This is the best demo of a synth I’ve seen in quite some time. It doesn’t hurt that it’s a demo of the Modal 008. I have been messing with synths since 1983. This sounds better than any synth I’ve heard. It sounds like a living organism. Ive never thought any synth was worth what people pay for a voyager but now I see a synth that’s worth that kind of money. The 008 is fantastic
2 Weeks into owning my 008 and could not be happier. By a long shot the most inspiring, lush, and rich instrument I have ever owned or even heard. The old adage 'you get what you pay for' holds true for this beauty.
I'm so very glad to finally see and hear an independent use and demo of the Modal 008! I expect mine to arrive this week and I've been very disappointed there's not more outside coverage of the Modal synths! A consumer needs outside impressions to aid in making good buying choices, especially when spending this much money! I hope to see more!
Modal Electronics just informed me, that the Arpeggiator-mode i wanted and called "up" is Fwd2 - notes always playing in order from low to high... need to check that soon... one minor "con" less for that beast...
Wow, wenn man weis, wer du bist, und wie viele Menschen du in deinem Leben schon begeistert hast, kann man nur den Hut ziehen. Meine Hochachtung für dein musikalischen Wirken. (ach ja, 1994 Mayday Dortmund. Da hast du auf der Bühne gestanden und ich im Publikum und sicherlich hat auch deine Musik Einfluss auf meine musikalische Entwicklung gehabt. Danke dafür.)
Best Demo I have seen on this unit. I'm still undecided between this and the 002. I have production room in studio with many many analog and digital synths for producers to come in and use on their sessions. Undecided on the 002 Digital sound or Saturated 008 Beast sound. But a real great job on demo of this synth!!!!
Wow - not sure how this came onto my timeline, but it did! I have the 008 and 002 (both with FX cards). Have had a long break from music of late, but this are the videos that I am sure will get me back into music again. / A bit disappointed that Modal have long dropped support for these (and I was in it from the very beginning ). But I think this will live on and be a classic.
I want one...or any decent synthesizer for that matter. I could play around with this kind of stuff all night. Right now I have a cheap one I pulled out that is like 30 years old but this kind of synthesizer can do so much more. This sounds like it would be perfect for soundtracks to videos.
All sounds with the Drive being active. This is why we don't hear the lighter tones in this testing. This is just a little reminder, that this synth may sound a bit different when needed.
I am not sure that is the case. I definitely recorded sounds without drive too. But maybe i have only chosen "driven" sounds by taste while editing... i guess you could have a very clean but soft sound when you pull down the VCO levels to 150 and without filter drive...
Well the PWM brass sound after 1:07 has no filter drive... but i get what you say... it just means, that i LIKE that drive more being switched on that being off, that´s why i skipped or edited out all the other presets/sound creations :)
The 008 clips if you set the osc volume too high. I was told to keep them to 200 for normal use, beyond that you can get saturation and at about 255 it will clip. Some moan and say it should never clip, but sometimes that can be used creatively.
I've spent some time with a Rhodes/ARP Chroma, and this thing sounds strikingly similar. It's not a preset synth, and needs to be tweaked and explored to get the most out of its power. I have discovered using the Vco 2 mod, and hp3 filter creates these huge 3D Stereo glorious pads and strings...its a monster synthesizer and one of the best currently available
I am not sure I have ever heard anything this beastly. To those comments claiming it sounds boring.....what kind of jaded synth planet do you come from? I own a prophet, prologue, Jdxa, Waldorf pulse 2 and none of them have wide and thick sound like this. The filters are so very musical. Five grand? Considering what synths cost when I first dove in? This is just about right. I know of no synth with sound like this and I’ve been synthing since1985
The only machine I see matching this sound is the UDO Super Six, this things sounds amazing, superb for films and studio session work/sound design, thumbs up to Modal !
Great synth, I've had mine from the beginning. The default sound is quite driven and agressive and I don't think everyone liked that. It's capable of much softer sounds (it can be very Jupiter 8-ish) but you don't hear that in demos much.
This is just an incredible sounding machine, it really is. I've been around synthesizers since the 80's, and owned more than I can count., this has it's own unique, true analog sound and character, like nothing before, and arguably more than anything available today.
James Reeno Yeah, it's a fair chunk of cash, but IMO that just shows you get what you pay for I've been desperately trying to convince myself that the DSI OB-6 and Prophet 6 sound just as good as the SE Code/Omega, but to no avail. This Modal is close though, and also costs plenty. I don't think that's coincidence. Also, I don't know what string instrument costs are like where you live, but here in the U.K. it would cost more than this to buy even an 'acceptable' 'Cello. Synths are cheap really.
Excactly! Quality Instruments are not always cheap. The Code/Omega would also be a great choice for an analog poly, but these are sooo ugly and large (for not including a keyboard) :D
i own a moog subsequent, a prologue 16 and a hydra synth. i am considering selling two of them to afford the Modal 008. am I crazy? i swear this thing sounds so alive its mind blowing. just a raw sexy beast. thanks for this great Demo! you really showed off the strengths of this synth. i dont know anything that sounds this Alive. the hydra synth maybe. but lordy it sounds like it could melt frozen butter.
Wow, really nice demonstration. I had become bored with traditional analog synthesis about 20 years ago, and felt I had exhausted all the sonic possibilities of this format at that time. I was hoping the digital control aspect of the Modal would add new opportunities for creativity. I'm not really hearing anything new here, although the quality of the sound is absolutely amazing! Unfortunately, I can't get very excited about this instrument. It just feels like I've "been there and done that" too many times already. I'll bet the Modal 008 sounds incredible in person though, considering how great it sounds in your video. If I were itching to buy a brand new analog polysynth, I think a person couldn't go wrong with a Modal.
Well if you owned und used real Jupiters, Matrixes, Polymoogs and the like decades ago... i didn't and enjoy the analog sounds of the 70s right now :) oh, and combining them with modern drums, virtual orchestra and a lot of eurorack...
Rolf Maier Bode Rolf, I was able to buy a used Realistic Moog and a used Prophet 600 for very little money in the early 90's before the retro analog craze took hold.
Cool synth, but I'm on a make noise 0 coast and minibrute for my synths. I'm no pro, but for about 900-1,000 (the 0 coast is 499 new, and I paid 450 for the minibrute when I bought it) these 2 synths are more than enough exploratory power with my mini kaoss pad2. Deepmind is up there in spite of being made by behringer so don't be so quick to dismiss it. This modal 008 is insane! No shortage of mind blowing capabilites, I'd say it may do 5,000 worth of stuff compared to a 5,000 modular, and patch memory! Better chance of winning the lottery than re-creating a patch on a large modular system.
the 0 coast and minibrute are both extremely worth their price - and i just recommended the latter to a friend... and consider the 0 coast for my rack... i just need to get more space...
great demo ;), thanks for doing it. ive read several reports from friends who own one that there was a problem with suboscillator bleeding into the signal even when set to zero. meaning all sounds have octave component at all times. was this remedied? have you noticed this? its hard to tell, as most sounds you used here sound like they have things set in two octaves. as do all 008 demos ive heard so far. intrigued..
Deep mind is more limited, but a lot cheaper of course. Sometimes we spend too long looking for a new synth instead of listening to the ones we do have. I was about to sell a Prophet 08 and played with it to test it was okay before ebaying, ended up enjoying myself and kept it. Bear in mind that many 008 demos are recorded dry since as standard there's no FX. So Deepmind will need to be auditioned dry too if you want to compare the raw sound. Try and audition both in person if you can.
I played the 008 for 2 hours, after that every new synth I play sounds like a toy! Maybe Im exaggerating a little but my point is that the difference is huge...
the same for me with my sh201! ...I was cleaning it for selling, but playing it for the last time make me realize that is a (limited, i know, nothing compared to P08) but very nice sounding synth... Kept it.
Sucks. I was really thinking about getting this synth until I read the reviews about factory defects, bugs, and extremely poor customer service. Maybe that's to be expected for a small UK start-up, but I agree with comments indicating that if you spend 5K USD for an instrument, you should be entitled to some sort of guarantee, in addition to quality customer service. I guess I'll have to go with an OB6. That OB sound on Exit Stage Left's Xanadu is something to behold...
Not sure where you're getting your bad intel from (gearslutz likely). Modals customer service is top notch and the latest 008 / 002 beta are huge improvements. I own both the 008 and 002 and they are worth every penny ;)
All incorrect. My customer service was excellent. OS updates regularly. Yes there are some bugs, but that's to be expected with a machine this complicated...its a future investment. I recently got the Digital I/O card and it does complete the synth nicely
@@1vootman I've heard from a couple of owners of the 008 that the digital i/o card resolves the hard panning issue, whereas the sound output signal is panned either all the way to the left or to the right. Does the digital i/o card resolves the hard panning issue? If yes, could you please elaborate. Thanks
Do you know if the 008's effects on the digital i/o card are equivalent in quality and variety to any of the top of the line standalone multi-effects units currently on the market? I'm thinking about either buying the digital i/o card for my 008 and use it as my main multi-effects unit, or buying a standalone multi-effects unit. Thanks
@Rolf es ist wieder sehr ruhig um dich!? Kein neues Lied, kein Teaser auf was neues keine Ankündigungen? Kommt nichts mehr? Würde mich mega freuen mal wieder was neues zu hören oder gar mal ein schönes Musikvideo zu sehen! Evtl mal Forest verfilmen?? Steht evtl nach dem Mayday "Erfolg" ein liveauftritt an? Ich sowie bestimmt viele andere Fans würden uns sehr über die Beantwortung dieser fragen freuen! Vielen Dank schon mal Rolf! Gruss Richard
Hi Richi, wenn es news gibt sind die zuerst auf meiner page zu sehen/lesen/hören. Ich meine dort auch schon geschrieben zu haben, dass es vorerst keine Auftritte mehr geben wird. Aber über diesen Winter gibt es ganz sicher wieder etwas "freies" von mir zu hören... vielleicht auch zu sehen... Grüße
I miss my 008! I sold it to help finance a Moog One..,...which I ended sending back due to the fan noise and bugs- D’oh!!! At least I have a Baloran The River coming in this week as a con collation prize. :)
Ok, i never heared of that Synth. The design looks quite inspired by the oberheim xpander/matrix12. the numberfield for the patches, the analog multimodefilter and so on, they spend thougts how to design a good polysynth. what makes the price that skyhigh? Is it non-SMD-analog?
i didn't open it, but i thought they said it being "discrete analog" in an interview. But i can't care less. It sounds massive like a modular, a lot better to my ears than the other modern offerings in analog synths...
Thanks for the great 008 demo! I'm hoping that by this time next year I have both an 002 and an 008. Are you using external FX, or the FX board on this video demo? Thanks! :)
Klingt herrlich, aber der Preis wert? Ich hab's einmal auf der Musikmesse gespielt, und ich war nicht total begeistert. Aber fair zu sein würde ich es mehr ausprobieren müssen.
Für jemanden der hauptberuflich damit arbeitet relativiert sich solch ein Preis sehr schnell. Ich fand ihn besser klingend als den halb so teuren OB6... es ist aber immer wieder erstaunlich wie wenig akzeptiert hohe Preise bei elektronischen im Vergleich zu akustischen Instrumenten sind... letztendlich ist es ein Werkzeug... letztens durfte ich jedoch erfahren was die Schere meiner Friseurin kostet: Dafür bekommt man im Baumarkt einhundert Scheren!! ;)
Great demo! Could it be that the saturation you're talking about has something to do with the level of the vco's going into the filter? What happens if you "tame" the oscillators down?
very easy to solve: buy your own 008, program sounds you personally like, film yourself playing, upload. then it might be absolutely to YOUR taste. as i wrote: it is a very PERSONAL "demo" using sound I personally like... which tend to be quite driven... horses for courses or so...?
Und , wie sieht es nach über 2 Jahren nach dem posting aus ? Ist der 008 ne sehr gute Wahl oder haben sich über die Zeit „ Mankos „ offenbart ? Oder ist vielleicht ein Alesis Andromeda der Bessere? Wenn ich den Samstag morgen mit dem Oberheim Xpander Kaffee ☕️ getrunken habe , verliere ich mich rasch in Soundsphären und Endlosschleifen die düsterer werden , da je weiter man vom Pfad abkommt . Wäre das beim 008 auch ?!
Mich inspiriert der 008 immer wieder aufs Neue... Inzwischen hat er auch ein gutes Dutzend Effektgeräte "nur für sich" bekommen und formt nun eine "analog poly wall"
i cant believe some of those comments here,if its sounds like a vst for some then,you should buy some ears,best poly around by far,got an adromenda,and this synth kills it,period!!!,great job modal,my next purchase...
im a big fan of the Andro....these VCO's are phatter, i think....many people dont like phattness in polys, i think this level works pretty darn good to my ears!!
would you describe it as harsh with every filter type? As in, is it just over-all a harsher synth? Thats not necessarily a bad thing, per se, harsh sounds can be great. But at $5000, I think many people would be hoping this could be their ONE polysynth, and its hard to justify a harsh synth as your one and only. As part of an arsenal, surely.
No, the 008 is not always harsh, but I a) think saturated sounds are the main strength of the 008 b) personally very much like saturation :) I very often use crossmodulation and higher OSC volumes that lead to (very tasty) saturation. If you want clean, use your computer ;) That said - it is neither an CS80 nor Jupiter 8... it has it's own character - and if you don't like the sounds in this video, I'd say choose another Polysynth (there are also plenty modern ones available now!)
Well, I miss wheels, but you can put any MIDI Controller right beside it... I just put a Touche left to it and am looking forward to trying it with the 008
It saturates>distorts>clips without the filter drive when the VCO levels are "too high" (matter of taste though) So you even can program patches with or without saturation.
Is it nearly universal for analog synths to not clip in the mixer no matter how high the VCO levels are, and how many notes are playing at the same time? Seems like designing synths that never clip could be challenging, so would be a bit surprised if it was impossible on most synths
I don't know about nearly universal but I'd say it's much more common for synths to not clip no matter how high you crank it. Typically clipping is an undesirable element when solely seeking to increase volume, as it does change the quality of the sound noticeably. That's why Drive is a common on-board effect in analog synths, people like clipping, they just want to be able to choose when it happens and how much. In my humble opinion having a synth that clips based on volume would be extremely irritating, as certain patches will undoubtedly have artifacts that reach higher volumes than others, causing clipping in patches that otherwise sound/seem quieter than others. I could especially see this occurring with pads. Just my 2 cents.
I’ve got both the 008 and the 002 and very happy with my purchase got them both fitted with the usb fx cards and running them direct into ableton and cubase no other cables required just the usb lead any one wants to buy an 008 let me know lol
Beautiful synthesizer to look at, sounds great and convincing but I haven't heard anything "new" in the presets so far. For me it lacks something which I value above all in a synthesizer, which is character (and not many synths do have outstanding character).
agerven Interesting POV. I respectfully disagree. I find the filter on this synth to be full of character, the oscillators are deep and raw with plenty of sizzle, the overall sound is very warm. I would buy this filter with an envelope follower in a standalone box in a heartbeat. I think it's very overpriced and I wish it had a ribbon (every polysynth should!) and for the price a few more voices and pitch/mod wheels, but I get they're a small company making these in small batches so manufacturing costs are probably high. But I love the sound of this synth.
Maybe you're right and I just haven't heard sufficient alternative demos of this synth. I do know some of Paul Maddox's history, such as the monowave and know he is very capable and has a goal for high standard and quality. I'm not saying this is not a great synth and worth of every penny. It is just that this particular video does not reveal to me that little sonic extra that you might expect in this price range (where every synth is top quality). I'm wishing everyone who ownes or desires a Modal a lot of fun with it and have no objection at all to it becoming a classic.
Thank you Mark. I'll be checking out further demos and the Modal website frequently for certain. Unfortunately this is not an instrument that will be available in any shop in my country, unless by special order.
Philippe Panzini lol.... dude you are actually right. there's a lot of similarities to pretty much all of the patches. even my ms2000r has more variety IMO. but, it looks pretty damned nice though!
I agree that they sound similar. To my ears, both sound (I am gonna say it) digital and too clean and bright. Great if you want to make trance or VNV nation kind of Virus-sounding music, but this is clearly not for me. I even think the DSI P6 sound too stable and bright but this one takes the cake by far in comparison. I like Modals new stuff though. Their wavetable synth Argon8 sounds more analogue than this one does, which is quite ironic.
This is the best demo of a synth I’ve seen in quite some time. It doesn’t hurt that it’s a demo of the Modal 008.
I have been messing with synths since 1983. This sounds better than any synth I’ve heard. It sounds like a living organism.
Ive never thought any synth was worth what people pay for a voyager but now I see a synth that’s worth that kind of money. The 008 is fantastic
2 Weeks into owning my 008 and could not be happier. By a long shot the most inspiring, lush, and rich instrument I have ever owned or even heard. The old adage 'you get what you pay for' holds true for this beauty.
So Jealous! Enjoy it buddy
Cool... just tell Modal that my video made you buy it and they should send me a 002 :)
OK, at least an FX-card for that 008...
Haha. I'll certainly mention that in my next email to Modal :)
@sbmphr. No video. But I do have a demo of 18 patches on my SoundCloud page: soundcloud.com/ksq/modal-008-patches-by-ksq
@KSQ I'm envious. Hope you still are enjoying it. I would love to hear some of your results with it
I'm so very glad to finally see and hear an independent use and demo of the Modal 008! I expect mine to arrive this week and I've been very disappointed there's not more outside coverage of the Modal synths! A consumer needs outside impressions to aid in making good buying choices, especially when spending this much money! I hope to see more!
Amazona.de?
Proof there is life after 1988 for these big polysynths
Bob I. Gomez $$$$
Im just hearing about this synth. Wow! Sounds wonderful
Modal Electronics just informed me, that the Arpeggiator-mode i wanted and called "up" is Fwd2 - notes always playing in order from low to high... need to check that soon... one minor "con" less for that beast...
This is the FIRST demo of this synth i liked. FINALLY!
Station 2Station too much overdrive.
Agreed in some parts it certainly sounds a bit boosted or pushed. Could be the guys levels on his mixer.
no, the guy´s mixer is fine... it´s the guy´s taste that leads to that saturated sound :)
I still think it's an excellent demonstration of a great sounding synth.
I just love those thick overdrived sounds =)
2:43 this is the patch that sold me, Absolutely amazing sounding synthesizer and all the parameters make it even more fun
Nice playing by the way :)
Beautiful synth in sound and aesthetics...
Great demo! A unique sound to it, I have the Modal 002 !, just waiting for this to pop up on reverb, so I can have both!
It’s like it’s barking back at you. So aggressive, blew me away. I’ve never heard a synth like this. SO powerful.
It’s crazy how little known this synth is. It sounds really good but the price is outrageous
i guess it is kinda off topic but do anyone know a good website to stream newly released tv shows online ?
@Nicholas Arthur i would suggest flixzone. You can find it by googling :)
@Waylon Peyton Definitely, been watching on Flixzone for since march myself :D
@Waylon Peyton Thank you, I went there and it seems to work :) I appreciate it !
@Nicholas Arthur Glad I could help :)
This beast roars and the naysayers are just envious. I am envious too but not a fool. This is truly magnificent.
Jeff Clapton777 I don’t think it was envy. This demo is awesome, but the Modal demos they put on SoundCloud are dismal.
Jeff Clapton777 nahhh. Other synths have nicer character.
Reminds me of partly Oberheim 8-voice and CS-80
Sounds amazing!!! I have new incentive to get rich
Wow, wenn man weis, wer du bist, und wie viele Menschen du in deinem Leben schon begeistert hast, kann man nur den Hut ziehen. Meine Hochachtung für dein musikalischen Wirken. (ach ja, 1994 Mayday Dortmund. Da hast du auf der Bühne gestanden und ich im Publikum und sicherlich hat auch deine Musik Einfluss auf meine musikalische Entwicklung gehabt. Danke dafür.)
Gern geschehen, hat Spaß gemacht :)
Best Demo I have seen on this unit. I'm still undecided between this and the 002. I have production room in studio with many many analog and digital synths for producers to come in and use on their sessions. Undecided on the 002 Digital sound or Saturated 008 Beast sound. But a real great job on demo of this synth!!!!
Thanks for great demo! This synth is a big yes from me! My next synth... will play and sound very nice alongside my other analog synths :)
This synth is so tripped out! Amazing . . .
Erich B. Tofinis
Wow - not sure how this came onto my timeline, but it did! I have the 008 and 002 (both with FX cards). Have had a long break from music of late, but this are the videos that I am sure will get me back into music again. / A bit disappointed that Modal have long dropped support for these (and I was in it from the very beginning ). But I think this will live on and be a classic.
Love it, really beautiful synth, great demo.
I want one...or any decent synthesizer for that matter. I could play around with this kind of stuff all night. Right now I have a cheap one I pulled out that is like 30 years old but this kind of synthesizer can do so much more. This sounds like it would be perfect for soundtracks to videos.
One word for the sound: GORGEOUS !
All sounds with the Drive being active. This is why we don't hear the lighter tones in this testing. This is just a little reminder, that this synth may sound a bit different when needed.
I am not sure that is the case. I definitely recorded sounds without drive too. But maybe i have only chosen "driven" sounds by taste while editing... i guess you could have a very clean but soft sound when you pull down the VCO levels to 150 and without filter drive...
In all shots where the white status LED of the Drive is visible, it is seen on. And I can hear it.
Well the PWM brass sound after 1:07 has no filter drive... but i get what you say... it just means, that i LIKE that drive more being switched on that being off, that´s why i skipped or edited out all the other presets/sound creations :)
The 008 clips if you set the osc volume too high. I was told to keep them to 200 for normal use, beyond that you can get saturation and at about 255 it will clip. Some moan and say it should never clip, but sometimes that can be used creatively.
Rolf Maier Bode turn off drive and all FX.
It took me years to save up for my prophet 6 that is half the price! That being said, it sound unbelievable!
This sounds like the soundtrack to the end of the world!!
That synth is really amazing. Good quality.
very nice saturation
nym053 too much.
James Reeno - depends what you are into I guess ;)
I've spent some time with a Rhodes/ARP Chroma, and this thing sounds strikingly similar. It's not a preset synth, and needs to be tweaked and explored to get the most out of its power. I have discovered using the Vco 2 mod, and hp3 filter creates these huge 3D Stereo glorious pads and strings...its a monster synthesizer and one of the best currently available
I am not sure I have ever heard anything this beastly. To those comments claiming it sounds boring.....what kind of jaded synth planet do you come from?
I own a prophet, prologue, Jdxa, Waldorf pulse 2 and none of them have wide and thick sound like this. The filters are so very musical. Five grand? Considering what synths cost when I first dove in? This is just about right. I know of no synth with sound like this and I’ve been synthing since1985
The only machine I see matching this sound is the UDO Super Six, this things sounds amazing, superb for films and studio session work/sound design, thumbs up to Modal !
It's Sounds So Good I Got One
Great synth, I've had mine from the beginning. The default sound is quite driven and agressive and I don't think everyone liked that. It's capable of much softer sounds (it can be very Jupiter 8-ish) but you don't hear that in demos much.
Absolutely in love! Wow
And great job showing what it/you/we can do
Great sound for a synth
Oh man, sounds amazing.
Sounds amazing!
i want the rack version of this love the sounds
I pretty sure this is the synth you use to communicate to the alien spaceship.
The Arp 2500 beat the 008 to it :P
yes but tha 2500 is dead!
really good sounding synth !
to me this is probably the best modern I heard
massive,alive,organic and smooth !
☺
AXL trip $5,000
This is just an incredible sounding machine, it really is. I've been around synthesizers since the 80's, and owned more than I can count., this has it's own unique, true analog sound and character, like nothing before, and arguably more than anything available today.
Phil Anderson and a $5000 price tag!!!
James Reeno
Yeah, it's a fair chunk of cash, but IMO that just shows you get what you pay for
I've been desperately trying to convince myself that the DSI OB-6 and Prophet 6 sound just as good as the SE Code/Omega, but to no avail. This Modal is close though, and also costs plenty. I don't think that's coincidence.
Also, I don't know what string instrument costs are like where you live, but here in the U.K. it would cost more than this to buy even an 'acceptable' 'Cello. Synths are cheap really.
Excactly! Quality Instruments are not always cheap. The Code/Omega would also be a great choice for an analog poly, but these are sooo ugly and large (for not including a keyboard) :D
Jesus, that sounds amazing!
i own a moog subsequent, a prologue 16 and a hydra synth. i am considering selling two of them to afford the Modal 008.
am I crazy? i swear this thing sounds so alive its mind blowing.
just a raw sexy beast. thanks for this great Demo! you really showed off the strengths of this synth.
i dont know anything that sounds this Alive. the hydra synth maybe. but lordy it sounds like it could melt frozen butter.
No you are not crazy and this demo certainly doesn't help because I'm seriously considering doing something similar to what you just described lol
Dont think the 008 is still in production
Great synth
Wow, really nice demonstration. I had become bored with traditional analog synthesis about 20 years ago, and felt I had exhausted all the sonic possibilities of this format at that time. I was hoping the digital control aspect of the Modal would add new opportunities for creativity. I'm not really hearing anything new here, although the quality of the sound is absolutely amazing! Unfortunately, I can't get very excited about this instrument. It just feels like I've "been there and done that" too many times already. I'll bet the Modal 008 sounds incredible in person though, considering how great it sounds in your video. If I were itching to buy a brand new analog polysynth, I think a person couldn't go wrong with a Modal.
Well if you owned und used real Jupiters, Matrixes, Polymoogs and the like decades ago... i didn't and enjoy the analog sounds of the 70s right now :) oh, and combining them with modern drums, virtual orchestra and a lot of eurorack...
Rolf Maier Bode Rolf, I was able to buy a used Realistic Moog and a used Prophet 600 for very little money in the early 90's before the retro analog craze took hold.
those are sounds, for me the best machine
Why the heck would anyone buy a vintage poly when this exists?
Reginald Bowls Why would someone pick Kate Beckinsale over some 20 year old...
How much is this?
So true! I mean this thing is a true god in the analogue world, but even I would take an OB-Xa, Matrix 12, or Jupiter 8 over this. Stupid reasons lol.
about 5000 $
Well, if you're over 40... (in both cases).
I have a 001, 002 and 008. They are magnificent.
Cool synth, but I'm on a make noise 0 coast and minibrute for my synths. I'm no pro, but for about 900-1,000 (the 0 coast is 499 new, and I paid 450 for the minibrute when I bought it) these 2 synths are more than enough exploratory power with my mini kaoss pad2. Deepmind is up there in spite of being made by behringer so don't be so quick to dismiss it. This modal 008 is insane! No shortage of mind blowing capabilites, I'd say it may do 5,000 worth of stuff compared to a 5,000 modular, and patch memory! Better chance of winning the lottery than re-creating a patch on a large modular system.
the 0 coast and minibrute are both extremely worth their price - and i just recommended the latter to a friend... and consider the 0 coast for my rack... i just need to get more space...
great demo ;), thanks for doing it.
ive read several reports from friends who own one that there was a problem with
suboscillator bleeding into the signal even when set to zero. meaning all sounds
have octave component at all times. was this remedied? have you noticed this?
its hard to tell, as most sounds you used here sound like they have things set in
two octaves. as do all 008 demos ive heard so far. intrigued..
No, I didn't mention that - although there are several bug. But it's nevertheless my most used synth-sound-source for the last year...
Great demo, but I can't decide whether to go for this or the new (Ahem) Behringer Deepmind 12.
Deep mind is more limited, but a lot cheaper of course. Sometimes we spend too long looking for a new synth instead of listening to the ones we do have. I was about to sell a Prophet 08 and played with it to test it was okay before ebaying, ended up enjoying myself and kept it.
Bear in mind that many 008 demos are recorded dry since as standard there's no FX. So Deepmind will need to be auditioned dry too if you want to compare the raw sound. Try and audition both in person if you can.
I played the 008 for 2 hours, after that every new synth I play sounds like a toy! Maybe Im exaggerating a little but my point is that the difference is huge...
the same for me with my sh201! ...I was cleaning it for selling, but playing it for the last time make me realize that is a (limited, i know, nothing compared to P08) but very nice sounding synth... Kept it.
Gus $$$$$
roland system 8
Sucks. I was really thinking about getting this synth until I read the reviews about factory defects, bugs, and extremely poor customer service. Maybe that's to be expected for a small UK start-up, but I agree with comments indicating that if you spend 5K USD for an instrument, you should be entitled to some sort of guarantee, in addition to quality customer service. I guess I'll have to go with an OB6. That OB sound on Exit Stage Left's Xanadu is something to behold...
What poor service? They're really responsive to customers..
Not sure where you're getting your bad intel from (gearslutz likely). Modals customer service is top notch and the latest 008 / 002 beta are huge improvements. I own both the 008 and 002 and they are worth every penny ;)
they're 2 completely different instruments so there's no reason for them to sound alike
All incorrect. My customer service was excellent. OS updates regularly. Yes there are some bugs, but that's to be expected with a machine this complicated...its a future investment. I recently got the Digital I/O card and it does complete the synth nicely
@@1vootman I've heard from a couple of owners of the 008 that the digital i/o card resolves the hard panning issue, whereas the sound output signal is panned either all the way to the left or to the right. Does the digital i/o card resolves the hard panning issue? If yes, could you please elaborate. Thanks
This sounds MASSIVE.
Is the filter frequencies, filter depth, and resonance controllable via MIDI continuous controllers? Could be quite interesting with my EWI. :-)
Yes.
A true Super Beast !!! :-)
Do you know if the 008's effects on the digital i/o card are equivalent in quality and variety to any of the top of the line standalone multi-effects units currently on the market? I'm thinking about either buying the digital i/o card for my 008 and use it as my main multi-effects unit, or buying a standalone multi-effects unit. Thanks
@Rolf es ist wieder sehr ruhig um dich!? Kein neues Lied, kein Teaser auf was neues keine Ankündigungen? Kommt nichts mehr? Würde mich mega freuen mal wieder was neues zu hören oder gar mal ein schönes Musikvideo zu sehen! Evtl mal Forest verfilmen?? Steht evtl nach dem Mayday "Erfolg" ein liveauftritt an? Ich sowie bestimmt viele andere Fans würden uns sehr über die Beantwortung dieser fragen freuen!
Vielen Dank schon mal Rolf!
Gruss Richard
Hi Richi, wenn es news gibt sind die zuerst auf meiner page zu sehen/lesen/hören. Ich meine dort auch schon geschrieben zu haben, dass es vorerst keine Auftritte mehr geben wird. Aber über diesen Winter gibt es ganz sicher wieder etwas "freies" von mir zu hören... vielleicht auch zu sehen... Grüße
I miss my 008! I sold it to help finance a Moog One..,...which I ended sending back due to the fan noise and bugs- D’oh!!! At least I have a Baloran The River coming in this week as a con collation prize. :)
From what I've heard, the River has the best raw sound of the three, Though I think I'd rather have the 008 of the three
Sean Christopher Evoking Emotion with Synthesizers moog One sounds boring.
Superb demo, thank you. Have you ever considered sharing some of your patches? The 008 presets really don't do it justice.
Ok, i never heared of that Synth. The design looks quite inspired by the oberheim xpander/matrix12. the numberfield for the patches, the analog multimodefilter and so on, they spend thougts how to design a good polysynth. what makes the price that skyhigh? Is it non-SMD-analog?
i didn't open it, but i thought they said it being "discrete analog" in an interview. But i can't care less. It sounds massive like a modular, a lot better to my ears than the other modern offerings in analog synths...
Hi there. Can the 008(R) *receive* pAT (key pressure) from an external controller? I've e-mailed Modal about this, no response. Thanks in advance.
Nice Love it
Thanks for the great 008 demo! I'm hoping that by this time next year I have both an 002 and an 008. Are you using external FX, or the FX board on this video demo? Thanks! :)
There is a hint of reverb on it. I guess it was the virtual Lexicon 224 on an UA Apollo DSP that is on most of the time while playing.
Sean Christopher - Music Composer you can buy my 008 with fx card if your uk based
Callum Clarke
Still got it?
AMAZING
Klingt herrlich, aber der Preis wert? Ich hab's einmal auf der Musikmesse gespielt, und ich war nicht total begeistert. Aber fair zu sein würde ich es mehr ausprobieren müssen.
Für jemanden der hauptberuflich damit arbeitet relativiert sich solch ein Preis sehr schnell. Ich fand ihn besser klingend als den halb so teuren OB6... es ist aber immer wieder erstaunlich wie wenig akzeptiert hohe Preise bei elektronischen im Vergleich zu akustischen Instrumenten sind... letztendlich ist es ein Werkzeug... letztens durfte ich jedoch erfahren was die Schere meiner Friseurin kostet: Dafür bekommt man im Baumarkt einhundert Scheren!! ;)
that is a sick synthesiser. did you record the sound of the video via camera or from an interface?
Great demo! Could it be that the saturation you're talking about has something to do with the level of the vco's going into the filter? What happens if you "tame" the oscillators down?
Yes, i think it is possible to have a clean sound... but it didn't feel natural to me... not to my taste... it's a very personal demo...
Rolf Maier Bode too much drive.
very easy to solve: buy your own 008, program sounds you personally like, film yourself playing, upload. then it might be absolutely to YOUR taste.
as i wrote: it is a very PERSONAL "demo" using sound I personally like... which tend to be quite driven... horses for courses or so...?
Und , wie sieht es nach über 2 Jahren nach dem posting aus ?
Ist der 008 ne sehr gute Wahl oder haben sich über die Zeit „ Mankos „ offenbart ?
Oder ist vielleicht ein Alesis Andromeda der Bessere?
Wenn ich den Samstag morgen mit dem Oberheim Xpander Kaffee ☕️ getrunken habe , verliere ich mich rasch in Soundsphären und Endlosschleifen die düsterer werden , da je weiter man vom Pfad abkommt .
Wäre das beim 008 auch ?!
Mich inspiriert der 008 immer wieder aufs Neue... Inzwischen hat er auch ein gutes Dutzend Effektgeräte "nur für sich" bekommen und formt nun eine "analog poly wall"
These boutique synths sound amazing. I just wonder how many of these manufacturers will be around in the future to mantain/support them?
Forget it
das lässt doch auf neue sounds im evtl neuem album hoffen?
The low end in this thing is for real ? ?? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ?? ?
I think this thing sounds wonderful and massive. Perhaps complement my Ob-6 when I win the lottery;-)
This synth reminds me of my school theaters DMX board
i cant believe some of those comments here,if its sounds like a vst for some then,you should buy some ears,best poly around by far,got an adromenda,and this synth kills it,period!!!,great job modal,my next purchase...
It certainly does not sound better than other current synths that are much cheaper, like the DSI stuff and others
Stephane Dx OB6
Does that little cloud icon tell you the weather? lol
For that price it should be able to CHANGE the weather... ;)
This is the new Alesis Andromeda. Nothing I've heard ever came close until now. Amazing
im a big fan of the Andro....these VCO's are phatter, i think....many people dont like phattness in polys, i think this level works pretty darn good to my ears!!
onevia ?????
would you describe it as harsh with every filter type? As in, is it just over-all a harsher synth? Thats not necessarily a bad thing, per se, harsh sounds can be great. But at $5000, I think many people would be hoping this could be their ONE polysynth, and its hard to justify a harsh synth as your one and only. As part of an arsenal, surely.
No, the 008 is not always harsh, but I a) think saturated sounds are the main strength of the 008 b) personally very much like saturation :)
I very often use crossmodulation and higher OSC volumes that lead to (very tasty) saturation. If you want clean, use your computer ;)
That said - it is neither an CS80 nor Jupiter 8... it has it's own character - and if you don't like the sounds in this video, I'd say choose another Polysynth (there are also plenty modern ones available now!)
wann dürfen wir was neues erwarten Rolf?
yes yes... The circuitry is second to none, but is it a "performance instrument?"..
Well, I miss wheels, but you can put any MIDI Controller right beside it... I just put a Touche left to it and am looking forward to trying it with the 008
002 008 MY NEXT SYNTHS
If it clips with drive on that's totally fine. If it clips without, that's a huge problem imho.
It saturates>distorts>clips without the filter drive when the VCO levels are "too high" (matter of taste though)
So you even can program patches with or without saturation.
That's a strange feature to have.
Is it nearly universal for analog synths to not clip in the mixer no matter how high the VCO levels are, and how many notes are playing at the same time? Seems like designing synths that never clip could be challenging, so would be a bit surprised if it was impossible on most synths
I don't know about nearly universal but I'd say it's much more common for synths to not clip no matter how high you crank it. Typically clipping is an undesirable element when solely seeking to increase volume, as it does change the quality of the sound noticeably. That's why Drive is a common on-board effect in analog synths, people like clipping, they just want to be able to choose when it happens and how much.
In my humble opinion having a synth that clips based on volume would be extremely irritating, as certain patches will undoubtedly have artifacts that reach higher volumes than others, causing clipping in patches that otherwise sound/seem quieter than others. I could especially see this occurring with pads. Just my 2 cents.
I’ve got both the 008 and the 002 and very happy with my purchase got them both fitted with the usb fx cards and running them direct into ableton and cubase no other cables required just the usb lead any one wants to buy an 008 let me know lol
U like it?
sehr cool :-)
awesome synth guys but very very expensive, around 4700$ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually 4995 at Sweetwater!
Beautiful synthesizer to look at, sounds great and convincing but I haven't heard anything "new" in the presets so far. For me it lacks something which I value above all in a synthesizer, which is character (and not many synths do have outstanding character).
agerven Interesting POV. I respectfully disagree. I find the filter on this synth to be full of character, the oscillators are deep and raw with plenty of sizzle, the overall sound is very warm. I would buy this filter with an envelope follower in a standalone box in a heartbeat. I think it's very overpriced and I wish it had a ribbon (every polysynth should!) and for the price a few more voices and pitch/mod wheels, but I get they're a small company making these in small batches so manufacturing costs are probably high. But I love the sound of this synth.
Maybe you're right and I just haven't heard sufficient alternative demos of this synth.
I do know some of Paul Maddox's history, such as the monowave and know he is very capable and has a goal for high standard and quality.
I'm not saying this is not a great synth and worth of every penny. It is just that this particular video does not reveal to me that little sonic extra that you might expect in this price range (where every synth is top quality).
I'm wishing everyone who ownes or desires a Modal a lot of fun with it and have no objection at all to it becoming a classic.
I think the animator function is what will really give this synth some character but in a 20 min. demo you're not going to get that deep into it.
Thank you Mark. I'll be checking out further demos and the Modal website frequently for certain. Unfortunately this is not an instrument that will be available in any shop in my country, unless by special order.
32ths? :-P
HMM THIS OR AN ORIGINAL JUPITER 8?
Both! The 008 for thick, hard, driving synths and the Jupiter8 for warm, juicy pads
I love this synth but I think if a boy haven’t money can use U-he Diva that the sound is closer,or I wrong?
Gianfranco Carone vst’s last 6 years
most of the patches sound similar, I'm afraid. It's the waveforms.
Philippe Panzini lol.... dude you are actually right. there's a lot of similarities to pretty much all of the patches. even my ms2000r has more variety IMO. but, it looks pretty damned nice though!
FETT!!! ;)
Well I guess if I ever have an extra $5K to spend, I know what I'll do with it.
Spitzen Teil...
Buy this instead of Moog One or Alesis Andromeda.
I wouldn't mind comparing these intensively though...
O ... M ... G ... ! What a beast! Makes my Prophet REV 2 sound thin. :(
?????????
Woof.
5000 bucks! That's just... >.< Amazing synth though.
Great synth if only it didn't cost as much as a car...
In my opinion the sound is similar to Andromeda-like DCO
If there was an andromeda to buy new with a better looking faceplate... the sound of the andromeda is great to my ears...
@@RolfMaierBode I have to say that the faceplate of this amazing synth looks quite like the A6. Except for the colours of course.
александр бедный Andromeda is VCO
I agree that they sound similar. To my ears, both sound (I am gonna say it) digital and too clean and bright. Great if you want to make trance or VNV nation kind of Virus-sounding music, but this is clearly not for me. I even think the DSI P6 sound too stable and bright but this one takes the cake by far in comparison.
I like Modals new stuff though. Their wavetable synth Argon8 sounds more analogue than this one does, which is quite ironic.
Prefer the OB6 & SUPER-6