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Here is my impressions of the sunsyn which I have had just over 6 days :
First impressions : I have not had a "REAL" analog synth for a while , have kept my waldorf pulse for ever but all my vintage gear has slowly dissapeered to hungry collectors with too much money . It was a plesent suprise to hear real analog again with all its sonic muscle and electronic inperfections . The sounds on the sunsyn move ... literally . This is a good thing although children of the digital generations may think something is wrong at first , persevere ! Its got quite a noise floor on it also bit hey ! thats analog !
Sound Quality : Well its analog alright ! I make drum and bass and the bass on this thing is truly insane . Usually I will use atleast a parametric eq to reinforce the realy low bass under 50-60hz but the sunsyn is the first synth I have owned which has too much bass on a dry channel . Its truly spectacular . The Outputs are generally clear although there are the ocassional "artifact" especially a bit of noise from the cpu but its nothing to cry about . Envelopes are very fast and can be "clicky" if not set up right which is my pet synth hate ! Overall the sound of the sunsyn is powerfull and rich . Its not a moog or a jupiter , its quite different due to its modern heritage but its lets you know its in the same league as those classic analogs .
Build Quality : I should have had a accurate impression of the syn after using other jomox gear but somehow I expected something different . The casing is big and solid , the wood panels are cool but the knobs and buttons and the painted layout on the front panel seems a bit cheep at first glance . Then of coarse you start moving the knobs and you dont realy care from then on . When I recieved my unit the output jacks were slightly offset from their normal possition but a bit of pressure popped them back into the right place , probably a bump in transport . Apart from that my unit was perfect .
Implementation : Wow ! Ok now I start to see the whole "most powerful analog ever" thing . The mod matrix is excellent , much like my waldorf pulse but more complex . Im just starting to dig deep for some stranger sounds but overall its just what every synth needs . The midi implementation is great controller wise , all hardwired connections and functions have a controller assigned . The RCO's are awesome , i have not got into using them for modulation but some sounds VERY close to classic microwave/wave stuff is possible and it sounds great . The synth is layed out easy and the lcd menus are logical and easy to follow . The filters are great and the weird filter pole design thing is also great . This thing realy screams , so much I give it the title of most powerful filter I have owned . It can still be subtle but if you want to push it it will take all you have to give it and come back for more .
Problems : Well nothing in life is perfect . Multimode bug sucks , I can live with single patches , especially because unison is so tasty but we need a multimode , it is one of the major fundemental functions of the synth and I dont think it should have come out without it . The synth acts strange when connected to a complex sequencer like logic or cubase , it will quite often crash , that is continue to make sounds but not respond to any panel changes or midi changes . Notes often stick and I need to do a full reset on logic to stop it . All these midi problems seem only active when its on a highlighted track , if you select another track or no output its fairly well behaved . My syn has once (only) dropped its correct pitch majorly , retune fixed but I expect slow pitch drift not a sudden droooooooop . Occassionally my syn will produce a loudish burst of noise for about a second , it sounds like rf interference type noise not digital or anything or synth bassed and its about 20db above the normal noise floor so its noticable but not critical and its a bit rare . The o/s needs a chip replaced which sucks especially when the current o/s is lacking .
On any synth like this one thing I would love would be more of everything , more oscs , filters , envelopes . It would be great to be able to use bits from once voice in the others , like what is IMPLIED in the advertising that each voice can mod the other but so far it seams to me this is only implemented at the osc's for modulation not for filters or envs .
Overall : Yes , its great . Its a true classic analog synth with unique features and a modern design . Its built to a very high level and produces first class sounds . The o/s needs a bit of work , there are some major functions not working and the midi behaviour needs a major overhall but I still would not take it back and wait . Basically the sunsyn is a pure , descrite component , analog synth with modern control and advanced synth functions . What more do you need ?
6 days after getting it and producing analog bass insanity I have already been in trouble with the local council for noise violations which has never happened in 5 years of home studio production , sounds are that HUGE ! If thats not endorcement enough I dont know what is !
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