Tom Oberheim and Dave Smith collaborating on a synth? That’s got to be interesting to any synth nerd. The kind folks at Dave Smith Instruments sent me over a pre-production machine to check out. Here’s my thoughts… The OB6 6 voice fully analog Dave Smith synth with a Tom Oberheim designed filter. It’s got two… Read More Dave Smith Instruments OB6 review
For the past week I’ve been playing with Dave Smith’s new baby, the Pro 2. It comes a little more than a year after the mighty Prophet 12 and, so stylistically similar are they, you’d be forgiven for mistaking the two. Side by side they make quite a pair. The Pro 2 is a three… Read More Dave Smith Instruments Pro 2 review
A fully featured analogue monosynth for £250. Ain’t that something? At that price it’s difficult to resist, so I took a punt and it’s been in the studio for a few months. Let’s take a look at the features. It’s a single oscillator (plus sub) capable of producing saw, pulse and triangle waveforms simultaneously. You… Read More Arturia MicroBrute review
Like the P3 before it, the Sequentix Cirklon is a fairly niche piece of musical equipment. It’s a MIDI sequencer (with options to expand to CV outputs for modular / vintage connections). And that’s it. No sounds, no samples, no effects, no audio inputs or outputs. Just MIDI and CV. If you know anything about… Read More Sequentix Cirklon review
Looking for more great Prophet 12 sounds? My P12 sound bank is now available through Boxed Ear. 99 beautiful electronica patches for your Prophet 12. I have spent the last week exploring every sonic meandering path I could push the Prophet 12 along. Why just a week? Well that’s all I had, during which time it was my pleasure to make as… Read More Dave Smith Prophet 12 review
An MPC60 came up for sale round the corner from where I live. One thing lead to another and it’s now sitting at Rozzer HQ. You might know that I’ve owned an MPC in the past, a 2500 to be precise. I really enjoyed having it, they’re amazing machines – lots of fun to write… Read More Akai MPC 60 review
A few weeks ago a friend gave me this curious looking box. A Suzuki synthesizer? Surely not. A google search turned up very little, except a page at Hollow Sun. Essentially the Suzuki SX500 is a rebadged Siel EX80 which in turn was a copy of the Korg EX800. Here’s what we know. There are… Read More Suzuki SX500 / Siel EX80 review
Ok, it been a few weeks so I feel I can safely express my opinion on the Phatty without coming across like it’s the best thing on the planet five minutes after unboxing it (a common phenomenon of synth forums). Being of a generally positive persuasion, I’ll start with my likes: The interface This is… Read More The Moog Little Phatty review
The Innerclock Sync-Lock is a small box that provides a solution. Getting rock solid midi clock & din sync from your DAW. The problem is that PCs and MACs have notoriously shakey midi timing. If you’ve never noticed this, you probably don’t need a Sync Lock, but if you’ve ever been frustrated by the midi… Read More Innerclock Sync-Lock review
The Kurzweil K2661. Kurzweils are somewhat of an anomaly in the keyboard workstation world. Whilst other manufacturers bring out new and updated keyboards every couple of years, Kurzweil have pretty much sat on their VAST based line of keyboards for nearly 20 years. There have been revisions of course, but nothing like the cash cow… Read More Kurzweil K2661 mini review
This month has been quite fun for new gear. Apart from a Mackie Control and a Line 6 Variax 500, I’ve just taken delivery of this handbuilt Universal Audio 1176LN clone, and boy does it sound SWEET. Anyone who tells you that software plugins can sound just as good as hardware needs their head (or… Read More 1176 compressor clone review