About Monark - reviews & stuff

[MetroSonus]

are there any good demos out yet that go a bit beyond the presets? From the stock audio, I'm hearing a "NI sound" coming out of Monark and I'm actually leaning towards Minimonsta.

[JasonSpatola]

I'm hearing a "NI sound" coming out of Monark

...?

[PAK]

Diva is a much more attractive prospect over all

The real strength of Diva is it's more than the sum of its parts. It could've easily split the work into several different products, and most devs in Uhe's position would've done that. They didn't, and that's helped it become more than a single emulation, or any VA plugin in general, because of its range. The recent Messe updates will only expand on that and make competitors jobs even tougher..

but rather than further efforts towards Moog - I and others I think would love to see a Prophet Oscillator - something a bit warmer for poly synth duties...Im concerned this Monark pretender might be too influential..

What if some regarded it as more than a pretender? Whatever we want, it really depends on what motivates the people involved, and nothing helps motivate better than some healthy competition

Even if one thing is put before the other, and previous work is relooked at, there's still plenty to be learned from what you're doing differently and why you're doing it. So you'd likely end up with better Prophet components at the end of things anyway, because it's all a process of learning and taking it forward to the next challenge.

[PAK]

the hype with overload/feedback drive has not really started with monark..

People will talk about the load/feedback stuff because it's the most obvious difference and, like you said, that stuff seems like the "trend" right now.

The real irony, to me, is I think the difference Monark has with CLEAN, punchy, type of sounds (so that's sounds which don't have much, if any, obvious mushy/fuzzy type of distortion) is a much bigger deal..

[MetroSonus]

I'm hearing a "NI sound" coming out of Monark

...?

To me, being the second real NI designed synth next to Massive, they share the same "sheen" in sound. Maybe it's because the few audio and video demos of it have been dubstep or other electronic genres, but you can definitely tell it's either been programmed the same way (presets) or built on similar technology.

So i'm just saying I haven't heard anything anything in it above and beyond what massive could do.. There's been reports to the contrary though, especially in regards to the underlying technology. But to my ears, I'm not seeing it. YMMV though..

[PAK]

are there any good demos out yet that go a bit beyond the presets? From the stock audio, I'm hearing a "NI sound" coming out of Monark and I'm actually leaning towards Minimonsta.

The demos do emphasize an aggressive sort of tone, and that is present. There's still a digital edge most evident on the upper frequencies too, which is likely partly related to the lack of miniscule movement and interactions of those frequencies.. kind of like the equivalent of very slight "blurring" of the harmonics happening in the hardware (rather than the traditional simplified sense of anti-aliasing the actual wave shapes). Just a guess

But I'd be darned if anyone could pick this out from a real Minimoog under most scenarios. I don't think I'd say the same for Minimonsta. Any sort of sounds you're thinking of that you were looking to get out of it?

[MetroSonus]

Any 80's style basses really. I'm just about done with gradschool and one of the things I'd like to do is start working on 80's com truise ish kind of stuff.

I'd like to do it in software and another sound I'd like is the CEM brassy sort of sound. If I can't do it in software, I thought about picking up a Korg DW6000 and 8000, Matrix 1000 ect and an electribe or two for drum samples and basic sequencing.

I could just download the demo and try it I suppose. It's just frustrating when they pitch it to one group even though it's not really representative of what it's capable of.

And not that i'm knocking it either. There's no bad synths really. It's just what you can do with it or want it for that matters.

[PAK]

Any 80's style basses really.

I think it's very good for any of that sort of stuff. Just add a bit of short subtle reverb and roll off the edge (hello new Uhe tape sim? ) and I think you'd be extremely happy.. It honestly gives analogue hardware a run for its money, especially in the bass department.

I'd like to do it in software and another sound I'd like is the CEM brassy sort of sound. If I can't do it in software, I thought about picking up a Korg DW6000 and 8000, Matrix 1000 ect and an electribe or two for drum samples and basic sequencing.

Well, there's always going to be some advantage going to the source rather than the pretender. But the recent Dave Smith stuff is not exactly a million miles off from the Matrix 1000, though more pricey. I really don't know if I'd recommend going down the vintage route to anyone unless you have good repair skills. Just not worth the headache to most IMO.

I could just download the demo and try it I suppose. It's just frustrating when they pitch it to one group even though it's not really representative of what it's capable of.

Well, with NI, there's always that sort of marketing emphasis on certain markets over others maybe..

And not that i'm knocking it either. There's no bad synths really. It's just what you can do with it or want it for that matters.

No, I know and I get ya. There's often not that much difference between things. But some things, which matter little to some, can matter a lot to others depending on what you actually want to do. I think you'll be happy with Monark given your own preferences. Just don't go too much on the initial presets etc..

[jsd]

I really don't know if I'd recommend going down the vintage route to anyone unless you have good repair skills. Just not worth the headache to most IMO.

this is an oft-overlooked point. i have a lot of real vintage stuff in my studio. here's what's gone wrong with it in the past year:
mks-70 wouldn't turn on, power supply needed rebuilding
pro-one keyboard is double-firing randomly, makes using the sequencer a real treat. also some of the knobs are getting super dirty. turning the filter cutoff does not make a smooth sweep, it jumps around all over the place. octave-to-octave scaling is going out, needs re-tuning.
moog prodigy keyboard is double-firing, or not working at all
jx-3p keyboard certain notes are just plain dead
6-trak didn't make any sound at all, needed a bunch of components replaced. now the knob is starting to act up.
ms-20 needed a thorough servicing

luckily there's a guy not too far away who can do all this stuff and doesn't charge an arm and a leg. i don't have time to do it all myself. but it's still a pain, and a lot of times these things just sit around broken or half-working because it's not worth the effort to have them serviced.

I think you'll be happy with Monark given your own preferences. Just don't go too much on the initial presets etc..

to steer this back on topic, i played around with monark all weekend and it is just GLORIOUS. compared to something like arturia's minimoog, no contest. as i told a friend "arturia looks like a mini. monark SOUNDS like a mini."

monark is a crazy amount of fun, it gets SUPER ugly real easy, which is not something that is true of a lot of plugins. yes, it's limited for no good reason other than to make it "just like a mini". but who cares, limitations are great. embrace them. if you want to make 80's style music this thing will do the business like a champ. just throw in some simmons or linn drum samples and you're gold. if you have the slightest interest in the rest of the komplete bundle, i'd do that though. for $400 you get a ridiculous amount of content. there's plenty of sampled vintage gear in the komplete bundle too (retro machines, kontakt factory library, battery has some very good 808/909/707 kits, not to mention FM8 which can do any yamaha fm sound and much more).

[MetroSonus]

on one hand, the hardware is cheap enough and if you keep your eyes out and get an honest seller, you can get great condition hybrids for pretty cheap and they can be a ton of fun. That's my area of interest anyway.. Still fun and neat to mess with, but you can get into the prophet and oberheim sounds and things on the cheap.

but then on the other hand, software is fast, cheaper, just as fun and if you were going for a sound that was representative of new, well maintained equipment, it's your best best.

I think though that people think classic gear sounds the way it does, because it's older and the components have aged and it's not the way it sounded new or at least what we think it sounded like.

gearslutz had a great thread about the slate digital tape plugin. many people were unhappy with it but a few people stepped in to say that it was meant to emulate well maintained and new gear, meaning low noise and great transparent sound. How many old records do you know of that sounded like crap?

Here's a sound test I did with an old 4 head HiFi VCR (since many people think you can get "that tape sound" that way)

http://soundcloud.com/soyuz7/the-tape-test

Full article: http://computermusicguide.com/the-tape-test/

Not to derail the thread but it's all kinda on topic

[hibidy]

I'm hearing a "NI sound" coming out of Monark

...?

I understand what he means. Especially if you are talking about NI demos. There is a certain sound......

[Lotuzia]

I really don't know if I'd recommend going down the vintage route to anyone unless you have good repair skills. Just not worth the headache to most IMO.

this is an oft-overlooked point. i have a lot of real vintage stuff in my studio. here's what's gone wrong with it in the past year:
mks-70 wouldn't turn on, power supply needed rebuilding
pro-one keyboard is double-firing randomly, makes using the sequencer a real treat. also some of the knobs are getting super dirty. turning the filter cutoff does not make a smooth sweep, it jumps around all over the place. octave-to-octave scaling is going out, needs re-tuning.
moog prodigy keyboard is double-firing, or not working at all
jx-3p keyboard certain notes are just plain dead
6-trak didn't make any sound at all, needed a bunch of components replaced. now the knob is starting to act up.
ms-20 needed a thorough servicing

luckily there's a guy not too far away who can do all this stuff and doesn't charge an arm and a leg. i don't have time to do it all myself. but it's still a pain, and a lot of times these things just sit around broken or half-working because it's not worth the effort to have them serviced.

I think you'll be happy with Monark given your own preferences. Just don't go too much on the initial presets etc..

to steer this back on topic, i played around with monark all weekend and it is just GLORIOUS. compared to something like arturia's minimoog, no contest. as i told a friend "arturia looks like a mini. monark SOUNDS like a mini."

monark is a crazy amount of fun, it gets SUPER ugly real easy, which is not something that is true of a lot of plugins. yes, it's limited for no good reason other than to make it "just like a mini". but who cares, limitations are great. embrace them. if you want to make 80's style music this thing will do the business like a champ. just throw in some simmons or linn drum samples and you're gold. if you have the slightest interest in the rest of the komplete bundle, i'd do that though. for $400 you get a ridiculous amount of content. there's plenty of sampled vintage gear in the komplete bundle too (retro machines, kontakt factory library, battery has some very good 808/909/707 kits, not to mention FM8 which can do any yamaha fm sound and much more).

True old ladies need servicing, and great care. I had a lot of problems also. They are a kind of luxury, but they also offer something unique.

Regarding Monark beeing mono, its not a problem ( for me ) A lot of instruments are meant to be played mono, and the original mythical machine still is. And I prefer by as wide as the ocean a monosynth with a character I like, than a polyphonic one I appreciate less.

[Gonga]

I'm not sure whether it's been brought up, but Monark is a great starter synth to learn on. I'm planning to install it on a kid's computer this week

[jsd]

I'm not sure whether it's been brought up, but Monark is a great starter synth to learn on. I'm planning to install it on a kid's computer this week

Good point, I was showing my daughter (9 years old) how it worked the other day and she was really getting into it!

[hibidy]

My favorite patch so far has to be "electric" for bass