Re: UPDATE - Evolver / Poly Evolver
2004-06-16 by Modular Fan
hello Josh, << Could you recommend a knob box? I have never used one, but would make an exception for something Dave Smith makes. >> With the exception of a few, for instance the RSP8 for the Kurzweil KSP8, I don't like external knob boxes in general. They always seem to be kinda clunky and often missing some important features. They are also usually a pain to setup and they aren't as intuitive as something with dedicated labels. A DSI knob box in the form of the Chroma Kult for the Rhodes Chroma would be cool but if I really think the market would be too limited for something like that. Saying that, this UC-33e that Novamusik sells looks pretty cool but I don't know how well it'd work with DSI synths. I know nothing about it, whether it does sysex and/or CC, etc- I was just commenting on cosmetics ;) http://www.novamusik.com/search.asp?type=Manufacturer&page=1&keyword=31 << I noticed a while back you posted a potiential trade for a prophet vs for a poly evolver...do you not like the poly? How close to the vs does it sound...or is it even compairable. >> Nah, its nothing to do with that. I have been looking for a Prophet VS for awhile now as one of the last remaining synths to "complete" my current setup (yeah right, as if they ever are). I had to sell a few of my vintage synths last year to pay for IntraLASIK eye surgery and the ProVS is the last one I have yet to buy back. Still looking for one in great shape :) , have only seen one for sale lately on HC and thought that maybe I could bait somebody with a PE trade. Remember that I'm a dealer so I wouldn't have been trading my personal, used PE...it would have been a new one. No luck on that though. BTW despite this synth setback the eye surgery was worth it. :) I went from something like 200/20 down to 20/20 or damn close, and no more depending on contacts. As for the sound, they're close as the PE contains all of the waves. But you know the filters are different and the interface on the ProVS is better. I'm actually surprised by how much I like the PE filters...I'm pretty sure they are CEM but they sound lush and smooth to me, almost Rolandish. Not incredibly fat but pretty nice sounding. I don't really like the resonance on the ProVS when its past ~ 70%, just a personal taste but I think CEMs sound kind of cheap (same with my Pro5 at high resonance settings) and that's why the PE surprised me a bit. Plus the 2 and 4 pole modes sound fairly different. The PE is also a lot more flexible with its mod matrix, sequencers, digital delays (not a big priority for me but they do sound pretty good), stereo outs per voice, nice midi like poly aftertouch (!), etc...I think both are great for pling/plang sounds or metallic bass (think NIN "That's What I Get" its actually a preset on the original PE from what I can tell, or just slightly modified). The PV does sound warmer and lusher to me on pads and strings. I wouldn't really use either for bass. Of course the PE also has the analogue stuff but its not so vintage-sounding IMO. Its decent, just not the girth of a Pro5 for example. Also having an attached keyboard and button for every function, not to mention a kickass joystick that sends midi, makes the ProVS more accessible (I don't have time to work on music lately so I just turn on synths and "jam", so I always go to my synths with keyboards first). So to be short they can sound pretty similar for some type of sounds but like any 2 synths they have different converters, parts, tolerances etc so they can also sound a lot different. The PE is close enough that I could call it a modern "ProVS"...I mean you can definitely hear a similar character in it. I don't really like emulations either, instead to use each synth for what its good for, so even if you were to buy a PE I'd recommend to keep the ProVS unless for some reason you don't use it- and in that case you should sell it to me =) << i have yet to see a real live poly evolver but cant wait. I wonder how hard it would be to make it into a tabletop or indigo sized synth...if he did that i think it would be a great complement to all the voyager owners! >> This is what I would have done but I guess Dave had his reasons. BTW I'm going to email you privately on a past trade we did from my other email account. Talk to you soon, Shawn Cleary frequencysurfing@... __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail