Novation Peak

The Lounge Other Gear
#1257

Oh my god. I was rereading this thread and came across this. For years I’ve been hoping MPE support would get added so I could use polyphonic aftertouch. I had assumed — because the Peak didn’t support MPE and, I guess, because it just says “AftTouch” in the matrix — that it was channel aftertouch only.

I feel like such an idiot. It’s even carefully spelled out in the manual. I guess I didn’t have any poly-aftertouch controllers until long after I read it and so the significance didn’t click?

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Don’t get me wrong, I’m still hoping for full MPE support. But the coolest part of it has been there right from the beginning! Don’t be like me. Use your poly-aftertouch controllers with your Peak!

5 Likes
#1258

Send them a friendly feature request. I did (for MPE in fact) and they even answered.

I think it’s useful to give them positive feedback too. According to the reply they gave me, it gets forwarded to the engineers.

1 Like
#1259

Ive always wondered If it would be possible to do faux poly aftertouch from devices such as Octatrack… say you have different midi tracks playing Peak and each of these tracks modulate aftertouch…

#1260

I don’t think so. Poly aftertouch contains note data whereas channel AT is a different message and behaves like the mod wheel, midi wise. The Peak just has some smart function to differentiate between the two.

1 Like
#1261

Pia to try and find a controller with Polly at. I don’t have any room.

#1262

Some small poly AT controllers for you:

  • CME Xkey stuff
  • Pretty much all the Keith McMillen controllers are Poly AT, but the K-board and QuNexus are quite small.
  • Or get a 12 Step from Keith McMillen and put it on the floor :slight_smile:
  • I’m pretty sure the MicroFreak is poly AT (though how it senses “pressure” is a little different from most keyboards, obviously).
  • The LaunchPad Pro, of course, as called out by the manual. But that might be too big?
1 Like
#1263

I use my hydrasynth to control peak. Polyphonic aftertouch is an amazing thing.

1 Like
#1264

I was thinking of getting one…

#1265

Bit of a random (slightly long) addition to the thread, but felt I wanted to share this somewhere, and not sure where the best place would be.

So, I had heard Novation had the best customer service going, but I had never really needed it, so had no first hand experience until last week. And man I’d say the rumours are an understatement.

So back in 2019, just before my warranty ran out on the PEAK, I sent it back to Thomann who repaired the data encoder for me, however in the process they destroyed the rubber strips/feet on the bottom. There was some other issues with them, but that’s neither here nor there.

Skip forward another 3 years, so I have owned the PEAK for 6 years at this point (3 years past warranty) and I decide it’s finally time to see if I can get some replacement strips/feet. I email novation, mark it as “not urgent” and within 24 hours I have a reply asking for delivery address confirmation. So I confirm and ask them what I owe? Nothing. They sent me free replacements, via DPD (imo the best parcel company) and they turned up within 2 days of the email. Blown. Away.

At the same time as this I decide to throw in a feature request, for the option to replace and restore the factory wavetables with user ones (which I kindly ask anyone else here to throw them an email for too :wink: ). Not sure where to send the request, I decide to hit the live chat button, this was at like 3-4 am UK time, someone’s there ready to chat, I ask where to send feature requests… In the chat is fine, said he would pass it on, then got a confirmation email with a transcript of the conversation which had been passed on.

This is genuinely amazing customer service and support. I thought it would be nice to share a pleasant experience like this, as we can often be quick to call companies out for doing stuff wrong/badly, but honestly, kind of rarely shout them out when they do go above and beyond.

TL;DR:
The rumours of Novation having the best customer service is dramatically understated :slight_smile:

25 Likes
#1266

Did anyone get the Jexus patches?

#1267

The Hidden LoFi Audio Input for the Peak:

11 Likes
#1268

It’s strange, I’ve had the Peak for many years now, but every time I use it I feel like I’m exploring new sonic territories. It’s easily my favorite synth, offering depth as well as hands-on control. The wavetables take it to another level.

14 Likes
#1269

agreed! had a goosebumps moment when crafting a new patch last week…and i’ve had the Peak for about 2-3 years now. still surprising me regularly. modern classic.

7 Likes
#1270

Just traded the Syntakt for a Peak (on a whim) and I have to say I’m floored by this device. The sound is lush, the layout is so playable, and it’s such a deep and expressive instrument. It has quickly become the keystone of my setup between the OT, DN (on midi and percussion duties), A4Mk1, and a couple pedals. Now wondering if anyone else has found any other interesting “companion-combos” for the Peak in the studio.

13 Likes
#1271

I’ll definitely get another one of these days :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#1272

I just scored an amazing deal on a Peak and had to snag it. Completely mint and definitely the deal if the year for me. I don’t know if people are just selling these because they’re a few years old or what but some great deals to be had out there.

Also completely floored by its sound. It’s a pad and bassline machine. And just really accessible, easy to program. I have mine alongside a Digitakt. Looking forward to sampling some one shot drums and stabs into the DT soon.

That reverb is really fun. I usually don’t use onboard reverb on most synths but this has a character of its own. And you can modulate the effects!

Haven’t even touched the user wavetables yet.

8 Likes
#1273

The reverb is one of my favorite things about the peak - it’s probably the best that I’ve heard in a device that wasn’t a dedicated effect. Be sure to play with switching the effects from parallel routing to a chain! I find that all three effects sound way more interesting that way.

5 Likes
#1274

Ahh nice. I noticed that in the manual but haven’t tried it out yet. Will do! There’s a lot to explore here. Thanks.

1 Like
#1275

I’ll be selling mine at some point but it’s not because it’s old or not a good synth.

I just found I didn’t fully gel with the workflow and I find it easier to get what I want from my Hydrasynth or one of the other devices I have.

Plus it was the biggest one on my desk which has some limited room.

#1276

It has the best reverb of any synth imo. Absolutely huge, lush and beautiful!

3 Likes