : th-cam.com/video/_M5aEC3-ACQ/w-d-xo.html
I could swear that in a previous video, you admitted, in the comments, to have sold your Summit, which you found to be lackluster. I suppose, however, I could be either confusing the Summit with a different poly synth, or confusing YOU with a different TH-camr.
It probably was me I've debated selling it a lot as I don't love the base tone, but it's just so damn versatile and useful to have in the studio I can't bring myself too. No other synth can just so easily make itself sound like pretty much any other synth patch in existence.
@@MilesAwayOfficial I thought the Prologue easily bested the Summit and in my opinion, MOST DSI and Sequential synth sounds (w/ the exception of the Pro 2/3 and I own the ‘3,’ Prophet 6/12, OB-6, Trigon-6), until seeing THIS video! You’ve done a great job comparing and contrasting these two synths! I am a Prologue 16 owner, but I often find myself looking for deals on Summits! It seems simple enough to find good, juicy tones on! My dream setup with the first 3 already in my possession: Pro 3, UDO Super 6, Prologue 16, Trigon-6, Subsequent 37, Moog One, Matriarch, Granny, Subharm, Mother-32, DFAM, MS-20 FS, Prophet 12, OB-6, OB-X8, Nord A1R, Malekko Manther, Twisted Electrons MegaFM, FutureRetro 777 module, Analogue Solutions Impulse Command, Waldorf Quantum (OWNED IT after a GREAT deal, but had to sell due to finances), Maybe a Behringer or Korg PolySix, other Behringer crap (reluctantly), BOFE Moogerfoogers and… I HOPE that’s it… LOL
Love your channel! Look forward to more content! And maybe to achieve YOUR goals you need to produce content on a strict and frequent schedule, but I, myself, am patient enough to wait a week, several weeks, or even a month or so at a time based on the quality of your content! Happy holidays and enjoy your wonderful collection! Vibe out and treat yo’self to an extended, quality, sonic holiday without thinking too hard about what to upload next! That will come naturally with your quality time! Peace! 😎✌️🤘
I had the Minilogue XD, same engine as the Prologue. I found it to be a little too sterile for my tastes. I think the Summit/Peak have a lot more going on.
Believe me they aren't the same thing. That's like comparing the Summit to the Peak. They definitely aren't the same thing either even though likewise they share the same engine.
I bought the minilogue xd after trying the prologue in the store. It was a massive disappointment. The prologue has a lot of character like the og minilogue which I sold to get the minilogue xd. The xd was way too plain and sterile for me. The og minilogue was kinda harsh and bright but had tons of character. The prologue was warmer and darker but also had tons of character. The xd was a cools synth but it was pretty vanilla.
@@BigBadWolf.............. you did the right thing by trying them in the store. I tried the XD in the store alongside a Prologue and decided I'll leave the XD alone as it wasn't really what I was looking for to add to my studio. What would have really made the Prologue complete for me more than aftertouch is a sequencer, or so I thought. I now use an Akai MPC to sequence the Prologue and my Sub37 and I no longer use the on board sequencer on the Sub37. I have aftertouch on the Sub37 and on a 1979 vintage synth but I rarely use it so it's not really a biggie for me although it is a nice option to have sometimes. Due to the pandemic I've not had the opportunity to play the Summit in the store yet but from what I've seen so far it's definitely one to try
@@RoomAtTheTopStudio when I tried the prologue the XB wasn't out yet. I'm thinking of buying the prologue and pairing it with and MPC one
@@BigBadWolf.............. that will work and it's a great combination. The beauty with the Prologue and the MPC together is that the Prologue is bi-timbral so as long as you can play two handed you can play two parts simultaneously into the MPC and then tweak each part individually via the Prologue after it's played in. I've used a MPC500 to sequence the Prologue so the One should be ideal.