The more I read about it the more I want one. This thing is massively underrated because of the cheesy demos.
300 voices, 16 part multitimbral, microtonal support, amazing UI, MPE support, great mod matrix with 139 sources-224 destinations, complex envelopes, 8 outs, layer morphing…etc.
Using this thing with some pedals would be really fun!
I think I like the essence of FM, but I’m not sure about the essence of Kodamo. I just like the idea of things in general.
I’ve had mine for at least a year. Still love it and still have much to learn, but having a blast
This thing is amazing! If you’re thinking of getting it, don’t listen to any demos or presets, just jump on it straight away.
I’ve already posted this in another thread, but here is my first hour with it:
Ah you already got it! Great - sounds wicked! Cool soundscape.
I’m also making a lot of sounds with it these days.
If you haven’t already try using two voices in a patch and pan them left/right and detune one slightly - it can sound so big that way.
Yeah, I got it today and the user interface is really cool! it’s pretty fun.
Thanks for the tips, will give that a try!
Guess they’re listening. Email from Kodamo this morning:
The EssenceFM is a bit short on demos and presets. Some users weren’t impressed by them, but absolutely loved this synth once they started making their own sounds … As for the EssenceFM, several sound banks will be released to expand the existing library.
Will try 
I’ll show new presets I developed for it… soon 
So one lfo per voice… How are those of you who have this feeling about that?
And amen to an update on the factory patches… The current set - what a way to shoot yourself in the foot.
Also curious to know if any owners watched some of Venus Theory’s YT livestream and what they thought of his comments regarding the EFM?
Asked the same question on GS - but not much feedback so far. Plus, I find this place cozier - so asking here as well.
So what’s going on in that patch? Would you mind going into a bit of detail? One held note? Multitrack? Internal effects only or?
Super curious - give us some deets!
I’m not familiar, but if you care to ask what your curious about, I’m happy to provide the best thoughts I’ve got.
Quick answer is that at first you miss more LFOs but this synth has extensive modulation in many ways and you can just use a looping envelope as an LFO… But so much modulation is possible that you don’t really miss it. FM operators modulating each other is a big part of it.
I can’t really remember the patch and I think I didn’t save it properly, as I was really new at EFM 
But maybe the patch is still somewhere in EFM, I should check it, when I’m at home.
But there was some modulation for sure and as @Soarer says, you can modulate a parameter in many ways. Pretty powerful. It was my first try to test the workflow and the whole patch was a result of a lot of trial and error which is really easy with the EFM as you have the UNDO option.
It’s not one note, I’ve sequenced it with my Octatrack, no multitrack. Almost internal effects only, except tiny bit of reverb and compressor from the OT.
Just checked the guy but stopped to watch it after I heard him saying that the envelopes should be updated to adsr.
Yeah, his commentary was frustrating on occasion. He didn’t appear to be approaching the synth fairly overall.
The comment I caught regarding the envolope was that it should default to a shape that is quicker to adjust to taste, rather then it appearing to default to a blank slate more or less. That particular comment made some sense to me, actually.
His strong objections regarding the LFO I found a bit odd on one hand, given the seemingly many other ways available to approach modulation. On the other hand, having more than one lfo is pretty standard these days, so it’s not totally off base. Anyway, I was curious to hear if others might have also found that a shortcoming.
I’m hoping to be able to have an opinion on that any day now - I’m keeping an eye out for the postal carrier! Looking forward to seeing/hearing what this beast can do.
I strongly believe that you should have some limitations and try to embrace them. That’s why I don’t use SuperCollider anymore. And the EFM is so deep that you could usually find another solution for your needs. For instance, do you need more lfos or in general more modulations? Then split up your patch/sound in several voices then modulate them via your new individual lfos/envelopes/velocity/aftertouch options…etc. I mean, he just needs to spend more time with it.
He seemed to be indicating that he’d be working on a review next week. I’m not really familiar with his content, but noted he had about 75k subs, so he has some reach.
What I’m hoping is that he doesn’t trash it, because he wasn’t being nuanced in his initial assessments.
It would be pretty unfortunate for Kodomo, a small company trying to put out something pretty innovated, possibly getting unfairly slammed.
Someone, somewhere (can’t recall what forum) mentioned that Loopop wasn’t interested in doing a review of it. If true, thats a bit of a shame. I’d trust him to be pretty extensive and fairly objective.
It’s not a review friendly synth since it’s not loaded with good presets like the opsix. It takes time and effort to make your own good sounding FM patches on it so I think that’s why there’s not so many reviews of it. But if this guy trashes it he’s a fool and I think people will let him know.
On LFOs again: All envelopes can be looped so you can say the EFM has 10+ LFOs.
Each operator has a multipoint pitch envelope so that is pretty crazy too.
Being a novice (at best) regarding FM, so far I’ve found the EFM’s biggest limitation is me
That said, it’s such a fun synth to program and with a little patience and an open mind, I’m getting sounds out of it that I’ve never been able to get on other synths.
Sure, lots of the presets are pretty vanilla, but I’ve had great success stacking and tweaking several of those bland presets and turning them into sounds that interest me a great deal