Melbourne Instruments Nina: breakthrough hybrid 12 voice multitimbral synthesizer.

[bmanic]

But, and I hate to have a large but (.....errrrr that didn't come out right, did it?). The filter. Oh dear me. I'm not a fan of Moog ladder filters etc, and this one seems a particularly bland one. The drive saves it a little but it needs more. It needs some filter oomph. Put some Korg filters into it and I'd get very moist. But that filter is shit. Obvs it can make some lovely noises - that 1st vid when he did the Bowie Berlin track - that is sweet. Gorgeous, in fact. But it lacks power and grit and kick-me-in-the-bollocks filter power. A synth that good needs a great filter(s).

It's always very interesting to read opinions that one can't relate with at all. To my ears the NINA filter sounds absolutely amazingly good. I'd even go so far as to call it _the_ best sounding LPF I have heard in over 2 decades.

It's smoooooooooooooooth and the resonance is amazingly controlled and squelchy in a very pleasant way. The exact opposite to Roland filters that I'm not particularly fond of (especially their new analogue filters). I also never was that impressed by the various Prophet filters. They always sounded rather shrill to my ears, unless you set resonance to basically zero. I was never a fan of the Moog filter either unless heavily overdriven. It can be so agonizingly aggressive when you drive it with a low-level clean signal and a moderate amount of resonance.

I also don't like filter resonance that just turns into a pure sinewave. If I want that kind of clean behavior I'm better off just layering an actual sine wave as a layer. I want some wobblyness and nervousness to the filter, to hear it as a sort of living creature screaming for agony!

(I need some counseling?? )

The NINA filter resonance behavior reminds me a bit of a very polite Korg MS-20/MS-10 filter that is overdriven so much that the resonance becomes totally stable and under control, never ear piercing.. and that's my favorite filter type. A squelchy yet very controlled resonance.

.. though I do wish it had on-board bass compensation for the ladder filter. It's the only negative for it in my opinion. But that can be easily addressed with some post processing but isn't ideal in a live setting.

[bmanic]

.. actually

I'm a filter snob and proud of it. Filters need to be dirty. Bend over and take it from the rear without asking kind of dirty. Korg, Wasp, Polyvoks, even OSCar all have filth as part of their DNA, they can growl. Even the newer Roland ones with drive on them can get nice and things like Pro3 etc can get characterful. The drive in this Melbourne adds dirt but 2 of those vids showed it almost loses all its resonance when it and the drive are cranked up together. Korg filters don't even need drive - they scream on their own even before full res. That Melbourne filter even with drive just seems to be...missionary with the lights off? It's purely a matter of taste, and I know I'm in the minority re Moog filters. Moog people will probably have no issue with it. My very first impression listen to the vids was that the filter was digital. Obvs it's not, but it just seemed tame and predictable. Actually, it played nice higher up the keyboard but for bass sounds etc it just seemed to go boing, not even an interesting boing. Maybe the demos just don't delve in enough (though the 1st vid was quite good, I thought).

We do seem to have the same opinion.. but you seem to want it way more aggressive than me.

Yeah, the NINA Filter is indeed a bit "polite" but it does have that nervous/wobbly character, much more so than a typical well controlled, low-input levels going into a typical Moog filter.

Totally agree with you about Wasp/OSCar! Those are suuuuuuper juicy sounding filters!

[kritikon]

I definitely get that. Filters are quite personal things. Me, I love it when when my MS20 has had a tantrum and I leave the studio with my ears bleeding.
I think Nina should sell well. Possibly the retro buttons/interface might put a few off but overall I think it's actually a ground-breaker. Just that it's too polite for me (at that price point). And I totally understand it's price...can't be cheap to make with that automation. Little things like being able to change knob behavior...that's just ridiculous, ridiculously good.

[cryophonik]

It's always very interesting to read opinions that one can't relate with at all. To my ears the NINA filter sounds absolutely amazingly good. I'd even go so far as to call it _the_ best sounding LPF I have heard in over 2 decades.

Did you buy a Nina, too?

I just flipped around some of the other vids during lunch and now I'm seeing it in a better light. It does look tempting, but I ran out of studio space/inputs four synth purchases ago. I started thinking I could put the Nina on the couch, but there's probably where I'd be sleeping when my wife finds out I bought another synth.

[pdxindy]

The filter is all over the place.

c5
f#4
f4
c5
c5
c5
f4
c5
f4
c5
c5
c5

That's weird... either F4(ish) or C5

Is there a calibration routine you can run?

Thanks for the info!

[kritikon]

Just thought how you could persuade your missus. It's fiddly but doable. Explain to her how you can balance cocktails on the automatic knobs, wiggle the morph feature and multiple martinis can be stirred but not shaken. It would take some experimenting, especially with the control surface being angled. But a few beer mats underneath to level it...

[bmanic]

It's always very interesting to read opinions that one can't relate with at all. To my ears the NINA filter sounds absolutely amazingly good. I'd even go so far as to call it _the_ best sounding LPF I have heard in over 2 decades.

Did you buy a Nina, too?

I just flipped around some of the other vids during lunch and now I'm seeing it in a better light. It does look tempting, but I ran out of studio space/inputs four synth purchases ago.

No, not yet. Like you I'm at the mercy of youtube videos only. Though I do plan to take a trip to my local music store (DLX Music Finland) as they seem to have a few NINA's in stock.

I'm extremely tempted though to pull the trigger as it seems to be on sale at Perfect Circuit. Even with the added VAT here which is brutal, it'd be almost 1000€ cheaper if I pulled the trigger right now.

.. but it's a too expensive purchase for me to just offload such a chunk of money. And I'm still trying to get hold of a E E Osmose (damn waiting list!!). So yeah, probably not going to happen this year, neither the NINA nor the Osmose.

I started thinking I could put the Nina on the couch, but there's probably where I'd be sleeping when my wife finds out I bought another synth.

Yeah I hear ya. My significant other just realized a few more items have appeared in "my corner" of the living room over the past year. Luckily the NINA is rather small so I may be able to hide it for a few months.

Last time we got into an argument was when I bought the Kurzweil K2500X (it has the super rare KDFX board installed!!!) as it weighed so much I actually needed her help to bring it up the stairs.

[zerocrossing]

.. actually

I'm a filter snob and proud of it. Filters need to be dirty. Bend over and take it from the rear without asking kind of dirty. Korg, Wasp, Polyvoks, even OSCar all have filth as part of their DNA, they can growl. Even the newer Roland ones with drive on them can get nice and things like Pro3 etc can get characterful. The drive in this Melbourne adds dirt but 2 of those vids showed it almost loses all its resonance when it and the drive are cranked up together. Korg filters don't even need drive - they scream on their own even before full res. That Melbourne filter even with drive just seems to be...missionary with the lights off? It's purely a matter of taste, and I know I'm in the minority re Moog filters. Moog people will probably have no issue with it. My very first impression listen to the vids was that the filter was digital. Obvs it's not, but it just seemed tame and predictable. Actually, it played nice higher up the keyboard but for bass sounds etc it just seemed to go boing, not even an interesting boing. Maybe the demos just don't delve in enough (though the 1st vid was quite good, I thought).

We do seem to have the same opinion.. but you seem to want it way more aggressive than me.

Yeah, the NINA Filter is indeed a bit "polite" but it does have that nervous/wobbly character, much more so than a typical well controlled, low-input levels going into a typical Moog filter.

Totally agree with you about Wasp/OSCar! Those are suuuuuuper juicy sounding filters!

I love the Wasp and OSCar filters too, but think about the context. They were both mono synths. I also love the Dominion 1 filter, which can sound very Moogish in 24 db lp mode, but then has 11 other modes. Character out the wazoo.

I guess what I'm saying is that want a lot of character from an analog filter, but that doesn't mean my poly synth should be as aggressive as a mono. Character doesn't mean agressive. That said, while the filter drive fattens things up very nicely, I am a bit disappointed with the overdrive, which I feel could be a lot more high gain. So if you're hoping this is a poly OSCar, it's not, but I do feel like it's got a very Moogesque quality to it, while not being really like a Model D, but maybe more like a Memorymoog.

[cryophonik]

...I do feel like it's got a very Moogesque quality to it, while not being really like a Model D, but maybe more like a Memorymoog.

That makes perfect sense for a poly. As a multitimbral synth, though, I can see how it would be nice to have the option of a more aggressive filter type for mono bass and lead parts to separate them from the other parts/layers and give them a different sonic identity/flavor. That said, the basses and leads I heard in the examples sounded great to me.

OK, I need to stop talking and thinking about this synth or my debit card is going to rear its ugly head.

[sqigls]

how many seperate parts in Multitimbral mode?

ok 4 parts, watching Loopop's vid

[pdxindy]

That makes perfect sense for a poly. As a multitimbral synth, though, I can see how it would be nice to have the option of a more aggressive filter type for mono bass and lead parts to separate them from the other parts/layers and give them a different sonic identity/flavor. That said, the basses and leads I heard in the examples sounded great to me.

OK, I need to stop talking and thinking about this synth or my debit card is going to rear its ugly head.

The basses and leads sounded good to me too... for my interests, a synth does not need to cover all ground... it just needs to do some stuff really well.

[bmanic]

Agreed, sort of, though I do like my synths to be as capable as possible but sound quality and uniqueness comes first.

Damn, I just watched the latest videos on the UDO Super Gemini. Now I need both NINA and Super Gemini, if they ever make a desktop or rack version, the keyboard is way too big to fit anywhere here at home. I could imagine those two complimenting each other really wonderfully!

[zerocrossing]

That makes perfect sense for a poly. As a multitimbral synth, though, I can see how it would be nice to have the option of a more aggressive filter type for mono bass and lead parts to separate them from the other parts/layers and give them a different sonic identity/flavor. That said, the basses and leads I heard in the examples sounded great to me.

OK, I need to stop talking and thinking about this synth or my debit card is going to rear its ugly head.

The basses and leads sounded good to me too... for my interests, a synth does not need to cover all ground... it just needs to do some stuff really well.

Just for fun, I went up against the ATC-X that I currently have up on Reverb, to see how the two 24 db ladder filters matched up. Shockingly good! The Nina actually ends up sounding a bit grittier than the ATC at high resonance, and rounds out nicely when you goose it with drive and overdrive. Seems like the overdrive is pre filter, which I feel is a silly choice. I'm not really complaining, though, it ends up giving a very thick sound. Anyway, anyone thinking this filter is only capable of being polite, it can end up sounding pretty aggressive, and that's not even starting to mess with filter FM.

[zerocrossing]

Oh, btw, there is a filter calibration routine. Their excellent customer service person helped me find it. A few minutes and now all the voices are similarly tuned to a few cents.

[pdxindy]

Oh, btw, there is a filter calibration routine. Their excellent customer service person helped me find it. A few minutes and now all the voices are similarly tuned to a few cents.