MATRIXSYNTH

VINTAGE EML ELECTROCOMP 200 SYNTHESIZER

via this auction

Macbeth: X-Series Dual Oscillator ready to ship

flickr by Analogue Haven

"Great shot of the first batch of Macbeth X-Series Dual Oscillators on their way over from Scotland. We are anxiously awaiting delivery of these and we will update our website as soon as they come in. About half of the first batch of 20 are reserved with serious interest in the remaining modules. LINK"

Metasonix: KV-100 Assblaster

flickr by Analogue Haven

"This is a photo of a second-hand Metasonix KV-100 Assblaster that we sold via our used page last week. We are trying to update our used page more and more and we still have a lot to put up. LINK: www.analoguehaven.com/used/."

Escape Artist2009 Synth Art

flickr by Escape Artist2009
(click for more)

2-octave keyboard (Felt pen, 2007)
keyboard red (screenprint, 2007)

Putting Together a Synth + DJ Party

flickr by letsgoing
(click for more)

Gakken SX-150

Susan Beware of the Devil

flickr by The Shameless Avalanche

KORG MicroKONTROL

El Sitio de Queretaro y El Cerro de las Campanas

via mono-poly's modular blog where you will find more.

"After a 4 week holliday i got back but most gear is now at friends.
I grabbed my EMS Synthi and BLippoo Box to control the synthi and came with this.
Also Marshall time Modulator and DP2 used (both get cv-ed)"

Awakenings 260909 PDB, Terje Winther & Edge Effect

via the forum
"Pollard/Daniel/Booth, Terje Winther & Edge Effect

Saturday 26th September 2009

Held at:

Paget High School
Business & Enterprise College
Burton Road
Branston
Burton on Trent
Staffs
DE14 3DR

Advance tickets can be purchased from the website. Unless otherwise noted, the ticket price includes a FREE mp3 Virtual Ticket that will be made available shortly after the gig, these will only be available to purchase online until the day before the gig.

If you cannot attend and wish to purchase a Virtual Ticket you should just purchase a standard ticket and email to let me know you only want the VT

All line-ups subject to change, check website for latest details

www.awakenings-em.co.uk"

Top:Brendan Pollard at the Hampshire Jam Jam
Middle: Terge Winther performing live
Bottom: Edge Effect performing live

Notes on the Kawai SX-240

image via this post
Mini review sent to the AH list via Synthfanatic who found it on www.safebra.co.uk. If anyone knows who wrote it, feel free to let me know.

"When you first load the thing up it's got real crap preset sounds. They tried to emulate the cheesy 80's Van Halen "Jump" sounds with a lot of other sub par sounds. They also tried to create sounds similar to other manufacturers that had similar synths in competition: Roland Juno 60/106/JX3P, or Korg Polysix. Then you start getting into the programming and start fiddling around and realize it's like a cheaper version of the Elka Synthex. Man it's lush!

Some thoughts so far:

The Good

* It's multitimbral so you can layer 2 analog patches on top of each other. This is especially great if you have 2 pads with different lush tones over
one another. It sounds completely filmic. It's also great for creating more evolving/complex tones than most polysynths. Very unique sound!

* The chorus is so perfect, I reckon it sounds good if not better than the one on the Juno 60 which I used to own.

* Good industrial design. Has the faux wood sides, and multi-colored LEDs (green, red, yellow) and a insanely-great red LED that looks like
K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider. The font makes it trippy and unique.

* Good simple sequencer from which to program some quick ideas. Tried hooking it up to the TR-606 and they sync perfectly.

* Has a Low-Pass Filter/Hi-Pass Filter which you can use in conjunction to get really interesting vocal sounds and some acid tones. Dedicated
Envelope for the VCF.

* Interesting Oscillator options and Polymodes. Has 2 DCO's but you can use Poly-4 mode and Monomode. Has chord memory feature.

The Bad:

* No option to mix the different Oscillator and Sound sources in terms of percentage. There are only simple on/off modes except for the exception
of the noise generator.

* Only an Alpha Dial. Easy to edit parameters quickly, but not as great as having dedicated knobs and sliders at your fingertips.
You can however route the LFO or Filter Cutoff/Resonance to the pitch bender.

* No ultra complex modulation techniques here. There's no Oscillator Sync, Cross-Modulation between the Oscillators, or any more complex
analog synthesis features like ring modulators or S&H

Still overall I say a amazing find and an amazing unique polysynth especially for under $1000! I don't think there's anything else in the price range that comes close and it's definitely best in class. Definitely a unique synthesizer that's capable of synths that cost way more. I read that there are less than 1000 in existence and that they are quite rare. If people only had an opportunity to a) first play the synth in person and b) spend some time messing with synth to open it up to what it's possible of."