Dave Smith Instruments SYNTHESIZERS

I'm kind of surprised by the amount of people on the list who seem to think
the evolver is difficult to use and understood. Considering the amount Dave
jammed into this "monosynth" (laughter, its so much more...) and the low
cost I think the Evolver is VERY EASY TO USE and the matrix UI with the 8
knobs is a very cunning piece of design and works well for absolutely
everything except the sequencer - but hell compared with the sequencer in
theb (\ufffd2300!) Alesis Andromeda it is really quite easy to use. I'm no synth
wizard but I gotta say the Evolver is actually the easiest synth to use and
program that I own... It even has a simple and clear manual. I'm really not
all that clever but I was gigging with it less than a week after I got it

(the others are the Andromeda, Nord Micro and Yamaha Vl70m BTW...)

Richard

On Friday, September 5, 2003, at 11:28  AM, Richard wrote:

> I'm kind of surprised by the amount of people on the list who seem to 
> think
> the evolver is difficult to use and understood. Considering the amount 
> Dave
> jammed into this "monosynth" (laughter, its so much more...) and the 
> low
> cost I think the Evolver is VERY EASY TO USE and the matrix UI with 
> the 8
> knobs is a very cunning piece of design and works well for absolutely
> everything except the sequencer - but hell compared with the sequencer 
> in
> theb (£2300!) Alesis Andromeda it is really quite easy to use. I'm no 
> synth
> wizard but I gotta say the Evolver is actually the easiest synth to 
> use and
> program that I own... It even has a simple and clear manual. I'm 
> really not
> all that clever but I was gigging with it less than a week after I got 
> it
>
> (the others are the Andromeda, Nord Micro and Yamaha Vl70m BTW...)
>

I have to agree. Dave did a great job using the limited panel features. 
It is quite fast to get around and I think if it were less complicated 
it would seem very easy to use. The trouble is that this is one of the 
more complex synth voices. But just for the typical VCO/VCF/VCA/EG type 
of adjustment it works fairly well!

My only complaint is I have yet to memorize the source and destination 
neumonics for the moduation matrix. So that page (actually those pages) 
of the manual are permamently at hand.

drK

www.delora.com/music
drk.iuma.com

drK said "So that page (actually those pages) of the manual are 
permanently at hand."

Ha!  I got a good chuckle reading that one, because that's EXACTLY 
what I did when I first began programming patches & sequences on my 
beta unit:  I made big 8-1/2" x 11" copies of the mod source and 
destination pages!  Those sheets of paper remain right next to my 
Evolver to this day.


Ski
www.ex5tech.com
EX5Tech Evolver forum:
http://www.ex5tech.com/ex5ubb_cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=23


--- In DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com, drK <drk@d...> wrote:
> 
> On Friday, September 5, 2003, at 11:28  AM, Richard wrote:
> 
> > I'm kind of surprised by the amount of people on the list who 
seem to 
> > think
> > the evolver is difficult to use and understood. Considering the 
amount 
> > Dave
> > jammed into this "monosynth" (laughter, its so much more...) and 
the 
> > low
> > cost I think the Evolver is VERY EASY TO USE and the matrix UI 
with 
> > the 8
> > knobs is a very cunning piece of design and works well for 
absolutely
> > everything except the sequencer - but hell compared with the 
sequencer 
> > in
> > theb (£2300!) Alesis Andromeda it is really quite easy to use. 
I'm no 
> > synth
> > wizard but I gotta say the Evolver is actually the easiest synth 
to 
> > use and
> > program that I own... It even has a simple and clear manual. I'm 
> > really not
> > all that clever but I was gigging with it less than a week after 
I got 
> > it
> >
> > (the others are the Andromeda, Nord Micro and Yamaha Vl70m BTW...)
> >
> 
> I have to agree. Dave did a great job using the limited panel 
features. 
> It is quite fast to get around and I think if it were less 
complicated 
> it would seem very easy to use. The trouble is that this is one of 
the 
> more complex synth voices. But just for the typical VCO/VCF/VCA/EG 
type 
> of adjustment it works fairly well!
> 
> My only complaint is I have yet to memorize the source and 
destination 
> neumonics for the moduation matrix. So that page (actually those 
pages) 

> of the manual are permamently at hand.
> 
> drK
> 
> www.delora.com/music
> drk.iuma.com

On Fri, Sep 05, 2003 at 10:01:52PM -0000, ski_ex5tech wrote:
>    drK said "So that page (actually those pages) of the manual are
>    permanently at hand."
>    Ha!  I got a good chuckle reading that one, because that's EXACTLY
>    what I did when I first began programming patches & sequences on my
>    beta unit:  I made big 8-1/2" x 11" copies of the mod source and
>    destination pages!  Those sheets of paper remain right next to my
>    Evolver to this day.

I was just thinking of doing that! Those are probably the only pages
that I ever reference in the manual; and I do that very often.

Joe

FWIW...

I now make it a habit with gear that benefits from having a manual 
close by, and that offers a PDF copy, to just print out a copy of the 
manual. Office supply stores sell single binder rings in a variety of 
diameters. So I take one of those and insert it through a hole punched 
in the upper left corner. This keeps everything together but at the 
same time lets me easily turn it to a page and lay it flat or open. 
Having a printed copy of the manual also encourages me to write notes 
in the margin, and even on inserted blank pages since it is so easy to 
add my own pages.

In the case of the Evolver's source and destination pages I am thinking 
of just getting those laminated.

drK

www.delora.com/music
drk.iuma.com

On Friday, September 5, 2003, at 06:10  PM, Joe wrote:

> On Fri, Sep 05, 2003 at 10:01:52PM -0000, ski_ex5tech wrote:
>>    drK said "So that page (actually those pages) of the manual are
>>    permanently at hand."
>>    Ha!  I got a good chuckle reading that one, because that's EXACTLY
>>    what I did when I first began programming patches & sequences on my
>>    beta unit:  I made big 8-1/2" x 11" copies of the mod source and
>>    destination pages!  Those sheets of paper remain right next to my
>>    Evolver to this day.
>
> I was just thinking of doing that! Those are probably the only pages
> that I ever reference in the manual; and I do that very often.
>
> Joe