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New synth: DSI Sequential X


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I believe the most innovative synth imaginable will not sell very well. You need not look very far to see the interest (i.e putting you money where your mouth is) is just not there.

There is a lot of wisdom in that post. The 12 may have been Dave's most innovative synth but I could never come around to wanting one. I never heard any demos that sounded useful. The sounds I use are just to pedestrian because that is what works in the stuff that people will pay to hear. But absolutely love the REV2 and P8.

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In case some took my comments as meaning I don't like DSI, know that I still have 3 DSI synths. A P'08 tabletop, a P12 tabletop, and a Prophet 6 keyboard. We all know that every time a company releases a new keyboard the older model is devalued. DSI seems to accelerate that devalue process by releasing new keyboards at a more prolific rate than any company that I can remember. Whenever I see a new keyboard from DSI my first thought is "how long before the next release?" So why buy now?

This post edited for speling.

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I'm still enraptured by the piano, so I seem to look at new tools a bit differently than others do. Even when I had a stack of six actual 'boards and a couple of modules, I always had a master keyboard for the bulk of it, so one of my first thoughts is always "Would I enjoy laying into this thing as my front end?" It IS hard for most synths to compete with a pile of software synths you can easily juggle in Mainstage, so it has to have a subjective feel to win the cutting contest. IMO, Dave's designs are well-balanced across the board, relative to the main purpose. A Prophet-12 is far more of a designer's synth if desired, where a P6 is a loose cross between a lead synth and a good top-of-the-piano poly. Besides, I LIKE things that have three screens! :D

 

Let's hear it and then judge. Having chosen more Korg and Sequential synths than any others, I have my own biases. I'm with Dave about preferring patch recall over modulars. I've been strangled by cords enough, thanks!

 

 

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I'm maybe not clear about the architecture. Brenner13 earlier mentioned something about 2 wavetable + 2 analog but I have not seen where that came from or if it's just speculation. I was assuming that was correct but then all this "Rompler" discussion started. Wavetable is definitely more interesting, especially coupled with analog, than ROMpler....and very different. Do we have any indications if it is wavetable or not? I was kind of thinking something along the lines of an advanced modern version of the Prophet VS with hybrid analog/wavetable.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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I have seen a closeup picture of the 4 knob mixer that he is tweaking in the demo. The labels are Instrument 1, Instrument 2, Oscillator 1, Oscillator 2.

 

linked because the pic is huge:

 

https://i2.wp.com/www.synthtopia.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/sequential-circuits-prophet-x.jpg

 

OK, so that would appear to be more a mixer as opposed to a wavetable.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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Just as a point of reference, when the WaveStation first came out people bitched because it didn't have a piano or ROMpler capabilities. Korg came back with the WaveStation EX which gave it both. Curious to see where this thing is going just like most of you.

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My comments are total and complete speculation, hence the question marks following them.

 

Oh, you want me to read punctuation, too? Didn't mean to single you out or imply anything, I was just skimming and it caught my eye so I was just wondering if the speculation came from a source that I missed.

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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Ah, no worries Dan. I just thought it best to make sure my conjectures are clearly understood as nothing more than hopeful wishes.

 

Listening to the clip a few more times, perhaps it could just be pcm's run though a myriad of effects. But it sure sounds like wave manipulation of some sort to me. Those choir vowels when instrument 2 sweeps in could be something besides a single sample, right?

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Anyone else here think this marks the beginning of the end for DSI?

 

Dave putting out a synth with a side of ROMpler wreaks of desperation and a lack of new ideas.

 

When Dave started off with the Evolver and then the analog synths I would've never thought he'd circle back and start putting out ROMplers.

 

It's like the late 80's all over again.

 

If I wanted a ROMpler, I'd get a Kronos or Montage. The Japanese do them better than anyone.

 

No. He makes great sounding synths (I dont own one), that sound DIFFERENT than Moog or Roland, etc. I think the Mopho is big bang for the buck, and this thing has my attention.

 

Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
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No reason to slag Dave. He's one of the good guys and invented MIDI for starters. Easy to sit on the sidelines and snipe.

 

 

unless you are a troll. rolleyes

 

 

Really Dave? Don't tell me you're drinking the Kool-Aid on Dave Smith. He has been an innovative guy but a ROMpler? Yeah he invented MIDI, put out some awesome synths with Sequential, innovated with the VS and kick started the new era of polyphonic analogs but the X is a sad entry.

 

At this point he seems to value being prolific over being cutting edge. If he didn't have a new idea for a synth why force it and put out a rehash of the new Prophet with a generous side of ROMpler. Does he really need to release something new each year?

 

To be honest, this is better than just releasing a desktop of something else. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh on Dave, maybe he's getting a lot of requests to produce a ROMpler and he just wants to capitalize on the demand. So maybe he is doing it just for business.

 

If that is so, what does it tell us, that all roads lead to ROMpler? For years everyone complained about the lack of analogs, lack of warmth, how ROMplers sucked the life out of music and were bland. People hated them. A ROMpler was good for piano but a synth?

 

Now after 20 years of synth making, Dave is finding convergence on the very same type of synth that people were demanding an alternative to and hence grew DSI into a major player.

 

Just remember the late 90's people were beating on Yamaha, Korg and especially Roland to revisit analog. The big three were fine with ROMplers and the masses turned to Moog and DSI. After DSI's success the big three saw the market and started putting out VA's and analogs.

 

You mean to tell me now, Dave Smith's big announcement is a ROMpler while Korg's was the Prologue. Is the world not upside down here? Am I really the only one who notices the absurdity of this.

 

I wish Dave would've innovated with the X. It doesn't have to be analog. He seems in love with the possibilities of digital synthesis. Why not create a new innovative digital synthesizer? Why just add a ROMpler to the Prophet? Dave does try to milk the designs for all he can but this one is particularly offensive to my sensibilities.

 

I guess now we know that Bowen was the Lennon and Dave the McCartney of that relationship. Wings :facepalm:.

 

The Prophet with a lame piano sample, just what the world needed. Thanks Dave Smith.

 

 

 

 

Your happy face icon doesnt sound anything like your typing.

Hitting "Play" does NOT constitute live performance. -Me.
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I'm interested. As somebody posted, an updated Prophet VS/Wavestation w/ analog filters, knobby panel, etc. could be lots of fun.

 

I'd be too but unfortunately there is no joystick, there are no vectors, it's just a ROMpler/DSI analog. It's great if you want to layer an analog pad over a piano, or crazy modulated sound over a piano, or an LFO UFO patch ala Edgar Winter over a piano, ad nauseam.

 

But you know what? We could already do that type of stuff with any Korg.

 

I wish Bowen would get his act together with the Solaris and show Dave Smith how its done when you have a moral compass and an uncompromising will and passion to create something new, something alive and something awe-inspiring. Dave's got the business acumen to run an efficient company. John has the passion to create unique synths.

 

My personal favorite of the DSI catalog is the Mono Evolver Keyboard. I used that thing so much. It was unique. Then things went south with the Mopho, Tetra and 08. Decent sounds but warmed over #rehash and milked to death, mono keyboard, x4, desktop, 08 desktop, module, Tetra. Like 8 or 9 releases off the same synth design.

 

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The only bone I have to pick with certain DSI offerings is the lack of being able to get to patches quickly. Deal-breaker in a live performance.

Yup. And it looks like this might have the same issue.

 

it's just a ROMpler/DSI analog. It's great if you want to layer an analog pad over a piano, or crazy modulated sound over a piano, or an LFO UFO patch ala Edgar Winter over a piano, ad nauseam.

Again, why assume the only sampled sound in it is a piano? (I don't think that would justify the 8Dio badging, for one thing.)

 

But you know what? We could already do that type of stuff with any Korg.

Any Korg? Name me one Korg that has rompler sounds and dozens of real-time synth controls.

 

My personal favorite of the DSI catalog is the Mono Evolver Keyboard. I used that thing so much. It was unique. Then things went south with the Mopho, Tetra and 08. Decent sounds but warmed over #rehash and milked to death, mono keyboard, x4, desktop, 08 desktop, module, Tetra. Like 8 or 9 releases off the same synth design.

So now he does something noticeably different, and you complain?

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I'm interested. As somebody posted, an updated Prophet VS/Wavestation w/ analog filters, knobby panel, etc. could be lots of fun.

 

I'd be too but unfortunately there is no joystick, there are no vectors

 

It does have two ribbon controllers though. If they work like the ones on the P-12 and other ribbon-equipped DSIs, they're assignable to just about anything.

 

However, zero information has been released by DSI on this thing apart from the teaser video, so I'll probably check back on this thread after Superbooth 2018.

 

Regarding "any Korg...", I own several Korg synths myself. My analog Korgs don't have a piano sample. ;)

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...it's just a ROMpler/DSI analog.

 

You keep saying this but how do you know? Do you know something we don't?

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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Any Korg? Name me one Korg that has rompler sounds and dozens of real-time synth controls.

 

You mean besides the Kronos?

 

quick count: 9+1 sliders, 8 knobs, 10 buttons, toggles for changing assignments of most of those, vector JS, pitch/mod stick, ribbon, all controlling any destination within 9 synth engines that include more than just ROMpler and VA

Dan

 

Acoustic/Electric stringed instruments ranging from 4 to 230 strings, hammered, picked, fingered, slapped, and plucked. Analog and Digital Electronic instruments, reeds, and throat/mouth.

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Its odd watching to extreme reactions to this reveal on a variety of forums. The quick leaping to its just a ROMpler when we have very little information seems to be a widespread reflex. Could it be? Sure, but it seems pretty wildly unlikely given the source that there isnt something deeper to it. It seems certain well know more this week.

 

The one thing Im absolutely certain of is that Ill be very happy when the majority of the industry isnt focused solely on satisfying the analog purists and we can go back to exploring a variety of technologies without the ROMpler boogeyman being invoked. Theres ample room for hybrid designs while digital emulations of analog aspects are still being refined to the point where only collectors care if the filters are analog or not.

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Any Korg? Name me one Korg that has rompler sounds and dozens of real-time synth controls.

 

You mean besides the Kronos?

 

I should have been more specific. Kronos--the only Korg that arguably comes close--can be programmed to have lots of control, but not dozens of continuous controls, and not instantly and ever-presently available. It really is a different fish, from a playing/operating perspective. Experiment: Call up any synth program at all on the Kronos. Quick... Where's filter resonance? Where's VCA decay? Where's portamento time? Where's LFO frequency? When I talked about a board with "dozens of real-time synth controls" I meant instant access to these kinds of functions. With Kronos, you can pick and choose what you want the 8 knobs and 8 sliders to do, but you can't access as many of these functions at once, and different programs can have different controls, or the same controls in different places. It's a great board, super flexible in operation, with a huge breadth of sonic capabilities... but it is not operationally as oriented to someone into real-time sound creation, or on-the-fly tweaking that isn't planned out in advance. That's the kind of operation my reference to "real-time synth controls" was shorthand for.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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MGP, I'd suggest switching banks. :-)

 

That's all that I'll say, other than that I think the release strategy will please people.

 

I wasn't going to say anything at all, until seeing MGP's post. I get annoyed by stuff like that, as you know.

 

At this point, I have to recuse myself, as I now know details beyond what is currently public.

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The one thing Im absolutely certain of is that Ill be very happy when the majority of the industry isnt focused solely on satisfying the analog purists and we can go back to exploring a variety of technologies without the ROMpler boogeyman being invoked.

 

 

This. Analog designs are all good, but I need something more flexible. I don't know when "rompler" became a derogatory term, but good romplers like a Fantom/Montage/Kronos are excellent instruments in their own right.

 

In fact, I hope this would be rompler-like; with Roland backing out of the high-end synth market I'm happy with anything new in the segment.

 

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Bearing the Sequential name tells me the X isn't just a P12 rehash. I look forward to playing it. I just hope it doesn't sound better than my P6. :laugh::cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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