ID: 34902
Venom , brute virtueel analoge synt met audiointerface
€150,00
No offers posted.
Description
12 stemmig 4 parts multitimbraal sterk in de mix rechtsstreeks opnemen in de laptop. licht dus makkelijk vervoerbaar. met originele doos.
The Venom's vivid green display is in stark contrast to the unthreatening white plastic in which it sits. Being light and compact, it shouldn't give anyone backache but what it might do to your eyes is another matter. The panel text is rather indistinct in low-light conditions, especially those parts that are grey on grey, or orange on grey. And for further eyestrain potential, the display's spindly text isn't the most readable either, but with detailed editing entirely in the realm of software, this isn't a major disadvantage.
Playing a few keys, I found the action to be light and pleasantly springy. The keyboard spans four octaves and is velocity sensitive but lacking in aftertouch. The controls are sparse but logically arranged, with a cluster of volume knobs in the top-left corner that include separate gain controls for the mic and instrument inputs, each with level and clipping indicators. Curiously, MAudio have found room for a mono button, which is hardly a common feature even when controls are plentiful.
The rest of the panel features pretty standard stuff: arpeggiator and tap-tempo controls, octave-transpose buttons, a mod wheel and pitch-bender plus a frontloading headphone socket. Moving into the 'tweak zone', the Performance Controls are of greater interest; they consist of a matrix of six rows of options, four continuous encoders and a button. The encoders aren't the most rugged of their species but they perform well for rapid adjustments of the filter, envelopes, LFOs and a fair selection of other parameters.
Rounding off our initial scan, a rearward glance reveals nothing to baffle seasoned Sound On Sound readers. The single pair of audio outputs is a trifle disappointing; an extra pair would have allowed the synth and audio interface to be easily separated, or the four parts to be divided for individual effect treatments. Inputs are better catered for: there's a stereo auxiliary input on RCA connectors plus an instrument and mic input, both on quarterinch jacks. These four are internally merged to a single stereo stream, and there's also a USB 2 port keen to carry both audio and MIDI. You won't find an XLR input, phantom power or digital I/O, the remaining connections being sustain and expression pedal inputs, MIDI In and Out (but no Thru) and a 9V DC input. The supplied adaptor is small and the review model's ran fairly warm, but it is necessary because the Venom can't be powered from USB.
Sounds VenomousThe Venom's rear panel features a pair of quarterinch audio outputs, stereo RCA audio inputs, quarterinch instrument and mic inputs, sockets for an expression and a sustain pedal, MIDI I/O ports, a USB 2 port and a socket for the external power supply. The headphone output is at the front of the synth.
The Venom has 512 single patches arranged in four banks (AD), the first two being fixed in ROM. Unusually, given the fairly unspectacular polyphony of 12 notes, up to four patches can be stacked or split into their own keyboard regions, and the results stored in 256 Multi patches. As these merely contain pointers to the single memory banks, this can be an issue when you edit a patch that might appear in lots of Multis. The Venom powers up in Multi mode, its selector button allocating roles to the four 'part' buttons. These assign parts to be edited, muted or entirely disabled which, unlike muting, frees up polyphony.
Without a category search facility, the gently notched Value encoder is your sole means of patch selection. A Bank button is on hand to step through banks of patches, arpeggio patterns and multis. Spinning through, I started to realise why the advertising blurb was so keen on the words 'danger', 'aggressive', 'angry' and 'nasty'. Many of the (primarily danceoriented) factory patches seem to demand: 'are you lookin' at me?'. The impression isn't of a lush and creamy analogue wannabe but of a yapping upstart intent on spitting in your face or biting off your ear. Hardedged basses, gnarly leads and brash sound effects assault you from every angle. There are a few softer pads, electric pianos and gentler tones, although the reverb featured in many of them has a ringing, metallic quality that I found quite grating.
It was the Multi combinations that began to win me round, dazzling arpeggios that trigger combinations of synth and drums. Many Multis are frenzied electro/dance riffs that grunt and hiss in a manner difficult to ignore. I turned to the Performance Controls to trim away some of the excesses of modulation and effects, and was able to calm my early fears that the Venom was irreconcilably noisome. However, to really get a feel for what was going on under the covers, I picked up the supplied CD...
The Venom's vivid green display is in stark contrast to the unthreatening white plastic in which it sits. Being light and compact, it shouldn't give anyone backache but what it might do to your eyes is another matter. The panel text is rather indistinct in low-light conditions, especially those parts that are grey on grey, or orange on grey. And for further eyestrain potential, the display's spindly text isn't the most readable either, but with detailed editing entirely in the realm of software, this isn't a major disadvantage.
Playing a few keys, I found the action to be light and pleasantly springy. The keyboard spans four octaves and is velocity sensitive but lacking in aftertouch. The controls are sparse but logically arranged, with a cluster of volume knobs in the top-left corner that include separate gain controls for the mic and instrument inputs, each with level and clipping indicators. Curiously, MAudio have found room for a mono button, which is hardly a common feature even when controls are plentiful.
The rest of the panel features pretty standard stuff: arpeggiator and tap-tempo controls, octave-transpose buttons, a mod wheel and pitch-bender plus a frontloading headphone socket. Moving into the 'tweak zone', the Performance Controls are of greater interest; they consist of a matrix of six rows of options, four continuous encoders and a button. The encoders aren't the most rugged of their species but they perform well for rapid adjustments of the filter, envelopes, LFOs and a fair selection of other parameters.
Rounding off our initial scan, a rearward glance reveals nothing to baffle seasoned Sound On Sound readers. The single pair of audio outputs is a trifle disappointing; an extra pair would have allowed the synth and audio interface to be easily separated, or the four parts to be divided for individual effect treatments. Inputs are better catered for: there's a stereo auxiliary input on RCA connectors plus an instrument and mic input, both on quarterinch jacks. These four are internally merged to a single stereo stream, and there's also a USB 2 port keen to carry both audio and MIDI. You won't find an XLR input, phantom power or digital I/O, the remaining connections being sustain and expression pedal inputs, MIDI In and Out (but no Thru) and a 9V DC input. The supplied adaptor is small and the review model's ran fairly warm, but it is necessary because the Venom can't be powered from USB.
Sounds VenomousThe Venom's rear panel features a pair of quarterinch audio outputs, stereo RCA audio inputs, quarterinch instrument and mic inputs, sockets for an expression and a sustain pedal, MIDI I/O ports, a USB 2 port and a socket for the external power supply. The headphone output is at the front of the synth.
The Venom has 512 single patches arranged in four banks (AD), the first two being fixed in ROM. Unusually, given the fairly unspectacular polyphony of 12 notes, up to four patches can be stacked or split into their own keyboard regions, and the results stored in 256 Multi patches. As these merely contain pointers to the single memory banks, this can be an issue when you edit a patch that might appear in lots of Multis. The Venom powers up in Multi mode, its selector button allocating roles to the four 'part' buttons. These assign parts to be edited, muted or entirely disabled which, unlike muting, frees up polyphony.
Without a category search facility, the gently notched Value encoder is your sole means of patch selection. A Bank button is on hand to step through banks of patches, arpeggio patterns and multis. Spinning through, I started to realise why the advertising blurb was so keen on the words 'danger', 'aggressive', 'angry' and 'nasty'. Many of the (primarily danceoriented) factory patches seem to demand: 'are you lookin' at me?'. The impression isn't of a lush and creamy analogue wannabe but of a yapping upstart intent on spitting in your face or biting off your ear. Hardedged basses, gnarly leads and brash sound effects assault you from every angle. There are a few softer pads, electric pianos and gentler tones, although the reverb featured in many of them has a ringing, metallic quality that I found quite grating.
It was the Multi combinations that began to win me round, dazzling arpeggios that trigger combinations of synth and drums. Many Multis are frenzied electro/dance riffs that grunt and hiss in a manner difficult to ignore. I turned to the Performance Controls to trim away some of the excesses of modulation and effects, and was able to calm my early fears that the Venom was irreconcilably noisome. However, to really get a feel for what was going on under the covers, I picked up the supplied CD...