WAH-WAH-WEE-WAH! Brilliant review! Thanks for taking the time to dig into this amazing synth. Ignore the haters. The TAKE 5 is a classic. I donated a kidney last week to buy one. Here's a drink to world peace. Cheers!!
I've been salivating over the Prophet 6/Rev 2 for years and I just never could pull the trigger. I found a great price on this and after this review and the unboxing, I didn't hesitate. Can't wait.
Thanks Starsky..This seems a great synth!! And, as always extremely well demoed by yourself. I’ve never been a fan of the DSI dco sound and felt some of their pricing per feature was a bit of gouge...but this turns me around and is an absolute winner move by sequential , making some reasonable comprimises in features (ok I admit not a fan of the short keybed or silly name) but still giving us a proper vco synth in a much more affordable form. They deserve this to be huge sucesss! Ps my 2 cent sounds waaayy better than the P6 to me 🤔 you know you should do 😂))
@@StarskyCarr Particularly looking forward to the P600 comparison as a (sadly) former owner. I know the T5 has no dedicated poly-mod section but looking at the mod sources/destinations in the manual it looks as if it is capable of this in terms of routing at least, but how does it sound? The T5 is already top of my analogue synth shopping list (short keyboard aside it seems unbeatable in terms of bangs per buck) but if it can also do poly-mod's special sauce, it's an absolute no-brainer.
great video as usual but for my self I’m keeping my prophet 6 this is simply the budget prophet 6 I was hoping for a five channel mono in a tempest body
Thanks.. they take a while to put together and there's always the concern that you misrepresent or get something completely wrong!! So I'm always a little nervous when I release these.
Thanks Starsky, and lots of details there which we love. Mine does a funny which I wonder if you have come across. The filter knob stops working sometimes, reboot it and back to normal. Did you come across his at all? TIA
Maybe a stupid question, but at 7:32, the sawtooth first does not contain much high frequencies. After a short time, suddenly I can hear high frequencies (sort of white noise) coming in. Was the lowpass filter still cutting off a little or is it something different?
i dont know if you were referring to my question on your last video, but i was asking what happens when you engage both sync and fm. i know how it sounds, ive been using it on almost all of my take-5 patches, i just cant tell exactly what's going on. it definitely locks in oscillator pitch when fm is active, but it also seems to use hard sync on top of fm, which is extremely cool. produces a really great gritty but musical warm sound. it also seems like you are supposed to use osc 2 in the mod matrix even when fm button is engaged. osc 2 level still increases fm mix amount for osc2 in the mod matrix in fm mode. from gearspace: "You can audiorate mod anything you want from VCO2 in the T5. If you don't want VCO2 to be audible you use the FM switch on the front panel which will mute its audio but allow you to use it in the mod matrix while using the mod matrix's depth values. If you don't press the FM button, the output of VCO2 is audible and its volume determines the depth of its modulation (mod depth in the matrix for VCO2 as a source is ignored). So it's not exactly the same as the P6 (and I'm sure it sounds different anyway) but there's no shortage of ways to do audiorate modding from VCO2. And if you don't need to sync VCO1 to it to keep the pitch stable, you can always use LFO2 as a polyphonic modulation source, you just won't have the ability to do waveshape blending (although you do get sawtooths in both directions and noise via the S&H). And while you can disable keytracking on VCO2, you can't set it to LF mode, so it's missing some fun things like using LFO1 to modulate VCO2's waveshape while it's being used as an LFO." I also found that you can sort of use 'operator envelopes' by setting up osc2 modulation in the mod matrix to whichever destination, set "amount" to "0" then in the next mod slot, assign env 1 or 2 as mod source and the previous 'mod slot' as the destination, and increase the mod amount honest love this thing more than any other piece of gear i've ever owned (i've owned a lot). it makes me very happy to see someone with so much experience with synths who appreciates this as the severely underrated future classic it most certainly is. for all the people weighing options between more affordable polysynths, look no further. this is the one
9:41 the Elektron Analog 4 does that. About the oscillator´s high frequency content: maybe the filter doesn´t open up completely with the knob... did you try to use the matrix to modulate the cutoff with a DC value? I found this to work on some synths and eurorack modules. Anyway, great video!
Haha thanks… that makes 2 !! There’s nothing you can do to crank the filter higher. It looks like a deliberate choice. Someone else mentioned it may be due to the DSP based FX and amp, in other words a way to avoid a liaising etc … just an idea.
Great review. The Jamiroquai keyboardist said he thinks it lack low end. You said you’d consider selling your prophet6. You think sonically it has the fatness of the prophet6? I’m considering this synth looking for a typical thick prophet sound.
Hey starsky, whats your low key fave synth? If u had to choose 1 poly and 1 mono instrument, and 1 drum machine what would it be? Just curious. 👍🏻 Ive been thinking of getting a big boy synth like this.
Wish he answered this! But I say, 1 DM, 1 Poly, and 2 mono is the basic setup. You need bass and lead, or two counterpointing leads that each may be dipping into/driving the bass line!
Price side, I wonder what would be the better first synth, this or a Minilogue XD. Probably not a good candidate for a video comparison this one. But still, would this keep the interest longer?
Think this Take 5 is on an entire higher tier. Not that the Minilogue xd isn't fun, it's a bit of Honda Civic vs Ferrari comparison. Both fun, but one is on a whole other level. IMO.
@@alphanumeric1529 I agree in principle. But although the price difference isn't insignificant by any means, is it worth investing the extra and then have something that's potentially more exciting? That's where I came from. That and if one is easier to learn on that the other.
They’re both budget options/full of compromises, imho … I think I might prefer *the sound* of the XD. Perhaps because everything is analog, at least. (Except the third oscillator, of course, but that’s obvious/separate). But then T5 has some nice features (FS keys; keyboard split etc), so it gets tricky …. Lots of trade-offs …
Hey Starsky. Thanks so much for this deep dive! I think I’m about to get one. Can you recommend a good patch library editor? I mainly want to be able to organize and audition patches on my computer.
Soundtower make the official version. It’s the one I use. They’re not perfect but work well. .. comprehensive editing and librarian. My main gripe is that you can’t see everything in the screen at the same time. There may be other 3rd party ones but I’ve not searched.
32:58 … Which was the synth you played, that let you punch in a really spread out chord, note-by-note, then press Unison to play it all together … ? Wasn’t one of the Modals, was it? 🤔🙏🏼
Hello I came here because I just got mine and found the sub osc very unusual. Even on a basic patch with all other sounds turned down it is unlike the sub on other stuff I own including eurorack dividers.I have only assessed this by ear but it has 2 features- it sounds a bit phasey and surprisingly it changes quite a lot when you change the shape of oscillator 1 which is of course turned down when I checked this. So i am wondering if it is just the actual oscillator one repeated literally at a lower octave instead of a divide down. It sounds nothing like a subsequent 37, matrixbrute, bass station 2,hades, or even mopho sub osc so it seems not to be divided down and not a square wave. By the way the oscillator in the take 5 Is i believe a triangle core and I am wondering if the odd saw behaviour shown here is due to some errors in the shaping of the triangle into that waveform. I believe I have read that all the things called Prophets had a sawtooth core/ I would be interested to know if my experience of the sub is shared as I can not see any other faults in my model so far after a reasonable amount of basic testing. Not that this is a fault per se even though I am not keen on this alleged sub oscillator.
I forgot all about this synth. I saw they updated firmware 2.0 with 128 more presets and new features. I'm leaning towards Behringer Pro 800 first but the Take 5 looks great too.
Now, more than a year and a half after this video is uploaded, I’ve got a question. Has the team at Sequential thought about slimming this package down even further, something like “Take 5R”?
I think it would be great. For a lot of people the main negative here is the size of the keybed. Perhaps a rack would clash too much with the p6 desktop.
Sounds thin/bright, for a VCO/VCF synth, to me … Digital LFOs, envelopes and VCA(?), so the entire back-end (after the filter) is digital, as I understand it? Not sure if that alone explains it, or it’s the VCO/VCF chips used in this particular model, as well. I mean, they were working to a price point, and obviously don’t want to cannibalise their higher-end synths sales.
I think there was some confusion about the VCAs at some point... but here's something from Sean Costello (Valhalla DSP) on Gearspace - looks like he originally thought the same as you. (FYI cbmd whom he mentions works at sequential): There's not a shortage of VCAs in the Take 5. Each SSI 2130 VCO chip has 5 VCAs on board, and the SSI 2140 VCF has a VCA as well. So that's 30 VCAs right there. cbmd has posted that "The oscillator level parameters affect the oscillators' levels directly out of the chip," which suggests that the VCAs in the 2130 are being used both for crossfading the sine/sawtooth/pulse waveforms and for the final output level. Which means that my theories about the VCOs being mixed in the digital domain were WRONG.
@@StarskyCarr Wow, thanks for that, Starsky - I appreciate it. I’m still wondering how the outputs of the various chips are summed, then … Would be great to see a signal flow diagram for this synth. I’ll have a hunt for one, though the Gearspace gang would presumably have located it, if one exists … Cheers!
@@StarskyCarr i think you have the idea for your next video right there. Synth vs organ in a cathedral. Make it happen! It's going to be hard to beat the polyphony there. One analog voice per pipe hehe
How does vintage mode and 'slop' compare to the prophet 6? To me the P6 sounds more vintage but not sure take 5 can do that with a vintage mode...I have been planning on getting a P6 for a while but I really like the mod options and fx of the take 5.
Haha there is that. Funny that no one complained about the prophet 5 only having 5 voices when it was still a revered vintage only synth (before the Rev 4 release). I got the 5 as I thought I’d be happy with the same as the vintage - now they’ve upgraded to bi-timbrality I’ve bought the 5 extra voice board 🤦♂️
@@StarskyCarr - Back in the day, the 5 voice limitation was a major argument against the P5 and in favor of, say, the JP6. You just get fed up accidentally stealing a voice out of your "pro chords" (as the advertising says.) This never happens in six voice configs
@@jensmandreasen2230 and this is why the Novation supernova took over the world on its release.:) I've a rant about vintage synths coming this week (just need to edit it). It's 20 minutes of me talking non stop without taking a breath about the experience of owning synths that have become vintage classics. Theres a lot too say ;)
This is the perfect synth if you are just starting to build a new synth rig. However i am starting to get a little bored with the usual subtractive analog synths, like the market is becoming saturated with them.
this has a lot more going for it than any other synth in this price range. the only thing i could ask for is to add it to an elektron box or make a full pro 3 poly without losing any features
Dig deeper, or don't, but the depth is limited by your time/intellectual investment. And, you can't even imagine how good of a problem this is to have. Something unimaginable for DECADES, with absolutely no hope on the horizon... and then things changed. I've heard your problem stated 18 million times, not sure if you are a real person, or if you're just one retired Roland executive multiaccounting it to justify their insistence to kill analog with terrible sounding but high margin digi synths?
I’d imagine the LFOs. But the main signal path is all analog (except the Fx of course)… I think the overdrive is analog. - it is in the OB6 and P6 and think this is the same - could be wrong though.
sorry I'm new to all this, could you show you set up in full or an explanation of how to get an output from a midi keyboard through the computer to an analogue synth please.
you dont need a computer, but if you're using an audio interface to get your analogue synth audio into the computer, usually the interfaces have "midi out" ports, which you can use the route midi from the keyboard, into the computer, and back out to your synth.
you need to have a MIDI connection from your controller to you computer. Then you need to tell your computer what's connecting to what. On a Mac I use MIDIpatchbay when I'm not using my DAW. If using a DAW every external MIDI track will have settings, so it depends on what computer and what DAW you're using. BUT.. its what all this kit is intended to do so it will work :)
@@StarskyCarr Thanks for the help, like i say im completely new to lots of things music for the last 6 years ive played classical guitar or in a small gig group so a real fish out of water at the moment. Thanks!!
That's what I thought but I saw on on the Sequential forum that some favored the Take 5 over the Rev2. The way I see it is that effects can always be added through a DAW if needed. It might be different if you play live, Thanks !! @@StarskyCarr
Definitely the REV 2. It can sound like quality/vintage VCO synths, using the gated sequencer … plus more voices (8 or 16!). You wouldn’t buy any Sequential for the FX.
Main difference there is the polyphony/number of voices. Honestly, I think I’d rather have the XD (2 of them, 8 voices, for the same price) than the T5 … at least sound-wise … though all-in-1 unit with full-sized keys is more convenient … Lots of trade-offs at this level/between these two, I think … I’d rather stretch to a REV 2 or higher, myself. 🤔🤷🏻♂️
Great review as always. However, I doubt your assumption the amplifiers are digital. That would imply two conversions within the signal path which would make the synth more expensive to produce. Maybe some viewers can shine some light.
An analog envelope will use use resistors, transistors, capacitors or whatever (I’m not an electronics engineer) to create a voltage from a trigger input ie a key being pressed. A digital envelope will use algorithms to determine the voltage over time rather than electronic components. Just like in a VST but on a hardware analog synth the output of the DSP will be used as the input to an analog amp.(like changing the volume of an amp with a remote control - it’s still an analog amp but it’s digitally controlled).
@@StarskyCarr yeah i understand analog vs dsp, and *kinda understand VCOs, but what gets me is how the Take 5 has VCOs(analog oscillators), but the envelop is controlled digitally. Like, how does the algorithm control the electronic components? Thats wizardry man. Same way many of these synths(Deepmind) and others have encoder knobs and faders that are telling DSP where you want those settings, then the DSP controls the electronic components to produce sound. Crazy. Thanks Starsky!
Came back to this video a year later by accident and found my comments. lol ive learn a few things since then. Namely, digital pots are a thing. But also, i understand a bit more about how the amps are controlled digitally. Additionally, it seems to me the fx section offers as much fun as the synth itself on this thing! Youre pushing me even closer to buying one Starsky.....
It’s crazy, I have both the Take 5 and Pro 3 side by side and I much prefer the low end and filter from the Take 5? Is the SSI 2140 filter chip playing tricks on me?
REV 2, all day long. Not sure you can use the same gated sequencer trick to get hefty VCO sounds on the T5, as you can on the REV 2. Plus, so many more features besides on the REV 2. T5 might have slightly better/updated internal FX, but you wouldn’t buy any Sequential for its FX, so … 😏
Idle rich as it happens .. gin and tonics for lunch followed by cocktails and baccarat with Chinese industrialist hedged by a side bet with Russian oligarchs before a gentle slice of influencing in Silicon Valley. Then relaxing with a synth or 2 while contemplating the sunset wherever I find myself. All depends on the time zone but every minute is an industrialist in the pocket and a financier's exploits in the little black book.
I’ve not gone in and trimmed them out yet, just left it in whatever RUclips automatically places. I normally take half of them out (reducing my income by 50%) but haven’t had time yet. Maybe I’ll use it as an experiment to see whether I should leave them in for the sake of my bank account or continue to trim for the sake of the viewers. Most long form videos end up with loads. It’s still only 1 or 2 banners or 5- 10 second ads every 10 minutes - much less than any TV but I suppose if you skip through they may appear more frequently 🤷♂️no idea tbh
Don’t often weigh in on this kind of thing, but just watched 47mins37secs of Starsky and about 30secs of ads (after skipping). Starsky, keep that 50% fella!
@@cozyvandal8265 felt like they were every 6 mins tbh , I’m pretty tolerant I know it takes a tone of time and effort to produce, I guess the stats will speak for themselves. If retention is good , but it might be more profitable to have less if not.
@@H4NDCRAFTED interesting, maybe it depends where you’re watching it too? I’m on US east coast, counted 7 ads, skippable after 5 secs. I was also stuck on a bus for 1.5hours with nothing else to do so my tolerance was pretty high....
WAH-WAH-WEE-WAH! Brilliant review! Thanks for taking the time to dig into this amazing synth. Ignore the haters. The TAKE 5 is a classic. I donated a kidney last week to buy one. Here's a drink to world peace. Cheers!!
I'm not sure but I imagine I said was was wee was at some point :))
I've been salivating over the Prophet 6/Rev 2 for years and I just never could pull the trigger. I found a great price on this and after this review and the unboxing, I didn't hesitate. Can't wait.
Enjoy :)
Excellent as ever. If I hadn't bought a Take-5 already, this may have swung me!
Thanks, good ti hear from someone else that owns one.
0:15 love that chord change!
I can't take credit for the main melody line - its one of the presets ;)
Thanks Starsky..This seems a great synth!! And, as always extremely well demoed by yourself. I’ve never been a fan of the DSI dco sound and felt some of their pricing per feature was a bit of gouge...but this turns me around and is an absolute winner move by sequential , making some reasonable comprimises in features (ok I admit not a fan of the short keybed or silly name) but still giving us a proper vco synth in a much more affordable form. They deserve this to be huge sucesss! Ps my 2 cent sounds waaayy better than the P6 to me 🤔 you know you should do 😂))
Haha the P6 vs T5 is on the way (so is a T5 vs P600)
@@StarskyCarr Particularly looking forward to the P600 comparison as a (sadly) former owner. I know the T5 has no dedicated poly-mod section but looking at the mod sources/destinations in the manual it looks as if it is capable of this in terms of routing at least, but how does it sound? The T5 is already top of my analogue synth shopping list (short keyboard aside it seems unbeatable in terms of bangs per buck) but if it can also do poly-mod's special sauce, it's an absolute no-brainer.
Great video. It would be nice if you can do knob close ups, especially if the viewer is unfamiliar with the synth layout
Great review. Love that filter, indeed more mellow and less spikey.
I prefer when they go more resonant.
In the Debug menu you can overwrite the factory patches bank with the user patches bank.
good info thanks.
great video as usual but for my self I’m keeping my prophet 6 this is simply the budget prophet 6 I was hoping for a five channel mono in a tempest body
Brilliant walk thru. Worth a sub.
Thanks :)
Great demo, Starsky; very interested in this one. I sold synths for a living years ago; you did a great presentation here!
Thanks.. they take a while to put together and there's always the concern that you misrepresent or get something completely wrong!! So I'm always a little nervous when I release these.
Almost flangy, definitely flangy 😂😂😂
Great review again, thanks!
Excellent video and cute cat!
Excellent review, as always.
I appreciate that
Love This Synth Good Demo Spot On Son
thanks.. I can't quite believe it exists for this price :)
Thanks Starsky, and lots of details there which we love. Mine does a funny which I wonder if you have come across. The filter knob stops working sometimes, reboot it and back to normal. Did you come across his at all? TIA
No I’ve not noticed that. Sounds like a bug that needs an update. I wonder what triggers it?
Drive by wire?! 😊
Very good explanation…
Maybe a stupid question, but at 7:32, the sawtooth first does not contain much high frequencies. After a short time, suddenly I can hear high frequencies (sort of white noise) coming in. Was the lowpass filter still cutting off a little or is it something different?
i dont know if you were referring to my question on your last video, but i was asking what happens when you engage both sync and fm. i know how it sounds, ive been using it on almost all of my take-5 patches, i just cant tell exactly what's going on. it definitely locks in oscillator pitch when fm is active, but it also seems to use hard sync on top of fm, which is extremely cool. produces a really great gritty but musical warm sound. it also seems like you are supposed to use osc 2 in the mod matrix even when fm button is engaged. osc 2 level still increases fm mix amount for osc2 in the mod matrix in fm mode.
from gearspace:
"You can audiorate mod anything you want from VCO2 in the T5. If you don't want VCO2 to be audible you use the FM switch on the front panel which will mute its audio but allow you to use it in the mod matrix while using the mod matrix's depth values. If you don't press the FM button, the output of VCO2 is audible and its volume determines the depth of its modulation (mod depth in the matrix for VCO2 as a source is ignored). So it's not exactly the same as the P6 (and I'm sure it sounds different anyway) but there's no shortage of ways to do audiorate modding from VCO2. And if you don't need to sync VCO1 to it to keep the pitch stable, you can always use LFO2 as a polyphonic modulation source, you just won't have the ability to do waveshape blending (although you do get sawtooths in both directions and noise via the S&H). And while you can disable keytracking on VCO2, you can't set it to LF mode, so it's missing some fun things like using LFO1 to modulate VCO2's waveshape while it's being used as an LFO."
I also found that you can sort of use 'operator envelopes' by setting up osc2 modulation in the mod matrix to whichever destination, set "amount" to "0" then in the next mod slot, assign env 1 or 2 as mod source and the previous 'mod slot' as the destination, and increase the mod amount
honest love this thing more than any other piece of gear i've ever owned (i've owned a lot). it makes me very happy to see someone with so much experience with synths who appreciates this as the severely underrated future classic it most certainly is. for all the people weighing options between more affordable polysynths, look no further. this is the one
Yes it was your question. I’ve no idea what it’s doing - I’d have to draw a graph or something 😂 sounds good though!
9:41 the Elektron Analog 4 does that.
About the oscillator´s high frequency content: maybe the filter doesn´t open up completely with the knob... did you try to use the matrix to modulate the cutoff with a DC value? I found this to work on some synths and eurorack modules.
Anyway, great video!
Haha thanks… that makes 2 !!
There’s nothing you can do to crank the filter higher. It looks like a deliberate choice. Someone else mentioned it may be due to the DSP based FX and amp, in other words a way to avoid a liaising etc … just an idea.
Great review. The Jamiroquai keyboardist said he thinks it lack low end. You said you’d consider selling your prophet6. You think sonically it has the fatness of the prophet6? I’m considering this synth looking for a typical thick prophet sound.
I heard that one from Jamiroquai keyboardist, but I think that he said that lower mid end is somewhat lacking, with lots of low end.
I don’t think it has the fatness (I call it ‘heft’) of the higher-end Prophets, no. Have you had any experience with the T5 since your comment?
Hey starsky, whats your low key fave synth? If u had to choose 1 poly and 1 mono instrument, and 1 drum machine what would it be? Just curious. 👍🏻
Ive been thinking of getting a big boy synth like this.
Wish he answered this! But I say, 1 DM, 1 Poly, and 2 mono is the basic setup. You need bass and lead, or two counterpointing leads that each may be dipping into/driving the bass line!
@@alphanumeric1529 “DM”?!
Price side, I wonder what would be the better first synth, this or a Minilogue XD. Probably not a good candidate for a video comparison this one. But still, would this keep the interest longer?
Think this Take 5 is on an entire higher tier. Not that the Minilogue xd isn't fun, it's a bit of Honda Civic vs Ferrari comparison. Both fun, but one is on a whole other level. IMO.
@@alphanumeric1529 I agree in principle. But although the price difference isn't insignificant by any means, is it worth investing the extra and then have something that's potentially more exciting? That's where I came from. That and if one is easier to learn on that the other.
They’re both budget options/full of compromises, imho … I think I might prefer *the sound* of the XD. Perhaps because everything is analog, at least. (Except the third oscillator, of course, but that’s obvious/separate). But then T5 has some nice features (FS keys; keyboard split etc), so it gets tricky …. Lots of trade-offs …
Great video. What synth did you use for your intro jingle?
Thanks. The intro was made using the endorphin.es Furthrrrr Generator.
@@StarskyCarr sounds great!
You've convinced me 👍
Hey Starsky. Thanks so much for this deep dive!
I think I’m about to get one. Can you recommend a good patch library editor?
I mainly want to be able to organize and audition patches on my computer.
Soundtower make the official version. It’s the one I use. They’re not perfect but work well. .. comprehensive editing and librarian. My main gripe is that you can’t see everything in the screen at the same time. There may be other 3rd party ones but I’ve not searched.
@@StarskyCarr Awesome, thanks for the quick reply!
32:58 … Which was the synth you played, that let you punch in a really spread out chord, note-by-note, then press Unison to play it all together … ? Wasn’t one of the Modals, was it? 🤔🙏🏼
Hello
I came here because I just got mine and found the sub osc very unusual. Even on a basic patch with all other sounds turned down it is unlike the sub on other stuff I own including eurorack dividers.I have only assessed this by ear but it has 2 features- it sounds a bit phasey and surprisingly it changes quite a lot when you change the
shape of oscillator 1 which is of course turned down when I checked this. So i am wondering if it is just
the actual oscillator one repeated literally at a lower octave instead of a divide down. It sounds nothing
like a subsequent 37, matrixbrute, bass station 2,hades, or even mopho sub osc so it seems not to be divided down and not a square wave. By the way the oscillator in the take 5 Is i believe a triangle core and I am wondering
if the odd saw behaviour shown here is due to some errors in the shaping of the triangle into that waveform.
I believe I have read that all the things called Prophets had a sawtooth core/ I would be interested to know if my experience of the sub is shared as I can not see any other faults in my model so far after a reasonable
amount of basic testing. Not that this is a fault per se even though I am not keen on this alleged sub
oscillator.
It doesn’t sound like the higher-end Prophets, that’s for sure. Bright/digital, by comparison, with some strange behaviours.
I forgot all about this synth. I saw they updated firmware 2.0 with 128 more presets and new features. I'm leaning towards Behringer Pro 800 first but the Take 5 looks great too.
I've ordered a Pro-800 so watch this space!
I had the pro 800. It’s whack. Avoid it
Could you do a demo of sound design form scratch using the take 5 ? Using different matrix mod ? Tnx
Now, more than a year and a half after this video is uploaded, I’ve got a question. Has the team at Sequential thought about slimming this package down even further, something like “Take 5R”?
I think it would be great. For a lot of people the main negative here is the size of the keybed. Perhaps a rack would clash too much with the p6 desktop.
There definitely is a point, Starsky. Thank you for responding to this and other comments of mine.
can you change patches with a knob? I hate having to press the buttons on the Bottom.
Have you played with feeding the filter output back into the cutoff?
Apr ‘24 … do you still have the T5 and the P6, Mr Carr?! 🤔
Haha yeah… I’m not organised enough to sell anything!
@@StarskyCarr Lol, I feel that! Ha.
Sounds thin/bright, for a VCO/VCF synth, to me … Digital LFOs, envelopes and VCA(?), so the entire back-end (after the filter) is digital, as I understand it? Not sure if that alone explains it, or it’s the VCO/VCF chips used in this particular model, as well. I mean, they were working to a price point, and obviously don’t want to cannibalise their higher-end synths sales.
I think there was some confusion about the VCAs at some point... but here's something from Sean Costello (Valhalla DSP) on Gearspace - looks like he originally thought the same as you. (FYI cbmd whom he mentions works at sequential):
There's not a shortage of VCAs in the Take 5. Each SSI 2130 VCO chip has 5 VCAs on board, and the SSI 2140 VCF has a VCA as well. So that's 30 VCAs right there.
cbmd has posted that "The oscillator level parameters affect the oscillators' levels directly out of the chip," which suggests that the VCAs in the 2130 are being used both for crossfading the sine/sawtooth/pulse waveforms and for the final output level. Which means that my theories about the VCOs being mixed in the digital domain were WRONG.
@@StarskyCarr Wow, thanks for that, Starsky - I appreciate it. I’m still wondering how the outputs of the various chips are summed, then … Would be great to see a signal flow diagram for this synth. I’ll have a hunt for one, though the Gearspace gang would presumably have located it, if one exists … Cheers!
36:14 - what are you talking about. Playing a synth in a cathedral must be glorious!
I think I say I prefer playing in a Cathedral.. who wouldn't :)
@@StarskyCarr i think you have the idea for your next video right there. Synth vs organ in a cathedral. Make it happen!
It's going to be hard to beat the polyphony there. One analog voice per pipe hehe
@@WalterGirao yeah nice idea.. we've got a MASSIVE cathedral in Liverpool with an 11 second reverb!
How does vintage mode and 'slop' compare to the prophet 6? To me the P6 sounds more vintage but not sure take 5 can do that with a vintage mode...I have been planning on getting a P6 for a while but I really like the mod options and fx of the take 5.
It’s about the same tbh. When you crank it up you can here a single voice has a dodgy filter calibration 😂
If it had more keys, you'd immediately start playing wider chords and run out of voices. Now your left pinky stays on the mod wheels (as it should)
Haha there is that. Funny that no one complained about the prophet 5 only having 5 voices when it was still a revered vintage only synth (before the Rev 4 release). I got the 5 as I thought I’d be happy with the same as the vintage - now they’ve upgraded to bi-timbrality I’ve bought the 5 extra voice board 🤦♂️
@@StarskyCarr - Back in the day, the 5 voice limitation was a major argument against the P5 and in favor of, say, the JP6. You just get fed up accidentally stealing a voice out of your "pro chords" (as the advertising says.) This never happens in six voice configs
@@jensmandreasen2230 and this is why the Novation supernova took over the world on its release.:) I've a rant about vintage synths coming this week (just need to edit it). It's 20 minutes of me talking non stop without taking a breath about the experience of owning synths that have become vintage classics. Theres a lot too say ;)
This is the perfect synth if you are just starting to build a new synth rig. However i am starting to get a little bored with the usual subtractive analog synths, like the market is becoming saturated with them.
this has a lot more going for it than any other synth in this price range. the only thing i could ask for is to add it to an elektron box or make a full pro 3 poly without losing any features
Dig deeper, or don't, but the depth is limited by your time/intellectual investment. And, you can't even imagine how good of a problem this is to have. Something unimaginable for DECADES, with absolutely no hope on the horizon... and then things changed.
I've heard your problem stated 18 million times, not sure if you are a real person, or if you're just one retired Roland executive multiaccounting it to justify their insistence to kill analog with terrible sounding but high margin digi synths?
@@christdolphin69. REV 2 kills it, if you know how to use it.
So, what’s digital on the Take 5 … ? The FX, obviously. The Overdrive. THE LFOs?! The Envelopes?! What else … ?! The VCA/Amps?! 🙏🏼
I’d imagine the LFOs. But the main signal path is all analog (except the Fx of course)… I think the overdrive is analog. - it is in the OB6 and P6 and think this is the same - could be wrong though.
sorry I'm new to all this, could you show you set up in full or an explanation of how to get an output from a midi keyboard through the computer to an analogue synth please.
you dont need a computer, but if you're using an audio interface to get your analogue synth audio into the computer, usually the interfaces have "midi out" ports, which you can use the route midi from the keyboard, into the computer, and back out to your synth.
you need to have a MIDI connection from your controller to you computer. Then you need to tell your computer what's connecting to what. On a Mac I use MIDIpatchbay when I'm not using my DAW. If using a DAW every external MIDI track will have settings, so it depends on what computer and what DAW you're using. BUT.. its what all this kit is intended to do so it will work :)
@@StarskyCarr Thanks for the help, like i say im completely new to lots of things music for the last 6 years ive played classical guitar or in a small gig group so a real fish out of water at the moment. Thanks!!
If you had to chose, Take 5 or Prophet rev2?
Rev 2. Take 5 has better FX, but I prefer the Rev 2 overall. More flexible in a lot of ways.
That's what I thought but I saw on on the Sequential forum that some favored the Take 5 over the Rev2. The way I see it is that effects can always be added through a DAW if needed. It might be different if you play live, Thanks !! @@StarskyCarr
Definitely the REV 2. It can sound like quality/vintage VCO synths, using the gated sequencer … plus more voices (8 or 16!). You wouldn’t buy any Sequential for the FX.
The bass is so fat on this baby.
Starsky, how much of an upgrade would you consider this to be from the Behringer Pro 1? And from the Minilogue XD?
These are the 2 I have (:
Main difference there is the polyphony/number of voices. Honestly, I think I’d rather have the XD (2 of them, 8 voices, for the same price) than the T5 … at least sound-wise … though all-in-1 unit with full-sized keys is more convenient … Lots of trade-offs at this level/between these two, I think … I’d rather stretch to a REV 2 or higher, myself. 🤔🤷🏻♂️
Great review as always. However, I doubt your assumption the amplifiers are digital. That would imply two conversions within the signal path which would make the synth more expensive to produce. Maybe some viewers can shine some light.
Did I say the amplifiers were digital? If so I probably meant the envelopes … it’s a couple of years back so can’t remember 🤦♂️😀
Lots of mystery surrounding the T5’s signal path … … … It doesn’t sound/behave like the high-end Sequentials, that’s for sure.
Did you ditch the prophet 6 in the end ?
Not for the T5; I doubt it … But he has a P10 too, so maybe because of that
Did you kept the Take 5 instead of the Prophet 6?
Still got them both 🤦♂️
I doubt anyone would
How is the envelope DSP? Im real curious how the DSP can control the envelop of the amp.
An analog envelope will use use resistors, transistors, capacitors or whatever (I’m not an electronics engineer) to create a voltage from a trigger input ie a key being pressed. A digital envelope will use algorithms to determine the voltage over time rather than electronic components. Just like in a VST but on a hardware analog synth the output of the DSP will be used as the input to an analog amp.(like changing the volume of an amp with a remote control - it’s still an analog amp but it’s digitally controlled).
@@StarskyCarr yeah i understand analog vs dsp, and *kinda understand VCOs, but what gets me is how the Take 5 has VCOs(analog oscillators), but the envelop is controlled digitally. Like, how does the algorithm control the electronic components? Thats wizardry man. Same way many of these synths(Deepmind) and others have encoder knobs and faders that are telling DSP where you want those settings, then the DSP controls the electronic components to produce sound. Crazy. Thanks Starsky!
Came back to this video a year later by accident and found my comments. lol ive learn a few things since then. Namely, digital pots are a thing. But also, i understand a bit more about how the amps are controlled digitally.
Additionally, it seems to me the fx section offers as much fun as the synth itself on this thing! Youre pushing me even closer to buying one Starsky.....
It’s crazy, I have both the Take 5 and Pro 3 side by side and I much prefer the low end and filter from the Take 5? Is the SSI 2140 filter chip playing tricks on me?
You ARE crazy! 😊 The PRO 3 gets such a bad wrap!!
They need to add a firmware update to make this multi-timbral.
That would be great. 5 VCO monosynths in the box. Actually its a fekin' wonderful idea :)
I hope they make a T5 Desktop 😒
with audio in added! i'm suprised there wasn't any, what the h*** Dave!!!?
@@brettlemmingsgood idea
...or maybe - please Dave ^^
yes desktop please!
@@brettlemmings audio in is rare on analog polys
did Dave Smith make the take 5 to give a fu to the taking taking over company..... (code)
Nice synth!
I think a more apt comparison is the Prophet Rev2
From a financial perspective perhaps…. But I don’t have one 😂
REV 2, all day long. Not sure you can use the same gated sequencer trick to get hefty VCO sounds on the T5, as you can on the REV 2. Plus, so many more features besides on the REV 2. T5 might have slightly better/updated internal FX, but you wouldn’t buy any Sequential for its FX, so … 😏
He has every prophet ever made? What does this guy do for a living? Jesus.
Idle rich as it happens .. gin and tonics for lunch followed by cocktails and baccarat with Chinese industrialist hedged by a side bet with Russian oligarchs before a gentle slice of influencing in Silicon Valley. Then relaxing with a synth or 2 while contemplating the sunset wherever I find myself. All depends on the time zone but every minute is an industrialist in the pocket and a financier's exploits in the little black book.
@@StarskyCarr inherited or earned? Not that it matters. Just curious.
@@fairweatherfriends. haha … if only it was true! I never stop 😂
Give lessons on your industrialist approach. I’m obviously wasting time doing SEO.
@@fairweatherfriends.. Well, it does kinda ‘matter’ … ask the Stoics …
Good fortune is an impediment to good character … ask Prince Andrew …
i really wanna give a like, but you have 222 likes and 2 dislikes atm so i really cant do that.
Can’t get rid of all these ads , I’m all for supporting good RUclipsrs , but this getting unwatchable
I’ve not gone in and trimmed them out yet, just left it in whatever RUclips automatically places. I normally take half of them out (reducing my income by 50%) but haven’t had time yet. Maybe I’ll use it as an experiment to see whether I should leave them in for the sake of my bank account or continue to trim for the sake of the viewers. Most long form videos end up with loads. It’s still only 1 or 2 banners or 5- 10 second ads every 10 minutes - much less than any TV but I suppose if you skip through they may appear more frequently 🤷♂️no idea tbh
Don’t often weigh in on this kind of thing, but just watched 47mins37secs of Starsky and about 30secs of ads (after skipping). Starsky, keep that 50% fella!
@cozyvandal Thanks… I rarely watch them once they’re uploaded. After at least 8 hours of editing the longer ones I simply can’t watch another minute!!
@@cozyvandal8265 felt like they were every 6 mins tbh , I’m pretty tolerant I know it takes a tone of time and effort to produce, I guess the stats will speak for themselves. If retention is good , but it might be more profitable to have less if not.
@@H4NDCRAFTED interesting, maybe it depends where you’re watching it too? I’m on US east coast, counted 7 ads, skippable after 5 secs. I was also stuck on a bus for 1.5hours with nothing else to do so my tolerance was pretty high....
my NORD Lead 1 sounds way better... :)