Dave Smith Instruments SYNTHESIZERS

On 11/1/02 7:44 PM, "c_hebb"
<c_hebb@...> wrote:

> Well aside from the cool demos it's been
> pretty quiet out there -  that's a good thing!

yeah, too busy programming and exploring! ;)

> But what do you think? I know it's very early
> yet, but how does it rate up to your expectations?

simply put, my expectations were quite high,
perhaps even unfair, and the Evolver has
effortlessly surpassed them, even daring to
challenge them as it has done so.

> Plus, how hard is it to learn? I want one
> but I'm a little intimidated by the lack
> of buttons...anyone dare to explain how
> they work?

I find that it is quite easy to work with.
As matrix-based editors go, this one is
quite well-done.

Simply put, you press a button to the left
of a given row of parameters...at that point,
the knobs at the top correspond to the params
listed in that row. Since params associated
with a given function (osc 1, filter, vca, etc.)
tend to be in one row, you can quickly edit
the multitude of things associated with that
function.

So in terms of actually using the device, it
is quite simple. In terms of fully appreciating
the Evolver¹s signal path as it regards all of
the possibilities for spectral, temporal and
gain shaping, well...that is something else
entirely! ;)


never stop Evolving,
aeon

It is early, and I haven't had as much time with it as I would like. But, 
the weekend is finally here. I am still excited about having my Evolver and 
my early impression is very positive. I've mostly been modifying presets and 
pre-programmed sequences so far. It's so much fun, that I have trouble 
moving on and trying other things. The lack of buttons is not a problem IMO. 
The front panel is well layed out and easy to navigate. I'm not always 
succesful getting what I want yet, but that's just due to my lack of 
experience with it. Almost every programmable synth has some degree of a 
learning curve. I believe with the Evolver, it won't be that steep. Part of 
the fum, like on a modular synth, is what you create accidentally.         
Harry



>
>But what do you think? I know it's very early yet, but how does it
>rate up to your expectations?
>
>Plus, how hard is it to learn? I want one but I'm a little
>intimidated by the lack of buttons...anyone dare to explain how
>they work?
>
>-Chris
>


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(Please forgive me if this post appears twice or more... I've had a 
lot of trouble joining and posting to this group.  I'm not a huge fan 
of these Yahoo groups, and if anyone is interested, I may add an 
Evolver forum [a real UBB forum] to our site at www.ex5tech.com)

I've had the pleasure of spending quite a bit of time with a pre-
production Evolver, and now I have a "real" production unit.  I love 
this little box.  It's an outstanding machine, not unlike having a 
Prophet 5 and a Prophet VS rolled into one little compact box.

Learning the front layout and getting comfortable with the unit does 
take a little bit of time, as it does with any complex synth.  That 
said, it's not hard.  The biggest problem I encountered was 
a "meatware" problem - many times I edited the wrong parameter when 
programming because I wasn't paying close attention to which "row" I 
was editing at the time.  Another common mistake I would make was 
forgetting whether I was in "synth edit" or "sequencer" mode.

Talking about all the positives would take many pages.  I guess the 
biggest highlights for me are:

1) Great "real" analog + digital sound

2) Very complex modulation capabilities

3) Simple yet flexible (and fun!) sequencer

Fantastic little machine, great price, and destined to be another big 
winner from Dave Smith.


Ski
www.ex5tech.com


--- In DSI_Evolver@y..., aeon <aeon@t...> wrote:

> On 11/1/02 7:44 PM, "c_hebb"
> <c_hebb@y...> wrote:
> 
> > Well aside from the cool demos it's been
> > pretty quiet out there -  that's a good thing!
> 
> yeah, too busy programming and exploring! ;)
> 
> > But what do you think? I know it's very early
> > yet, but how does it rate up to your expectations?
> 
> simply put, my expectations were quite high,
> perhaps even unfair, and the Evolver has
> effortlessly surpassed them, even daring to
> challenge them as it has done so.
> 
> > Plus, how hard is it to learn? I want one
> > but I'm a little intimidated by the lack
> > of buttons...anyone dare to explain how
> > they work?
> 
> I find that it is quite easy to work with.
> As matrix-based editors go, this one is
> quite well-done.
> 
> Simply put, you press a button to the left
> of a given row of parameters...at that point,
> the knobs at the top correspond to the params
> listed in that row. Since params associated
> with a given function (osc 1, filter, vca, etc.)
> tend to be in one row, you can quickly edit
> the multitude of things associated with that
> function.
> 
> So in terms of actually using the device, it
> is quite simple. In terms of fully appreciating
> the Evolver¹s signal path as it regards all of
> the possibilities for spectral, temporal and
> gain shaping, well...that is something else
> entirely! ;)
> 
> 
> never stop Evolving,
> aeon