Pentagon I

I've gone through literally dozens of analog synthesizers in the twenty-three years since I bought that first Moog Rogue, but two that have stayed by my side are the Yamaha CS-60 and CS-40M. The latter has some features I've rarely seen implemented on any other synth, including the ability to send multiple LFO waveshapes simultaneously to a number of destinations. This makes for some great twisting, percoloating rhythms. I've not heard anything like it elsewhere, until I got the Pentagon 1. It has THAT sound. That elusive, special quality that would gaurantee "classic" status in the hardware world. Many softsynths get used more out of convenience or economy. Not this one, though it qualifies for both descriptions. This gets used because it SOUNDS good. Outside of a modular environment, I can't think of anything you might not be able to do with this. FM (the old kind), ring-mod, noise generators, it's all present. The interface is fairly easy to get around, though any synth with this many features might take the novice a bit of time to grok. There's an online manual available as both a Word doc and a PDF file. This does a fine job of explaining the many functions of the Pentagon 1. The ability to create your own waveshapes for the oscillators is a bonus, and even more so is the unusual ability to create user LFO waveshapes. Nice touch. The onboard sounds cover a lot of ground, and as usual for RGC presets, they are imminently PLAYABLE. These are the kinds of sounds for which low latency was invented. There has never been so much as a hint of instability from an RGC product on my system, but even if there were, the customer support has always been exemplary. At it's list of $99, you don't have to pinch many pennies to afford it, and you'll be getting more than your money's worth. There are only a handful of softsynths I find indespensible, and it's remarkable how many of those say "RGC Audio" on the front.Read Review