this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2023
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Synthesizers
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I want to love Nina (the synth with motorized knobs.) On paper, it's amazing - a 12 voice analog polysynth, plus a wavetable oscillator and digital effects when I want them. The motorized knobs really are a game-changer for modulation and multiple timbres.
But every SINGLE time I sit down to actually spend time with this synth, something goes wrong and I spend my time writing up a bug report instead of making music. The worst part is I don't even know if I'll like the synth when all the bugs are fixed. Even when I make simple, basic analog sounds I don't really care for the tone. FM using the digital oscillator as a mod source seems broken, but I'm not sure if it's a bug or just the best they can do with the hardware design they shipped. I know the hardware signal path is why they're stuck with effects being applied to the final mix instead of per-timbre.
They've done some brilliant things with this synth and I want it to succeed, but at the same time I feel like buying one was probably a mistake. Now I'm just hoping they follow through on the promise of open-sourcing it so I can try tinkering with it myself and see what improvements I can make.
I feel like they should have started with something smaller - maybe a single oscillator monosynth - with the motorized knobs. Instead, they went for broke and produced a pricey, glitch-filled monster. The knobs seem like its only saving grace, too. I haven't heard any particularly inspiring sounds out of it yet.
I think it would've made more sense to start with something all-digital. Instead they decided to invent their own analog oscillator design on top of everything else novel they were trying to do. Maybe it does have something unique and special to offer, but I haven't found it yet.
Ah that’s so sad. I really like the idea of it a lot. It’s so mesmerising