dave_weiss's Reviews
9 reviews Back to dave_weiss's Equipboard
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A blast from the past
My friend and I bought one of these from Musical Exchanges in Birmingham in the mid-eighties, and I think we kept it pretty much 'on' in our garage studio until around 1991. Unbelievably hardy machine that could be programmed even by 2 thrash-metal fanatics after an evenings worth of beer, and survived endless drops, incorrect power adaptors, numerous liquid spillages and was the go- to drum track provider for everything we ever wrote. I remember when MIDI became a thing- and I found the compatibility with my Roland D10 a real revelation, because of the drum sounds on that fabulous keyboard. I still own this- and although it's now 'retired', it earned its stripes and holds many great memories.
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What can be said that hasn't been said already re: Omnisphere?
The answer is: 'I don't know'. All I can really say is why it's my go-to soft synth of choice. OK, the depth of this behemoth is unbelievable, it's like a fractal of deep-diving and synthesis, easy to navigate (after a while) and the sounds you can either utilise, buy or produce yourself are amazing. Installation and licencing is fairly simple, but I would advise watching a couple of You Tube videos that cover the process properly before you get started, just to familiarise yourself with some new jargon and to know where exactly you are putting the mammoth libraries involved here. The shining light of the software, for me, is the user connectivity you can link with your hardware hardware- so human/organic sounding performances are achievable with a few clicks of the mouse. Another thing I would say that makes Spectrasonics a fantastic developer is the product support- available: I had a few questions regarding re-installation on a different system and how the licencing works across multiple machines, and I have to say the response was fast, and friendly and very helpful, something that I have found very refreshing after trying to deal with another major developer. I have used Omnisphere constantly across every project I have worked on since buying it, and although it isn't exactly cheap, it does prove that the old adage of 'you get what you pay for' is very much realism in this world of synths.
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Deep..
There's a lot to this fantastic little powerhouse, and you can lose hours if not days, deep-diving the settings and sound design possibilities that it offers. What strikes me immediately about the MiniFreak is the warmth and richness of the sound, that is immediately recognisable as 'the Arturia sound'. 6 levels of polyphony is more than enough for crafting beautifully intricate sounds, and the 37 keys allow just enough reach to prevent it from feeling compact. The build quality of the unit is superb: the keys don't have that lightweight sensation found in many of the smaller form factor/ mini key synths, and the drag/resistance of the pots feel really good. What I really like about this device is its seamless integration with the MiniFreak V VST plugin , so - if like me, you enjoy to sculpt sound virtually as much as the business of pondering the knobs of the hardware, you can have it up on your DAW monitor.
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Thunderous
When I realised they were available in black I was over the moon- because you never forget your 80's goth roots. Currently use one of these as my onstage monitor for keys because I find it has the edge over some others frequency-wise (many of my key/ambient soundscape textures have VERY low frequencies, and these bass cabs cater for it beautifully, plus the upper frequencies shine through bright.) Great cabs, sturdy and British.
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Another great Schecter
Bought for, exactly as the name suggests, the studio; the nice low action on this bass makes it a stand-out in my opinion: just let your fingers glide around the frets and the magic happens, which is a great advantage for those playing long sessions containing plenty of notes.
A great looking bass, with a solid feel to it- the two sets of EMG 40HZ's have lots of gnarly growl - superb for many styles and situations.
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Goes up to 11..
...Or at least it feels like it. What a punch this packs. Using this brilliant bass head for my live rig and it delivers on every front. Gnarly pre-sets- great build, and looks fantastic
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An utter workhorse
I am a hard hitter when it comes to keys- battering an M-Audio Keystation 88 into submission and breakage in 4 days - but this beauty has stood up to 5 years of daily studio wear and tear, integrates brilliantly with both Cubase and Nuendo, and hasn't failed once. The Hammer action is great to play- I tried the Native Instruments iterations and they didn't feel as robust as this, so it will remain firmly in the rack until it dies. The sliders, button and knobs are all MIDI-re-assignable, and the pitch-bend/modulation wheels have a nice resistance to them, a great keyboard, I don't understand why M-Audio discontinued it, replacing it with a 'Pro' model, that frankly feels nothing of the sort. Downside? it is one heavy instrument, just over 21 KG, so advisable to get an extra pair of hands in if you are touring it.
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Not for the faint-hearted..
Initially wanted this as part of the studio setup to drive my bass guitars even harder, but after running it in the testing room, and feeling that my stomach was going to fall out, decided to adopt it into the live rig/pedalboard. Essentially it sounds like Sunn, and more importantly it feels like them too- a great quality build, and looks fabulous too. Now part of my live keyboard rig- despite accusations of me being 'mad'...
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Great build, beautifully responsive, and the keys have a nice 'semi weighted' feel.
Have been hammering this for a few years now and it seems to withstand most of what I throw at it. Integration with the NI software is seamless, and the control pots are great quality with just about the right amount of drag in them.