What polysynth would pair well with a Digitone?

The Lounge Other Gear
#23

So much of the music I listen to is simple in tone but identifiable.

Terry Riley for instance, A Rainbow In Curved Air, he used the same devices the entire time and overdubbed them in 1969, yet it’s so iconic to me mainly due to the musicianship. Same with The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Tool and Pink Floyd get into complex territory but they’re both my favorite, I think Adam Jones from Tool uses a Virus which sounds great in their tracks.

I’m just going to have to keep listening and determine what sound is missing, whether that’s a neutral fullness or an identifiable fullness. Another thing to consider is speakers/headphones, at the gym on my generic Apple headphones it doesn’t matter much, but with my home system and I hear a certain filter it’s very identifiable.

I could listen to this forever

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#24

Yamaha Reface CS has pretty distinct tones you’ll get out of it, versatile enough to get some varied sounds as well. I like using it’s looper to write phrases that are longer than 4 bars. The Digitone and CS will stay in time through midi sync. This way you can have 8 - 16 bar chord progressions, etc…coming from the CS and the DN will do it’s thing with 4 bars. The CS also benefits from the internal fx of the Digitone, therefore it gains a much needed reverb.

#25

It’s tough to go wrong with either the Prophet 6 or OB-6 and they both compliment the Digitone really well. The P6 is more neutral sounding with a beautiful analog tone while the OB-6 does have more character.

I’ve had both. I sold the P6 but only because it was a module and I’d prefer a keyboard version. I’d say the P6 is “technically” a better compliment for the Digitone only because it excels at warm, classic analog tones and the Digitone excels in totally different areas. The OB-6’s brighter character (due to the 12db filter and square sub oscillator) can overlap a bit more with the Digitone, but really you should pick whichever one suits your music better.

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#26

The OB6 is in my cart…

As much as I want to love the Peak I simply can’t. I haven’t found a demo that wows me when listening to it on my nicer, non-monitor speakers. The character of the OB6 is unmatchable every time I hear it.

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#27

I recently bought a toraiz as-1. It has the most beautiful monophonic analog sound, but the built in sequencer goes out of sync every time it makes a program change, and people have been waiting for a fix for almost two years now. I have a feeling that Pioneer abandoned it, but if you don’t mind taking it as it is, it makes a great synth module that you can sequence externally.

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#28

This makes me happy to hear… I literally have an AS1 waiting for pickup at my local music store and was planning on sequencing it with the Digitakt or Digitone.

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#29

Yeah! All of its parameters can be controlled via midi ccs, so you you are able to get an organic, evolving sound. For me, that turns the internal sequencer issue into a slight nuisance.

#31

Awesome I might get in touch if I need help setting it up - it will be my first time trying the midi tracks on the digitone.

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#32

Definately, consider the Ambika.

  • It can be a 6 voice Polysynth or 6 mono synths.
  • You can mix and match filters (you could have one voice with a Moog ladder filter, one with a Polivoks and the rest with SMR Roland style filters).
  • The oscillator code for the Ambika eventually became Mutable Instruments Braids which after some reworking became the code for Mutable instruments Plaits. if you get the YAM firmware you, have a bunch of different types of sound sources to push through the filters of your choosing (see point 2).
  • The modulation matrix is deep.
  • It really sounds great through the Digitone’s effects, especially the chorus
  • A strong advantage of the Ambika’s Oscillators is the cross-mod options between them. Do you know of other synths that would offer sync, foldback distortion ring modulation, xor and bit reduction or a similar set of functions?
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#33

Of course it’s true to some extent but the magnitude of difference is what’s important.

The OB-6 has the most identifiable filter I’ve ever heard. In a mix or alone. It sounds like… a zipper kind of. I know that isn’t flattering and doesn’t do it poetic justice but it’s as close as I can get. It sounds like the zipper of the cosmos opening to screw my ear holes. Especially when it’s a slow filter sweep from high pitch to low pitch, with high resonance. Mmmmm.

#34

Yeah, the SEM filter is really something to behold… one option that includes that but then looses true poly only has 4 voice paraphonic is the Pro 2. I really would like a Ob6 after playing with it though, still for me the Pro 2 really is a deep programmers synth with a fantastic paraphonic mode that offers up all sorts of tricks I think I prefer it despite the 1 set of filters per voice (still has amp pervoice). Obviously you have to decide if 4 voices is too few but stuff like the super waves do make up for a lot if you are looking to fill up space with a massive pad and having both a prophet and oberhiem filter in it make it super versatile. Not a ton of great demos of its para sounds out there but there is something really fun about using a different vocal sound for each voice like a little 4 man choir. Worth thinking about although it might not be for you.

This guy does some para patches that are nice

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#35

Thanks I’ll take a listen. Never considered the Pro 2 much. 49 key would be nice as well for my setup space.

Edit: I think I need poly first so OB6 but wow… the Pro 2 is coming next year. I purchased an A4 and returned it, the Pro 2 is precisely what I wish the A4 was…

Edit 2: the more I listen to the Pro 2 the more I think it might be exactly what I’ve wanted…

#36

I fear we might be drifting a little off-topic … but wouldn’t you agree that a Prophet-5, or a Prophet-6, or a Evolver have very distinct sounds? Maybe I was not clear enough … I didn’t say that all Sequential synths sound the same. Definitely no! IMO Dave Smith has coined some great signature sound engines and each with its distinct character.

I totally agree.

But I would say, if a couple of companies use the same chip over and over again for a filter, the sound of the machines would at least be similar … we had this in the past :wink:

But if a design like a Moog ladder filter or an Oberheim SEM filter is used, or guys at Analogue Solutions, Dreadbox, Arturia, and even Behringer with the Neutron try different filter concepts … the tones can be quite different too.

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#37

I found a new Pro 2 for $1,799. I don’t think I can resist…

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#38

Can you p-lock mod matrix settings on the peak?

#39

You can P-lock anything with CC values I believe…

#40

“Do mod matrix settings have midi cc numbers?” would be the question then.

#41

Probably have to check the Peak manual for the list of CC values at the end and see if you can find them, unless someone has done that already and can tell us quickly :smiley:

#42

I guess the value of asking someone with both a peak and a digitone over merely seeing if something is possible, is then asking if it is fun and easy or difficult and uninteresting or somewhere in between.

#43

Yeah its pretty great one more thing to keep in mind with it is in paraphonic mode it is one osc per voice so to get more complexity into the waveforms the wavetable and super waves is pretty needed along with using subtle fm to liven stuff up and waveform modulation

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