One of the reasons is that I really don't really understand this machine...
But I will try to give you my honest opinion based on what I could read about it as well as what I could hear from it!
Before you proceed, you probably should check their official page.
They have made plenty of video and audio demos and you can also find the specs here.
First of all, I have to say it is always nice to see new companies coming up with innovative approaches to create interesting new gear!
And when I first heard about this synth, the first thing that caught my eye was the amazing design.
Despite I prefer synths with knobs, I have to say they came up with a really nice design!
I also have to say I quite like what I listened to in the demos and feel they definitely have a nice sounding machine in their hands.
But I also have to say I'm a bit disappointed with the synth engine specifications, which you can find in the block diagram...
I know it is much more than a simple 2 operator FM synthesizer, thanks to the more versatile feedback paths, filters, ring modulator and other extra features.
But it's weird to me that they didn't try to feature more operators since even the old Yamaha DX7 features 6 of them per voice (even with more polyphony...).
With this I'm not saying it can't achieve great sounds, as they definitely show it can in their demos.
But from a sound designer perspective, it is a bit underwhelming...
Still, the point I find really underwhelming is the lack of MIDI, which seems to be due to their own ideology...
From what I could get, NonLinear Labs want this to be a very expressive instrument that you are supposed to actually play!
This stance also made them get rid of LFOs as they seem to argue that you can reproduce those effects using the dedicated controls (which seem awesome, by the way, with 2 really long ribbon controllers).
While I understand that MIDI won't have such a high resolution as the one they give to their parameters (ranging from 250 steps to 15000 steps... with most parameters having around 1000 steps), I honestly think MIDI could still be really useful.
If you would use MIDI with it, it is true that you wouldn't take advantage of that extra resolution, but if you aim to sequence the synth (and I'm sure that would be interesting), I don't think that will really make a difference...
But even when it comes to expressivity, I feel they are also missing the point, as there are so many really nice new controllers that you just won't be able to use with it...
If expressivity is the aim, I feel that adding support for MIDI Multidimensional Polyphonic Expression (MPE), could be worth more than having to deal with less resolution in the parameters...
I'm not saying that is always the case, but for pad sounds, I think that could really bring this machine to a new level, especially since it only features monophonic aftertouch (which I think is a bit bad if you aim to produce a really expressive machine).
This lack of MIDI might also be the reason why this machine seems to be only monotimbral (I couldn't find any information on their page stating otherwise), despite it would have been really nice if it was able to do splits and layers.
With a single part, 12 notes of polyphony seem to be a reasonable amount, but if it goes down when using unison (which is not something they mention...), it might end up being too little for a true performer.
Despite this doesn't really compensate for the lack of multitimbrality, you are able to morph easily between two sounds, which is a really nice feature that is, unfortunately, not that common still!
Before I conclude, I should mention that, despite my previous complain with the lack of polyphonic aftertouch, they have considered a nice set of controllers for this instrument, including a pitch lever, two long ribbon controllers and 4 pedals inputs that should be able to make it a performer's delight!
To conclude, I must say that, despite I might be a bit critic on this instrument, I would say that none of the flaws I mentioned before would be a total deal breaker if the price was right...
But when you take into account this machine costs 4000€, I don't think I would ever consider this machine seriously, which is a true shame as I really like how it sounds and the overall design...
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