#447

There really is no comparison between the rev2 and perfourmer in my opinion. They are both incredible synths and you will be happy with either. I find myself driving the perfourmer most often with a midi sequencer and shaping each voice one at a time to make rhythmically driven synth palettes. It makes gorgeous drum sounds and real juicy round synth pulses. The rev2 is something else entirely for me. The rev2 feels like more of a scientific investigation (which I love). I prefer to start on the init patch and build up a sound. The gated sequencer has been mind expanding and very rewarding to explore. I have found the perfourmer more instantly gratifying but with maybe 25-50% more time per patch with the rev2 I can make sounds that make me very happy/satisfied in a very different way than the perfourmer. The perfourmer just sounds good but when I’ve made something that sounds good on the rev2 I feel that its more my own and there is a nice gratification in that. You can’t go wrong with either - the rev2 drips with character to my ears so I don’t think that is a fair comparison. Do you want the keyboard? Do you want out of the box/off the shelf splendor or powerful sculptable synth fantasy land? Up to you and if it helps here are some of my examples (rev2 sound) (perfourmer sound)

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#448
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#449

This sums up my experience with the Perfourmer really well. I went from never having heard of it to owning it within a span of about two weeks after hearing some of Matt’s clips and some others on YT. It absolutely has its limitations but its sound really speaks to me on a deep and satisfying level.

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#450

same experience for me. Got it about a week ago. Haven’t really had time to delve into all of the capabilities with the FM and syncing options, but just using it as a “simple” monosynth or round-robin “poly”-synth is very nice

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#451

Seems like most places have limited stock, hope it’s not going the way of the dodo!

#452

interesting. even if discontinued by korg, it will likely continue to evolve and become more complex and fully featured, due to the custom oscillators and effects. it would be a shame though: one or two firmware updates could really bring a lot more out of it.

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#453

I think it depends on your style of pads as well. I have no problem getting beautiful sounding pads out of my Two Voice, and it’s technically half as many voices as the PERfourMER (although the same number of oscillators). You learn to work around the limitations of the instrument and you end up coming up with things that you maybe wouldn’t on a synth that allows you to play big two-handed chords on.

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#454

Late to the party on this one but I am having an absolute blast with tal uno lx. Best 60 bucks I’ve ever spent on gear.

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#455

You can do this on the Argon8, I believe. Haven’t tried it yet as I’ve avoided the sequencer thus far but will give it a go and let you know.

#456

Just to follow up, in appreciation of the good advice you all gave…

This took an unexpected turn and I actually ended up with a Novation Peak. Reasoning being, as it’s my only polysynth, and am used to modular-level possibilities, I should favor versatile and comprehensive synths. I actually thought about affording that and the Perfourmer, but it’s just not realistic.

So far, I am really really pleased. Turns out a few years’ worth of modular has taught me quite a bit of synthesis, and I find programming the Peak just as quick as connecting a few cables. The fixed architecture feels like a breath of fresh air, and I really like what I’m getting out of the Peak - saved a bunch of patches already.

A Perfourmer it is not. Completely different, of course. Also, the new kid Super 6 would be really nice, but that’s the Peak and Perfourmer rolled into one, price-wise.

I’ve had none of the mentioned noise problems, on the contrary, I actually thought my interface was off when listening on the headphones, until I pressed a key.

I think the biggest learning curve for me has been the gain staging. Novation have made it possible to clip the mixer, so there’s a bit of learning concerning that - just learning what levels keep it clean.

All in all, I think the Peak is actually a really formidable synth, I really like the interface and the breadth of sound design options available. If I strike gold, I’ll accompany it with Perfourmer beefiness some day.

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#457

+1 just got my Summit yesterday, and wow. After a few years with eurorack this just feels like having the system I always wished I could afford to build in eurorack. AND it’s poly, and 3 grand less than my fairly limited eurorack system. AND, I don’t feel compelled to research new modules!

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#458

The novation stuff is excellent! I think you made a great decision, and if it’s gelling with you and your practice, then it is the perfect instrument. Have fun!

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#459

how do you find it sounds using the dual filter modes?
is it easy to dial in the two filters to a complimentary settig?

#460

I think I’ll have to play with it a bit more and report back. So far everything has sounded great!

#461

I am sort of with you here, I am a Prophet 6 owner (soon to be an OB-6 desktop owner), and I am always able to get the sort of sound I need without the extra modulation. In fact, you could say that this limitation is part of why they sound so “vintage”, it forces you to use all the programming tricks that people like Alan Howarth did when they were designing the original patches for it. I’ll put it this way, I had a befaco CV to Midi converter and never once thought to use it with the Prophet 6.

That said, I transitioned to it from a prophet 08, and initially really missed all the modulation capabilities. I ended up getting a prophet 12 module on the cheap to fill in that desire for tweaking. Recently I’ve been using some software a company I’ve put together has been designing in VCV rack to perform more complex morphing and modulations on the Prophet 6, and will probably get more into doing that for that and the OB-6 over time when I’m seeking less vintage tones.

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#462

A bit of a tangent, but I also have a Befaco CV->Midi module and have found using it to modulate the Prophet 6 not as easy as I’d like. Not because the module is hard to use, but because when sending CC messages from the module the corresponding panel control is basically rendered useless; using the knobs on the synth to set a parameter value is automatically overwritten by the CC messages coming from the module. This makes something like changing the offset of incoming modulation tedious as it’s then programmed on the module rather than just using the panel control like one would on a CV controlled synth.

I don’t think there’s any way around this behavior with this set up. I’ve accepted that for anything close to complex modulation I have to resort to one of many tricks you mentioned, which are fun to find, and keeps my focus on what can be played for better or worse.

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#463

I think the Prophet 12 is really underrated. Sure, for bread and butter sounds the filter isn’t great, but for evolving and cinematic sounds it has so much power. Always been tempted to get one.

#464

Sometimes I think about getting the full Prophet 12, just because I think the programming would be so immediate on it, but I really love the module version. I use it exactly for what you describe, evolving, cinematic pads and other sounds. It’s great for gigs as well, because you can dial in a variety of tones that are close enough to a variety of obscure analog/didigtal synths I own to be totally usable in a live context. I also like that I sit down with it on my lap and just program these huge evolving drones.

To be honest the filter works, I nabbed a pro-2 after the pro-3 was released, and certainly the filters on that make it a better ‘analog’ synth, but the clinical filters in the 12 work really well for digital/cinematic patches. Anyway, since the module is so cheap it makes a really great compliment to the “warm”, “fat” analog sounds of the prophet 6/OB-6.

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#465

The number of LFO’s was why I went for a REV2 over an OB6. Glad to hear my read that a single LFO was too limiting was correct!

My only gripe with the REV 2 is the filter but sometimes I just put it through a eurorack filter if the sound matters that much.

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#466

Has anyone gotten a Waldorf Iridium (or Quantum)? I’m seriously thinking about getting one, but there aren’t many example videos around and the ones that do have sound examples only focus on tonal, pleasant sounds. I’m wondering if it can get as gritty and gnarly as the Microwave XT (& based on the specs it certainly looks like it can), but I’m hesitant to drop that much $$ without more info. (No filter FM though! That’s a bummer.)