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Average rating:
3.6 out of 5
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All of you fizmo haters can put your fizmo's up for sale and I'll buy them if i can. This stupid looking machine is one of the greatest instruments ever made. What it does is make music. Not add to music, but MAKES music. And it takes a little time and finessing, but once you find a magic sweet spot, it comes alive and will play complete songs by themselves. to get it to do this, you have to use all 4 layers, and use the arpeggiator. With the fizmo, less is definitely more and that's the secret. I've had 2 of these and wish i kept the second, and will buy another if i can ever get one. I put the 2 together and it was unbelievable. Another secret trick is that it has a line in. run anything thru it and it's crazy! The drums are limited in the actual wave samples, but can be massaged and tweeked to sound like a thousand kits. the effects are simple and raw, but again, it's all about coaxing the magic out. It will create rhythms and melodies by itself. It's almost cheating. the only other synth i know that will " come alive" is the matrix 6 by oberheim. that one plays itself also, but in a different way. the last thing i will say about the fizmo is that it also makes super killer lead synth sounds, that are magic and cut through anything. It would be great to see someone make a new version of it with only more layers and more rom samples or even if you could make samples, then it would be even more sick than it is, and it is already the sickest! if you don't have one, sorry, there are so few left after the power supply's killed so many......
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The Fizmo definitely is an acquired taste. It isn't the easiest one, it seems to have some power issues (not from personal experience, here it's been working flawlessly) the sounds can be outlandish, but i agree with vx-5's review. It isn't for the loopers, for the ones that rather like presets and huge roms. Nevertheless, Fizmo is a purple blue beast. The sounds and transwave synthesis is simply excellent for fat and original sounds which range from basses to atmospheric pads. Once you get the hang of the work flow, one will start to appreciate the possibilities. It really is a shame that the marketing for this one was flawed because of the impending takeover of ensoniq at that time, but in my eyes it still has become somewhat of a cult classic on its own merit. A 3,5 average is vastly underrated when it comes to the soundengine and reading the reviews i indeed suspect some people just not knowing how to make use of it, or making loopbased trance music and only want detuned saws... It's not a synth for beginners, but when you know what you do then i'm sure you can fit it to your needs. It will definitely suit any kind of electronic music, but the more original your music is, the more i think you'll appreciate this synth. The sound is digital but can warm up very nicely, which is a combination not so easy to find. The interface is for me pretty simple, but others seem to have some other opinion on it. ok, there's no big lcd screen but how many older synths do have one. i don't mind putting some effort into getting the sounds i want if it pays off. in short: vastly underrated, excellent sounds.
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So In my opinion the people who trash the fizmo are the people who make songs with Acid Loops and call them their own. I love a good groove synth but for my really whcked out and aggressive thick sounds it my fizmo all the way. Yes of course it has its drawbacks. Just like any synth does. I had my power supply fixed and havent had problems since. Ive been using one fizmo live for 9 years now and it stills works perfectly. Aside from a few broken keys and scratches. I use many other synths from Korg, Emu, etc... but my fizmo is my main synth and will remain so for many years. Thats why I bought a second just to keep in my studio. And if anyone has a rackmount let me know and I will happily take it off your hands.
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Fizmo is good synth, not easy to use, indeed. Maybe some people like only the preset machine, with "pappa-pronta" sounds. With this machine must know about programming. Not for all. I've a lot of gears: VCS3, Prophet5, OBXa, Korg Trident, Lambda; A/D, Polisix, Clavia NL 2, Roland D50, juno 60, Yamaha CS-50,SY77, YC-45D, A5000, Elka x705, Gem Challenger, Crumar T1/c, Logan Strings, Arp 2600, Akai x7000, Emulator II, Elektor Formant modular, Jen SX1000 and Gs3000, MicroWave I, Moog Sonic Six and others..... not last the Fizmo.
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It's a cool synth.. Positives: you can get cool sounds if you put some effort and go where the synth wants to go. you can get good ambient textures. the effects are top-notch (except the vocoder). the keyboard mechanism is nice. negatives: Definately not the easiest as far as knowing what knob will get the desired effect. having to use the computer to change some parts of the patch is bad. the "FIZMO" lettered knobs are obnoxious. (having 2 hp cutoff knobs is stupid).
the synth has lots of cool stuff packed into it, which makes up for the fact that it can feel frustratingly obtuse when trying to get it to respond quickly to something you want. maybe the former causes the latter...........
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