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I have been thinking about a new synth for many months, and after much deliberation, and saving of cash, I came to the realization that the Z1 is the board for me. I work in all styles of music, from country to R&B, to house to music theatre shit. The Z1 was the only one that affered the kind of versatility I needed for the gig while still feeding my desire for exploring the boundries of synthesis. I actually REALLY like the sound and playability of the acoustic stuff, and the analog stuff sounds like all the nice analog gear I either wanted or had to sell. It far surpasses the other VA synths, IMO both in terms of tone and flexibility, and most of the presets are great depending on what your bag is.
For a synthesizer, the action is quite good, and the board is not flimsy like an AN1X. When I play this board, I feel like I am at a real instrument, like a Rhodes or a Clavinet. This is not a feeling I get from a JV 2080, or most other PCM based machines. The acoustic sounds seem to have more weight to them that I don't usually feel on PCM stuff. (The EX-5) comes close. The Z1 covers all the territory that the other VAs do, as well as meeting the needs of people whose life is more than analog tone. I almost got the EX-5r, but there were some key issues that sold me on the Z1. The EX sounds great but is limited by what the processor can do, not to mention the SCSI problem. I'd rather have 6 way multitimbrality of physical modelling, than only one, on a synth that can't use it's 126 note polyphony, because the synth engine can't trigger the sounds fast enough! One of my budies runs a MIDI lab at a college here, and got rid of his EX, for a Z and he has been happy ever since.
If you have an integrated set up, the Z1 will fill many sonic needs, as it has in mine. I'd rather get it and a sampler and whatever else I need than a box that is trying to do everything but can only do it in limited anounts and in certain settings.
There are a few things I don't like about the Z, but these are what others have already said. The lack of more outputs, dynamic voice allocation, and maybe a more comprehensive manual. I would like to know exactly how some of the oscillators work, rather than saying things like "turning the waveshaping knob changes the shape of the wave to get sounds not capable on traditional analog synthesizers." Not a direct quote, but you get the idea. Generally it spells out the basics well, but I would like to know more.
Overall, if you know what your needs are and you're thinking about one, I would highly recommend it. I haven't seen a machine that has this balance of great sound, flexibility, ease of use (despite all the different synthesis methods, editing is a snap), and playability. I think it's a very well thought out machine, and you can do a lot with it. The new price ($1595 Cdn) puts it not far above the other VAs but what you get out of it more than makes up the difference. I might have gotten one of the last ones in Canada, so if you can find one somewhere, go for it.
The Z1 is the finest synthesizer I have ever owned.
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