Was lucky enough to get in on the first batch of Mask1Ex. While I think it sounds great, I just don’t gel with the UI. I probably should have done a little more research, as it seems the UI is largely similar to the keyboard version.
It sounds absolutely fabulous. It’s full of presence and character, a bit lofi-ish in the most pleasing way. There’s a lot to explore in terms of the oscillators. The filters sound great to my ears. The effects sound fantastic as well.
My only gripes come from the interface and some of the lack of depth in editing. I knew going in that editing parameters was done with the single encoder, but in practice, I found it clunkier than I had imagined. It isn’t the worst, but it just isn’t for me. I also found myself wanting a little more depth to editing some of the parameters. For example, the envelope parameters only have 16 discrete values each. And the effects only have presets to choose from - as in you can’t set the delay time and feedback for the delay or the reverb size and decay.
It did not sell well enough for them to do production. Perhaps the INFINI ( thread ) which originally had bitmasks as a part of its design will supersede the Mask 1, with the larger feature set, as they say. It was said to be underway.
Too bad it didn’t get more success. It’s one of the most well tought out instrument I have. At first the interface choice seems weird, but it made sense very quickly for me. Since there is not a ton of parameters, you soon start to get muscle memory – now I woulnd’t even wish for plenty of knobs instead. Also, the buttons feel great, wich is part of the pleasure.
I have with this machine a similar feeling the one I have with the M8 : a instrument that follows a kind of vision, without compromise. Everything makes sense in the design. (Their Essence FM, though a totally different machine, also has this kind of achievement in design.)
I’m really pleased to hear that there will be Mk.2 of the EX as I missed out on this. Hopefully it isn’t as limited this time too as it could be a potential for my post-NGNY2026 treat. I also hope that a Mk.2 will have a bit more hands-on controls. Doesn’t need to be covered in controls, maybe 4 encoders as assignable macros and a more meaningful display and it could be quite the winner!