Amazed that i walked out without buying anything more expensive than some LED patch cables. played with a tonne of fun stuff - the standout for me was Soma Pulsar 23 which seriously kicks arse as a dirty techno machine. the Buchla gear was inscrutable as always and i failed to control it in any meaningful way. Melbourne Instruments synths sound amazing but cost way too much for me (and the rotating knobs give me psilocybin flashbacks). Loads of good stuff, a great event!
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Iâm glad it wasnât just me re: the Buchla. I had 2 goes at it, several hours apart, and didnât manage to make anything happen either time!
yep. i had a bit more luck with the big system but not by much. this was my second go on an Easel and it went very badly indeed (silence; occasional squeaks at the edge of human hearing; looooooong portamento slides i couldnât get rid of). i am not Kaitlyn Aurelia-Smith
EDIT: i still want one
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I went in expecting to buy a Minifreak, found it didnât excite me much beyond what my Micro already delivers, tried the Polybrute but found I wasnât too keen on its keyboard, tried a few other things idly⌠was determined not to buy anything that didnât have a MIDI thru or aftertouch then, inexplicably, bought a Korg Opsix mk2. Excuse? For me it was the most interesting-sounding synth I played all day and amazingly easy to edit. Result!
Edit: I had an Easel for a while and it took me a while to work it out too. Worth the effort though.
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I went in with no expectations of buying anything (beyond a few copies of Electronic Sound mag with accompanying 7"s) but got paid royalties from my last Bandcamp release whilst I was there so was open to picking up something. Couldnât find anything that excited me in my price range at Synthfest so ended up acting upon eBay offers for a Mavis âŚand then, post-rum, a Sub Phatty too.
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I attended yesterday with a couple of mates and had a pleasant afternoon. I enjoyed the exhibits but nothing really caught my eye enough to part with money.
Played with the E7 synth a bit, which sounds amazing - reminded me of a slightly lusher Rev2 from the 5 minutes I played through the presets.
The midicake arp developer was super nice and did a run through for us for the device. Really interesting concept and execution, but also tonnes of options and menus.
Really enjoyed speaking to the Liverpool synth guys and playing around with the Black Corp kits they built.
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Yes, me too - Mikeâs Luna-1 LM-1 clone is incredible!
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I went, tried loads of stuff, the best bit of kit I tried was the little GRP A1 synth, fantastic sound. The beat friend was great also. I thought the mantis sounded descent but I was also surprised that I really liked the Korg wavestate (techno in a box) and the modwave. I was also impressed with the effects in the sp404. Tried the Tr8s thought it sounded bland and boring.
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Funnily enough the minifreak was one of the synths that really caught my attention. I thought it was a really interesting proposition.
I wonât name any names. But I struggled getting inspired by any other digital synth that I can think of at the event.
Is the microfreak just as good then?
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I think the Minifreak just wasnât enough of a step up from the Micro (which I love) to justify adding it to the pile, plus I prefered the Microâs keyboard. Holding out for something larger, a proper Polyfreak maybe.
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and to put it bluntly, your set was truly epic!!! Worth the price of admission for everyone I think!
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Um, whatâs this then? Any tip offs or did they remain vague? Iâm guessing the OPZ Field and an OP1f update that integrates it with the TX and TP as it should have all along.
And I thought the Move was out of the bag. I get Ableton being tight lipped but a band aid isnât gonna fix this leak. Although I havenât made it to the Move thread in several days so maybe something changed.
Sigh, reason 1,287,433 I wish I lived in the EU/UK, so many great shows right now.
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The extent of the Move âleaksâ were nowhere near as extensive first thing on Saturday morning, when I headed over to Sheffield.
The TE guy was tight lipped on specifics. He just let slip and I pulled him up on it, but although happy to repeat what he said about more products, he wouldnât say anything more.
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thanks so much Robin!
it was lovely to see you again - I just wished Iâd more chance to chat to you properly ! it was a pretty full-on schedule & just so much going-on !
Iâll see you next month though of course⌠really looking forward to that 
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