Why is there a deadline for a synth review from Sonicstate? I feel like you can put out videos whenever you want. You don't have to be amongst the first wave of reviews because Nick's reviews are always special. And i think people will watch them anyway. Just my 2 cents.
However, the Prologue has very limited modulation (no matrix), no filter slope or multimode switching, no aftertouch or other points of expression, and no sequencer. Yet it's smaller brother the Minilogue XD at least has a sequencer, perplexingly. The PolyBrute also has two different filters that can be independently panned and routed in various ways.
One would agree but none of these make it a bad sounding synth. Plus sequencers are two a penny on synths, why does every synth have to have a sequencer?
@@timmytim7264 the sequencer on the Minilogue makes up for the lack of modulation. I'm not so worried about sequencing notes (although that is fun). But synthesis often relies on adding motion and variation to sound to keep it interesting.
your'e right don't hear much about the prologue 16 2 great analog osc and an extra wave table osc plus the effects are mint! its the usual though - get both!!
But the Polybrute is so much more even with less voices. Being able to morph between two patches is mind blowing sometimes. It’s not about the price really. I have the polybrute and a minilogue xd. I’m very 😊
PolyBrute is just a beautiful sounding thing, the 6 voice issue tends to not be an issue, even with lush slow pads and you really don't find you need more voices. It has excellent functionality as well, not just gimicky things .. these are actually useful. But it really is heavy ... I'd say too heavy for any kind of regular gigging unless you have a couple of roadies. It's heavier than my Korg SV-1 Stage Piano with a fully weighted keybed, and that needs wheels on it's case.
Besides the sound of it, I'm surprised by the design. This one truly is a beautiful synthesiser. By comparison, the matrixbrute was way too big and bulky, just ugly and over-the-top imho. (Yes, aesthetics actually matters when you're spending that amount of money on a synth!)
Also 25 years since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - which is why Arturia did a tribute with the Mighty Morphin Power Synth. Thinking of Arturia's range of hardware it is all a little odd now. They have got a range of £250-350 synths and drum machines, then they have the RackBrutes that integrate with those pocket friendly synths and drum machines in a beautiful way at a similar price. But then they have this big void of synth and drum machines products till you get to the PolyBrute and MatrixBrute, and one of them isn't even pretending to play with the RackBrutes, and no killer drum machine. Yet on the software and controller side they are very diverse and well tiered. I hope we can expect something in the middle of all that synth and drum hardware; maybe a pro morphing drum machine, a mini synth with digital presets and a bit of morphing too or a micro matrix - a lot of mid-range stuff would be nice to fill that void. The other gap they have is all the software stuff and all the controller stuff with great sequencing yet no groove box style hardware/software solution - considering their first synth was the Origin, which was more or less that. Not trying to be critical of Arturia, just seem to be not wanting to fill these voids with a few things I'd likely be wanting from them.
A lot of people are praying for a PolyFreak - two digital oscillator, 8 voice, 4 octave, all the usual mod matrix and sequencer features. Think a Keylab Essential 49 with 2 MicroFreaks inside for €$£800-ish. The more we shout about it the more likely it will happen :)
@@fincorrigan7139 That would be nice, I'd buy that if it was in desktop form. Should be a poly already, maybe like the vocoder it is already there but not implemented yet - this could be a synth that keeps giving.
I'd really like to know what Steve Hillier didn't like about the Prologue sound. I hope he has the time to elaborate here. I personally love the Prologue but I'm not into aggressive sounds. I'm more of a smooth and funky kind of guy.
I'd love it. Yeah I was a bit put off by matrixbrute price and wanted a poly. Only thing I have come across with morph is on the intellijel shapeshifter. Cheers.
Can you morph between arpeggiator or sequencer settings in the Polybrute A/B? I'm assuming that's illogical and not possible, but I'd be very happy to be proved wrong.
What I understand from loopops video is that you can morph to a sequence from a non sequenced patch so I wouldn’t be surprised that sequencer to arpeggiater is a possibility.
That actually doesn’t seem illogical at all. It’s totally possible to do that kind of thing on modular synths. I wouldn’t be too surprised if you could or couldnt
I'm really considering getting a Polybrute....does anyone have a suggestion as to any other synths I should check out in the same price band before I commit? thank you
I would say Hydra Synth is worth looking at, UDO Audio - though we haven't had our hands on it yet. OB-6 too, though less flexible, it may have a sound that chimes with you.
Wouldn't endless encoders, probably with leds around make the Polybrute morphing more intuitive? I guess that's too different a design to the brute series. Although to be fair, that could be said for a lot of the synths.
I suppose they have to be super-critical of what they can leave in and still charge under $3k for. LED'd encoders would probably add a couple hundred $ to the price, while the first thing most buyers would want for more dosh is 2 more voices w/ split/dual/layer instead.
The BCR2000 Midi controller which was probably one of the cheapest controllers out there is full of LED encoders, although that's obviously a very bad example :)
For anything that has presets the traditional controllers don't seem to make sense, to me atleast. And feels like other than the synth world, the rest of the hardware coming out grooveboxes, controllers, synths even, the Elektrons, Mpcs, Push, Maschines etc, all seem to be working with endless encoders.
Now that you can wear a mask in most banks take your pick... just stay away from a certain Spanish bank on the High Street on Friday morning, it may go pear shaped.
Will Farrell - Sadly I bottled it, and got sold some contents insurance. The only thing I took away was a persistent cough 😷 It will now take some hard graft to own this synth, so I’ve enrolled the wife with Uber.
Wth cash being used less & less, banks have lost their robbery appeal, I guess. Better rob drug dealers; it might - just might - be a little risky, though ;)
Thx Nick! Polybrute sounds way better than in yesterday's first demo. 👍👍👍 Definitely an amazing machine. Who would want to buy a Moog One now (or even a Matriarch)?🤔😊 Sort of mix of a cs80, an Hydrasynth and a Persephone...
What many people don't realize is that Moog One is 3 complete synths in one instrument. If you go purely by the expense attached, then since MOOG ONE. Is 3 synths, you pay roughly $2,800.00 per synth. I put my hands on MOOG One, but other than that, I so far rely only on what others say.. If you are looking for a value or economivs, MOOG generally keeps very high resale value, and it is used historically in succesful music due to it's sound color that simply cannot be duplicated by others. Other products can more or less immitate each other but MOOG stands really alone. It's expensive for a reason. I don't own any MOOG as of yet, I started with KORG products before I started to expand my knowledge a bit but I am going full analog since then. Digital hurts my ears in some frequencies where I don't have same problem with the analog sound. Having said that, I do like what Arturia does. Didn't buy Matrix brute because it's a mono/para synth. My logic tells me - probably because I grew up playing piano - that having 10 fingers require ability to play at least 10 keys at any given time, so poly for me does it. Can't stand just mono. It feels like a waste to me. This is 6 voice poly, it could suffice - perhaps. But I do like many things about it, and the sound is one of them. Solid body, heavy (which means that the beef inside is made from high quality materials), it has lots going for it. I like lots of stuff, my taste is expensive, so I am jus patient and I buy things one by one. I am still eyeing MOOG ONE, because there is a chance the production will cease soon. Any flagship instrument always costs more to make than it's sold for, and they don't stay in production for too long. People simply buy cheaper stuff and try to compensate with number of instruments instead getting the big thing. I am on the opposite. But MOOG One isn't really that outrageously expensive when you realize what a monster of instrument it is.
Which poly? Why the Behringer Pro-800 of course. 8 note poly for around £600 when Arturia can only manage 6 for over £2k. Mr Dubstar Stephen, you're sagacious and spot on!
Well they are both very different. Behringer have remade something that they didnt have to design from scratch, but they are really good at figuring out how to make them affordable. The Arturia is a fairly unique instrument with features not found elsewhere, and is a much larger piece of hardware. The Pro-800 may well suit you more, or you may be drawn to the Arturia, both are fine. (Not tried the Pro-800 of course)
@@sonicstate Looking forward to when you get your hands on the Pro 800. Not sure I like the membrane switches, but then again all the membrane switches on my CZ1000 still work and I got that in '86. Yes both synths are in different markets. If I had the money I'd have difficulty choosing between the PolyBrute, UDO Super 6 or Matriarch. Sadly my salary will take that hard choice out of my hands.
They wont make it a Matrixbrute X 6 because no one would get the matrix then unless the poly had a much much higher price. They want to keep selling both.
What would be fun is if Arturia just put all their software simulations in a box with some high-octane processor in there to drive them at a super-high sample rate. I'm kind of surprised they haven't done it yet actually.
C. Law they kind of did that fifteen years ago, “origin” I think it was called, and apparently they lost a lot of money on it and nearly went out of business.
KLF Tshirt on Steve says it all. Yes, this is a group of fine folks, my virtual friends I will always spend my free time with . . easily 7 times a week , but only till 3 A.M . . . . ;-)
@@ChickyNYC I think you should have developed the "In a world......" theme a bit further a la Ryan Reynolds who takes it to a whole new level of glorious absurdity.
@@ChickyNYC Thanks for the reply Charles! I mean the rack unit, one up from the ground in the case to the left of the case where the organelle is laying on. 5 red buttons with a row of white buttons and the knobs on the right of that. :)
Ah yes, that’s a custom rack for my FMR RNLA and RNC. They’re really cheap and great sounding dual-channel compressors! The rack casing is made by Funk Logic.
The Matrix brute has been plauged by issues with firmware that have been basically ignored for years, there are still ridiculous bugs related to the synth's abilities to sync (won't sync to an external source without a start message) It is a huge gamble to spend this kind of money on a synth by Arturia; it could be abandoned in the middle of development as the Matrix brute has been.
The Maschine + is, I'm afraid, a Maschine Mk3 with it's V8 engine removed and replaced by a 3 cylinder 1.2L for 2.5 times the money in it's current form.
Why is there a deadline for a synth review from Sonicstate? I feel like you can put out videos whenever you want. You don't have to be amongst the first wave of reviews because Nick's reviews are always special. And i think people will watch them anyway. Just my 2 cents.
If Nick was in my band, I'd let him do all the ambient, proggy synth noodling he wanted. Brilliant stuff, Nick! Cheers!
That would be one side of your concept album taken care of.
I love seeing the pre-show so keep it up ;D
Prologue 16 is a great synth with some great sounds (+user OSC), and nearly half the price of PolyBrute.
However, the Prologue has very limited modulation (no matrix), no filter slope or multimode switching, no aftertouch or other points of expression, and no sequencer. Yet it's smaller brother the Minilogue XD at least has a sequencer, perplexingly.
The PolyBrute also has two different filters that can be independently panned and routed in various ways.
One would agree but none of these make it a bad sounding synth. Plus sequencers are two a penny on synths, why does every synth have to have a sequencer?
@@timmytim7264 the sequencer on the Minilogue makes up for the lack of modulation. I'm not so worried about sequencing notes (although that is fun). But synthesis often relies on adding motion and variation to sound to keep it interesting.
your'e right don't hear much about the prologue 16 2 great analog osc and an extra wave table osc plus the effects are mint! its the usual though - get both!!
But the Polybrute is so much more even with less voices. Being able to morph between two patches is mind blowing sometimes. It’s not about the price really. I have the polybrute and a minilogue xd. I’m very 😊
PolyBrute is just a beautiful sounding thing, the 6 voice issue tends to not be an issue, even with lush slow pads and you really don't find you need more voices. It has excellent functionality as well, not just gimicky things .. these are actually useful. But it really is heavy ... I'd say too heavy for any kind of regular gigging unless you have a couple of roadies. It's heavier than my Korg SV-1 Stage Piano with a fully weighted keybed, and that needs wheels on it's case.
Besides the sound of it, I'm surprised by the design. This one truly is a beautiful synthesiser. By comparison, the matrixbrute was way too big and bulky, just ugly and over-the-top imho. (Yes, aesthetics actually matters when you're spending that amount of money on a synth!)
Enjoyed Steve's contribution this week!
Looking forward to his coronavirus vaccine. If only.
listen every week , rarely comment these days due to lack of feed-back but great show and good input from all involved, loved it. :)
Up the Chels!
Also 25 years since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - which is why Arturia did a tribute with the Mighty Morphin Power Synth. Thinking of Arturia's range of hardware it is all a little odd now. They have got a range of £250-350 synths and drum machines, then they have the RackBrutes that integrate with those pocket friendly synths and drum machines in a beautiful way at a similar price. But then they have this big void of synth and drum machines products till you get to the PolyBrute and MatrixBrute, and one of them isn't even pretending to play with the RackBrutes, and no killer drum machine. Yet on the software and controller side they are very diverse and well tiered. I hope we can expect something in the middle of all that synth and drum hardware; maybe a pro morphing drum machine, a mini synth with digital presets and a bit of morphing too or a micro matrix - a lot of mid-range stuff would be nice to fill that void. The other gap they have is all the software stuff and all the controller stuff with great sequencing yet no groove box style hardware/software solution - considering their first synth was the Origin, which was more or less that. Not trying to be critical of Arturia, just seem to be not wanting to fill these voids with a few things I'd likely be wanting from them.
A lot of people are praying for a PolyFreak - two digital oscillator, 8 voice, 4 octave, all the usual mod matrix and sequencer features. Think a Keylab Essential 49 with 2 MicroFreaks inside for €$£800-ish. The more we shout about it the more likely it will happen :)
@@fincorrigan7139 That would be nice, I'd buy that if it was in desktop form. Should be a poly already, maybe like the vocoder it is already there but not implemented yet - this could be a synth that keeps giving.
Deepmind12 also does kind of a morphing thing but only in the app and sadly it's not a mod destination
6 voices is totally fine, 20kg - I don't know... I am a weakling, I don't know why smartphones are so heavy.
I'd really like to know what Steve Hillier didn't like about the Prologue sound. I hope he has the time to elaborate here. I personally love the Prologue but I'm not into aggressive sounds. I'm more of a smooth and funky kind of guy.
Me too. I have a Minilogue XD and that's just great. Still, if you have some classy synths around your standards are high.....
FX Aid is definitely my next modular purchase!
I'd love it. Yeah I was a bit put off by matrixbrute price and wanted a poly. Only thing I have come across with morph is on the intellijel shapeshifter. Cheers.
Can you morph between arpeggiator or sequencer settings in the Polybrute A/B? I'm assuming that's illogical and not possible, but I'd be very happy to be proved wrong.
What I understand from loopops video is that you can morph to a sequence from a non sequenced patch so I wouldn’t be surprised that sequencer to arpeggiater is a possibility.
That actually doesn’t seem illogical at all. It’s totally possible to do that kind of thing on modular synths. I wouldn’t be too surprised if you could or couldnt
No, Sequencer doesn't morph, nor arpeggiator.
Sébastien Rochard boooo. Okay. Good to know! Not a deal breaker at all. Would be a good option, though.
I'm really considering getting a Polybrute....does anyone have a suggestion as to any other synths I should check out in the same price band before I commit? thank you
I would say Hydra Synth is worth looking at, UDO Audio - though we haven't had our hands on it yet. OB-6 too, though less flexible, it may have a sound that chimes with you.
Wouldn't endless encoders, probably with leds around make the Polybrute morphing more intuitive? I guess that's too different a design to the brute series. Although to be fair, that could be said for a lot of the synths.
I suppose they have to be super-critical of what they can leave in and still charge under $3k for. LED'd encoders would probably add a couple hundred $ to the price, while the first thing most buyers would want for more dosh is 2 more voices w/ split/dual/layer instead.
@@shaft9000 Agreed, although simply endless encoders (non LED) too might do the trick without adding much to costs.
The BCR2000 Midi controller which was probably one of the cheapest controllers out there is full of LED encoders, although that's obviously a very bad example :)
For anything that has presets the traditional controllers don't seem to make sense, to me atleast. And feels like other than the synth world, the rest of the hardware coming out grooveboxes, controllers, synths even, the Elektrons, Mpcs, Push, Maschines etc, all seem to be working with endless encoders.
Sweet Jesus, I thought the Matrix Brute was my dream synth, sound wise..... Which is the easiest bank to rob?
@Will Farrell too late.. spent
Now that you can wear a mask in most banks take your pick... just stay away from a certain Spanish bank on the High Street on Friday morning, it may go pear shaped.
Start a religious cult!
Will Farrell - Sadly I bottled it, and got sold some contents insurance. The only thing I took away was a persistent cough 😷 It will now take some hard graft to own this synth, so I’ve enrolled the wife with Uber.
Wth cash being used less & less, banks have lost their robbery appeal, I guess. Better rob drug dealers; it might - just might - be a little risky, though ;)
Thx Nick! Polybrute sounds way better than in yesterday's first demo. 👍👍👍 Definitely an amazing machine. Who would want to buy a Moog One now (or even a Matriarch)?🤔😊 Sort of mix of a cs80, an Hydrasynth and a Persephone...
I would prefer a moog one, but could only afford a Deepmind 12 xD
What many people don't realize is that Moog One is 3 complete synths in one instrument. If you go purely by the expense attached, then since MOOG ONE. Is 3 synths, you pay roughly $2,800.00 per synth.
I put my hands on MOOG One, but other than that, I so far rely only on what others say..
If you are looking for a value or economivs, MOOG generally keeps very high resale value, and it is used historically in succesful music due to it's sound color that simply cannot be duplicated by others. Other products can more or less immitate each other but MOOG stands really alone.
It's expensive for a reason.
I don't own any MOOG as of yet, I started with KORG products before I started to expand my knowledge a bit but I am going full analog since then.
Digital hurts my ears in some frequencies where I don't have same problem with the analog sound.
Having said that, I do like what Arturia does. Didn't buy Matrix brute because it's a mono/para synth.
My logic tells me - probably because I grew up playing piano - that having 10 fingers require ability to play at least 10 keys at any given time, so poly for me does it. Can't stand just mono. It feels like a waste to me.
This is 6 voice poly, it could suffice - perhaps.
But I do like many things about it, and the sound is one of them. Solid body, heavy (which means that the beef inside is made from high quality materials), it has lots going for it.
I like lots of stuff, my taste is expensive, so I am jus patient and I buy things one by one.
I am still eyeing MOOG ONE, because there is a chance the production will cease soon.
Any flagship instrument always costs more to make than it's sold for, and they don't stay in production for too long. People simply buy cheaper stuff and try to compensate with number of instruments instead getting the big thing.
I am on the opposite. But MOOG One isn't really that outrageously expensive when you realize what a monster of instrument it is.
What part of the Polybrute is like the Hydrasynth?
@@milk_bath Modulation, morphing and ribbon? :)
Lol easy buddy.... I'll take the One!
SugarByte’s Factory has the same A/B morphing tool. Only cost £10 too.
Great! Now all we need is the movie for which it can do the soundtrack.
Which poly? Why the Behringer Pro-800 of course. 8 note poly for around £600 when Arturia can only manage 6 for over £2k. Mr Dubstar Stephen, you're sagacious and spot on!
Well they are both very different. Behringer have remade something that they didnt have to design from scratch, but they are really good at figuring out how to make them affordable. The Arturia is a fairly unique instrument with features not found elsewhere, and is a much larger piece of hardware. The Pro-800 may well suit you more, or you may be drawn to the Arturia, both are fine. (Not tried the Pro-800 of course)
@@sonicstate Looking forward to when you get your hands on the Pro 800. Not sure I like the membrane switches, but then again all the membrane switches on my CZ1000 still work and I got that in '86. Yes both synths are in different markets. If I had the money I'd have difficulty choosing between the PolyBrute, UDO Super 6 or Matriarch. Sadly my salary will take that hard choice out of my hands.
This is awesome and I'd really love to believe it's just a coincidence this came out right after Super 6
It sounds really good...and huge. Such a pity for the polyphony only 6 voices (for what i read). Nice demo by the way👍🏻
They wont make it a Matrixbrute X 6 because no one would get the matrix then unless the poly had a much much higher price. They want to keep selling both.
Yes guitars maybe. But when is the guitar-god solo coming back?
What would be fun is if Arturia just put all their software simulations in a box with some high-octane processor in there to drive them at a super-high sample rate. I'm kind of surprised they haven't done it yet actually.
C. Law they kind of did that fifteen years ago, “origin” I think it was called, and apparently they lost a lot of money on it and nearly went out of business.
@@Am6-9 Can imagine their plugins have got a lot better since then though.
KLF Tshirt on Steve says it all. Yes, this is a group of fine folks, my virtual friends I will always spend my free time with . . easily 7 times a week , but only till 3 A.M . . . . ;-)
agree....the pre show is just as fun
Does anybody now what the device just to the right of Charles (his left) with the red buttons is? Looks vintage
The blue-ish rectangular box with the wooden buttons (that look rather red)? That an Organelle by Critter and Guitari
@@ChickyNYC I think you should have developed the "In a world......" theme a bit further a la Ryan Reynolds who takes it to a whole new level of glorious absurdity.
😂😂
@@ChickyNYC Thanks for the reply Charles! I mean the rack unit, one up from the ground in the case to the left of the case where the organelle is laying on. 5 red buttons with a row of white buttons and the knobs on the right of that. :)
Ah yes, that’s a custom rack for my FMR RNLA and RNC. They’re really cheap and great sounding dual-channel compressors! The rack casing is made by Funk Logic.
Really enjoy these shows
Great show. Many thanks.
Whose idea was a expression pedal in the first place? surely not Touché either, so its more like a compliment to use good ideas in a different way.
to be fair, its quite a different sort of tech and sensitivity to the Touche but its got the look and the nationality in common..
@@sonicstate i didnt come up with the comparison, but sure i see your point. in the end its cool to have it on a synth. :)
The Matrix brute has been plauged by issues with firmware that have been basically ignored for years, there are still ridiculous bugs related to the synth's abilities to sync (won't sync to an external source without a start message)
It is a huge gamble to spend this kind of money on a synth by Arturia; it could be abandoned in the middle of development as the Matrix brute has been.
briliant really enjoyed this - took my mind off work for a while :-)
God, I love this synth. It really is a classic already imho
Poly TALK
My, what a boring job you have, eh Nick?
Good to see your well organised 🤣
Beautiful sounding synth, but sadly out of my price range...Mmmm.🤔
I love this show.. :)
First 30 minutes?... um.....I’m not that bored thank goodness.....
🙏🏼
The DM 12 is good enough for my tastes
Sounds distorted nasty souds not for me, thanks.
No Maschine+
Last week....
The Maschine + is, I'm afraid, a Maschine Mk3 with it's V8 engine removed and replaced by a 3 cylinder 1.2L for 2.5 times the money in it's current form.
About 1000 € Synth pro is the best sounding one. But the handling :(
Agreed. If only mfb and Arturia collaborated on a polysynth. Would be nice. Mfb sounds with Arturia handling/control.
@sbmphr actually he meant the Mfb synth pro which costs 1000 € 😊
Juno. Sounds better. Probably same cost. Value will only increase.
Yet another fiasco from sonic state, still not wanting to use Mac servers?!!!!
And the rest of the show was based around crappy synth