Is This The Best Digital Synth EVER??!!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ส.ค. 2024
- What are your fave modern digital or analogue synths, and can you name a synth that actually looks good?
*CORRECTION* In multi mode you duplicate the entire front panel from Voice and Arp to left to all effects to right for use in Layer, Split or Dual, I imagine A and B synth can then be assigned separate outputs.
Here's more about the #novation Summit: novationmusic....
Congratulations sandy, who’s the lucky synth!?
You win this one buddy
i think u need some sort of certificate
One of my favorite features on Summit which i think you'll like (since i saw you cranking that reverb) is in the FX menu, routing D->R->C Delay to reverb to chorus, and cranking feedback up on Delay and reverb. Delay won't go past infinite and start feedback but it will go on forever. it builds into HUUUGGGEEE swells, then turn up the chorus and you're now drowning in sound. -- Incredible video, instantly sub'd!
I totally read that in your voice lmao.
@@ceniza_honey me too! I also first thought of ricky when saw that this would be about the summit.
1day Ricky has the best delivery of all synth/beat production TH-cam. Natural, passionate, humble, and great at explaining more complex ideas and concepts.
Glad to see you enjoyed it Christian. I designed a bunch of the wavetables which were added in the 1.2 update to Peak and which can now be found in Summit. I also have a bank of some presets which are being released shortly via Novation (these were also made on the Peak so none of that sexy layering available sadly). Very much recommend playing around with the modulation matrix and particularly the one for the FX section, there is a lot of fun to be had in there!
I've recently discovered your channel and I must say it's one of the best and most well put together channels in the audio geekery spectrum that's on TH-cam! Keep up the great content mate! I love your style and how it's almost shot and edited as if it's a documentary. I feel as though I'm watching a Channel Two doc each time.
Bought Summit about 6 weeks ago and its probably one off the best synths ever made period!!
NATH C and what else you got?
I have a Peak, and love it. I play it with my Poly Aftertouch Hydrasynth keyboard. They work well together, and it has CV outs, to pair with your Summit. You might enjoy the fact that the Hydrasynth Explorer that is coming out this Winter can be battery powered, is compact, light, relatively cheap for what it is. If the Summit sits high on Hybrid Highlands, Hydrasynth is Digital Atlantis. You can carry it outside and play anywhere, where it's almost a polyphonic digital modular. But it's not rain proof.
Always loved the sound of Novation synths...and this certainly does not disappoint! Thank you for the vid
Great demo. I'm a firm believer that it's not pure analog that is paramount, it's how much the synth can do, how capable and deep it is, and how interactive it is to program and tweak in real time between it's knobs, sliders, buttons and hopefully minimal menus. This is where the true organic sonic expression exists between the synth, and the musician.
Hybrid synth, not digital. You explain the signal path a few minutes in, but this can be really confusing to folks, based on what I've seen on various groups. The Supernova you mentioned was truly digital (and also a really nice synth), this is digital + analog(ue). Some of the effects (like distortion) are even analog(ue) here.
I love my Peak, and am really interested in this. Novation has put together something really amazing. Great video.
All synths are beautiful!
That was very nice to say! :)
... but some synths are more beautiful than others.
Sure, It has to work all that nonsense about analog or digital ....
no, only black synths matter 🤣🤣
I agree. To have access to such devices is really a blessing.
You can’t beat the ARP Quadra for looks - sounds pretty good, too... 👍😛😍🎹❤️
I've slowly been brought over into the NEED THIS category. A digital synth is a missing link in my setup, so this beauty is certainly in the running for the next purchase.
Paul Mina Storm Just too uninspiring. I enjoy a more tactile experience.
The Summit isn’t a digital synth. It’s a hybrid. It has analog filters, distortion, and amps.
Ernest Grouns I use Fl studio and use digital synths and make music using its piano roll, however you can use a midi controller like an akai mpk, However If you want to spend more money nothing would stop you from buying a digital synth.
Roland Jupiter X. Everybody needs one. Bit more expensive than an iPad though ;)
I’m having quite a lot of fun with the Solaris. It’s incredible....
Summit is my personal all-rounder fav of recent. The sexiest board to me right now is that new Vox Continental. Albeit, not a synth. But for synths, the Matrix Brute is very pretty and clean. The Dave Smith line-ups are always pretty.
I've never actually owned a synth (only used software synths) but for me the holy grail would be to own a modern synth that had all the knobs and sliders in the right place so that I could use it as a live musical instrument, easily able to access all the patches and even record and play back multiple phrases and sounds.
I have a peak and absolutely love it. That long tailed reverb is fantastic. It's also fun to note that the oxford oscillators have almost zero aliasing. Make sure to play with the ocillator settings (diverge and drift in particular)! I may purchase a summit to replace the leak eventually.
The man who designed the Summit (and Peak) is Chris Huggett. As you said, he also designed the Wasp, Gnat and went on to create the OsCar. A very under-celebrated pioneer of British affordable synths. I love my Peak. Thanks again for an excellent channel.
Jeff Boult the OSCar has the greatest sounding filter ever made. Chris Huggett is an exceptional synth designer. The UK’s Bob Moog.
So do I love my Peak, which I think is still just one of the best digital/analog hybrid synth that money can buy. Just everything is so well thought out and very well built with great sounds possible! And all this for a quite reasonable price, too! The Summit, being basically 2 Peaks side-by-side and some more certainly is an awesome machine and thus also quite big, but I'm really happy there is the Peak as a smaller brother of the Summit!
Chris Huggett is awesome, and trust me - he is not under-celebrated.
RIP Mr Huggett. Thank you for this beast of a synth. 🎶❤️
Waldorf Blofeld. One of the most versatile and budget friendly synths ever made. Especially the keyboard version!
Liam Bowen Highly recommend you pick up the Waldorf XT (or an XTk if you can find one in decent condition). The sound quality is realms beyond the Blofeld. While I like the layout of the Blofeld and how it visualizes waveforms, it’s D/A conversion reveals its shortcomings. The late 90’s Waldorf synths are in a league of their own. I have not played / owned any of the newest Waldorf to compare.
Damn, this thing is pricey (2200 USD) but it looks like an absolute beast. This is the type of synth that if you put the time in to learn it you could probably do 80-90% of what you're looking to do when it comes to making music with this single synth.
I got a novation peak when it was released and was blown away by how amazing that synth was. I definitely want the summit
I love my Peak because it offers so much in a compact format. Summit is double the fun, but I just don't have any more space for big keyboards.
Told you it sounded like an absolute beast!
Wow, I’m blown away at the clarity that thing produces.
Mid-late 70s Roland SH-5 and SH-7 are some of the sexiest synths ever, imo.
Becoming a bigger fan of Novation everyday. I own a Xio and a Launchkey. They sent me free knobs that were missing on my Xiosynth. Not many companies would do that. That earned my respect. This thing rocks!
Dave Smith does
Korg's minilogue is ultrasleek and gorgeous
Love my Juno 106s - ah, you just mentioned it. Had it for 37 years.
It sounds almost "transwave-esgue" ala Ensoniq... this is Very interesting. So nice to hear the build quality is high! Unlike recent offerings from the big 3.. Very cool video!!
Heard this thing in action by a grammy winning rnb producer and HAD to get one ! Ready for it to launch in October! 🔥🔥👏🏽👏🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽 great review it is by far the best synth since the old roland days!
This synths sounds great but I'm really excited about the UDO Audio Super 6 synth which sounds and more importantly looks great to me. I've seen people swapping the knobs on synths like the Rev2 and changing the skin on a B*******r Neutron and that can really improve the appearance
Wow, this sounds so beautiful. I must have one.
"eye candy synth" Moog subsequent 37
That is a gorgeous sounding synth!
Appears to be an awesome synth. Also very excited about the digital capabilities. Thx for sharing.
@Ehsan Gelsi uses the 8-voice Peak in many of his live setups, alongside other pieces of gear. It certainly has a very nice sound and is why I listen to his live TH-cam sessions.
IMHO the DSI Pro2 is one of the greatest looking and equally awesome sounding synths. Because I own one of course.
I’m certainly interested in the 16-voice Summit.
Great review/walk thru. Cheers.
If I had one of these I would never leave the house!
Your studio/set up looks amazing I could spend hours and hours tinkering in there ......heaven
I think the Alesia Andromeda A6 is a beauty. Wish I had one. When it comes to modern gear I’m not fully up to speed. And when it comes to digital synths I think the Roland JV-1080 is extremely underrated.
The JV1080 is a fantastic synth, I bought it just to house the cards that wouldn't fit into my JD990 and I ended up liking it more than my JD990.
Thank you for such an indepth review. Have been deep diving TH-cam to get my head round a synth purchase. Think you've just got me to the Summit. A fun climb!
I don't have it, but I have heard that the Roland JD-XA digital/analogue hybrid synth is criminally underrated. Also looks very good.
JDXA is a hidden gem ... a true killer ...
I will second that emotion. Looks + flow + beastly big sound + relatively affordable...... So glad I have it,,,,
Ooh, I'm looking forward to this. I bought a peak sometime ago and doing a side by side comparison with omnisphere, even though the peak was immediately more playable and sounded great with basic sounds, I couldn't say the difference was enough to justify the price (the only 8 voices was a factor too), so I returned it. Since then I'm more experienced in sound design, and I've realised how much actual hardware makes a difference to me. I've been eyeing a Rev2 for some time but then this comes out and it is literally everything I want in a poly synth.
Have you hired the Top Gear production crew? Your videos are beyond top level
Gordon Houseman that’s very kind. I actually did the top gear theme!
The yellow Waldorf Q is beautiful IMO
The Summit is a great example what can be achieved with modern digital over-clocked 3 per voice Oscillators, a great user-interface, a lot modulation options, and analog FX. Great build quality, at a price that would be difficult to beat. $1999 US MAP Price. Novation has attained a reputation for high quality and great customer service. The Summit is a Keeper!
Against many out here it's way overpriced.
@@maydaygoingdown5602
Over price? I don't think so. Out of reach for some people? You bet. I'm retired so I don't have $2000 laying around to spare. But compared to the Prophet Rev2 16 voice, its the same price. I've seen/played a Rev 2 a guy I know bought. My opinion is its a couple of days short of a week. The build quality is OK, the Reverb is cheesy,The Rev 2 lacks the bottom end. I wouldn't buy one. I don't believe its worth $1500, especially considering that you can get a Korg Prologue probably for the same price or less money. $2000 for a 16 voice Rev2 over a Summit? No chance. I own an original Prophet 5 Rev3.2 and its a great synth I bought new in 1981. Reliable, great filter, it has balls. But If I could pony up the money I would buy a Summit.
Agreed! Best synth ever...
I hate that I'm going to suggest this but the Korg Minilogue is very handsome.
The Peak is awesome. It's is one of my few "keeper" synths. So usable.
The Summit is overkill for me, but I'd love a keyboard version of the Peak.
Stephen Anthony Sort of. It’s like two Peaks in a keyboard, plus extra features. More than I need.
Summit is my personal dream synth. I was all set to own the Hydrasynth as companion to my Korg Prologue and then I heard Summit in the blind and said-aloud-THAT IS THE SOUND!
I did that, I said that out loud, in a room where only my cat was there to hear.
Prologue is analog OSC, then hybrid; summit [special] Digi OSC, then Analog m. Nice balance.
No turning back. Along the way, I’ve studied on polys twice the price…Summit has the gorgeous sound, to me.
But…who cares now, right. ..this is 3 yrs old
To name a few:
- Sequential Circuits Prophet 5
- Yamaha CS-80
- Moog Little Phatty
... beautiful.
+1 for the CS-80!
And while we're talking digital, Dune 3 (highly underrated imo) and Arturia Pigments are both very inspiring VSTis to work with and come up with unique and beautiful sounds...
a lot of new Synths are gorgeous as well tho! The new Waldorf Quantum looks nuts.
My God that's beautiful sounding 🤤
I love my Juno 106 (DCO's). Fedex arrives later today with a Prophet Rev2 !!!Your synth is amazing Mr. Henson, gotta love those knobs and sounds!
LOVE your doggies Christian! Vid is also great :)
Great demo Christian, this thing seems to be a beast! Congrats Sandy!
The Moog Matriarch is my favorite :) I have the grandmother, but the matriarch looks cool :)
The Matriarch is one FANTASTIC machine. I might sell my Sub37 CV for the Matriarch. Just wish you could save patches somehow on the Matriarch. Check out Lisa's demo here: th-cam.com/video/nbPqOfRzlGY/w-d-xo.html&frags=pl%2Cwn. So many KILLER synths out now!
deffs a dream synth of mine now. Having both would be a nuts setup.
The Waldorf Quantum is definitely one of the most interesting synths of the past few years, however quite a price tag (but I know you are very willing to take the bullet for the team).
Finally! Very good review! Thank you! Wish that was me unboxing that. Another month or so I guess.
I've always been fond of how the Oberheim Matrix 12 looked. Sounded pretty decent too.
recently purchased mine after a few months debating. I loved the look of it but was pit off by the firmware issues. The latest upgrade corrected those (April 22) and went straight out and bought it. Brilliant synth...
I may be biased, but I think the "Oberheim" OB12 is a good looking synth - lovely shade of blue, lots of well laid out tactile control, and a large-ish LCD screen with nice graphical displays (although the screen on mine packed in years ago)
I have the summit - now partnered with the Arturia PolyBrute - you really must take a look at that! WoW!
Teisco 110F is definitely an eye-candy synth
Sounds very ‘Depeche Mode’, ‘Fairlight’ ish. I HAVE GOT TO GRAB ONE OF THESE! The depth and richness of the sound is quite frankly SUPERB. Has a very retro feeling to it a la Roland or Korg back in the 80,s Synths are like a beautiful woman and a lot more reliable 👍🏻😂
Fav new digital synth: Peak
Fav new analog synth: Matriarch
good looking synth: Moog Voyager, ARP 2600, Prophet 5, Roland System 100
You mean Summit? Why would you choose the Peak over the S? Cheers
Really happy with my Novation Peak. Highly recommend.
Korg DW 8000 ..Digital oscillators.. analog filter.. One of the best analog filter ever.. trust me
Aah yes...so happy to be an owner. Any time I switch it on, I remind myself not to sell.
I think it looks nice! And I like the look of the Moog Grandmother
I always think my old Roland SH3A and 7 are gorgeous looking - pale green and cream. And Tolex cases! Lovely.
Probably because of when I grew up, I love the sounds of the early digital synths and samplers, yes even the DX7 and M1 lol! "Warm" was not a complement back then. As far as looks the Matrix 12 looked awesome in person and I think the DX7 still looks clean, although of course the lack of knobs is not worth it. I used Dexed now and finally understand something about FM now
davetbassbos
DX7 is still a great synth. Spend time with it and learn to program it and you can make amazing sounds with it. The DX1 was a lot easier to program and shame they didn’t make it easy on the DX7. The sounds I’m hearing in this video can be done on a DX7. So this is nothing new to me.
Love my Korg Prologue16, this Summit is a beauty though Novation.
I have the same sonic taste, this was my choice, really pleasant and after the wavetable related upgrades extremely powerful
I now own a Novation Summit synthesizer, I am learning what it is capable of, I love the sound it produces… lol.... I love my new synthesizer... :-)
As you say it is a marvelous machine but so is mine and a couple of others I own...harder to discern here perhaps than choosing who supplied my best sample libraries ever...on that I have no doubt ..you guys produce these IMHO .🙏🦄🎩
Definetly my favorite Digital Synth/Hybrid that I own. Diverge and Drift features in the Oscillator Section will definetly make this sound more analog-ish if desired... The Overdrive and Distortion do help make up for some of the Harmonics always lost with digital OSC's...
Always great to view your music making
The synthesizers that really look good, to my eye, are still these: JX-3P, Juno 6/60, Jupiter-8, PPG 2.2/2.3, and Matrix-12.
Elektron Digitone!! Great little FM synth and sequencer. Totally at home in modular world as well. Not too expensive :)
Something about the Hydrasynth looks good. I also like the new Montage and Fantom. Then you got the Moog Matriarch which is colorful and just begs to be played.
The Hydrasynth wins in the area of workflow and user interfacing - there is no competition - full stop. However unfortunately the lower end frequencies do suffer fidelity loss, you are unable to achieve the massive sounds for one reason or the other. When you think of the background of these developers - it is troubling why is the lower end rather thin sounding.
Bobcatt22 I would love to get my hands on a hydrasynth. Do you have one? Or played one?
Hi Marcus, I do not own the Hydrasynth, however I do marvel at its design with regard to the instrument panel and functions. The Hydrasynth indeed takes the lead in this area of user interfacing. What I do not like is its loss of lower end fidelity and when compared to the UDO, it lacks effects in the filter stage. All that being said, I heading towards the UDO over the Hydrasynth.
novation summit is the best so far
The Novation Supernova 2 5 octave synth is the most beautiful looking synth. They should bring it back into production. It still looks and sounds gorgeous 20 years on.
Agreed! Such a special sound!
I think that the Novation Summit is the best digital synyh ever
Hybrid! lol
Shows you how old I am being an DX7 previous owner. This little thing makes the DX look like a white elephant. Thanks for the dream buddy. :-)
Korg Prologue is a real looker as long as you don’t touch it! Finger print magnet would be an understatement; but otherwise Japanese aesthetic design at its best IMO. A bit jealous of the Summit; it sounds pretty powerful! Monster of a synth!
The Nord Lead is total eye-candy with it's red sexily shaped exterior, sleek stone mod wheel, it's unique concave pitch bend stick, and, of course, a satisfying array of knobs and led lights. Most beautiful synth design ever IMHO, and it sounds like awesomeness too.
@chief tp That's amazing. I've been playing this thing for decades and it so looks and feels like stone that I never questioned it. I even took out my volt meter to test it and, sure enough, it conducts. Thanks for the interesting info.
M-Audio Venom is a lovely looking little synth. Gloss white with orange labels and cool curvy sides.
It's a weird one too.
Not Virtual Analogue in the common sense, it uses samples of hundreds of oscillators and waveforms from other synths and then processes them through VA then into digital effects. Its a shame the keybed is crap because it sounds ace!
And thankyou Focusrite for the lovely new plug-in via Plugin-Alliance! ... I once had the pleasure of working on console #9 of the 10 that were made.
Great demo!
My Arturia MatrixBrute is a big beautiful monster.
I was tossing up between the Brute and Summit! Got the Summit and its amazing but would love to get the Arturia some day to...
@@NathanChisholm041 The Summit is, of course, polyphonic, whereas the MatrixBrute is monophonic/paraphonic. The Summit would make me happy, but I've pre-ordered the ExpressiveE Osmose, which is due sometime this autumn (it got delayed due to the Covid-19 crisis). It has a revolutionary MPE keyboard and includes the Eagan Matrix!
The Waldorf Microwave XTk has to be my favourite looking synth ever. It's just so utterly obnoxious, but if you don't like that orange, the Nine Inch Nails black editions look lovely. Other favourite 'eye-candy' synths would probably be the Nord Modular G2, Oberheim OB-12, Quasimidi Sirius, Waldorf Q (yellow version), and Waldorf Quantum. Most of the recent Dave Smith synths look lovely too.
Waldorf Quantum is a huge hybrid synth (granular sampler, wavetables, resonators and a pletora of other features), a sound design dream come true. It costs double as much than Summit (which is sad...) but the sound you can create are infinite.
And what a looker that Quantum is...... It'd be my island synth.
17:30 Beatiful harmony between finger, sound and chord.
Luv it. Want one. Thanks for the upload
I’m looking forward to buying a Peak. I think they sound incredible. That said, in my personal opinion, the best digital synth ever created is the Access Virus.
Virus is amazing
Isn't the Peak, mono while the Summit is stereo?
@@bobcatt2294 No the Peak is stereo.
@@voicemagic Thank you for the definitive answer.
Excitement, followed by depression when I saw the price.
Isn't it only $2000? (I thought that was the price, but I'm not sure)
While that's a pretty penny, it's also ridiculously affordable for a 16 voice polysynth.
@@CaidicusProductions for real tho
It's not Jupiter-8-in-1985 expensive. Seems more than fair to me. A synth this complex probably should be more expensive than this actually. Makes ya wonder who out there in the world is suffering that we might be so lucky.
@@CaidicusProductions Well, I just grabbed a 128 voice + 16 multitimbral synthesizer for 50€ so that $2000 doesn't really meet the 2020 requirement for a synthesizer. I mean it sounds good, the features just aren't really there. Hydrasynth is closer to justifying it's insane price tag, but this one ... not so sure.
@@ThatBonsaipanda Which synth did you grab for 50 Euros?
My favourite eye candy synth is [probably the Korg Monologue, it looks great.
I think I am in love with this synth. Haven't considered getting a synth controller but have been in the market and going back and forth between a 61 key NImk2 or 88 key NImk2. But for a bit more cash, this kind of answers a lot of things.
Novation: How long do you like your reverbs?
Christian: Yes!
Holding out for Udo Super 6.
The Udo, having effects both in the pre and post filter stages giving a 3-D experience just like that in real life, is difficult to compete. What I do not like: The interface is rather unattractive, tries to duplicate a Roland in looks and distribution has progressed little.
I always have a handful of pieces of gear in a special sort of "one day soon" category. This is somewhere between "on my shopping list" and "I'll never own that": it's stuff I can't afford yet but would buy if the money magically appeared... I now think the Summit has to be added to that category! I previously wondered about the Super 6, but I now think the Summit would suit me better. I already have the Peak, but the Summit would encourage a lot more creativity due to the immediacy of the keyboard and the layering options.
Its like a modern day Korg DW8000. Digital oscs, analog filter, f/x. Sounds beautiful. Preset patch 'Floating Ether' up there with 'Soundtrack' and 'Universe'
My favs though not that modern but very digital and very innovative for their time - the V-Synth and the Kawai K5000s.
I recently aquired a k5000 and still need to deep dive into it. I think its also one of the most complex synthesizers. Do you use a specific editor?
@@jordyhoutman2654 Kawai have a lot of patches on site to download, and then to be honest I just use the knobs to adjust things to liking. I have got the last version of Sounddiver (3) on my studio Mac for when I want to got to town. Pity Apple don't revive it! - it was a very good asset and I find odd late 80s and 90s digital synths cheaper and more interesting than plugins :-) (Technics WSA, Casio VZ, Yamaha TG77 et al)
@@glennmckenzie1096 thanks for the answer, yes :-) agree on both revival of sounddive aand that 80s/90s digital synths are great and cheaper. However, the k5000(s) is getting more and more expensive.
One piece of modern equipment that is super fun is the Dreadbox Hypnosis. You may like it. Works well with mono and poly synths.
The Peak & Summit are analog/digital HYBRID synths just like the DSI Pro-2 & Prophet 12 as well as these 80s synths: Ensoniq ESQ1 & SQ80, Kawai K3, Korg DW-8000, PPG Wave 2.2 & 2.3, SCI Prophet VS.