KVR Audio

Amorr · Post by **Amorr** » Sun Oct 09, 2022 12:43 am

Deciding between these two as my first hardware synth. I have used the fatar keybed on the Cobalt in the past and LOVED it, but never been able to try the keybed on the deepmind. How well does it hold up vs the fatar bed? Looking for nice, lush sounds for synthwavey music, anyone got any recommendations of one over the other? The argon 8 also looks interesting.

simmo75 · Post by **simmo75** » Sun Oct 09, 2022 2:57 am

Deepmind is an analog synth and Cobalt is virtual, they sound very different. Personally I’d go for the Deepmind, as Cobalt will be very similar to your plugins.

trusampler · Post by **trusampler** » Sun Oct 09, 2022 3:04 am

The Deepmind 12 is very flexible, a bit like a modern Juno 106 , but on steroids. Effcts are really good on the Deepmind. Maybe one of the best most slept on synths in the last decade.

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Sun Oct 09, 2022 4:38 am

Haven’t used either one, but I’ve seen/heard many demos of both. For synthwave, the DM seems to be a perfect fit - it just oozes those 80s Juno-esque synthwave sounds, while the Cobalt has a very modern digital vibe. I feel you on the Fatar keybed, though, since that’s always a big selling point for me as well.

Amorr · Post by **Amorr** » Sun Oct 09, 2022 5:07 am

Thanks for the replies. The Juno 106 is my dream synth so I guess it only makes sense to go for the Deepmind.

pixel85 · Post by **pixel85** » Sun Oct 09, 2022 11:50 am

Amorr wrote: Sun Oct 09, 2022 12:43 am Looking for nice, lush sounds for synthwavey music

Oh, you can forget about Cobalt in that case. Even with the latest big firmware update, it still has this harsh upper-mid 'digital' sound that is more suited for EDM and other modern-sounding genres. It's fine when the filter is not fully open. I don't have Deepmind, but from demos, it sounds smoother and more pleasant. Apparently, lots of menu diving is necessary to fully use it. Cobalt requires less menu diving, but it still requires some.

But on the other hand, a lot of Synthwave is made in Serum which is also 'digital sounding'.

Fatar keyboard in Cobalt is great tho. Very pleasant and inviting to play.

Scotty · Post by **Scotty** » Sun Oct 09, 2022 11:54 am

A better comparison for the Cobalt would be against one of the four Hydrasynths. The hydrasynth can do smooth analog sounds. It isn't its main thing but there are a lot of presets from third parties that scratch that analog itch. I own a Juno 60 and a Hydrasynth. Looking at a Cobalt eventually.

Amorr · Post by **Amorr** » Sun Oct 09, 2022 5:58 pm

I have since found a great deal on a prophet 08 which has caught my eye. My brain tells me to go for the prophet but I adore the juno sound.

SLiC · Post by **SLiC** » Sun Oct 09, 2022 6:26 pm

I'll chip in as I have had the DM12 (sold it) and have the Prophet 8 (rack) and Argon8.

I really didn't like the look, feel (sliders, etc) or sound of the DM12, I find it hard to put my finger on why, but it just never sounded ned particularly interesting to me, it was cheap poly, but not for me.

I got a P8 rack (original one, PE) a long time ago and it is still one of the best sounding analogues to my ears...if someone comes in my studio, I will often play the 'Tom Sawyer' patch to demonstrate what a real analogue synths sounds like! That said mine (original) has no FX and is pretty basic, you will probably find a dozen sounds you really like and just keep using them.

OK- Argon8 - absolutely lovely all-round synth...sounds great, gets pretty dam close analogue with the new V3 and of course has the benefit of being real wavetable synth which is often far more interesting than just a few analogue shapes. It is built like a tank, great keyboard, almost no menu diving (a few shifts on knobs but almost everything is to hand) and it has a VST editor/patch manager so instigates well. It can also take MPE input and run MPR sounds...just a lovely board for the money, I would take this over the DM in most cases even though it's just 8 voices and digital, it sounds more interesting and much bigger!

Amorr · Post by **Amorr** » Sun Oct 09, 2022 6:57 pm

SLiC wrote: Sun Oct 09, 2022 6:26 pm I'll chip in as I have had the DM12 (sold it) and have the Prophet 8 (rack) and Argon8.

I really didn't like the look, feel (sliders, etc) or sound of the DM12, I find it hard to put my finger on why, but it just never sounded ned particularly interesting to me, it was cheap poly, but not for me.

I got a P8 rack (original one, PE) a long time ago and it is still one of the best sounding analogues to my ears...if someone comes in my studio, I will often play the 'Tom Sawyer' patch to demonstrate what a real analogue synths sounds like! That said mine (original) has no FX and is pretty basic, you will probably find a dozen sounds you really like and just keep using them.

OK- Argon8 - absolutely lovely all-round synth...sounds great, gets pretty dam close analogue with the new V3 and of course has the benefit of being real wavetable synth which is often far more interesting than just a few analogue shapes. It is built like a tank, great keyboard, almost no menu diving (a few shifts on knobs but almost everything is to hand) and it has a VST editor/patch manager so instigates well. It can also take MPE input and run MPR sounds...just a lovely board for the money, I would take this over the DM in most cases even though it's just 8 voices and digital, it sounds more interesting and much bigger!

Thanks for the reply! Im definitely leaning toward the prophet now as I don't tend to use internal fx anyway.

SLiC · Post by **SLiC** » Sun Oct 09, 2022 6:59 pm

Soundtower still do a good editor for the old prophet 8- even runs as a VST so you can save settings with your song and modulate stuff....https://www.soundtower.com/prophet/index.htm

Deepmind 12 vs Modal Electronics Cobalt 8x (or argon)