I thought the Evolver sounded really good and the architecture is awesome, but the matrix + shift interface is super cryptic. That on its own wasn’t TOO bad, but I wanted a synth I trusted myself to tweak in a live situation so I sold mine… tho now I’m doing most synthesis in my iPad and I’m not sure that’s any easier to tweak -shrug-
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Agreed. It wasn’t until I saw the Oversynth overlay for it that I could imagine myself using it.
Bonus over Tetra/Mopho is that the sequencer isn’t latch-only. So you don’t have to send it a MIDI note to start it.
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That overlay is rad, if it had been around when I had mine maybe I would have kept it… Tho even with that overlay keeping track of what mode you are in and what row you are editing is a task.
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100%
Getting to where you want to be is quicker.
But finding where you are is not.
It’s two pounds of sausage in a one pound casing. But it sure can sound wild and that sequencer is nothing to sneeze at.
Ive seen a few killer techno live sets with only an Evolver, TR-707, reverb pedal, and microlimiter.
I credit the Evolver with my desire for the Analog Four when it was first made available. I figured with neighbor routing and the wild sequencer, I could get just as wild. And for the most part I can, it’s just not the exact same flavor.
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Perfect summary of the synth 
I really wish DSI would put out an Evolver 2 with a better interface (or some new module synth with a sequencer), I’d buy it so fast.
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I wouldn’t sell mine
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Oups, yes! yes! You’re perfectly right, Sorry for having wrote such information. The P8 !
I’ll correct my post if you don’t mind
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That’s the one! Haha. Thanks.
for better or worse it seems like the Pro 2/3 are the evolver evolutions of sorts. Heck even the MEK is basically proper layout the evolver deserved. But yea if they make a basically keyboard chop of the Pro 3 it would make for an awesome desktop unit with that sequencer. I think at the end of the day they think the sequencer interface makes it too big as a desktop unit… which is too bad I suppose, I know there was at least one artist who converted the keybed section of the pro2 into a eurorack case… which is a pretty cool idea if you don’t want keys.
yea, the things that make me love the Evolver are
the same things that make me pray for a Pro 3 Desktop
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Thank you all again. It is clear that the evolver still has lovers and people who could not get along with the interface. The latter is in part my concern. I do have other synths and I know the principles of synthesis though I do not master them in deep. I am not sure if that is enough for start enjoying the evolver more or less quickly. I do not have as much time as I had ten years ago and i cannot afford to spend days with it before I start enjoying it. Do you think this could be the case? For reference I have the AK that I mentioned,ñ, and a Jx8p, a nord, OT, JP50. Rytm. Thank you!
The Evolver was my dream synth when it came out. Never being able to afford it, I was young and poor. But now, with more experiences in hardware synth I learn 2 things in particular:
- desktop synth with menu / matrix and without keyboard become quickly boring and unproductive
- Most of the “cheap” hardware synth sound not better than a free VST coming with your DAW. The advantage of hardware is to have all know and no menu.
So, I think MonoEvolver or PolyEvolver is a great deal, but I won’t go to the desktop module personnaly.
I made this little ditty with my MEK today. All sounds from the Evolver. Sequenced by the DN and arranged and recorded in Renoise with a final bit of polishing of the master in S1.
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Hey man, that was amazing. I’m happy if my post took you to do this!! Excellent job. Not easy to find a traditional track made with the evolver. My question is: do you believe the desktop version is usable? I can imagine the Mek is much more friendly. What I don’t want is to spend hours and hours editing. I am more for the kind of stuff you’ve just made, with the possibilities of exploration that it offers.
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Really nice, woozy pads here. Very early-to-mid 80s, in a good way. Good to know such tones can be coaxed out of the machine.
Also, the drums are pretty solid (love when synths become drum machines).
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You have seen widely different opinions on the desktop Evolver’s user interface. We don’t know which camp you might fall into.
When you study the interface and compare it to your experiences with the other synths you listed, what do you think you will feel about it?
Thank you for your kind words. I’ve made a few one synth tracks like that. I must admit having a dedicated resonant band pass filter makes it so much easier. The Evolver’s LP/HP arrangement, whilst still a BPF isn’t the same as say the BS2 or Arturia’s to my ears
Most any piece of gear is worth it after you’ve invested time in it.
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