Talking of which on its second outing mine seems to have crapped its USB port (can’t check DIN ports right now).
Worked fine the other day, inputting notes and chords to Renoise. Switched it on today and nothing. Checked
USB cable, swapped, nothing
USB port on my Mac, swapped, nothing
Renoise preferences, nothing available as a midi I/O
Audio Midi setup - greyed out as if it’s not plugged in
Reset globals after checking all global settings, nothing.
Plug my HSK in via the same cable and port, everything fine, HSK is highlighted in Audi Midi setup and is available in Renoise preferences.
Audio outs on the T5 seem to be working fine. It’s not lost the patches I programmed last time out. Sadly it’s looking like a fault. I went to Sequential’s site to see if I could reload/upgrade to the latest Software version but they’ve not got an file linked. I’m gonna raise a ticket with them, hoping there’s a ‘hidden’ reset menu or button combo I can try before I box it up and send it back. Which will make me very sad.
Edit - Plugged into my DN via DIN cable at the DN is receiving midi notes so it appears to be confined to the USB port of the T5. Ticket raised.
Sure, let’s recap his review for those who missed it:
lower Midths that are a bit lacking compared to other Sequential synths. Drive can compensate a bit for this.
Lows are good enough for bass though
FX are ok, not awesome - reverb, delay and ring mod are usable. Best used with mod matrix. To his ears, the FX may cause some phase cancellation.
Mod matrix sets this apart from other Sequential analog polys. Combined with the built-in FX, can create “modern” textures - eg. wavetable-like animated stuff - not possible with the others.
2 out of the 6 voice cards on my P6 had to be replaced due to faults…just sayin’. Its unfortunate that a number of users online say that they hsve had voice card/calibration issues.
The Pro 3 had some issues with USB midi for several firmware updates. It now works fine. I wonder if similar issue is on the Take 5 (I will have mine soon to test)?
Definitely strange that it worked and then it stopped. But that was the exact issue with the Pro 3 at first - intermittent USB midi.
*** just want to add that DIN midi worked in the interim in my example above.
The OB6 also had a broken button right out of the box…
My P6 was fine, after the dead voice got replaced. Never had an issue after that. So my guess is that Sequential has a manufacturer that built for them and they don´t do the final QC themselves, rather have that manufacturer do it for them. The voice cards are probably from a different manufacturer too.
The OB6 voice calibration is a learning system that needs to be repeated several times before it keeps the tuning. They measure the temperature and fill a table with that…i don´t know why i never had a calibration issue with my Moogs or Vermonas…
However it totally turned me off for a while to consider buying a Sequential synth again. I hope the partnership with Novation will increase built quality…they really have to look into that. Back to the Take 5.
Thanks for your enlightening reply! I raised a ticket with Sequential yesterday (Sunday) and they got back to me today so no complaints there. I’ve tried again with both my Mac’s and followed the advice given by Sequential but the issue persists.
I hope yours isn’t affected when it arrives. I’ll keep folks updated here for reference.
Can those who own and use this already chime in about bass? Haven’t seen ALL of the demos on YT however what’s there seems to politely avoid very low registers.
Has anyone else explored the fm in depth here? I didn’t realize at first, but i guess it’s obvious that when you engage the fm mode with the fm button, you can then use the “Osc2” modulator in the matrix as a source. This was not clearly laid out in the manual, but then again that manual is severely lacking in all aspects (which reminds me, does anyone have a midi cc chart for this synth?)
I am in love with Osc2 > Filter Cutoff, getting really good results fm’ing the Octave of osc1 as well as fine pitch and both oscillator waveform shapes. I was wondering how i could put an envelope between 2 and 1 for a little more control over the exponential fm between vcos and now i’d like to know if setting ‘mod slot 1’ as Osc2>Osc1 Oct, then setting ‘mod slot 2’ as Env1>Mod Slot 1 would produce the desired result, or at least get close. I’ll try it when i get back to my desk
Any tips for best uses of fm here? Im getting more interesting results with square and saw waves, rather than sine waves for whatever reason. I am confused about how Oscillator Sync works alongside FM. It seems like it locks in Osc1’s pitch & the osc2 can still fm osc1, but im not entirely sure that’s whats happening
Dont have the Take 5, but generally exponetial FM messes with the pitch alot. So dynamic exp fm as you describe here will be hard to keep in pitch. It will get a pitch bend kind of sound. Can be cool for drums and stuff like that.
Sync and FM can be a good way to lock the pitch. It will give a different sound compared to unsync’ed FM. I use this on sound that need to keep the pitch to work in a melodic way.
Another thing i think the Take 5 can do that should sound pretty cool is audio rate modulation of waveshape. Just going into audio rate on PWM can make some really cool sounds.
Take5 landed earlier in the week so few nights ago I built out this little sampling station corner in the living room (for when I am away from main studio area). Great fun to use while the wife watches TV lol.
Take5 is a keeper. In the past I have owned the P6/OB6, while I currently own Sequential 16 voice Rev2, and Sequential Pro3 - from Dave+co… this one certainly is staying.
Fantastic addition to any studio. I think it will be a hit for them.
some good stuff in that video… there are similarities and differences. i don’t know why people get hung up on whether it sounds like something that already exists. maybe it’s just context or familiar reference points.
