In a “consolidation” move, I gave up my Tetras and Tempest. The idea being that a Prophet 12 module (which I love) would be enough of that.

It’s safe to say that I’ll spend the second half of my year’s synth budget on a 8 voice REV2 this Christmas.

I miss it!

haha i bet!!! monster synth
with the music i make i don't think i'll hit a wall at 8. never have before.
it's on my mind, but have some other gear higher up on the list.

Just start making some stacked patches...

Unless of course Mr. Smith has a new product announcement before then.

REV3!

Rev2 is a kind of celebration Edition.
As far as I know, there is not scheduled a REV3 in the short/medium term...

Prophet 13.

Will it make it to the moon? Tune in to find out...

Kidding aside, I wonder what a Prophet 12 with the filters and oscillators from the X would be like. What if they did a dual oscillator type design like the Evolver or Prologue? Put in the mod sequencer too. Would I want to replace my 12 with it? I guess it would depend on price and size. The 12 module is nice and tiny.

OTOH, I’m starting to feel G.A.S. fatigue. I miss that controversial DSI Curtis based sound, but the 12 does get me in the ball park. I’m not even sure where a Prophet 8 would go... I’d probably have to do the dual Tetra thing again. I’m really loving my current set up, so we’ll see. Maybe I just stay with what I have.

I’m mostly joking... but we know they’re working on something... BUT WHAT!?

Dude... did you just figure out how to directly post to GS from a thought tangent?

Oh no, I’ve been quite adept at that for years!

Rev2 owners I've started sort of an ongoing project of weekly free patches that all have a familiar track hook or chord progression programmed into the sequencer.

It's called "Sessions". Basically they're free patches; a weekly upload of some patches for anyone to download and Jam with.

I just started this week. there's 3 patches named after their reference artists/tracks. Eric Prydz under his Pryda alias, Deadmau5, and Relation / LifeLike. (The Relation Patch needs a bit more work, but still has a nice bass to Jam with so figured share it anyways).
- Oh also wanted to mention, Mod wheel and after touch. almost required to fully enjoy these.

They're pretty accurate recreations for the most part. Some of these you might simply tweek the knobs and cue up your own beat and jam / remix. There's always 2 parts, so I try to pick tracks that have some kind of fun lead or bass to play along with. The sequencer on both parts is programmed for reference or to play along with. Pryda's track Melo is my all-time favorite track, in all aspects. (especially production). So of course it's the first one I made. - that one deserves a direct link here: Pryda_ Melo

Bare in mind, the limitations of the sequencer limit which tracks would make for a good Patch. It all depends on the hook / chord progressions and elements of the track. Anyways. I've had some fun with these and i think you will too, especially if you're familiar with the tracks / artists.
there's links to the original tracks on Sessions page too.
http://www.majoroscillator.com/sessions

I’m sure it would be fun to split the keyboard and stack 8 voices!

How would you describe the distinctness of the Curtis Filter Sound? I've read you repeatedly commenting on this over the years, but don't quite have a clear picture of what it is you're on about.....?

Hold off, hold off... There may be more in the mix by then from Sequential.

Bravo. This almost made me spit take my coffee.

I'm also interested in the Rev2. It's curious that its harshest critics seem to be the biggest DSI fans.

It's hard to tell if the Rev2 is really as thin and brassy as they claim or whether they're just working hard to justify the 3K they invested in the P6.

I realize that Youtube videos should always be taken with a grain of salt, but I found Starsky Carr's comparison pretty surprising. In many cases, I found myself preferring the sounds of the Rev2:

I always appreciate it when someone reminds me of funny **** I forgot I said.

I'll try to address your question of whether or not the Rev 2 is thin and brassy, having owned one since they came out. As far as "thin," I would probably not rely on the natural chorusing of the slightly detuned oscillators for tone. I would almost always turn on the chorus/phase/flange effect, even just a little, to smooth out the sound. But a lot of that is just that the chorus is really lush and IMHO an integral part of the character.

The oscillators can be a little harsh, even after you roll off the high end with the filter. The sub-osc is too tame for my taste, so I would use the tri-saw waveform to add some lower tones, or use osc 2 as your sub. To my knowledge, you can't overdrive the oscillators into the filter to get that crunchy tone, so it can be tame. The LFO doesn't quite track high enough to get you reliable grunge by subtle modulation of wave/osc/filter. The filter mod can get clangorous, but not in a way if call fat.

All that said, it's a great board if you know how to program it and you don't NEED a poly with girth (which all come at multiples of the price of the Rev 2). It is super deep, and I'm certain I have not explored every aspect yet. It's got sweet spots for days, especially once you turn on the chorus (which I will reiterate, sounds really F'in good). I'm out of the honeymoon phase, but not planning to sell it. Just a guy who has been using the Rev 2 as my main synth for a few years. This is as frank and unbiased an assessment as I can give.

Hi,

I must say I have some problems with the sound of the Rev2 (owning one).
But I also have to say that you can tame it in the right direction.

But back to the original question. I think in 2019 I wouldn't buy one.
There are really more attractive synths:

Hydrasynth, Peak/Summit, Deepmind12 (especially price wise), MFB Synth Pro, UDO Super 6, Modal Argon 8, Waldorf Kyra and so on ...

I had a rev2 keyboard.

making a bassline with it stunk.

everything else? pure bliss

ultimately just wanted the rack version

Thanks for the in-depth assessment. I just bought a Matriarch, and I'm certainly in no hurry to drop another 2k on a synth anytime soon. But the Rev2 still seems like a relatively solid value for everything on tap.

I'm not situated in a large metro area where I can sit down and play stuff before I purchase, so it's always kind of a gamble. Every Rev2 demo I've ever heard on Youtube/SC sounds great. It honestly strikes me as a fantastic instrument somewhat unfairly (and inexplicably) maligned by DSI's most obsessive users.

Definitely going to wait until NAMM before I purchase anything new.

The REV2 is a good investment, solid in all aspects. But at this stage, if I were looking for a poly, I would hold on for a little while until the UBXa is out (at least).

Having said that, I feel jumpy after a Summit.

I'm not going to hold my breath for the UBXa. I won't be surprised if 2020 comes and goes without a release. Maybe they'll produce something at NAMM. Who knows.

The Summit seems cool too, though a bit different than the Rev2.

For what it's worth. I have mine 2 years and I still love it.
I sold my juno 6 to buy this and the rev2 never made me miss the juno 6.
I love the keyboard, use it as my master keyboard.

I just think it sounds really good, the pads are really very good,
The only thing I regret is not getting the 16 voice model.

You can get an 8-voice upgrade card to make it into a 16.

That's what I did and was the best decision (well second to having got a 16 first time). Easy install, no hassle.

+1

I own a Rev2 since its release and agree with your assessment. I usually enable the chorus too and find that turning both fx1 and fx2 parameters all the way down and Mix about 45-50 will smooth out the sound a lot, adding width and depth to the otherwise "flat" oscillators.

You can say about the Curtis filter what you like, but I really like the way it's playable. Using the Modulation Matrix, set Note Number to Cutoff and dial in using this guide will give you a chromatically playable filter. Further, using the Distortion effect on the filter and manipulating Cutoff through the Env3 will give you a lot of heavy kickdrums or baselines.

This instrument can be anything you want, but it does need some work to get there. A lot of small changes will make subtle differences on it's own, but will amount in very interesting results.

Edit: the one gripe I have with this instrument are the jumpy oscillator encoders. I mean, dialing one in at C2 and having it jump to C#2 a few seconds later isn't funny.

Agreed, this can be a nasty little issue but it doesn't happen that often here. Maybe twice in an 8 hour session. I can live with it.

That's a bad quality issue, even if it would happen once in a month and should be solved by Sequential.

I don't think they can, at least not with a firmware update, otherwise I would suspect they already did. This issue is there since day one.