Four-voice Analogue & Digital Synth
Reviews : Keyboard
The Evolver began as a mono desktop unit,
then became polyphonic, and now there's a polyphonic keyboard version.
It's almost as if Dave Smith's latest synth is steadily evolving back
into his earlier Prophet 5...! We check it out.
Photos: Mark Ewing
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As has been explained in these pages before, Dave Smith's resumé
is quite a read. A major innovator in the hi-tech music world since the
mid-'70s, he designed the first truly programmable synth, Sequential
Circuits' Prophet 5, as well as the monophonic Pro 1, Prophet 10, the
gorgeous T8, and many others. He is credited as one of the fathers of
MIDI, having helped to design and promote this now-ubiquitous interface.
He was also the creator of Vector synthesis in the Prophet VS (later to
blossom into the Korg Wavestation) and was developer of the world's
first proper software synth, Seer Systems' Reality. Having just one of those achievements on my CV would make me very happy!
But despite having developed software synths, Dave
is today back to making hardware products in the form of his Evolver
range. First off the line was the Evolver, a monophonic synth in
tabletop form reviewed in SOS February 2003 (see www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb03/articles/davesmithevolver.asp). This was followed by the Poly Evolver rack (see SOS December '04, or www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec04/articles/dspolyevolver.htm).
The Evolver uses a 'matrix' method of programming, where you select a
line of parameters to edit on the matrix with the buttons at the side
and then adjust that line's parameters with the eight encoders at the
top of the matrix — it's a capable, but fiddly interface. The Poly
Evolver (arguably) took a backwards step with a 16x2 LCD and an
'up/down' page system (though you can use a mono Evolver to program it,
or a PC/Mac software editor). That's the Evolver story so far, but now
everything has changed with the arrival of the Poly Evolver Keyboard (or
PEK), which seeks to combine the best of both previous versions and
improve on them, being polyphonic, fitted with a keyboard, and, as you
can see above, covered in many more controls than graced the front panel
of the original Evolver. There are rotary encoders, illuminated
switches and blue LEDs — it really is a classy thing to look at. There
are even wooden end cheeks, and although I know they make no
contribution to the sonic quality of the instrument, they do add something to the 'experience' of owning and playing it.
The PEK's lightweight velocity- and
aftertouch-sensitive keyboard might not be to everyone's taste, but it's
perfectly adequate for the synth sounds on offer. The PEK also sports
two transparent wheels to the left of the keyboard, which glow a
beautiful blue; in subdued lighting, the PEK is a thing of beauty (see
the final page of this article). Even my wife, who is usually quite
unimpressed with the various bits of gear that pass through our doors,
was very taken with the PEK's cosmetic design, calling it 'the ultimate
big boy's toy'! And she was absolutely right...
I won't spend too much time on the synthesis
functions available to you (although I may allude to them by way of my
description of the panel) as these have been ably described in Paul
Nagle's previous reviews of the Evolver and Poly Evolver, but to
summarise, Dave Smith's products are a potent marriage of digital and
true analogue technologies in one instrument. Each voice has two digital
'vector' oscillators and two analogue oscillators per voice which are
fed to an analogue low-pass filter (the digital oscillators by way of a
digital-to-analogue converter) and an analogue voltage-controlled
amplifier. From here, the signal comes back through an A-D converter to
be further integrated with the digital audio processors.
Around the back, all seems complex, but it's all
quite logical. Each PEK voice gets its own stereo output, so in addition
to the headphone jack and main stereo outs, there are a further eight
jacks (two per individual voice), plus a stereo pair for the audio
inputs, then the power connector, connectors for sustain pedal and two
continuous footswitches, the de rigeur MIDI trio (plus an extra
connector for daisy-chaining other Evolvers and Poly Evolvers), and
finally, those completely gratuitous (but very impressive-looking) blue
LEDs!
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This means that you have the best of both worlds:
software LFOs and envelopes, four step sequencers, effects,
sophisticated modulation control, precise control of parameters, and
loads of memories to store sounds thanks to the digital side of the
synth, plus the warmth and character of analogue. The PEK's voice
structure is unchanged from that of the other Evolvers, so for more
details, head for those older SOS reviews.
What sets the Poly Evolver Keyboard apart is that
panel — a knob or switch for (almost) all the functions makes this
powerful synth considerably easier to use than the other Evolvers, and
most of the everyday functions are typically just a knob or switch away
with other, less commonly used functions being available on menus shown
on the 2x16 LCD (but even those use encoders to select or set their
values).
The panel is very well laid out. The main business
area (oscillators, filter, envelopes, effects and output parameters) is
right in front of you, directly above the keyboard and follows a logical
progression from left to right. Furthermore, good labelling makes it
perfectly clear how the signal flows through the instrument, especially
with regard to showing the various feedback paths that occur in each
voice.
Other functions, such as Envelope 3 and the four
LFOs, are found at the top left of the panel and the four step
sequencers are to be found at the top right. Dominating the centre of
the panel is the programming area, where the 512 sounds (four banks of
128 sounds each) can be selected using the plus or minus buttons, two
data encoders or the large keypad. The instrument's three different
modes of operation (Combo, Program and Global) are also selected here
(see the box overleaf for more on this).
At the rear, the PEK sports a multitude of audio
outputs. There is a headphone output, a pair of main stereo outputs
which carry a mix of all the voices, and there are also individual
(stereo) outputs for each of the voices. Inserting a cable into these
(balanced) quarter-inch jacks removes that signal from the main stereo
outputs, as it should in my opinion. There is also a stereo audio input
allowing external signals to be processed through the PEKs filters and
effects. Naturally, it has MIDI, plus a 'special' MIDI/DIN connector for
daisy-chaining other Evolvers to expand polyphony. As the PEK is more
biased towards performance than its counterparts, there are two variable
pedal inputs (assignable) and a sustain pedal input.
Disappointingly, power is supplied by an external
PSU — on a keyboard of this nature (and price), I was expecting a sturdy
mains cable and built-in power supply. In fairness, it's not a
wall-wart type — the PSU is connected to the mains with a cable of a
decent length — but it was still a surprise when I removed the PEK from
its packaging. Disappointing as well was the omission of a digital audio
output, which I would have thought would make the PEK more flexible in a
modern studio.
The final item on the rear panel is another for the
'eye-candy' department: four bright blue LEDs that pulsate according to
the rates of the four LFOs. These must have been included for visual
purposes, because they serve no practical purpose whatsoever otherwise —
but they do look very nice! I guess it's only a matter of time before
synth nerds in the audience will be guessing which patch is being used
based on the respective rates of those LEDs...
Control Centre
At first glance, the PEK's control panel looks
pretty straightforward (and indeed, for the most part, it is) but I was
surprised to find continuous encoders for all the controls. I am in two
minds about the use of these in this context. Of course, they allow a
control movement to take immediate effect from the parameter's stored
value, but as you are adjusting them, you have no idea when you are
reaching the control's 'end stops' (so to speak) and I found myself
referring to the LCD (which, like Novation's K-Station, shows the value
of the selected parameter's value) far too often for such a knobby
synth.
Furthermore, some of the parameters have quite a
large range, and so some of the encoders require a few turns to cover
that range. The Filter Cutoff control, for example, requires a few turns
to create a full manual filter sweep, and the Resonance, LFO Rate, and
Filter Env Amount controls, as well as others, seem to require more
turns than we're perhaps used to.
It'll look great on stage... the PEK in reduced lighting conditions.
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In defence of this method, however, apart from
immediate 'take-up' of a parameter's stored setting, it also allows a
finer degree of accuracy when setting values, and that has to be
applauded. I guess it just takes a bit of getting used to after using
conventional 'pots' with physical end-stops at seven and five o'clock.
It would have been good, perhaps, if the encoders were 'velocity
sensitive' — in other words, if quick movements allow coarse settings
whilst slower movement allow more precise settings. Also curious is that
the encoders caps have pointers, which are largely meaningless on
totally continous controls. On a more positive note, 'zipper noise' (ie.
stepped digitised value changes) from the controls was minimal to the
point of being inaudible.
Reservations about the encoders aside (which might
well not bother anyone else — it's something of a personal gripe), there
is generally a dedicated control or switch for each function, which is
great. There are a few compromises — there's only one set of controls
for the the four oscillators, the LFOs and the step sequencers, for
example — but illuminated switches allow you to select the 'module' you
want to tweak very easily. But these compromises are understandable, as
it would be unfeasible to provide dedicated controls for all of these.
In most other respects, this is very much a
'no-compromise' design — Dave Smith could easily have tucked a few of
the dedicated functions away on a menu-based programming system, and the
PEK could probably survive without some of the 'eye-candy' like, for
example, the master octave LED indicators, the pulsating blue LEDs for
each of the four LFOs (especially those duplicated on the rear panel!),
and the large dedicated program number display. The PEK could also have
shared common controls for the three envelopes, and instead of having
dedicated switches to select oscillators, LFOs and sequence banks, it
could have used one (frustrating) button to cycle through each of those.
But Mr Smith has obviously put function and usability before form (and
issues of cost) to create a knobby user interface that is simple but
comprehensive and puts most functions right in front of you. I am not
denying that there are few areas (notably modulation) where you have to
figure things out (and here, a larger LCD might have have helped) but
overall, this is generally a gratifying synth to use despite the
programming depth and complexity available to you.
Sounding Off
How does it sound? Fabulous for the most part! I am a
bit at odds with some of the presets, many of which attempt to sound
'modern' simply by slapping on distortion rather too often for my
liking, but this is easily rectified by, well, turning down the
Distortion knob. Many of the presets show off the instrument's broad
capabilities, from genuine (not modelled) analogue warmth through to
biting digital textures. The unique Feedback section, in particular,
takes you into territory not normally found on other synths and the
panel legending shows clearly how this interacts with the sound. I am
also especially pleased to see that Dave Smith has not 'compromised' the
digital oscillators by refining them to remove aliasing, and even the
manual proudly proclaims that like the Prophet VS, they sound 'quite
trashy at higher frequencies', a 'feature' which only serves to add more
character to sounds.
Such is the depth of the PEK's synthesis
capabilities that many of the presets explore territories inaccessible
to other synths, notably long and (yes...) evolving sci-fi textures that
could have come straight off the soundtrack for Forbidden Planet
or from the depths of the BBC's Radiophonic Workshop in the late '60s
and early '70s, when they had just taken delivery of their EMS VCS3s and
AKSs. Many presets reward you with abstract, atmospheric soundscapes
that slowly develop over time. At the other extreme, however, the PEK is
equally capable of underpinning a track with strong basses and lush
pads, or dominating it with strident lead lines, spikey arpeggio
textures and more.
In short, this is a powerful, capable synth that has
a place in almost any genre of music, and with a distinctive character
that sets it apart from other synths on the market. There's only one
criticism really; in this day and age, it's hard to overlook the fact
that it is four-voice polyphonic, a spec last seen on keyboards in the
days before Dave Smith had even designed the Prophet 5. There's no way
to increase this polyphony with, say, voice expansion cards, although
you can daisy-chain multiple Poly Evolvers to achieve this.
Whether this is an issue for you is up to you to
decide. Personally, I found it to be a restriction, limiting even the
use of an octave bass and a simple triad (a total of five notes) for
pads and the like, and more ambitious endeavours are out of the question
without note stealing becoming obvious. I would have loved eight voices
to play with, but I suppose this would have added yet more to this
product's already fairly substantial price.
But to whinge about polyphony is, to some extent, to
miss the overall point of the PEK, in much the same way that it is
churlish to complain that the Minimoog Voyager is monophonic. The PEK is
a well-built and classy-looking instrument which is equally at home in
the studio or on stage. The hands-on, knobby control panel makes
programming it much more manageable than the company's other Evolvers
but (thankfully) there is still that beguiling element of serendipity,
whereby a twist of a control can yield an unexpected result. If you like
hardware and you like keyboards, check out the PEK — it's a deep,
unique-sounding synth with vast sonic potential. I think you could
explore it for years to come and still not exhaust its store of
surprises.
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