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Lord Wan « Future collector's item »
Published on 09/04/14 at 05:55Features that are not ordinary:
The good news:
- Integral polyphony in the String section
- CC and sysex implementation (which is rarer everyday...)
- No exotic power supply required, the USB port is enough
The bad news:
- Insensitive to velocity and aftertouch
- 12 memories... which means you can save 24 parameters * 12 patches = 288 bytes!! In a time when a 1GB USB key costs about $1, this is taking the vintage concept way too far...
- No volume control via midi (cc 7 is not recognized) nor sysex. Since the velocity doesn't affect the volume, there is no way to influence it. So if you use MIDI from a DAW you'll need to write down somewhere the position of the volume control for each song...
UTILIZATION
Excellent! No need of a control surface, editor or even an LED indicator, it has everything!
The only drawback is that to edit effects you need switch + a knob. So, when you "switch" to another effect you don't know where you the knob was... I would've preferred something more obvious, like three knobs.
In the same line, the mix of 4 buttons + selector 1-3 to choose a pad is a bit complicated. Why can't you simply have 12 buttons instead? There is enough place and that shouldn't be too expensive.
SOUNDS
It might seem I'm raving about it, but not only is the sound very inspiring, I can see a new musical wave spawning around this incredibly awesome device!
I predict that in 2015, Roland, Korg, Yamaha, and Akai will have their own PCM-based "string machine" ("yeah!").
OVERALL OPINION
I've had it for a week and, in my opinion, it will be a collector's item and a turning point for 2014!
The firmware still needs to be improved to solve some issues: Sysex problems, no volume via midi, a bit of velocity that can be activated at will to control the level, cutoff or percussive attack of the solo part...
The good news:
- Integral polyphony in the String section
- CC and sysex implementation (which is rarer everyday...)
- No exotic power supply required, the USB port is enough
The bad news:
- Insensitive to velocity and aftertouch
- 12 memories... which means you can save 24 parameters * 12 patches = 288 bytes!! In a time when a 1GB USB key costs about $1, this is taking the vintage concept way too far...
- No volume control via midi (cc 7 is not recognized) nor sysex. Since the velocity doesn't affect the volume, there is no way to influence it. So if you use MIDI from a DAW you'll need to write down somewhere the position of the volume control for each song...
UTILIZATION
Excellent! No need of a control surface, editor or even an LED indicator, it has everything!
The only drawback is that to edit effects you need switch + a knob. So, when you "switch" to another effect you don't know where you the knob was... I would've preferred something more obvious, like three knobs.
In the same line, the mix of 4 buttons + selector 1-3 to choose a pad is a bit complicated. Why can't you simply have 12 buttons instead? There is enough place and that shouldn't be too expensive.
SOUNDS
It might seem I'm raving about it, but not only is the sound very inspiring, I can see a new musical wave spawning around this incredibly awesome device!
I predict that in 2015, Roland, Korg, Yamaha, and Akai will have their own PCM-based "string machine" ("yeah!").
OVERALL OPINION
I've had it for a week and, in my opinion, it will be a collector's item and a turning point for 2014!
The firmware still needs to be improved to solve some issues: Sysex problems, no volume via midi, a bit of velocity that can be activated at will to control the level, cutoff or percussive attack of the solo part...