snoking's Reviews

Yep Got this Magic for Free

It's like butter... you can never get enough cowbell and you can NEVER use enough butter.. This is my wife's baby but she lets me play it on the weekends lol. It's incredible to dip into for amazing old school sonic fidelity... Feed it through the MINIBrute and it's something very close to Nirvana.

Yet Another hidden Gem...

Yes its old, Yes it's plain, Yes, and Yes for not buying this... did I say its FREEKIN HEAVY! BUT!! Yes seriously, BUT! It magically is a sonic badass like the 808 capacitors were; and has this unique ability with noise to signal ratio... its lower than Peavy's best that year... it was cheap... it was a mistake they made it so good, and it was so good it just had to go... The creamiest Tape Delay ever, ever, ever... could not believe.. Hardware echo, reverb, and all sorts of effects post or pre. you decide.

???? the 808 beat this synth can do... another secret...

Yes the JV-880 has a drum machine built in.. lol WTF??????This synth is the best bargain on the planet ($120 on Reverb..lol A real Roland JV synth.); add Coffeeshopped Patchbase, and it becomes a true Synth like any other with full capabilities, iPad and Android compatible with a $19 MIDI USB adapter... seriously. Add some add-on cards and WHAMO! you got more Roland goodness... I know a bargain and I know this heritage. Simply can't get any finer quality from the gods that are Roland! Yes I like the rest too but come on... give credit where credit is due.. Korg doesn't have "Days" like "808 Day" held around the world. lol

My Fav Secret I Will Share.. Syntharmy Knife.... if you will.????

My first for a reason, its small, its loud as hell, has an arp, a sequencer, its beer proof, and runs on two AA batteries for hours. Add a USB charger and it lasts for days. Simple. The great feature I love as well as EMusician.com the UNO's filter keyboard tracking is fantastic. It can be fine-tuned with CC 106,How cool is that. Get this, ????the full ADSR functions for both filter and amp can be addressed using other CC messages,????so find a $100 used to $199 new synth that has all that Oh and audio input for Apexing this S#$T out of it. An audio out! and USB MIDI, .Oh and MIDI IN and OUT ports! Did I say it has a Step Sequencer too and an actual Sequence Recorder?????????????Filters so sharp it can make a drum kick......lol seriously, and a Software Synth Editor? Ohit'sd it's a Plugin too.Yep its editor doubles down and is a plug-in and standalone app. OMFG yes its heaven... take that Volca...

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Gotta Have A Lab!!

The MINILab line of controllers is a staple in my studio. The craftmanship and quality provide the luxurious feel of playing a piano, but on a controller. I chose the original diminutive 25 key version and with the Analog Lab 2 and 4 and now 5 over 7000 unique patches to the legendary synths of the past, its goes without saying how reliable it is to have a whole lab of synths in your studio saving tens of thousands in dollars in time, cost, equipment, and creating new starter patches to unlock creativity. Pick one.

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The New Old School

Arturia made a statement to the world that they were not F'ing around! https://youtu.be/sUNNwibffTw With its Steiner Parker filter it provides the visceral sonic experience enjoyed by my fellow syntheisists such as Vincent Clark, and Italian DJ and producer Sasha Carass. This is my goto synth. I used it as the main fixture and synth on my 12 minute monster drum drone "Someone Forgot The Drummer" It is my workhorse. UPDATE

I love the principles of a company, as that is usually what makes them great. Arturia is one of my "crew", (even though they don't know me) due to the fact that I use at a minimum 2 of their synths on every song. Why? Because their unique. Just like a MiniMoog, the MiniBrute is all, ALLL, analogue. Through-hole, and SMD analogue... is what makes the sound of the Arturia unique. At this point in time, only the very abused "Brutes" will exhibit any sort of uniqueness...sort of. Aging plays a role in the sounds we love. Arturia like many others, have made synths just like everyone else. Some are hitting their 10 and 15 year old age, and while we have a while to get to 50 year old synths those that treasure their classics hold on to them, as I will with my Arturia Minibrute.

Not having a patch system is one of the best experiences I can recommend. Not that it isnt welcome, but sometimes its limiting in its own nature. Turning on a minibrute is a lot like turning on any old old synth ie (60's-70's-80's) You have to let it warm up and the older it gets the longer it takes to get to an even operating temp.... and you can tell! But I can say not knowing anything and turning one on and just trying to make ANY sound is what creates a synthesist....usually (it worked for me) *** BUILD QUALITY***

Excellent.... but. They don't make the miniBRUTE anymore... it's been discontinued but it lives on in shops and collectors now.. It weighs in at 8.8lbs. all steel and rubberised plastic sides that I have seen become sticky. But there are many 3rd-party wooden upgrades for the BRUTEs so don't let that dissuade you. It works great without the sides too just don't stick your finger inside ...lol ZAP!

I saw some comments below that questioned the quality of the Arturia. Arturia makes both high-end and affordable synths. If you so choose you can get one for around $200. I too own a Moog Sub Phatty. It weighs in at a respectable 20lbs, while the original miniMoog weighs 32lbs, Mind you the Sub Phatty and the miniMoog declare in their manual you need a strong table :) IT'S TRUE! While the 8.8lbs is much lighter, I dropped mine the first week I got it, and it fell flat. Normally that would shake or rip a standoff or 2 maybe at least 1 screw.. nope. Nothing... (literally thank the maker) so for me in my experience with their products it's been WOW. The miniBrute 2S is built the same and comes in at 7.7lbs. It's not a Volca.

BUT

The keys... The keys are real keys with aftertouch and velocity. For all the love I pour over this synth. A review below reminded me of what I do not like about it, and it's so minuscule for me.., but might be very off putting to others. They keys have a tendency to crack underneath due to the design (lip) that hangs underneath the underside of the white keys. Once they crack they all the other touch points to give way and crack some more until your playing a "flappy" key and while it still works .... so does the spring action. I don't have to show you a picture of a flappy key bouncing off the spring when slapped... you get the idea. Yes, while that is one thing I wish would have been "beta" tested thoroughly, I know you can't be all things. And with that said... this is one of the finest monosynths for the money.

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