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Arturia Polybrute


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Demo sounds very CS-80ish to my ears. Not that that's a bad thing. It may make a good controller for Arturia's CS-80 V (if it has polyphonic aftertouch).

The pad on the left is an interesting addition.

Hardware:
Yamaha
: MODX7 | Korg: Kronos 88, Wavestate | ASM: Hydrasynth Deluxe | Roland: Jupiter-Xm, Cloud Pro, TD-9K V-Drums | Alesis: StrikePad Pro|
Behringer: Crave, Poly D, XR-18, RX1602 | CPS: SpaceStation SSv2 | 
Controllers: ROLI RISE 49 | Arturia KeyLab Essentials 88, KeyLab 61, MiniLab | M-Audio KeyStation 88 & 49 | Akai EWI USB |
Novation LaunchPad Mini, |
Guitars & Such: Line 6 Variax, Helix LT, POD X3 Live, Martin Acoustic, DG Strat Copy, LP Sunburst Copy, Natural Tele Copy|
Squier Precision 5-String Bass | Mandolin | Banjo | Ukulele

Software:
Recording
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Arturia: V-Collection 9 | Native Instruments: Komplete 1 Standard | Spectrasonics: Omnisphere 2, Keyscape, Trilian | Korg: Legacy Collection 4 | Roland: Cloud Pro | GForce: Most all of their plugins | u-he: Diva, Hive 2, Repro, Zebra Legacy | AAS: Most of their VSTs |
IK Multimedia: SampleTank 4 Max, Sonik Synth, MODO Drums & Bass | Cherry Audio: Most of their VSTs |

 

 

 

 

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Very cool. Love that controller thingie on the left. Unfortunately until I play live again I have no need of any hardware.

 

It would be great if more keyboards could incorporate audio interfaces in them like the Modx does. Arturia might be expected to get on board with something like that....

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Seems well thought out and fairly priced. Interesting oscillators, a filter only they sell, premium real-time controls, useful sequencer interface panel for those that use them... Getting it under $3k is a nice touch, but still 6 voices. OB-6 has 6 voices, and this is more versatile if this is your "one poly". Me, I'm not giving up the filter controls on the OB-6 - that synth is worth it for the one knob that manipulates the filter type....

 

For digital controlled analog synths, it is a solid entry. I hope they do well with it. I'm waiting on Osmose as the next thing for me...

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I wish my MatrixBrute had three things this one does: that pad thingy, a real backlit display rather than e-ink (wtf really?), and a digital effects processor. The rest, meh, not so much.

 

I am sure this thing will make a lot of folks happy, and if it's Arturia, at least it will be built to last.

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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Owning the Solaris has saved me so many analog synth purchases. While it doesn't have a Steiner filter, it has loads of other options. It has way more architectural flexibility than anything short of a modular and more modulation capability than pretty much anything except a Modal 002. The Solaris has been a great synth. Never a regret. I'd never claim it is the exact sound, but architecturally it can do pretty much 30 years worth of polysynth stuff and sounds fantastic doing it all from analog through Waldorf wavetables. You can even set up a full CS-80 architecture in it, including ring mod and all the modulation paths of the original! (I wrote that up on my blog). The analog synths I own all have to do something unique the Solaris does not. (Except the Minimoog Model D - my only concession to simple vintage synthesis... what can I say? It's limited, simple, and absolutely perfect as an instrument to play with a rock band).

 

For me, the interesting poly directions are digital. The Iridium/Quantum is the one my eye is on. But Osmose first.

 

I do think it is super smart the way they have it tied to a software plugin. Digital controlled analog is wonderful. All my analog poly's are.

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Here" s an opinion from someone who knows close to nothing about analog synths...this one just sounds 'right' to my ears. Completely uneducated opinion, but from all the new analogs, virtual analogs, etc., that have been coming out in the last little while, this is the first one I"ve heard that really hits me.
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I agree, Mike. It sounds very slick and creamy, as well as punchy and gritty. I also think the demo illustrates some CS-80 timbres. I'd be curious how it stacks up dry - sounds like there's a lot of modulation and reverb/delay FX going on in the demo.
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I'd be curious how it stacks up dry - sounds like there's a lot of modulation and reverb/delay FX going on in the demo.

 

Loopop gives you a good dose of dry tones. Links to specific sections of the review are in the Youtube description. The oscillator section is immediately followed by the filter section.

 

[video:youtube]

 

Gordon "Synth Secrets" Reid goes into the nitty gritty about the oscillators and stuff. Spoiler alert: He loves it

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/arturia-polybrute

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I accept my Calcified ProgFart status, but its hard to see this without thinking it deserves to be played in a singular, pianistic manner. Like the Fantom (while being markedly different instruments), it has Nerve Center written on it. Its sound is big & lush solo, but I can also 'feel' it layered with/driving outboard gear. That's why I look a bit sideways at a stack of multiple flagships in a rig. They're not getting the individual love they deserve, for all of that power. I acknowledge that using a DAW & a wad of software synths has a similar aroma, but its also a self-contained studio approach. Its a different thing to say "Am I man enough to take the Big Kahuna Hardware Synth Challenge?" :laugh:

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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I really, really like how it sounds. It's got that lush smoothness I associate with the CS-80 and Jupiter-8. (Update: Upon having worked with it a lot more, it's more like theJupiter-6 and CS-70M.) Magic Eight Ball says the chances are very good of this showing up in the MPN GearLab!

Stephen Fortner

Principal, Fortner Media

Former Editor in Chief, Keyboard Magazine

Digital Piano Consultant, Piano Buyer Magazine

 

Industry affiliations: Antares, Arturia, Giles Communications, MS Media, Polyverse

 

 

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Seems to have a monstrously solid low end. I wasn't expecting this but I'm seriously jonesing from the videos...

You want me to start this song too slow or too fast?

 

Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff

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Never thought I'd want to sell my OB-6 but I think I could get enough for it to cover the Polybrute. But then there's the Hydrasynth....arghh what a time to be alive!?

You want me to start this song too slow or too fast?

 

Forte7, Nord Stage 3, XK3c, OB-6, Arturia Collection, Mainstage, MotionSound KBR3D. A bunch of MusicMan Guitars, Line6 stuff

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  • 3 weeks later...
Appreciate you bumping this Mark as it's nearly convinced me this might be my next purchase. I just sole my Nord Electro and about to list a Nektar controller and if that sells I think this baby is on my list :)
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Gripe alert!!

 

I just got through skimming the new Sweetwater demo vid of the Polybrute. While I didn't sit through all 40 min (hey, I got shit to do), I did skim from beginning to end. I can't point to any section of the 40 minutes where anything resembling a F*cking song is played (subjective opinion). Ya ya, it can morph, loop envelopes, arpeggiate, etc....but WHERE IS THE SONG! FX and head bobbing knob twisting are fun and all, but after a while it's like a 5 year old with a toy. This rant is not specific to the Polybrute demo, or even sweetwater. Also, most piano, ep and organ focused demos feature what I would consider songs or coherent musical passages. But with synth demos, this type of Saturday Afternoon Guitar Center cacophony is so pervasive.

[video:youtube]

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Gripe alert!!

 

I just got through skimming the new Sweetwater demo vid of the Polybrute. While I didn't sit through all 40 min (hey, I got shit to do), I did skim from beginning to end. I can't point to any section of the 40 minutes where anything resembling a F*cking song is played (subjective opinion). Ya ya, it can morph, loop envelopes, arpeggiate, etc....but WHERE IS THE SONG! FX and head bobbing knob twisting are fun and all, but after a while it's like a 5 year old with a toy. This rant is not specific to the Polybrute demo, or even sweetwater. Also, most piano, ep and organ focused demos feature what I would consider songs or coherent musical passages. But with synth demos, this type of Saturday Afternoon Guitar Center cacophony is so pervasive.

 

This drives a lot of people (including me) crazy! The top comments in good melodic synth demos are always thanking them for playing music instead of knob turning noises and "space beeping" as one of my favorite comments put it. I don't care how fancy and novel a new synth is, after 5 minutes of knob turning non-music, I'm switched off mentally. For the love of god, PLAY MUSIC. Any asshole can hold a note and push buttons, show me how it plays.

Keyboards: Nord Electro 6D 73, Korg SV-1 88, Minilogue XD, Yamaha YPG-625

Bonus: Boss RC-3 Loopstation

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