New MPE synths...

[wldmr]

Yaay! That's kind of a neat milestone, though, isn't it?

[John the Savage]

I think we made the joke, a while back, that it might be easier, at this point, to list the non-MPE-compatable synths. Maybe we should make a list of the ones that actually do it right.

Cheers!

[JefVerbeeck]

Hi,

The Sequential Prophet-6 and OB-6 do not respond correctly to pressure/Z in MPE mode: the Aftertouch is not applied per voice but globally and since there are 6 streams of (Channel) Aftertouch coming in, it starts glitching between all incoming Aftertouch values.

In standard mode, polyphonic aftertouch works just fine.

Sequential confirmed this as a bug and added it to their internal bug list for the Prophet 6/OB-6.

With the latest OS (1.7.5) you can use aftertouch in MPE mode without glitching. It is implemented as “polyphonic aftertouch”, not as aftertouch per channel. Aftertouch per channel still is glitchy, so you have to adjust your Linnstrument settings.

With firmware 1.7.4 on the OB-6 desktop I dont seem to have any problems with the MPE standard channel aftertouch working as expected! I dont have to put the Linnstrument into poly pressure mode to get the expected results.

Awesome! Now I have to borrow my friend's Prophet again to see if I want one...

[SLiC]

I think we made the joke, a while back, that it might be easier, at this point, to list the non-MPE-compatable synths. Maybe we should make a list of the ones that actually do it right.

Cheers!

I like the way Dawsome (Abyss, Novum) do it- its front and centre like he started with MPE and built a synth around it!

[MilesParker]

Note on Ableton Live, I got the Lite version with my daughter's Roland keyboard and it doesn't include their MPE capable instruments, crippleware ... grrrrrr. Just in case anyone was thinking of trying it this will save you wasting your time too.

[MilesParker]

I've decided to stop updating the list of MPE synths on my Recommended Sounds page. The reason is that while this list was helpful in earlier years when there were few MPE synths, there are now so many new MPE synths that it's difficult to keep up with all the MPE announcements. So it's easier now to simply visit a synth's product page to learn if it has MPE compatibility.

Instead, as discussed on call today, we could maybe have a list of MPE Synths that don't suck, or at least can be made to suck less. For which we have this thread, thanks Lizzard:

viewtopic.php?t=583959

I'm hoping you'll still keep the hardware synths up to date, Roger. I think that info is harder to glean and there are still fewer of those.

[pdxindy]

I've decided to stop updating the list of MPE synths on my Recommended Sounds page. The reason is that while this list was helpful in earlier years when there were few MPE synths, there are now so many new MPE synths that it's difficult to keep up with all the MPE announcements. So it's easier now to simply visit a synth's product page to learn if it has MPE compatibility.

Good decision.

[sirrmt]

Perhaps another PhasePlant user can chime in here?

Phase Plant 2.0 has pretty good support for MPE. It supports (hardcoded) MPE Pitchbend, and custom modulators widgets for MPE Timbre, MPE Note On+Off Velocity, Note values & MPE Channel Pressure. Both CC1/ModWheel and the Pitchbend _modulator widget_ only seem to respond to channel 1.. which could be useful if you have a second controller.

The voices are all MPE capable, and each of the three "Lanes" (where post effects are applied) can also be made "Poly", allowing the use of these MPE modulators there too.

I like their concept of having a primary value (usually based on the first note pressed) which is the one that will be applied to non-Poly lanes, and is the one used for the visualizations.

All in all, it seems quite similar (feature-wise) to Vital. Kilohearts does have a customer friendly subscription model, making it preferable to an outright purchase for the first year at least.

-- RobT

[MilesParker]

Yep, see my hints on PP here:
viewtopic.php?p=8467311#p8467311

[pdxindy]

There are currently beta versions of u-he's ACE, Diva and Hive in the new CLAP format. They support PolyMod so they can be used with Bitwig's unlimited per voice modulation system. This opens a variety of new MPE possibilities, making these synths some of the most interesting MPE synths.

[Tj Shredder]

I think KarmaFX has not been mentioned yet, it supports MPE. Its currently on sale for $ 40 at https://audioplugin.deals/synth-modular-2-by-karmafx/

[Sebastiantheseeker]

karmafx synth modular on sale for the next about 2 weeks.... $40

https://audioplugin.deals/synth-modular-2-by-karmafx/

[SteveElbows]

Latest Arturia updated have added MPE to the sidepanel settings in Analog Lab. Havent tried it yet.

[Tj Shredder]

Bleass Megalit is a new MPE capable synth available for iOS and Desktop…
https://www.bleass.com/megalit/

[2pulse]

Just spent the evening playing with it. Overall awesome sound, although the first two oscs alias like crazy. That comes with the territory of wavetables I suppose, but it's a drag to hear that happening with even the basic analog waveforms. At least osc 3 is clean. Great sounding filter.

On the MPE front, it's got an intuitive interface for assigning modulations. It doesn't let you play multiple instances of the same MIDI note simultaneously, which is a bummer when you hold a bent note and try to replay the starting pitch. It also does that annoying pitch sweep when you play a new note on a channel that was previously released in a bent state, though it's faster and less obtrusive than other synths I've recently complained about. Given these issues I'm not sure I'll be keeping it, but it's definitely a cool synth that has a lot of potential.