I’ve said this to you before, but it amazes me time after time that you are able to pick up, use, demonstrate and explain such a large array of equipment. This one looks like a head scratcher for us who are subtractive jockeys. Your demo is simply great as always. You are one of the few reliable “go to” synth people out there in the world, and you are appreciated a great deal!
@@INeedsMoneys Not at all, but inexpensive doesn't have to be poorly designed or built. There are many cost-effective ways to use wood, aluminum, and steel in product design. If IKEA can make a wood dresser that retails for less than $100, their cost of materials and production is sub $40, maybe even less. Building a synth with a wood housing and laser-cut aluminum face plate realistically only adds a few dollars to the cost of materials, especially if you consider the cost of oil required to produce plastics. Also CNC'd and laser cut parts don't require the tooling needed to mold plastic. The added value of a wood housing, as you demonstrate by your expectation of a $4k price tag, is largely perception. That's why Moog can get away with charging $3000 for a Model D and Behringer can produce the same circuit in a plastic box for $100.
It's amazing how your reviews are always super in depth and makes it look like you've owned the synth for a decade. I guess the basics are always the same for each category of synth and filters etc but you seem to figure out each nook and cranny of every synth you get a hold of and you deliver it perfectly to us all the time!
Man, I have had my C 15 for a few months, and have often been stumped in programming it. This video is a Godsend! Thanks for the amazing work Loopop. Your reviews always teach me so much! Thanks a million!
And....to reply to myself LOL, a future updates wish list: an Lfo, or two, or maybe four!, A little sample playback, I wish I could do a killer piano, and maybe a real sounding Rhodes for live gigs, and maybe some granular synth capabilities. I could care less about wavetables, but it doesn't seem like that would be a stretch, and........this may be a stretch, a juicy analog filter......That would be just about everything we could need! All in all, I love my C 15, and am pretty sure it will be with me to the bitter end!
Fascinating demo. I was always struck by the cosmetic similarity to a Synclavier, so it was good that you pointed out that the design was deliberate. The sounds are rich and interesting, which I have noticed in every demo I have seen for this instrument. The price mirrors the functionality, from what I can glean, and someday I would love to spend a few hours discovering the powerful features it seems to have in abundance. Your videos are extremely informative. Thanks for showing the strengths of this particular marvel. It appears to be something truly new and innovative.
Great review! Note that one aspect of this synth which was important to me in deciding to purchase was the fact that the entire software suite for the synth is open source. I think this is wonderful from a learning point of view - you can jump right in and see how they designed the filters for instance. But also, if there's a feature you're looking for (I'm looking at you, mod source LFO), you can actually compile and build your own version of the C15. Hell you could build your own complete engine if you had the time and interest.
Happy to see this video today. My C15 arrived in February but I haven’t been able to play it yet, as my new studio is under construction. I love that Stephan Schmitt (the designer) gives owners a four hour class on how to use the C15. Can’t wait to do mine.
You can keep that thing in its box for months? There is no way that I could that. Maybe overnight - and I better have a good excuse. Box cutters and headphones is all I need. In any case, your warranty period starts from the day you purchase and receive the synth. Need to put the synth through its paces. At least have a look at it. Plug it in. DONT JUST SIT THERE - DO SOMETHING FOR GODS SAKE.
@@PetraKann It’s in its flight case, not the shipping box. Not that it matters. :) I played with it a bit when it arrived, but it has been in storage for about six weeks. The new studio will be finished around April 11. The C15 joins the Modulus 002, Analogue Solutions Colossus, Mellotron, and Buchla 200e in the studio, among other things.
Sounds great and I can see how this is a "playing" oriented synth as opposed to a "sequence and tweak" type of synth. I hear a lot of similar sounds in Logic's Sculpture synth at times. It looks great and the expression is pretty good... just missing poly aftertouch!
Great video. I have spoken via video call with the guys from Nonlinear Labs (Steven Schmitt and Nils Kruger) just before the covid madness and I must tell you they did promised to deliver one of the best unique and interesting synths on the market. We've had an amazing discussion about their idea of what synth should be...Sounds amazing as you probably heard it on RUclips videos but the real magic starts when you get your hands on it and start making compositions that you have never ever made before. The sound possibilities are phenomenal. Why is such a great instrument...? Well because is unique and different...and that is what you want from a musical instrument?!
Incredible sound from just 2 sine waves! Great review. I can see from your extended exploration of presets at the end that you are having too much fun!
killer synth. i really like the performance features, especially the 4 pedal ins and the 2 ribbons. it is great that you come up with these synths which i would never have even heard of.
The review is as always a great piece of work from loopop. The C15's product design is eye candy, the synth capabilities are very impressive and that's where the fun resides. The price puts it out of reach for budget conscious musicians or hobbyists like me.
Another awesome demo. Love the looks and design of this synth. I could see the C15 as the main lead in someone's ambient oriented studio while other synths are running in the background. Incredible potential. I would be strongly considering this synth, but between my Iridium, Argon 8, and Summit, I have most of this synthesis covered. Dedicated knobs for the filters and envelopes would have made this an even better synth, even if it cost more. Although, the menu is easy peasy to get through, so I would not consider it a killer like some synths out there.
It's a matter of taste, of course, but IMHO C15 is the nicest looking synth on the market. Sounds great and unique too! I was always curious to understand the engine better, so many thanks for the great overview!
Splendid successor of Yamaha CS80, but the brand new one! Vangelis would be happy to see it coming if he were alive, superb warmth and sensitivity, able to express the finest phrase. Nice invention, for those who appreciate such sound architecture. No need to spend thousands for an old CS80 and to risk expensive repairs and search for rare parts worldwide when there is a mighty alternative brand new modern gear waiting to get purchased.
Great video as ever! However I think the HydraSynth Deluxe now really challenges this synth at a fraction of the price - with MIDI, poly aftertouch, and real knobs!
The interface makes all the difference to me. If I have to use a external piece of hardware to control a technical device like this.... Its just a design feature to not a sensible interface thats created for the user.
@@ickebins6948 Agree, the aim here was to make a purist keyboard player’s synth, all the expression comes from the player, that’s why there are no LFOs or MIDI - just like the Haken Continuum has (had?) no envelopes, however we found that unworkable when i worked on the Seaboard & Equator.
@@RikMaxSpeed I just don't understand why you wouldn't give the pianist types those expression options and also make it accessible to knob twiddler sound designer types who probably need a sequencer to play Mary had a little lamb (that's me, I'm the knob twiddler)
@@RikMaxSpeed "purist keyboard player" what the fkk is that? The whole point of LFOs is expressivity, just a bafflingly retarded exclusion. This thing doesn't hold a candle to a Korg workstation for [potential] expressivity, and expressivity is best capitalized upon with sound design knowledge and experience, not just pedals, but then keyboardists are often not into sound design, which then brings us to the problem: major sound design potential in an instrument only half-way meant for sound designers and half-way for keyboardists, like they had no idea who to aim this at.
Thank you so much for this video, fantastic presentation as usual. As you mentioned, I love that it's not a remake but an own approach - will be getting my hands on one hopefully soon. Also, turns out that I found out about my neighbors around the corner in Berlin through your channel, ha! :)
Thank you for covering this! One thing that is implicitly highlighted that I found personally interesting is just how incredibly smooth the waveshaping and tone-shaping are. Granted you pay for the privilege and there are controls aplenty here, but I was struck by how easily and quickly you can manoeuvre around the sound design process and how "analog"/"organic" it sounds through the whole process. Like the Iridium, this is (obviously) capable of sounding very "digital", in the sense of the complexity of sound creation possibilities, but I can see how it can also be very "organic" sounding, as well.
Having demo'd this a bunch in store, this thing sounds very interesting and looks beautiful but looking at this as a designer, there are some incredibly stubborn design philosophy choices which end up resulting in flat out bad design. If one had three hands, the editing experience would be reasonable, one hand for a button selection, one hand for a knob, and one hand for the keys. If there was one knob per section, it also might be a more reasonable two handed editing/previewing experience. As it is, you have to press the button, then move your hand back to the center or to the ribbon, really limiting the experience of dialing in a sound, and keeping you closer to a base preset or initial patch. The lack of MIDI jacks and MIDI device USB-B jack is again a very stubborn design philosophy choice to me, it just feels like the designers wanted to limit functionality rather than guiding the user into using the product a specific way. It also feels like the designers realized after the fact that this was a highly unappealing choice to users, creating the Midi computer bridge device, which is essentially what appears to be a $155 (active) female USB-B to female USB-B coupler. This is bad design plain and simple, spelled out by this afterthought of a "fix" to a problem they created. I think the reason the midi aspect bothers me so much is for a product that's this premium, at this price point, the user should not have to shell out an extra $155 to interface with a daw.
Yes the design confuses me. Like inbuilt Wi-Fi but no midi? Ribbons doubling as expression and editing? Stubborn design for creative products bug me to no end (Like ableton stubbornly summing all midi message to a single channel for no reason)
I think you nailed it with the word “stubborn”. For me the lack of MIDI and tempo-sync are complete show-stoppers, although it is a gorgeous piece of hardware and has a good sound.
They specifically wanted it to be a purely player's synth, and thus MIDI was deliberately left out until their customers started complaining. Also, they seem to think a player's instrument is supposed to be mostly fixed to one patch per performance, and thus they have limited how easy it is to edit them on the fly. Instrument makers simply should not design something to their own personal creative constraints and thus impose them artificially on others, especially when there is no other reason for it. Then it becomes a form of snobbery, and we know how bad that is for creativity already. We don't need more of that. That said, I still really like this one, and wouldn't have minded owning one if I had the space, or the money to spare.
You don’t need the $155 MIDI bridge to make it interface with a DAW. I’ve got a MIDI Connect4+ interface and with a USB-A to USB-B cable, it works seamlessly, FYI.
Your channel is brilliant. I just got my C15 and love your programming skills are just amazing. Do you ever sell your program presets? I assume there are not a lot of C15 users😊
Having owned the C15 since August 2019, I’ve spent plenty of time with this synth. It is unlike anything else I’ve ever played - hardware or software. It is definitely a players instrument, with more expressive capabilities than most synths on the market. The build quality is luxe through and through. Nonlinear Labs spared no expense on this. It is very functional art and the level of detail would surely impress even the most hardcore Dieter Rams fans. The ability to use a web app along with the hardware is amazing. No, it’s not laggy. The overlays are fantastic and the company has sent me one set of updates. They also regularly update the firmware and add some great features. MIDI was very welcome, although not necessarily a deal breaker since again, this synth is designed for players. Unapologetically so. It’s also very easy to program. Yes, one knob and a series of buttons will immediately make one think of the digital Revolution in the 1980’s, but once you get the muscle memory down, and it doesn’t take very long, you’ll wonder how you lived without it. The ability to work with as many patches as your imagination allows and to record and export .wav files directly from the C15 just keep the creativity flowing. In conclusion, this is a very well-designed and executed synth. It sounds fantastic and plays like butter. Very unique and destined to be a future classic. Good job, Loopop! I’ve been patiently waiting for you to get your hands on one of these and you’ve done it justice in my opinion. Have fun with it. That’s what it’s made for! 🙂
I have a hard time lusting after digital gear too much when I could do any of this myself in reaktor however! that allpass + comb filter is giving me ideas. neat stuff, and great video
@@olldomu5790 I've actually thought about this a few times since posting this comment t I suppose since the code is open source one could go look it up but I think the fun would really be on trying to figure it out
If you want just a sound engine I can highly recommend Native Instruments Kontour, great synth which was designed by Stephan Schmidt. C15 evolved from Kontour.
I’m still amazed at the depth of 2 sine waves, but at my second watch of this video, my cons are 1) only one knob! 2) no lfos and envelopes can’t loop. I guess you could use a bunch of expression pedals but dang. Still a really beautiful and powerful synth.
This synth has some really great ideas. I especially like the combination of sines, phase modulation, feedback, and comb filter. It can make some really awesome sounds which combine the best of acoustic and electric timbres. But given the price and the quirks, my main hope is that these ideas will make their way into more practical synths, like as extra options in a Hydrasynth or something.
Great to see a synth developer putting lots of thought into their instrument. My only comment would be that C15 should offer EVERY i/o option, eg DIN MIDI, sync in out, cv.. etc then it could be used at the CENTRE of a studio rather than a peripheral device. That being said, it looks like it is directed to be a performance unit? Nice unit no doubt.
But for some of us performance means having multiple pieces of gear running in sync, with sequencers and all. So not being able to sync it with other gear, it have it play when you're not even touching it, is taking some incredible, creative sound design potential and limiting it to people with a backing band or whatever. I know it's boutique, but taking such unique ideas and then purposely trying to limit who can access it to only those they deem to be "players" is a headscratcher of a decision that I can only really chalk up to some sort of elitism maybe?
@@s3nsec0rruptr80 Yep. It seems crazy to spend the big $ on the C15, then have to use a USB midi host adaptor (which are not always straight forward ), then connect it to a cheap keystep just to integrate it into the studio. Love the sounds C15 makes. Maybe Nonlinear Labs should team up with Arturia to pimp the C15's i/o?
@@s3nsec0rruptr80 "some sort of elitism" nah, just pure, unbridled retardation, and not enough experience performing live, gotta have at least MIDI DIN Out if their pretention was to aim for "stage players"
@@timb.4825 Using a USB to midi cable you can connect direct to your midi interface. My C15 is fully integrated into my DAW based studio via one midi connection.
Afaik the C15 is a "boxed" version of Native Instruments Kontour. So if you want that sound and don't necessarily need the hardware, you could get Kontour, which runs in NIs Reaktor Player.
Not exactly. Kontour is great, but comparing it to the C15 is akin to comparing a picture of the Sistine Chapel to actually being there. What a lot of folks miss out on is the "feel" of this synth. The boutique price tag comes from it being handmade in Berlin and Italy. Price is what you pay, value is what you get. 🙂
@@benjaminharrison6160 Yeah, that's true. The "feel" of this synth might get lost when using the software, but for someone like me, who isn't a good keys player and more of a sound designer, Kontour might be an alternative. I guess by being only basic at playing, i couldn't appreciate this synths enough, to justify spending that much on it. ^^
I've never _heard_ you smile so much throughout a complete review. Everything you did seemed so intuitive and fluid and natural. I somehow got the impression that this thing is basically an interface to a kind of sound design that mimics nature and how sounds emerge from real world items. Also, at some points the sound reminded me of the sounds a church organ produces. In short, I am flabbergasted by this thing and I'm thoroughly inspired by your presentation, sparkling with pure joy and appreciation. I WANT TO HAVE ONE OF THESE!!!
Finally someone used Ipad as a instrument screen ( let's think about how many synth are heaving way too small navigator screen)- in this point a dream come true. BTW nice review as always!
It is good to see that such synthesizer exists beside from the mainstream ones. It is a real live playable instrument like an E-Piano or Piano but with much more possibilities. Imagine Lang Lang would play it on stage.......
Way out of my price range (I'm aiming for a Summit next, totally unrelated but more affordable price wise). BUT, the C15 is a piece of art. Fantastic, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for another thorough review. And of a such an interesting instrument. Novel synthesis methods are always inspiring to see, but what I find even more appealing in this case are the expression options, with dual ribbons and four pedal inputs, plus that ring. There are already so many sound generation engines around, now we need more easy to use real time tweaking and expression tools to get things to the next level. In this particular case, iPad integration is great, but having the whole front panel as one big touch screen, something like Yudo Neuman is for me the direction to go.
Looks for me like an instrument better played by an octopus: needs at least three hands and four feet moving in 3d to fully express its potential. On a side note, the ring you mention in your comment is an external device, not included in the bundle.
@@jeanbonnefoy1377 oh yes, I know about the ring being and external option. My overall thinking was in the direction of expressive sound manipulation, and ok, something less octopus-y, but I'll take all the options as they come. In time, there will hopefully be a stable and unobtrusive direct brainwave interface... Or something :) When I design and perform sounds, I literally wish for a sculptural experience. Get your hands in the dough and make it happen, versus endless button pressing.
I was interested in this when it came out, but despite me usually not bothering with midi on polysynths, the lack of it bugged me. I do want to sequence occasionally. Now that they finally acknowledge that (or have simply given in) it's just silly not to let it speak to a computer, I think I'll get one soon. It's beautiful and personally I find it exceptionally interesting.
Impressive product, interesting to compare with, say Moog One in that price territory. The timbral territory of the C15 seems to just cry out for poly-aftertouch, with or without MPE compliance.
AFAIK there's nowhere synth makers can source a traditional keybed with polyphonic pressure. ASM had to design and manufacture their own for the Hydrasynth.
@@msciwiarski While analog/digital is a crucial distinction for some, it is not so for everyone. I’m thinking more in terms of “primary” instruments with potentially similar roles in similar cost brackets.)
Detriments include the relative lack of knobs, the 6 macro bottleneck and MIDI being an afterthought. Also a weirdly placed and designed pitch-shifter, and no wheels or joystick. I actually don't mind using a computer editor, but "almost" all parameters are available on the synth - some are only available via the Chrome browser. Other than that, it seems pretty cool.
As always, love your in depth reviews, even if the product is way out of my price range. I always find some wonderful nugget of information. With that in mind, are there any reviews in the works for either of the new Nanobox synths? I find the ease of use of them (currently using the Fireball, will get Lemondrop as soon as it is back in stock.) allow for quick and easy development of ideas,
Same! Komplete has so many stuff. Also the problem is, that you have to load Reaktor and within Reaktor than loading the synth. Like in Cubase you have to load Halion SE to load the Flux synth. If it would be in the VSTi list, I would use it more often, maybe.
Last time I checked the sine wave market, you could get 6 for 400 £ ( used DX7, 6 operators is not a joke) lol. This thing looks very nice, it is an instrument in a real sense, I love the novelty and the approach. Some elements remind me of Hydrasynth mutants, build reminds me of Moog one, sound is very interesting and , well, just from what you ve shown, very broad. A lots of stuff in there to be unpacked and you, as always did a great job. I might take a look into this more seriously if it was at leasrt 1 k cheaper, but I perfectly understnad why it is not - butique build, novelty/niche engine... at least you will enjoy it. i would really like it for all those fm/pm sounds that make it so lo fi. It is nice to see that as of late there are so many bold instruments out there. I am sure nothing can sound like this. Same goes for Super 6 and some other high end instruments that, instead of being clones of popular gear, bring new stuff to the sonic table.
Interesting video. Having finally bought a new hardware synth for the first time in 22 years (previously an E-MU Proteus 2000 which also has a comb filter) in the form of the Deepmind 12, and playing round with it the last two days (yup, got it on Thursday), obviously there are substantial differences between the C15 and the Deepmind, but it struck me that if I bought another Deepmind 12 and polychained them, then sonically they might be able to go toe to toe with the C15 at under a third of the price and with a ton of hands on immediacy and the same polyphony. Would love to see that video. 😁
@@Leviathan-mj8gi I wouldn't think they would sound the same either, but in terms of variety two 12's layered or running separately might well do it, especially with those long evolving pads and sliders galore.
@@remoteviewer8524 The Hydra and Opsix are two of the closest matches on the market for the C15's capabilities. The Deepmind is nice, but it's nowhere near as versatile as either of these two. In particular, the Deepmind's oscillator section is extremely limited, not capable of doing most of the crazy stuff the C15 does. Instead, the Deepmind relies more on effects, which play a smaller role in the other synths mentioned here. Anyway, they're designed around completely different concepts. The Deepmind has square and saw waves and is based on the idea that everything else can be subtracting harmonics with a cutoff filter. This makes it very similar to a lot of older analog synths, except it has a ton of effects built in and it uses those heavily for sound design. The C15, however, is based on the idea that people only really need sine waves, and everything else can be constructed by adding harmonics to that, without the need for a filter. For particularly rich tones, it also has a comb filter to reduce noise to a more coherent signal without sacrificing the crisp upper tones... much like acoustic instruments. That's something a retro analog synth simply can't do. An Opsix is probably the closest match, since it's an extremely powerful FM synth based on roughly the same conceptual model as the C15, with a huge amount of features including a comb filter. The Hydrasynth is less of a direct match, but it's so versatile in general that it can do almost anything.
6:14 you could go to a two +1 handed mode by pressing the note then use the pedal to hold the tone and then you have both hands free to apply filters 😊
What an original idea, the pads and choir sounds are great. And surprisingly it can do all the rest too. Modulate everything with everything and you'll get unlimited sounds. Gotta find that pot of gold and buy all these nice instruments.
Definitely some impressive sound design options.. my biggest concern is the 1-knob interface. Having to change parameters via a 2-step process is a buzz kill. At least most are accessible on the face though.
i think Kontour was at least inspired by Stephan's work with NI ...i also have the Prizm plug in which he developed, exclusively i think. ( also amazing and worthy of mention ) he definitely had all the qualifications as a synth guru, and a good plan for the C15, when he started nonlinear labs.
To some extent I appreciate this very “opinionated” approach to synth design: laser-focused on a specific niche, and excluding anything that might conflict with that philosophy. It’s very much a performance instrument for capital M Musicians who want to emphasise virtuosity and expressivity, rather than a synth for people with electronic music studios, DAWs and sequencers. Thus, it’s going to be completely baffling to a lot of people who follow this channel. Those Musicians might agree with the decision not to include LFOs or MIDI: after all, what does a violin or a piano need with those? “Learn to play vibrato properly, you lazy heathens!” So I guess it’s appropriate that most of the presets from this impressively versatile synth engine sound like early-90s New Age rather than either contemporary electronic music or retro analogue synths. Very much not my thing, and the price also suits the sort of people who’d drop that sort of money on a vintage Rhodes or an acoustic piano and concentrate on learning every nuance of that instrument, rather than people who would spend that on a whole home studio of varied gear. But I have to admire the vision and chutzpah of the designers!
"rather than a synth for people with electronic music studios" Sooo... virtuosos who don't make electronic music and want to emphasize virtuosity and expressivity... but want a very purpose-built synth instead of a standard stage keyboard like a Nord? Maybe, but this is probably more of the kind of thing a big studio would have for cinematic scoring, so I guess it really depends on which way your electronic music leans or how experimental it is and of course, your budget and studio space.
"who want to emphasize virtuosity and expressivity" That is best done with modulation, and LFOs and poly/channel aftertouch contribute towards that significantly, you can't have "virtuosity" and expressivity without modulation, there is simply no such thing. Two examples of the most common type: The sound varying in volume with how hard you strike keys? Modulation of amplitude with key velocity as the source. Brightness varying with pitch as you play higher or lower notes? Modulation of a filter with key notes as the source. Acoustic instruments relatively do these things themselves. Acoustic instruments and their users are the inspiration behind how synths have developed and what capabilities go into them and how to make them expressive and more playable. MIDI out would allow for layering with another synth or controlling a synth module with just the C15, something vcommonly done by performers. Exclusion of MIDI DIN I/O, especially MIDI Out, is inconvenient to performers. "completely baffling to a lot of people who follow this channel" sound design rookies and people new to synths like yourself, going by their comments in every video, but that's just a simple guess and only a minority of viewers actually comment, so there's no knowing the true demographics from so little info "concentrate on learning every nuance of that instrument" A common thing for keyboardists to do, but to be more exact, they concentrate on learning every nuance of the _factory presets_ and insert effects here in North America, as they don't seem to delve beyond that much. The situation is different in other parts of the world. American keyboardists don't seem to touch sound design much, which excludes them from knowing what can allow them to make presets even more expressive or customize existing expressivity programmed into factory patches to their liking or needs. And it's all actually pretty simple, but deceptively daunting in the beginning.
Thanks for the very in-depth video. I would have a hard time spending $5500.00 on this when you could do the same thing on a Waldorf Blofeld for about $500.00, I had one and was amazed at the modulation source and destination options, wave choices, effects, etc. It a nice-looking synth though and easy to program.
I was wondering about that too. I have a Blofeld and haven't used its comb filter and FM capabilities anywhere near enough. So I'd like to try replicating some of the C15 sounds on it sometime. I've mostly been disappointed by its steppy parameters and clippy drive models and generally "digital" sound, but I suspect a lot of that can be bypassed by using FM.
The mighty Blofeld can do way more things than this overpriced MIDI-less synth. Blofeld is still one of the very top synths around, and at a really silly price, considering its countless features.
@@UBERLADEN69 oh man. I owned two of them and loved the sound but neither would sync and the filter knobs broke after a month or two. Awful.. such a shame
Amazing review! How awesome will it be if Arturia released a standalone little module with just the sequencer, arpeggiator and chord functionality of the key step 37, minus the keyboard but perhaps with the mod and pitch strips retained. That way any synth out there can get those super helpful tools in a miniature package and at a really low price.
fantastic review and especially liked the demo of ambiental, sound designer-ish and percussive/acoustic presets. alas, this machine is source of frustration for me. i simply love the sound and wanted to buy it upon release, but Synclavier-ish user interface from 1981, small screen and only mono after touch are things that kept me at bay. i find this in direct conflict with the whole advertised idea of a "performance instrument" and flexible sound design playground. even moreso now, after a decade, in 2023, i feel it needs to offer more to justify 4k euro price range. what is exciting is, poly at keybeds are finally readily available. so i have faint hope for a new version that finally adds poly after touch and more encoders/sliders. or possibly, at least they decide to offer factory retrofit of fatar poly-at keybed. time marches on, especially for all digital synths. and expression and user interface are two main reasons why one reaches for digital hardware over a vsti doing the same or similar thing. the way the phase mod / wave shape engine works, to have control of its parameters per each note - would catapult expression and articulation to another universe. imho.
@loopop, have you considered doing reviews of vintage synths? Especially how they compare to modern alternatives. And more audio interface reviews, please.
Thanks for the feedback - considered both and not saying no but for the near term at least it's hard to prioritize due to all the interesting new stuff coming out. In a way though this video is about something that's been around for quite some time.
Greetings. It's ME again, Mr. Off Topic (Mark). I ask you this because A) you're likely the smartest person I know and B) I've ruled out Arturia, whose OBXA can't do what OBXA's did, back in the day. Here's the quote: "One of the signiture aspects of the OBX, OBXa,and OB8 was how the portamento worked while in the unison mode. In that case the portamento for each voice was slightly "detuned" or lagged...meaning they all had slightly different portamento rates which produces a wonderful wall of sound.” So, varying GLIDE per voice for that Wonderful OBIE sound. Also, I think vintage Waldorf synths had this trick up their sleeves as well, to the point that the John Bowen SOLARIS synth features a Waldorf Preset doing this very thing. I wonder, do you know whether HYDRA EXPORER, for example, might be able to do this? I am told that Korg's Monopoly had this feature. I know you're not a SoftSynth guy, but...you would think that, for example, Synapse's OBSESSION or GForce's OB-E could do this Glide Per Voice. Thanks, Sir. Mark
@Mark Meador I agree with you and here's my suggestion. A MIDI box or controller keyboard that splits polyphonic playing into mono mode over several channels. With settings for 4, 6 or 8 voices in numerical, round robin or random order. This allows that tired old digital synth to be set with different detune, filter and every other setting on each individual voice.
@Mark Meador Thanks for your kind comment, unfortunately such a device does not exist. Some claim Sequentix Cirklon will, but it won't. Another device which I can't remember the name of does X4 CV and Gate pairs, allowing some Moog 4 voice synths being played polyphonically. Roland synths from D-50 onward have X4 partials/voice and lots of polyphony. Unfortunately, settings for a partial, and for a voice, apply to every note in a chord. Everything is the same. I really love digital synths, don't get me wrong, but would like to stretch their potential a bit.
@@bilonggrisimmeri Hi there. Consider Tom Oberheim’s reissue if the TWO VOUCE-it has Portamento knobs per [2 Oscillator] voice. I bought this unit I’m around 2014-should have kept it, right. And, I found out yesterday that a soft synth, which has been in my arsenal for years, OP-X II Pro (Sonic Projects), based on the OBIE OBX, has this feature, as it appeared on the OBX (different than Two Voice with its porta knob per voice), taking the form of 1) a single port button & rate knob, plus a PORTA DETUNE button. Once porta detune is activated, the LAG between voices becomes greater as the the porta knob is turned up. This is all I can offer up.
Would rather Get a Iridium Keyboard or Quantum for this price (they also has comb filters, Resonator, Kernel modulation, a ridiculously powerful mod matrix and bloody midi!)
@@skelly790 nah, Kronos is definitively worse, and I know my way around one from just messing with one at a local store a bunch of times, it is not so different from the Krome and my M50 (budget M3 w/o Karma), and even worse are the Nautilus and Kross1 and Kross2 If Kronos were better, it would have far more buttons like the C15. C15's buttons are basically tons of shortcuts into its menus, how nice it would be for workstations to have more button shortcuts to their deep menus to make the menu-diving faster, but only one knob for dialing in values is a bummer. They should have made it with at least 4-8 knobs for simultaneous editing of 4-8 parameters at a time. I get 8 editing knobs for 8 parameters at a time on my Ultranova, together with its button shortcuts, brings it just a step away from a knob-per-function experience and usability, my Micromonsta2 does something very similar but with 4 knobs instead and much deeper menus but still a breeze to program compared to a clunky Korg workstation of any kind.
wow nice! this is just one of those intimidatingly complex vst synths build as a machine! :) love it! but i stand with propellerheads reason thor (has state variable and comb filters) and europa! :)
You can get 98% of this sonic power from a Korg opsix, since it was updated to v2.0 and includes a comb filter operator (for the physical modelling etc.). The opsix operator and modulation matrices are much more flexible too. Not sure about state-variable filter functionality - it's not clear to me what that contributes. The opsix now has a software (VST/AU) version too.
@@jazzjeffjazzjeff I'd use a MODX to dupe all its patches, if I wanted to do that in one cheaper, better hardware unit, but from what I actually have, I'd use FM8, Argon8, and one of my romplers. That reverb is killer, though, I don't have comparable hardware except my reverb pedals, Raum, and Supermassive.
Hello brother. Thank you so much for your amazing tutorials. Can you please do one for the Roland boutique JD-08? Thanks again. I simply can't thank you enough for your tutorials..
It's took me 3 weeks for me to partly convince the Mrs that me blasting £2.400 quid on a waldorf irridium keyboard is worth it. I can only imagine the amount of monumental Blaggs it would take for this Synth at €4000
It sounds great and I can even understand how to got to this price point, but the interface is a hard pass for me. Without a computer/tablet, it's seems like a nightmare to figure out which parameter is set to what in a complex patch, especially with all the feedback options. Clicking all the buttons just to see what the settings are is not my idea of a good time. And "most" things being accessible without the app is inexcusable imo, not to mention how sluggish the app looks. It's a giant hardware synth. If I wanted a VST, I wouldn't sacrifice that much desk space or spent so much money. The lack of Midi DIN I/O, MPE support and LFO's/modulation are just weird design decisions.
Is the engine also inspired by the synclavier? I have been drooling over the synclavier for the last 6-7 years and wondering why doesnt a company make a synclavier inspired synth. Basically does this piece do additive synthesise? Omg this is as exciting as the polybrute was for me no more exciting.... I haven't watched the whole review yet so perhaps you'll answer my questions in the review. I just wish it weren't a car trade in to afford it. Im normally not a digital fan ill use vsts for that. But the synclavier was something in itself I'm just so stoked and yes I will be trading in my car for it. Are the filters digital???
@@loopop still very unique i love to see the market starting to evolve into some of the more unique machine's that are available, unfortunately us analog snobs are going to have to swallow some of the reality which is things like additive or just something with this many options is extremely difficult to assemble using a purely analog signal path. I will complain a bit. Maybe the filters could have been analog. Also firmware updates-with the magnetic labeling system, add additive synthesis think about it. Over all beautiful synth great review as always thank you loopop!
When I bought mine, I talked to Stephan Schmitt (founder of Nonlinear Labs and cofounder of Native Instruments) about the similarities with the Synclavier. The influence in the design is very obvious: the button layout, selecting a parameter with a button and choosing the value with the knob, computer integration, emphasis on performance. That was a big draw for me. I have lots of synths with 'traditional' designs, so the C15 brings something different. I love that it is purely digital.
I’ve said this to you before, but it amazes me time after time that you are able to pick up, use, demonstrate and explain such a large array of equipment. This one looks like a head scratcher for us who are subtractive jockeys. Your demo is simply great as always. You are one of the few reliable “go to” synth people out there in the world, and you are appreciated a great deal!
Thanks very much for taking the time to write again :)
totally agree!
Plus one. Legendary and priceless explanation.
regardless of how this review turns out - thats a beautiful looking piece of kit.
Yes indeed. It looks very nice. I'd love to see more synths housed in well-crafted, non-plastic cases.
@@lo-firobotboy7112i guess you’d also love to pay 4 grand for that non plastic housing.
@@INeedsMoneys Not at all, but inexpensive doesn't have to be poorly designed or built. There are many cost-effective ways to use wood, aluminum, and steel in product design. If IKEA can make a wood dresser that retails for less than $100, their cost of materials and production is sub $40, maybe even less. Building a synth with a wood housing and laser-cut aluminum face plate realistically only adds a few dollars to the cost of materials, especially if you consider the cost of oil required to produce plastics. Also CNC'd and laser cut parts don't require the tooling needed to mold plastic.
The added value of a wood housing, as you demonstrate by your expectation of a $4k price tag, is largely perception. That's why Moog can get away with charging $3000 for a Model D and Behringer can produce the same circuit in a plastic box for $100.
Man, can we just take a second to appreciate the looks of this thing? Looks beautiful, imo.
It's amazing how your reviews are always super in depth and makes it look like you've owned the synth for a decade. I guess the basics are always the same for each category of synth and filters etc but you seem to figure out each nook and cranny of every synth you get a hold of and you deliver it perfectly to us all the time!
Pricey but beautiful... when I first saw this, the overall design reminded me of the Synclavier, absolutely gorgeous ! Awesome review as always Ziv !
i came here from reddit thinking it actualy was a synclavier at first
Man, I have had my C 15 for a few months, and have often been stumped in programming it. This video is a Godsend! Thanks for the amazing work Loopop. Your reviews always teach me so much! Thanks a million!
And....to reply to myself LOL, a future updates wish list: an Lfo, or two, or maybe four!, A little sample playback, I wish I could do a killer piano, and maybe a real sounding Rhodes for live gigs, and maybe some granular synth capabilities. I could care less about wavetables, but it doesn't seem like that would be a stretch, and........this may be a stretch, a juicy analog filter......That would be just about everything we could need! All in all, I love my C 15, and am pretty sure it will be with me to the bitter end!
@@jazzjeffjazzjeffall that money and so many gaps. You could have purchased any one of several alternatives that cover all of those topics 🤦🏼♂️
@@aardvarkmindshankright? Those are pretty basic things too. Who was this synth even marketed to?
Fascinating demo. I was always struck by the cosmetic similarity to a Synclavier, so it was good that you pointed out that the design was deliberate. The sounds are rich and interesting, which I have noticed in every demo I have seen for this instrument. The price mirrors the functionality, from what I can glean, and someday I would love to spend a few hours discovering the powerful features it seems to have in abundance. Your videos are extremely informative. Thanks for showing the strengths of this particular marvel. It appears to be something truly new and innovative.
Great review!
Note that one aspect of this synth which was important to me in deciding to purchase was the fact that the entire software suite for the synth is open source. I think this is wonderful from a learning point of view - you can jump right in and see how they designed the filters for instance. But also, if there's a feature you're looking for (I'm looking at you, mod source LFO), you can actually compile and build your own version of the C15.
Hell you could build your own complete engine if you had the time and interest.
Happy to see this video today. My C15 arrived in February but I haven’t been able to play it yet, as my new studio is under construction. I love that Stephan Schmitt (the designer) gives owners a four hour class on how to use the C15. Can’t wait to do mine.
For €4,000, he better. Lol.
For that price, I wouldn't wait until the studio was finished, I'd be setting it up anywhere in the house with some headphones :)
You can keep that thing in its box for months?
There is no way that I could that. Maybe overnight - and I better have a good excuse.
Box cutters and headphones is all I need.
In any case, your warranty period starts from the day you purchase and receive the synth. Need to put the synth through its paces.
At least have a look at it. Plug it in.
DONT JUST SIT THERE - DO SOMETHING FOR GODS SAKE.
@@Leviathan-mj8gi If need be, on the floor Leviathan - you dont need to buy anything. Set it up in the toilet, DO SOMETHING for God's sake.
@@PetraKann It’s in its flight case, not the shipping box. Not that it matters. :) I played with it a bit when it arrived, but it has been in storage for about six weeks. The new studio will be finished around April 11. The C15 joins the Modulus 002, Analogue Solutions Colossus, Mellotron, and Buchla 200e in the studio, among other things.
I've been waiting ages for an in-depth C15 review! Thank you for such a detailed look into this unique instrument. Loopop, you never disappoint.
Sounds great and I can see how this is a "playing" oriented synth as opposed to a "sequence and tweak" type of synth. I hear a lot of similar sounds in Logic's Sculpture synth at times. It looks great and the expression is pretty good... just missing poly aftertouch!
Love the more experimental sounds. This synth really needs the new Fatar poly aftertouch key bed.
Dennis Hamm tears it up on one of these in his work with Thundercat. Really amazing live.
Great video.
I have spoken via video call with the guys from Nonlinear Labs (Steven Schmitt and Nils Kruger) just before the covid madness and I must tell you they did promised to deliver one of the best unique and interesting synths on the market. We've had an amazing discussion about their idea of what synth should be...Sounds amazing as you probably heard it on RUclips videos but the real magic starts when you get your hands on it and start making compositions that you have never ever made before. The sound possibilities are phenomenal.
Why is such a great instrument...? Well because is unique and different...and that is what you want from a musical instrument?!
I'd love to see an MPE-capable version of this engine. Feels like it's crying out for more per-note modulation.
Incredible sound from just 2 sine waves! Great review. I can see from your extended exploration of presets at the end that you are having too much fun!
killer synth. i really like the performance features, especially the 4 pedal ins and the 2 ribbons. it is great that you come up with these synths which i would never have even heard of.
I remember this, it's Stephan Schmitt's push of his Reaktor ensemble to a hardware environment.
The Ensemble in question is 'CHA-OSC' (if I remember correctly), which was then turned into 'SPARK'.
Sounds absolutely beautiful! I wish there was version that cost only half of that
The review is as always a great piece of work from loopop. The C15's product design is eye candy, the synth capabilities are very impressive and that's where the fun resides. The price puts it out of reach for budget conscious musicians or hobbyists like me.
You can always pay 80 euro monthly up to the total amount.
That thing looks sick! I love the wood style.
Another awesome demo. Love the looks and design of this synth. I could see the C15 as the main lead in someone's ambient oriented studio while other synths are running in the background. Incredible potential. I would be strongly considering this synth, but between my Iridium, Argon 8, and Summit, I have most of this synthesis covered. Dedicated knobs for the filters and envelopes would have made this an even better synth, even if it cost more. Although, the menu is easy peasy to get through, so I would not consider it a killer like some synths out there.
It's a matter of taste, of course, but IMHO C15 is the nicest looking synth on the market. Sounds great and unique too! I was always curious to understand the engine better, so many thanks for the great overview!
I mean, have you seen the Matrixbrute though? ;)
I love the form factor. Nice and compact.
@@hyoonoot I have a thing for tilt panels, so MatrixBrute certainly scores heavily in that regard...
Been waiting for you to review this for over a year now!!! Great work🔥
Splendid successor of Yamaha CS80, but the brand new one! Vangelis would be happy to see it coming if he were alive, superb warmth and sensitivity, able to express the finest phrase. Nice invention, for those who appreciate such sound architecture. No need to spend thousands for an old CS80 and to risk expensive repairs and search for rare parts worldwide when there is a mighty alternative brand new modern gear waiting to get purchased.
Great video as ever! However I think the HydraSynth Deluxe now really challenges this synth at a fraction of the price - with MIDI, poly aftertouch, and real knobs!
The interface makes all the difference to me.
If I have to use a external piece of hardware to control a technical device like this....
Its just a design feature to not a sensible interface thats created for the user.
@@ickebins6948 Agree, the aim here was to make a purist keyboard player’s synth, all the expression comes from the player, that’s why there are no LFOs or MIDI - just like the Haken Continuum has (had?) no envelopes, however we found that unworkable when i worked on the Seaboard & Equator.
@@RikMaxSpeed I just don't understand why you wouldn't give the pianist types those expression options and also make it accessible to knob twiddler sound designer types who probably need a sequencer to play Mary had a little lamb (that's me, I'm the knob twiddler)
@@RikMaxSpeed "purist keyboard player"
what the fkk is that? The whole point of LFOs is expressivity, just a bafflingly retarded exclusion. This thing doesn't hold a candle to a Korg workstation for [potential] expressivity, and expressivity is best capitalized upon with sound design knowledge and experience, not just pedals, but then keyboardists are often not into sound design, which then brings us to the problem: major sound design potential in an instrument only half-way meant for sound designers and half-way for keyboardists, like they had no idea who to aim this at.
Thank you so much for this video, fantastic presentation as usual. As you mentioned, I love that it's not a remake but an own approach - will be getting my hands on one hopefully soon. Also, turns out that I found out about my neighbors around the corner in Berlin through your channel, ha! :)
Thank you for covering this! One thing that is implicitly highlighted that I found personally interesting is just how incredibly smooth the waveshaping and tone-shaping are. Granted you pay for the privilege and there are controls aplenty here, but I was struck by how easily and quickly you can manoeuvre around the sound design process and how "analog"/"organic" it sounds through the whole process. Like the Iridium, this is (obviously) capable of sounding very "digital", in the sense of the complexity of sound creation possibilities, but I can see how it can also be very "organic" sounding, as well.
Having demo'd this a bunch in store, this thing sounds very interesting and looks beautiful but looking at this as a designer, there are some incredibly stubborn design philosophy choices which end up resulting in flat out bad design.
If one had three hands, the editing experience would be reasonable, one hand for a button selection, one hand for a knob, and one hand for the keys. If there was one knob per section, it also might be a more reasonable two handed editing/previewing experience.
As it is, you have to press the button, then move your hand back to the center or to the ribbon, really limiting the experience of dialing in a sound, and keeping you closer to a base preset or initial patch.
The lack of MIDI jacks and MIDI device USB-B jack is again a very stubborn design philosophy choice to me, it just feels like the designers wanted to limit functionality rather than guiding the user into using the product a specific way.
It also feels like the designers realized after the fact that this was a highly unappealing choice to users, creating the Midi computer bridge device, which is essentially what appears to be a $155 (active) female USB-B to female USB-B coupler. This is bad design plain and simple, spelled out by this afterthought of a "fix" to a problem they created.
I think the reason the midi aspect bothers me so much is for a product that's this premium, at this price point, the user should not have to shell out an extra $155 to interface with a daw.
Yes the design confuses me. Like inbuilt Wi-Fi but no midi? Ribbons doubling as expression and editing? Stubborn design for creative products bug me to no end (Like ableton stubbornly summing all midi message to a single channel for no reason)
I think you nailed it with the word “stubborn”. For me the lack of MIDI and tempo-sync are complete show-stoppers, although it is a gorgeous piece of hardware and has a good sound.
They specifically wanted it to be a purely player's synth, and thus MIDI was deliberately left out until their customers started complaining. Also, they seem to think a player's instrument is supposed to be mostly fixed to one patch per performance, and thus they have limited how easy it is to edit them on the fly.
Instrument makers simply should not design something to their own personal creative constraints and thus impose them artificially on others, especially when there is no other reason for it. Then it becomes a form of snobbery, and we know how bad that is for creativity already. We don't need more of that.
That said, I still really like this one, and wouldn't have minded owning one if I had the space, or the money to spare.
You don’t need the $155 MIDI bridge to make it interface with a DAW. I’ve got a MIDI Connect4+ interface and with a USB-A to USB-B cable, it works seamlessly, FYI.
The design choices make sense when the machine is viewed as an anti-preset statement, which is not altogether incorrect as I understand it.
Your channel is brilliant. I just got my C15 and love your programming skills are just amazing. Do you ever sell your program presets? I assume there are not a lot of C15 users😊
Thanks! No, I don't have any presets for it, unfortunately.
Happy to say I have one and it's a beauty.
Having owned the C15 since August 2019, I’ve spent plenty of time with this synth. It is unlike anything else I’ve ever played - hardware or software. It is definitely a players instrument, with more expressive capabilities than most synths on the market. The build quality is luxe through and through. Nonlinear Labs spared no expense on this. It is very functional art and the level of detail would surely impress even the most hardcore Dieter Rams fans. The ability to use a web app along with the hardware is amazing. No, it’s not laggy. The overlays are fantastic and the company has sent me one set of updates. They also regularly update the firmware and add some great features. MIDI was very welcome, although not necessarily a deal breaker since again, this synth is designed for players. Unapologetically so. It’s also very easy to program. Yes, one knob and a series of buttons will immediately make one think of the digital Revolution in the 1980’s, but once you get the muscle memory down, and it doesn’t take very long, you’ll wonder how you lived without it.
The ability to work with as many patches as your imagination allows and to record and export .wav files directly from the C15 just keep the creativity flowing.
In conclusion, this is a very well-designed and executed synth. It sounds fantastic and plays like butter. Very unique and destined to be a future classic.
Good job, Loopop! I’ve been patiently waiting for you to get your hands on one of these and you’ve done it justice in my opinion. Have fun with it. That’s what it’s made for! 🙂
thanks for your mini review as I have been seriously on-the-fence to purchase
Really interested how this engine can be pushed to the borders.
Hope that Jexus will rent one of these:D
He would be the guy who pushed into crazy extremes all right lol
I would like to see that. 👍
I have a hard time lusting after digital gear too much when I could do any of this myself in reaktor
however! that allpass + comb filter is giving me ideas. neat stuff, and great video
same here but with pure data!! lets do it!
@@olldomu5790 I've actually thought about this a few times since posting this comment t
I suppose since the code is open source one could go look it up but I think the fun would really be on trying to figure it out
If you want just a sound engine I can highly recommend Native Instruments Kontour, great synth which was designed by Stephan Schmidt. C15 evolved from Kontour.
Loopop is the GOAT synth reviewer. Thanks for another epic review.
I always look forward to Loopop's reviews, too, always my preference over most others.
I’m still amazed at the depth of 2 sine waves, but at my second watch of this video, my cons are 1) only one knob! 2) no lfos and envelopes can’t loop. I guess you could use a bunch of expression pedals but dang. Still a really beautiful and powerful synth.
This synth has some really great ideas. I especially like the combination of sines, phase modulation, feedback, and comb filter. It can make some really awesome sounds which combine the best of acoustic and electric timbres. But given the price and the quirks, my main hope is that these ideas will make their way into more practical synths, like as extra options in a Hydrasynth or something.
Great to see a synth developer putting lots of thought into their instrument. My only comment would be that C15 should offer EVERY i/o option, eg DIN MIDI, sync in out, cv.. etc then it could be used at the CENTRE of a studio rather than a peripheral device. That being said, it looks like it is directed to be a performance unit?
Nice unit no doubt.
But for some of us performance means having multiple pieces of gear running in sync, with sequencers and all. So not being able to sync it with other gear, it have it play when you're not even touching it, is taking some incredible, creative sound design potential and limiting it to people with a backing band or whatever. I know it's boutique, but taking such unique ideas and then purposely trying to limit who can access it to only those they deem to be "players" is a headscratcher of a decision that I can only really chalk up to some sort of elitism maybe?
@@s3nsec0rruptr80
Yep. It seems crazy to spend the big $ on the C15, then have to use a USB midi host adaptor (which are not always straight forward ), then connect it to a cheap keystep just to integrate it into the studio.
Love the sounds C15 makes. Maybe Nonlinear Labs should team up with Arturia to pimp the C15's i/o?
@@s3nsec0rruptr80 "some sort of elitism"
nah, just pure, unbridled retardation, and not enough experience performing live, gotta have at least MIDI DIN Out if their pretention was to aim for "stage players"
@@timb.4825 Using a USB to midi cable you can connect direct to your midi interface. My C15 is fully integrated into my DAW based studio via one midi connection.
Afaik the C15 is a "boxed" version of Native Instruments Kontour.
So if you want that sound and don't necessarily need the hardware, you could get Kontour, which runs in NIs Reaktor Player.
Not exactly. Kontour is great, but comparing it to the C15 is akin to comparing a picture of the Sistine Chapel to actually being there. What a lot of folks miss out on is the "feel" of this synth. The boutique price tag comes from it being handmade in Berlin and Italy. Price is what you pay, value is what you get. 🙂
@@benjaminharrison6160 Yeah, that's true. The "feel" of this synth might get lost when using the software, but for someone like me, who isn't a good keys player and more of a sound designer, Kontour might be an alternative.
I guess by being only basic at playing, i couldn't appreciate this synths enough, to justify spending that much on it. ^^
@@gamma_noize You bring up a really valid point. Thank you for broadening my perspective on this. 😉
I've never _heard_ you smile so much throughout a complete review. Everything you did seemed so intuitive and fluid and natural.
I somehow got the impression that this thing is basically an interface to a kind of sound design that mimics nature and how sounds emerge from real world items. Also, at some points the sound reminded me of the sounds a church organ produces.
In short, I am flabbergasted by this thing and I'm thoroughly inspired by your presentation, sparkling with pure joy and appreciation.
I WANT TO HAVE ONE OF THESE!!!
Got one, and it is “amazing “ !!
Finally someone used Ipad as a instrument screen ( let's think about how many synth are heaving way too small navigator screen)- in this point a dream come true.
BTW nice review as always!
Teenage Engineering's OP-Z can connect to a phone or ipad for programming!
It is good to see that such synthesizer exists beside from the mainstream ones. It is a real live playable instrument like an E-Piano or Piano but with much more possibilities. Imagine Lang Lang would play it on stage.......
Way out of my price range (I'm aiming for a Summit next, totally unrelated but more affordable price wise).
BUT, the C15 is a piece of art. Fantastic, thanks for sharing!
new firmware released for the summit
good lord is that an exciting and original idea for sound design! NEEEEED to try this out.
Wow, what an amazing piece of synth art, and sounds amzaing too!
Thanks for another thorough review. And of a such an interesting instrument. Novel synthesis methods are always inspiring to see, but what I find even more appealing in this case are the expression options, with dual ribbons and four pedal inputs, plus that ring. There are already so many sound generation engines around, now we need more easy to use real time tweaking and expression tools to get things to the next level. In this particular case, iPad integration is great, but having the whole front panel as one big touch screen, something like Yudo Neuman is for me the direction to go.
I'd like to see somebody play it while using four expression pedals to modulate in deep, strange ways. That could get very interesting.
Looks for me like an instrument better played by an octopus: needs at least three hands and four feet moving in 3d to fully express its potential. On a side note, the ring you mention in your comment is an external device, not included in the bundle.
@@jeanbonnefoy1377 oh yes, I know about the ring being and external option. My overall thinking was in the direction of expressive sound manipulation, and ok, something less octopus-y, but I'll take all the options as they come. In time, there will hopefully be a stable and unobtrusive direct brainwave interface... Or something :) When I design and perform sounds, I literally wish for a sculptural experience. Get your hands in the dough and make it happen, versus endless button pressing.
I was interested in this when it came out, but despite me usually not bothering with midi on polysynths, the lack of it bugged me. I do want to sequence occasionally. Now that they finally acknowledge that (or have simply given in) it's just silly not to let it speak to a computer, I think I'll get one soon. It's beautiful and personally I find it exceptionally interesting.
nice n glassy in that classic aged component prophet way, yet modern! Im off to do some dishes to pay for it, great words brother concur!
I've had mine for a couple of years. MIDI has been added. It is worth it!
Amazing tube. I bought this unique synth, Your this tube is a big help.
An amazing instrument! Wow! Never seen a keyboard like this! Unique!
I’ve always wondered about this synth due to its intriguing interface
A real beauty, happy for those who can afford it.
I love mine 😍♥️
Thanks for the video!
Saw this a few years ago. Wondered where it went. Amazing!
thank you for everything
and all the presets at the end
Wow! Thanks for the loong set at the end : )
Impressive product, interesting to compare with, say Moog One in that price territory. The timbral territory of the C15 seems to just cry out for poly-aftertouch, with or without MPE compliance.
Moog One is full analog synth, C15 is digital, so I don't know what do you want to compare ? :-)
AFAIK there's nowhere synth makers can source a traditional keybed with polyphonic pressure. ASM had to design and manufacture their own for the Hydrasynth.
@@ashgray1518 High time for this to change, IMO.
@@msciwiarski While analog/digital is a crucial distinction for some, it is not so for everyone. I’m thinking more in terms of “primary” instruments with potentially similar roles in similar cost brackets.)
Detriments include the relative lack of knobs, the 6 macro bottleneck and MIDI being an afterthought. Also a weirdly placed and designed pitch-shifter, and no wheels or joystick. I actually don't mind using a computer editor, but "almost" all parameters are available on the synth - some are only available via the Chrome browser.
Other than that, it seems pretty cool.
All parameters are available on the hardware
It doesn't need wheels or a joystick. It has two ribbons and three pedal inputs.
Simply BEAUTIFUL...
Well. Back in 1983 the DX7 had a bunch of buttons to push and a slider. That was less than optimal.
As always, love your in depth reviews, even if the product is way out of my price range. I always find some wonderful nugget of information. With that in mind, are there any reviews in the works for either of the new Nanobox synths? I find the ease of use of them (currently using the Fireball, will get Lemondrop as soon as it is back in stock.) allow for quick and easy development of ideas,
Great vidoe. Luxury synth aside, this video was worth it just for the NI Kontour reminder. I've had it for 5 years and never really explored it much.
Same! Komplete has so many stuff. Also the problem is, that you have to load Reaktor and within Reaktor than loading the synth. Like in Cubase you have to load Halion SE to load the Flux synth. If it would be in the VSTi list, I would use it more often, maybe.
@@Cynshet Thanks. 2 months later and I still haven’t explored Kontour. lol.
@@coolo73 I played around with some presets and it sounds really nice. Like all the other stuff in Reaktor I should use more^^
One of the most interesting sounding synths in a long while.
Last time I checked the sine wave market, you could get 6 for 400 £ ( used DX7, 6 operators is not a joke) lol. This thing looks very nice, it is an instrument in a real sense, I love the novelty and the approach. Some elements remind me of Hydrasynth mutants, build reminds me of Moog one, sound is very interesting and , well, just from what you ve shown, very broad. A lots of stuff in there to be unpacked and you, as always did a great job. I might take a look into this more seriously if it was at leasrt 1 k cheaper, but I perfectly understnad why it is not - butique build, novelty/niche engine... at least you will enjoy it. i would really like it for all those fm/pm sounds that make it so lo fi. It is nice to see that as of late there are so many bold instruments out there. I am sure nothing can sound like this. Same goes for Super 6 and some other high end instruments that, instead of being clones of popular gear, bring new stuff to the sonic table.
Haha! For the $80 I paid, I'll stick with my 4-operator TX81Z!
For $5000 I’d expect DIN MIDI and class compliant USB MIDI. Pass, not seeing much my Iridium can’t do. But thanks for another informative review.
The patches can all (or most of) be duped on a MODX or a combination of synths totalling a fraction of the C15's cost, used or new.
@@Jason75913 LOL
@@jazzjeffjazzjeff seriously, just lol, plus alternate gear would also render more performing power
Interesting video. Having finally bought a new hardware synth for the first time in 22 years (previously an E-MU Proteus 2000 which also has a comb filter) in the form of the Deepmind 12, and playing round with it the last two days (yup, got it on Thursday), obviously there are substantial differences between the C15 and the Deepmind, but it struck me that if I bought another Deepmind 12 and polychained them, then sonically they might be able to go toe to toe with the C15 at under a third of the price and with a ton of hands on immediacy and the same polyphony.
Would love to see that video. 😁
@@Leviathan-mj8gi I wouldn't think they would sound the same either, but in terms of variety two 12's layered or running separately might well do it, especially with those long evolving pads and sliders galore.
@@remoteviewer8524 The Hydra and Opsix are two of the closest matches on the market for the C15's capabilities. The Deepmind is nice, but it's nowhere near as versatile as either of these two. In particular, the Deepmind's oscillator section is extremely limited, not capable of doing most of the crazy stuff the C15 does. Instead, the Deepmind relies more on effects, which play a smaller role in the other synths mentioned here.
Anyway, they're designed around completely different concepts. The Deepmind has square and saw waves and is based on the idea that everything else can be subtracting harmonics with a cutoff filter. This makes it very similar to a lot of older analog synths, except it has a ton of effects built in and it uses those heavily for sound design. The C15, however, is based on the idea that people only really need sine waves, and everything else can be constructed by adding harmonics to that, without the need for a filter. For particularly rich tones, it also has a comb filter to reduce noise to a more coherent signal without sacrificing the crisp upper tones... much like acoustic instruments. That's something a retro analog synth simply can't do.
An Opsix is probably the closest match, since it's an extremely powerful FM synth based on roughly the same conceptual model as the C15, with a huge amount of features including a comb filter. The Hydrasynth is less of a direct match, but it's so versatile in general that it can do almost anything.
@@ToyKeeper I owned a Hydra for a while. It failed to capture my interest.
Though it is way WAY out of my price range, that is one beautiful synth.
Mesmerizing machine! Is this from the creator of NI’s Reaktor?
One of its founders and likely Reaktor too but not sure
My favorite synth of all time by a wide margin.
6:14 you could go to a two +1 handed mode by pressing the note then use the pedal to hold the tone and then you have both hands free to apply filters 😊
What an original idea, the pads and choir sounds are great.
And surprisingly it can do all the rest too. Modulate everything with everything and you'll get unlimited sounds.
Gotta find that pot of gold and buy all these nice instruments.
Sounds beautiful!
I’d love to hear some sounds from this that are bathed in reverb. If it is to be used as an instrument, it can’t always sound like a movie soundtrack.
0:12 to 0:18 = two of my favourite synth riffs ever
Looks like something Tim Shoebridge would want in his collection :D
Definitely some impressive sound design options.. my biggest concern is the 1-knob interface. Having to change parameters via a 2-step process is a buzz kill. At least most are accessible on the face though.
Wow, this synth sounds amazing, AND IT BETTER DO
i think Kontour was at least inspired by Stephan's work with NI ...i also have the Prizm plug in which he developed, exclusively i think. ( also amazing and worthy of mention )
he definitely had all the qualifications as a synth guru, and a good plan for the C15, when he started nonlinear labs.
To some extent I appreciate this very “opinionated” approach to synth design: laser-focused on a specific niche, and excluding anything that might conflict with that philosophy. It’s very much a performance instrument for capital M Musicians who want to emphasise virtuosity and expressivity, rather than a synth for people with electronic music studios, DAWs and sequencers. Thus, it’s going to be completely baffling to a lot of people who follow this channel. Those Musicians might agree with the decision not to include LFOs or MIDI: after all, what does a violin or a piano need with those? “Learn to play vibrato properly, you lazy heathens!” So I guess it’s appropriate that most of the presets from this impressively versatile synth engine sound like early-90s New Age rather than either contemporary electronic music or retro analogue synths. Very much not my thing, and the price also suits the sort of people who’d drop that sort of money on a vintage Rhodes or an acoustic piano and concentrate on learning every nuance of that instrument, rather than people who would spend that on a whole home studio of varied gear. But I have to admire the vision and chutzpah of the designers!
"rather than a synth for people with electronic music studios" Sooo... virtuosos who don't make electronic music and want to emphasize virtuosity and expressivity... but want a very purpose-built synth instead of a standard stage keyboard like a Nord? Maybe, but this is probably more of the kind of thing a big studio would have for cinematic scoring, so I guess it really depends on which way your electronic music leans or how experimental it is and of course, your budget and studio space.
Such a great comment
"who want to emphasize virtuosity and expressivity"
That is best done with modulation, and LFOs and poly/channel aftertouch contribute towards that significantly, you can't have "virtuosity" and expressivity without modulation, there is simply no such thing. Two examples of the most common type:
The sound varying in volume with how hard you strike keys? Modulation of amplitude with key velocity as the source. Brightness varying with pitch as you play higher or lower notes? Modulation of a filter with key notes as the source. Acoustic instruments relatively do these things themselves. Acoustic instruments and their users are the inspiration behind how synths have developed and what capabilities go into them and how to make them expressive and more playable. MIDI out would allow for layering with another synth or controlling a synth module with just the C15, something vcommonly done by performers. Exclusion of MIDI DIN I/O, especially MIDI Out, is inconvenient to performers.
"completely baffling to a lot of people who follow this channel"
sound design rookies and people new to synths like yourself, going by their comments in every video, but that's just a simple guess and only a minority of viewers actually comment, so there's no knowing the true demographics from so little info
"concentrate on learning every nuance of that instrument"
A common thing for keyboardists to do, but to be more exact, they concentrate on learning every nuance of the _factory presets_ and insert effects here in North America, as they don't seem to delve beyond that much. The situation is different in other parts of the world. American keyboardists don't seem to touch sound design much, which excludes them from knowing what can allow them to make presets even more expressive or customize existing expressivity programmed into factory patches to their liking or needs. And it's all actually pretty simple, but deceptively daunting in the beginning.
@@Jason75913 why don’t you think Americans do sound design?
yeay! I was so waiting for this review!
btw, what's the preset @45:02?
Thanks! It's a modified Evangelos Lead 1
Not that I would ever buy such an expensive synth but if there was a chance that I would, the lack of LFOs would be a deal breaker for me.
Thanks for the very in-depth video. I would have a hard time spending $5500.00 on this when you could do the same thing on a Waldorf Blofeld for about $500.00, I had one and was amazed at the modulation source and destination options, wave choices, effects, etc. It a nice-looking synth though and easy to program.
I wonder if the sync works on this one tho, unlike our beloved unsyncable Blofeld?
I was wondering about that too. I have a Blofeld and haven't used its comb filter and FM capabilities anywhere near enough. So I'd like to try replicating some of the C15 sounds on it sometime. I've mostly been disappointed by its steppy parameters and clippy drive models and generally "digital" sound, but I suspect a lot of that can be bypassed by using FM.
The mighty Blofeld can do way more things than this overpriced MIDI-less synth. Blofeld is still one of the very top synths around, and at a really silly price, considering its countless features.
@@UBERLADEN69 oh man. I owned two of them and loved the sound but neither would sync and the filter knobs broke after a month or two. Awful.. such a shame
Amazing review!
How awesome will it be if Arturia released a standalone little module with just the sequencer, arpeggiator and chord functionality of the key step 37, minus the keyboard but perhaps with the mod and pitch strips retained. That way any synth out there can get those super helpful tools in a miniature package and at a really low price.
For sure!
@@loopop keep up the fantastic work!
Just a few assignable knobs would have made this great sounding synth price tag more palatable.
fantastic review and especially liked the demo of ambiental, sound designer-ish and percussive/acoustic presets.
alas, this machine is source of frustration for me. i simply love the sound and wanted to buy it upon release, but Synclavier-ish user interface from 1981, small screen and only mono after touch are things that kept me at bay. i find this in direct conflict with the whole advertised idea of a "performance instrument" and flexible sound design playground. even moreso now, after a decade, in 2023, i feel it needs to offer more to justify 4k euro price range.
what is exciting is, poly at keybeds are finally readily available. so i have faint hope for a new version that finally adds poly after touch and more encoders/sliders. or possibly, at least they decide to offer factory retrofit of fatar poly-at keybed.
time marches on, especially for all digital synths. and expression and user interface are two main reasons why one reaches for digital hardware over a vsti doing the same or similar thing.
the way the phase mod / wave shape engine works, to have control of its parameters per each note - would catapult expression and articulation to another universe. imho.
@loopop, have you considered doing reviews of vintage synths? Especially how they compare to modern alternatives. And more audio interface reviews, please.
Thanks for the feedback - considered both and not saying no but for the near term at least it's hard to prioritize due to all the interesting new stuff coming out. In a way though this video is about something that's been around for quite some time.
@@loopop love your work, as always, and can't wait for the Superbooth videos!
Greetings. It's ME again, Mr. Off Topic (Mark). I ask you this because A) you're likely the smartest person I know and B) I've ruled out Arturia, whose OBXA can't do what OBXA's did, back in the day. Here's the quote: "One of the signiture aspects of the OBX, OBXa,and OB8 was how the portamento worked while in the unison mode. In that case the portamento for each voice was slightly "detuned" or lagged...meaning they all had slightly different portamento rates which produces a wonderful wall of sound.” So, varying GLIDE per voice for that Wonderful OBIE sound. Also, I think vintage Waldorf synths had this trick up their sleeves as well, to the point that the John Bowen SOLARIS synth features a Waldorf Preset doing this very thing. I wonder, do you know whether HYDRA EXPORER, for example, might be able to do this? I am told that Korg's Monopoly had this feature. I know you're not a SoftSynth guy, but...you would think that, for example, Synapse's OBSESSION or GForce's OB-E could do this Glide Per Voice. Thanks, Sir. Mark
@Mark Meador I agree with you and here's my suggestion. A MIDI box or controller keyboard that splits polyphonic playing into mono mode over several channels. With settings for 4, 6 or 8 voices in numerical, round robin or random order. This allows that tired old digital synth to be set with different detune, filter and every other setting on each individual voice.
@@bilonggrisimmeri VERY COOL and thank you, thank you!! Why…am I not at all surprised that you sorted this out? WELL DONE!
@Mark Meador Thanks for your kind comment, unfortunately such a device does not exist. Some claim Sequentix Cirklon will, but it won't. Another device which I can't remember the name of does X4 CV and Gate pairs, allowing some Moog 4 voice synths being played polyphonically. Roland synths from D-50 onward have X4 partials/voice and lots of polyphony. Unfortunately, settings for a partial, and for a voice, apply to every note in a chord. Everything is the same. I really love digital synths, don't get me wrong, but would like to stretch their potential a bit.
@@bilonggrisimmeri Hi there. Consider Tom Oberheim’s reissue if the TWO VOUCE-it has Portamento knobs per [2 Oscillator] voice. I bought this unit I’m around 2014-should have kept it, right.
And, I found out yesterday that a soft synth, which has been in my arsenal for years, OP-X II Pro (Sonic Projects), based on the OBIE OBX, has this feature, as it appeared on the OBX (different than Two Voice with its porta knob per voice), taking the form of 1) a single port button & rate knob, plus a PORTA DETUNE button. Once porta detune is activated, the LAG between voices becomes greater as the the porta knob is turned up.
This is all I can offer up.
Dang! That synth sounds niiiiiiicccceeee
Would rather Get a Iridium Keyboard or Quantum for this price (they also has comb filters, Resonator, Kernel modulation, a ridiculously powerful mod matrix and bloody midi!)
Yeah, this would be quite low on my list even if I had infinite money. Looks like an unintuitive pig to program, and I say that as a Kronos owner.
@@skelly790 I still hope we will see more hardware instruments from nonlinear labs in the future, there is still potential here.
@@skelly790 nah, Kronos is definitively worse, and I know my way around one from just messing with one at a local store a bunch of times, it is not so different from the Krome and my M50 (budget M3 w/o Karma), and even worse are the Nautilus and Kross1 and Kross2
If Kronos were better, it would have far more buttons like the C15. C15's buttons are basically tons of shortcuts into its menus, how nice it would be for workstations to have more button shortcuts to their deep menus to make the menu-diving faster, but only one knob for dialing in values is a bummer.
They should have made it with at least 4-8 knobs for simultaneous editing of 4-8 parameters at a time. I get 8 editing knobs for 8 parameters at a time on my Ultranova, together with its button shortcuts, brings it just a step away from a knob-per-function experience and usability, my Micromonsta2 does something very similar but with 4 knobs instead and much deeper menus but still a breeze to program compared to a clunky Korg workstation of any kind.
Finally the sound of 1990s Grateful Dead space in a box 😝😎
wow nice! this is just one of those intimidatingly complex vst synths build as a machine! :) love it! but i stand with propellerheads reason thor (has state variable and comb filters) and europa! :)
I'm very interested in what Martin Stürtzer would say for using this synthesizer in his setup
The parameter button lights should change color when it switches to a different function.
You can get 98% of this sonic power from a Korg opsix, since it was updated to v2.0 and includes a comb filter operator (for the physical modelling etc.). The opsix operator and modulation matrices are much more flexible too. Not sure about state-variable filter functionality - it's not clear to me what that contributes. The opsix now has a software (VST/AU) version too.
I strongly disagree.
@@jazzjeffjazzjeff I'd use a MODX to dupe all its patches, if I wanted to do that in one cheaper, better hardware unit, but from what I actually have, I'd use FM8, Argon8, and one of my romplers.
That reverb is killer, though, I don't have comparable hardware except my reverb pedals, Raum, and Supermassive.
Hello brother. Thank you so much for your amazing tutorials. Can you please do one for the Roland boutique JD-08? Thanks again. I simply can't thank you enough for your tutorials..
It's took me 3 weeks for me to partly convince the Mrs that me blasting £2.400 quid on a waldorf irridium keyboard is worth it.
I can only imagine the amount of monumental Blaggs it would take for this Synth at €4000
I wonder what you prefer. UDO Gemini or this beast? Booth are very special?
Both special and different, Gemini way more hands on, but can't cover all the timbres this does, but has its own special traits....
It sounds great and I can even understand how to got to this price point, but the interface is a hard pass for me. Without a computer/tablet, it's seems like a nightmare to figure out which parameter is set to what in a complex patch, especially with all the feedback options. Clicking all the buttons just to see what the settings are is not my idea of a good time. And "most" things being accessible without the app is inexcusable imo, not to mention how sluggish the app looks. It's a giant hardware synth. If I wanted a VST, I wouldn't sacrifice that much desk space or spent so much money.
The lack of Midi DIN I/O, MPE support and LFO's/modulation are just weird design decisions.
Is the engine also inspired by the synclavier? I have been drooling over the synclavier for the last 6-7 years and wondering why doesnt a company make a synclavier inspired synth. Basically does this piece do additive synthesise? Omg this is as exciting as the polybrute was for me no more exciting.... I haven't watched the whole review yet so perhaps you'll answer my questions in the review. I just wish it weren't a car trade in to afford it.
Im normally not a digital fan ill use vsts for that. But the synclavier was something in itself I'm just so stoked and yes I will be trading in my car for it.
Are the filters digital???
OMG THE RING!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
It's all digital, and I think mainly the user interface is Synclavier inspired, not the engine itself. It's not an additive engine
@@loopop still very unique i love to see the market starting to evolve into some of the more unique machine's that are available, unfortunately us analog snobs are going to have to swallow some of the reality which is things like additive or just something with this many options is extremely difficult to assemble using a purely analog signal path.
I will complain a bit. Maybe the filters could have been analog.
Also firmware updates-with the magnetic labeling system, add additive synthesis think about it.
Over all beautiful synth great review as always thank you loopop!
When I bought mine, I talked to Stephan Schmitt (founder of Nonlinear Labs and cofounder of Native Instruments) about the similarities with the Synclavier. The influence in the design is very obvious: the button layout, selecting a parameter with a button and choosing the value with the knob, computer integration, emphasis on performance. That was a big draw for me. I have lots of synths with 'traditional' designs, so the C15 brings something different. I love that it is purely digital.