Title link takes you to an interesting article on Popular Mechanics that focuses on the dying trend of using analog knobs in automobile controls, by Glen Reynolds. What's interesting is the author makes references to synths! Bringing synths to mainstream. Woot! "One of the most dramatic examples of the return-to-analog controls comes from the field of electronic music. I own a 1980s Roland Alpha Juno 1 synthesizer. It's a sleek machine, controlled with minimalist buttons — a classic. But most musicians will tell you that it's hard to perform while you're trying to squint at the Roland's LCD display and navigate its nested menus.
The synthesizer I'd like to own is the Alesis AG [A6] Andromeda. Unlike the Roland, the Alesis puts many key functions on dedicated knobs — so many, in fact, that it looks like the cockpit of a B-17. And that's why musicians love it — knobs are easy to grab in the dark. Knobs also make it simpler to transfer knowledge from one device to another. Once you know what a low-frequency oscillator does, you can use it on any device. But with nonstandard menus, you have to spend precious time finding, and remembering, how to get to the function you need on every new device you use."
Hmm... I wonder if the author knows about Matrixsynth. :)
