I definitely hear what seems to be a sweeter and softer fundamental sound in the Take 5 demos. My only Prophet-5 experience is with U-he Repro and T5 seems closer to that character than the Mopho’s.
I could be wrong but it sounds like Take 5 can do pretty analog sounds with ease, but has some distortion and modulation possibilities to get dirty when needed. I think I’d probably enjoy it more than my Mopho x4 + Tetra combo as it seems like a great package.
Is the desktop out yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet?
Good call, maybe this is the nice middle ground I can hope for.
Matt Johnson has one thing in common with us - he buys a new synth even though he’s not totally sold on it, is disappointed for the first hour or so, then after a few more hours decides to keep it after some patch programming.
He shares his discoveries here
Mine should arrive within 2 days! Can not wait to pair this with my elektrons, pro3, and 16 voice rev2.
One thing that has me hella excited is the sine wave. I used to have the Modal Argon 8 (not analog obviously) and it had a very beautiful sine wave init patch. To have a sine in analog will be dope. Most of my other analogs have triangle. (I’m aware can replicate with filter tracking on some analogs, this just seems easier).
without a doubt the best Demo so far
Oh snap. I always have bad luck with Sequential gear as well. Had a P6…right out of the box, 1 of 6.broken voice cards. Sold it a few years later to get an OB6…constantly needed calibration, had it sent in for repair, got it back, but still unstable tuning like Waldmeister pudding. Returned it and got my money back.
Last year bought a Pioneer Toraiz AS1 (which is a single voice P6)… never had an issue. If the T5 sounds anything like the AS1/P6, it for sure is a great sounding synth.
So TL;DW he is mostly criticizing the lower Midths that are a bit lacking compared to other Sequential synths. Drive is compensating for this. FX are not great, sound seems to loose phase or something. He likes the mod matrix, which is opening the synth, that’s why he keeps it.
Consistent with what other reviewers have said - GeoSynth/Jamie, various peeps who tried in person and then posted here, etc. It’s just that they could not explain the low-mid issue in easy to understand words like Matt.
However, your effort to summarize what has been stated is appreciated.
oof… it does sound very good. i enjoy johnson’s playing and videos. the mod matrix really is powerful on this little thing.
I wonder what the root cause is for this and if it is just a finetuning issue that can be fixed via firmware, or if this is due to some hardware consolidation to reduce parts and lower production costs. It doesn’t make the synth unusable though, it’s just something to take into account before buying this synth.
You know what my take on this going to be.
Don’t buy it, if a synth with great low-mids is your highest priority.
And never buy a synth with the hopes that something you don’t like is going to be so-called fixed in the near future.
You should buy it for the things that it can do - right now, not in your imagined future - that you like.
Could be nice paired with a Pro 3 - which to my ears has can do the low-mids and low-whatevers.
It wasn’t really something I noticed in my time with the T5. I do think Matt has good ears though, so maybe there is something to it? On the other hand, he’s the first person I have seen bring this up, so even if it is true, I don’t think it is bugging many people. It could contribute to the overall sound of the T5, and maybe why I like it so much. There is often so much going on in low-mids, that having a natural cut down there could be beneficial, especially for a poly synth.
Jamie/GeoSynth mentioned it too, but use vague language like “Prophet 5 is beefier and Take 5 lacks the beef” or similar language. I’ve seen similar comments from others.
Not faulting him per se. The skill of communicating your experience, clearly, to other musicians is limited by your command of language, and I don’t think too many musos put in the effort, because there isn’t that much incentive.
Oh, and for those who didn’t notice, Jamie still bought a Take 5 after weighing pros and cons for himself. It’s not like he doesn’t have a roomful of other synths that can do killer low-mids already.
The Peak remains this for me.
Yes, fully agree. I would like to try one myself one day and compare it with the AS1. I am waiting for the module version. Not enough room.
He also said, that it can be compensated with the built in drive.
I totally get it. I loved the AS1. It is an amazing mono synth with pretty good FX. But I will say that the Take 5 just sounds different, not better or worse, it just has a different flavor and needs to be played in person, like the AS1, to experience it.
I don’t really grasp how adding more harmonics/crunch (drive) can change the “default” EQ curve of a synth.
If a synth is lacking low-mids it sounds like something in the oscillators or filters or the convertors/audio-path?
Maybe i’m missing something…
When you put these Polys in a Mix they are hard to distinguish one from the other. I think reliability over the years will be the yardstick.