ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- Last weekend I managed to replace every single encoder on my Poly Evolver. It has now evolved. It uses 24-detented encoders, which work much better than the originals. After 3 months of ownership my encoders that I applied deoxit to, needed it again. I wasn’t going to keep going with that so I bought the encoders and replaced them all.
Day 1: This took me 7 hours to complete. Not only did I take forever, I managed to ruin two pads in the process and panicked about it. I managed to repair the leads, thankfully, but it was a terrible experience, most of which happened within the first hour of work. I knew I still needed to do the rest of that board and the other two boards. This board was the right most board. It was also the hardest because of the 16 step sequencer section which had LEDs right next to the encoders.
Day 2: This took me 3 hours to complete. There were no issues.
Day 3: This took me 1.5 hours to complete. This was the left-most board. The problem with this board was that once I reinstalled it - a few of the encoders didn’t work. I panicked and took the board out and found all of the traces to be intact. I plugged it in again and they still didn’t work. It turns out these were the encoders that only worked when oscillators 3 and 4 were pressed. So obviously they didn’t work.
Was it worth the effort? I don’t know. I still feel like I have too many synths and this is just another one. It sounds really good, it does - but when you have so many, and have so many that sound so good, it is hard to justify everything I do have. It sounds so close to the Matrix 1000 - but yet, I find myself still believing that is one of my favorite sounding synths :/ And the lack of 6 voices makes the PE just a little underwhelming in that sense. But either way, I hope you enjoy my first noodling with it after the evolution.
#DSI #PolyEvolver #davesmithinstruments
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what an endeavor
Indeed it was -_-
Wow! What a journey. Thanks for sharing it. Sounds blissful. ❤❤
Thanks Jon :)
Brilliant. The 4 voice limit always puts it in the no column for me. And then I regret each time I see one sell. Rich voices and even metallic without being shrill or harsh. You made it sing.
I agree. 4 voices is no where near enough. Everybody who has one should sell them. One of them to me, at a discounted price.
@@swanofnutella4734 Hah!
Yeah, it sounds amazing, but the 4 voices does suck for me. It's different on the Matriarch, which is geared as a mono synth. The paraphonic mode is absolutely amazing.
@@MIDERA Kfabe aside, the 4 voices really wouldn't bother me. Multitracking. Never live.
thank you for the gentle and soothing sounds for my morning wake up
Thanks!
Shimmering knob caps ❤
Yes :)
Hi MIDERA , As usual, a little gem that is your musical production, and which would find its place in a film soundtrack. :)
Thanks! I am still bummed about the one time I almost got to do the music score for a film. I was... so close, but then my friend and her husband went with another person and it was just a huge blow. I'll probably think about that long into my twilight years...
Beautiful sounding (and looking) synth, wish I had one! I have the Prophet 12 at least which I think is amazing, though I'm not sure if it's capable of the same sounds.
Thanks State Azure. I have heard your Prophet 12 demos and it does sound great. I too have the Prophet 12 and would say that the Poly Evolver sounds worlds better - but if you go backwards from the P12 to the PEK, you'd find it frustrating to deal with the UI, which is way worse on the PEK. There's just something wrong with how the P12 was made - the oscillators drop off around 12 khz and it makes it sound harsh to me (like the mid range frequencies are just too high and it lacks a 'fizzle' that I really enjoy on the PEK). What's interesting is that you CAN bring those back - and I did it with a preset that I now use for my INIT patch, and I think that helps, but it also requires using both A and B parts to make it sound better, reducing the voice count to 6, which is fine. To me that's the magic number of notes. More than that and the sound becomes muddy, fewer than that and I can't play complex chords.
What I can't seem to do is a simple LFO pitch shift on the P12 to sound as nice as on the PEK - I don't know what the difference is.
Anyway - they're both great, but if you got a PEK - I'd for sure go for the PE so you don't have to deal with what I did (replacing all of the encoders).
Cheers
@@MIDERA Thanks! That's an interesting perspective. I love my P12, and I don't think I'll ever let it go, it's one of those synths that is just too unique, with it's own character. I don't really experience the issue with the mid range though, that's interesting..but I don't think it's too difficult to fix in the sound design or in post, which I tend to do a lot anyway. The PEK on the other hand definitely has that fizzle you mention that I really like, isn't that the aliasing? (maybe something they 'cured' in the P12 and perhaps overdid it). Anyway, considering the prices I'll probably never own one unfortunately. Fingers crossed they decide to release a new version in the future eventually, with improved UI, more voices etc, a full spiritual successor.
@@stateazure A spiritual successor to the PEK would be a dream come true. Maybe the price inflation will convince Sequential that there is a market for new Evolvers. Though, if they ever did, I hope they'd make them polychain compatible with the original. Enjoying your latest live stream now. Cheers.
@@stateazure I have always felt something off about the Prophet 12 (and saying so to a group on Gearspace didn't end well for me). I do still think it's a great synth in a lot of ways, but there's just something so stiff about it. I actually bought the P12 in the last few years for about the same price as the PE. They definitely do different things better - and sadly, that's why I have too many synths. They all do different things better -_-
A new version with improved UI would be great - but I could easily see Sequential making it sound not as good, although they did the Prophet 5/10 right, so there's a chance. I just didn't like the REV2, but feel the Prophet 08 probably sounds more like the PE. The refinement usually doesn't capture the spirit.
@@MIDERA All my teasing aside, I think you should keep your PEK. Not only is it gorgeous, but it's gorgeous in YOUR hands specifically. I've come back to this video several times, not just for the banter here, but merely to listen. This extemporaneous noodling alone is fantastic. Embrace the limitations. Limitations create the best art.
Lovely!
Thanks!
I think you have accomplished well more than most would even consider attempting with the encoders. Kudos! I would highly recommend going even further by shopping for a couple desktop units for those two extra voices. Sure, it'll take up four extra slots on the mixer/interface, but if you really want to see what it's capable of with that level of polyphony, give it a shot! Resale value on these is not going to be in decline anytime soon and I for one would love to hear what you would come up with.
This is a fantastic demo BTW. 👏
Thanks Tristan - I actually do have a desktop unit. What's really dumb is that you can't have them go through the PEK inputs (unlike the PER). As a character in Oblivion says "What rot."
Also - there is a bug in the evolver desktop OS that makes it so oscillator 4 can't NOT track with pitch, even if you set it that way. It's really frustrating.
That said - I have one, and could consider getting a second, but it's kind of annoying to have multiple units for one purpose. I like the idea of just the 4 voices for now. If I can find another desktop at a reasonable price, I might grab it.
@@MIDERA I hear that Oblivion line from my older brother every time I enter the room 😆. That's news to me about OSC 4. Maybe a slightly older OS (DSP?) would still work with the chain and fix that issue? I've never had an problem with Sequential not getting back to me to answer questions like that.
But, yeah, four voices is still a lot to work with considering the Evolver architecture and workflow. For whatever reason, polyphony seems to be a deal breaker for most even though they've never played one. Sometimes I wonder how sought after (expensive) the PEK would really be if it wasn't actually possible to sustain 8-20 voice polyphony.
@@tristancaver4836 I actually spent about 6 months back and forth with Sequential about the OS. They did confirm that there was a newer OS that could possibly work, but it would need to be properly converted (they wouldn't do it for me) and they said there may have been a reason it was never released, so they said use it with caution. Needless to say - I decided against installing it.
Considering the prices the Racks go for - I can see an 8 voice going for quite a bit of money. That said - it DOES already go for a lot of money. Usually $3K-$4K. I got mine for $2500, but... now I've put an awful lot of money and effort into it. -_-
That rumble at 2:25 .. wow
😆
THANKS 🙂
Thank you :)
Wow that first rezzy brass patch sounds amazing. Not at all like the newer generation of Dave’s stuff.
Thanks - yeah, it's a great synth and just has this... looseness about it, that I feel is lacking in the later stuff from DSI/Sequential. I don't know how to put my finger on exactly what is missing or what is present here. But it is a step up from the later synths. I'd say it's even more interesting than the Prophet 5/10, but when the digital oscillators are present the aliasing is very bad.
Lovely jam! I got the boards replaced with all new encoders through DSI. However, my mod wheel isn’t working, which is critically important on these things. I’ve tried the calibration procedure and tested the pot, which appears to be working. I’ll have to dig deeper.
Wait... DSI replaced ALL of your encoders? Are they clicky like mine or are they the old version (you can pull a knob off and see whether the shaft is grey (old) or black (new))?
That is odd about the mod wheel... I guess the obvious question is - is it actually attached to a modulation? Maybe it got turned off?
Very BOC
Thanks :)
Meh. These don't sound that great. You should sell it to me. For well under market value.
Sounds good - just send me your social security number, your home address, your email address, your phone number, and your mothers maiden name and I will send the PEK as soon as possible!
@@MIDERA ;)