My Favorite Synth Just got Even Better...

[@ywenp]

On the original Taiga, I use the echos set to very short times to get a stereo sound. The mix allows me control the width of the stereo image. Since we have the patchbay with half-normalled connections, I can record both the dynamics out and the main out, and treat them as if they were Left & Right or Mid & Sides signals. The Taiga really lends itself well to some "multi-point recording" and parallel processing, because the raw oscillators can be "copied out" of the signal chain (before mixing and filtering) and are still pretty exploitable by themselves. For a song I made, I recorded the main out (without using echos) as the Mid signal, and one of the oscillators as the Sides (and that oscillator's droning signal is then processed live further in software to re-apply a similar filter and envelope). This gives a very interesting stereo width from an otherwise totally mono instrument, width which can be controlled very finely (add more Sides during more intense moments of the song, that sort of things), and which is totally usable in a live environment (parallel processing = you don't need to record the same track twice, all happens at the same time).

[@caydilemma3309]

I didn't think I would care about this since I thought these were mini keys from the thumbnail, but full sized keys with a more ergonomic interface? Definitely has my attention now!

[@daydreammountain]

Really enjoyed this one! The Taiga is definitely on my list, the wave folding sounds so awesome. Allso, it's nice to see a synth review by someone who can play ✨

[@VacancyOfDisco]

I like that the control surface is ACTUALLY bigger not just the module stuffed in a keyboard case

[@1980VINZ]

YESSSSS…….. This is soooo important…. And to me it changes everything!!! I fucking hate eurorack cause I have XL hands and love using them a lot, so tiny buttons and wires everywhere are a big NOPE to me, but if you bring back their “normal” size as they should be at first… now we can FULLY USE our sense touch to create and play the synth… JORB showed that so well btw !! He was using/touching/rotating/pushing the buttons and knobs in a very specific and different way depending what he was playing…… SIZE MATTER LOL

[@daveogarf]

I like the ability to add whatever modules you see fit to the mix!

[@imjensen]

I just picked this up, it's insane. Great video, cool to hear the sounds people are getting out of this thing.

[@TwinCitiesOxygen]

How’s build quality? Still enjoying?

[@michaelkonomos]

Man that opening piece was a pleasant shock.

[@IamMonvi]

Imagine tossing Maths into that side panel, and the sound design options that would open.......

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Ohh, looks lovely, that size is so tempting :) Great video!

[@GeorgeL909]

That intro was heavy and industrial and I'm all about it Joooorb 😊

[@MrQmason]

You opened the video up like a BOSS !! Thanks for showing this synth.... it's now on my list.

[@thedarkestrainbow]

This is an interesting proposition. Obviously in square (waveform pun intended) competition with the Grandmother/Matriarch. Compared to that it would be a tough choice. On the one hand the Matriarch offers an extra oscillator, true 4 note paraphony, extra octave, that delicious stereo filter, a profoundly better delay, sequencer, more patch points, and modules that are more hackable. The Taiga has such a unique flavor and personality. More flexible oscillator section, 3x wave folders, more impactful gain staging options, sample and hold, clock divider, LPG, and of course that thoughtful space for customized expansion. There’s a $600 price difference between them. Unfortunately they both use wall warts which for flagship synths and the prices that go along with them I feel is sub par. The Taiga reminds me a lot of the Dominion 1, which I own and love. Personally I think the Taiga and Moog are different enough to justify both if you have the cash. The Taiga is perhaps the more interesting proposition due to its unique approach blending east and west. But the Matriarch is certainly no slouch, sounds fantastic, and debatably has more inherent synthesis possibilities due to the expanded patch availability. Personally I appreciate the extra octave, sequencer, and delay on the Matriarch, though the feature set on the Taiga is more exciting. I would have loved to see those features on the Taiga. And, while I love the playful design philosophy, especially the bright colors, I don’t like how some elements of the Taiga design were executed. Mainly the grassy strands and script. I feel like there could have been a more beautiful way to introduce nature into the panel. Of course a third option is the Taiga module with a Nifty Keyz which comes in just shy of $1400. After the Taiga is installed you have 52 HP left compared to the 24 of the Taiga keys. The Taiga keys also only offers 3 power busses for modules where you will certainly have more available to you on the Nifty setup. Add to that an extra octave of keys, and all of the included onboard controls and patch points and you’re more in Matriarch territory for around the same price as the Taiga keys. Plus you get the added ability to take the Taiga out and create something new. However the Taiga keys is a beautiful, complete package, that is cohesive from every angle and you will have more space on the panel for fingers. All that being said I was gagged to see this show up in my feed. So glad they have moved into the keyboard space and this is a stunning first offering. I hope we see a poly some day. As always great review and you are the cutest. 😘

[@mikebrady4350]

Excellent run through, man! I have one on the way. Appreciate the concise explanations and emphasis on philosophy vs. techtalk! Can't wait until mine gets here ✌🏼

[@autnagragm2550]

As a tracker composer who has no physical space, I am glad they made the keyless verson first. I am also so happy for the actual keyboard players who can buy this one too.

[@JorbLovesGear]

C H O I C E S

[@deirellbyrd6770]

Damn dude! That opening patch is awesome!

[@JorbLovesGear]

🙏🙏 I wish I had done a breakdown, I filmed that in like January

[@PaulBoos]

That is no joke….

[@pat2rome]

Immediate "stank face" for that one haha, that had attitude

[@hattree]

That thing has phat sound. I love thick synth sound. Thanks Jorb!

[@ModularMemories]

sounds good jorb! I love that they have the extra module space.

[@sound.workshop]

I wish I were a keys player, that form factor is so fun. Someday I'll make all in one grid synths

[@JordanService]

Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude, damn that sounds nice. Great playing.

[@cesarsjogren]

This is clever, iike it! I just got a "regular" taiga last month so the patching ideas were still great. Thanks

[@iancain6647]

Looks really cool bro.

[@JorbLovesGear]

🫡🫡

[@BoBeats]

Lets go! That first jam hits hard

[@JorbLovesGear]

🙏🫡🫡

[@klstay]

This packaging makes a lot of sense. Some physical re-work of a niftykeyz plus a more friendly bigger layout and a "free" bonus LFO. I like this thing even more than the desktop unit, but it is the same price as a Hydrasynth and that is a bit of an ask no matter how dead sexy it is IMHO.

[@fentanyljones6956]

Fantastic design. I was already tempted by taiga, the keyboard version has me down bad. May end up with the module on price alone but fuck this thing is tempting

[@sidpackard8613]

Sick opening patch, Jorb! Love it!

[@JorbLovesGear]

🙏🙏

[@sidpackard8613]

Honestly, if I didn’t get a Take 5 last week I’d be ordering this guy.

[@KordTaylor]

That is one GNARLY sound. 😍

[@googlingthevoid]

Holy shit! Sold from the first patch gorgeous stuff man.

[@JorbLovesGear]

🙏🫡🫡

[@PaulBoos]

Taiga was already on my list and the keyboard version has replaced what I want. It will complement my other gear really well. I even have a decent handle of what will go in that expansion patch bay. It ticks even more boxes for me… like you, I like playing via keys…

[@nagchumpalot]

That’s a lovely little package of a synth!

[@AaronFoltz]

very distinct timbre. deep mid range? can't put my finger on it. nice to see PM doing great stuff.

[@lordundhimself1310]

I knew you were gonna like this thing. Thank you for exploring the eurorack expansion space.

[@dk101likeu]

Trent Reznor called...he wants his synth back....nice work man!

[@kvmoore1]

Wow, this synth is seriously flexible and sounds good too! I also like the way it looks.

[@gregbeaudry]

Pleeeeeease make a single of the “pretending to be a groove box” section!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@awpMusic1]

I have the original - very tempted to get this I think it sounds even better - probably due to the stereo.

[@yethiel]

Great video! I really like the Taiga. I own the desktop version and use it in a rack with a touch keyboard and some other modules. There are some things that could definitely be improved and it's mainly design related. Previous Pittsburgh synths made it much easier to identify which jacks belong to which module just by the prints on the panel. I used colored nuts on my Taiga to make this a lot more obvious and it's much more fun to patch now. Another thing I wish the desktop module had are fine tune knobs. It's so hard to tune. The knob spacing also looks a lot better on the keyboard version. I'm also not a big fan of the delay. A reverb or stereo delay would have made much more sense.

[@Myexpectationsarerealistic]

This thing with a NerdSeq just seems like the Bee’s Knees.

[@stopmikeandjim3196]

I'll pile on with everybody else and say that first patch is amazing

[@JorbLovesGear]

🙏🙏

[@mass-1128]

Cyberpunk vibes! Great video!

[@devinwells9399]

Jorb! Question on the OG taiga module…if I wanted to get a small euro rack bay for some effects to pair with it what would your recs be to fill a smaller unit? Also if I don’t intend to fully dive into euro rack maybe pedals make more sense?

[@JorbLovesGear]

I lowkey have a video about that, kzbin.info/www/bejne/jojQf5R7ptZgb5Isi=g13sXDt9OtYAhzgf Depends on what you want, but I think taiga + a better delay is an easy rec, past that it's all preference / goals

[@devinwells9399]

@@JorbLovesGear yeah honestly that video a few mins in sums it up well I don’t see myself going further into euro rack past semi modular…..so it seems like something like a chroma console multi effects pedal would be best value

[@robotjeans]

I'm looking at the Taiga, is this version worth the extra money if you already have a keyboard | controller?

[@Rollur1234]

Cool ❤❤❤ i am so excited about modular!! How about this would have a sequencer?

[@LarsBjerregaard]

Stroke of genius!

[@matthiasbode7625]

awesome engine thank you for putting up the video is very insightfull

[@paulmakl6282]

What is that oscilloscope you have in all your videos and do you have any oscilloscope recommendations?

[@JorbLovesGear]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZnJfnWMisRpqrM

[@smbusinessowner]

Never thought I'd regret buying my Taiga. If I had known this was coming, I would have waited

[@Septeemberpain]

What is the shared system module? (Maybe it’s just for show?) Great video thank you!

[@ezekielchentnik]

Sick. Would have been cool if the slot section was 1 or 2 larger with the bbd delay as a module and was removable

[@jonathanosborn4800]

interesting you got the Curtis filter module. Maybe it hs better then i'm thinking, but I tend to think it is a weak filter compared to plenty of other options, even from DSI themselves , though not yet in Euro-format. Do you really find it worth owning? I always figured DSI went with Curtis filters in the early 2000s because of the mass-deal they got for 100,000 of them or whatever they got.

[@nickdestruct]

welcome to the jungle Taiga taiga taiga keysss keysss.

[@Luap-ls3ix]

This is going to sound dumb but I want this version in a module 😂

[@AppearDispairDisappear-xi1gt]

In my list, hope to get it soon!!!❤❤

[@gunnarwaage4343]

I immediately was thinking i have to get this, but since i have the NiftyKeyz i think that pretty much covers it. Bút the size is definately highly desireable. I love my Taiga, the guys at Pittsburgh are ĵust really nailing it.

[@JorbLovesGear]

They really are, all bangers from them

[@gunnarwaage4343]

@@JorbLovesGear absolutely and they are just deadly serious, they have their own vision

[@NonsenseInBASIC]

Sounds awesome (although I think the smaller version and a Keystep pro would suit me better). The only thing I really dislike about this synth is the typography :) It makes my skin crawl.

[@FuZZbaLLbee]

Patch points at the top instead of the bottom 👍

[@jasonakagecko]

You started off strong with some really good thick Bass sounds. By the time you got to the end you let me with the another Behringer bag pipe sound maker. Not for that price.

[@spdycar13]

Ordered it. Canceled it. Now I want to order it again. lol Looks larger than I thought it was. Can you provide the dimensions please?

[@ManCalledMif]

Very interesting demo of oscillators and wave folding. Why didn’t bo show this?

[@csilt]

Some of those early sounds reminded me of the West Pest I had for awhile but then got rid of, (additive West Coast synthesis).

[@qwe1231]

Interesting and a lot of time and love was obviously put into it but surprising to me because for $1300 for a paraphonic it's pretty niche, and it's $400 more than the desktop unit. And it's a lot bigger, and the market for a Pittsburgh modular piece of kit would lean towards something keyless anyway. Probably awesome for that niche but still a curious product to spend r&d & marketing money on.

[@iswm]

my guess is they're going to be doing more synths like this in the future, and since they already had the taiga to build on it made sense for them to do R&D for the keybed stuff so they have everything for whatever comes next.

[@loveisafisheye]

From my perspective as a keyboard person, this is the first thing from PM I have even considered buying. I imagine there are more synth people like me, who are partial to instruments with keybeds and who just steer clear of modules and rack units. I think this was a smart move on the part of PM, because they have my attention, and with the expansion space, it would push me into buying my first modules to expand this synth. That said, the price point is pretty high for what it is.

[@jaredmaly5161]

"Fascinating" is the best sound adjective

[@Dolores5000]

Fun!!!

[@warisaracket8808]

Since you purchased this while already having the module version says you must really love the module version you’ve had to want to duplicate and expand upon it

[@jrodohio]

Paintbrush cameo ftw!

[@danolivier4899]

Is it well-built? I saw a lot of complaints about quality issues with the first version.

[@adognamedshinji]

What kind of quality issues? I had a go on the original in my local music shop, and it felt very well built

[@TheMachinesWon]

It’s called the taiga knees

[@awpMusic1]

Have you tried using it with midi - it plays back midi 3-4 octaves ABOVE what you send it - at least it does on mine! A few other random things happening too. A bit dissapointing. Not sure if I'm keeping it.

[@JorbLovesGear]

You can offset that, there's an octave shift for midi... It's somewhere in the manual!

[@awpMusic1]

@@JorbLovesGear only with the octave buttons at the side of the keyboard. Why would it act like that when the desktop module behaved 'normally'? Also the LEDs stay lit after power off as long as the USB is connected. That's weird.

[@manny_f]

This looks so versatile compared to a Grand mother or a Matriarch! And I love the fact that the patch points are all at the top.

[@jasonmcgary]

My first time seeing this.are u familiar with the mfb dominion1

[@JorbLovesGear]

I know it exists, but not much more

[@TwinCitiesOxygen]

How does the response knob work above the dynamics knob?

[@JorbLovesGear]

It's like a natural decay, I demonstrate that

[@TheAdamMalcolm]

How did they not call this the taiga king! 😂

[@sacheie1]

What do we think - is Pittsburgh the new Asheville? 😅

[@JorbLovesGear]

👀

[@florensheydwolff8790]

If you dig this, check out Ergot organic synthesizer from blue lantern

[@asmongoldsmouth9839]

*I like to have so many patch cords all over the place that it looks like a massive rat's nest. I like it when I can't use my dials or keys because there's no room from all the patch cords.*

[@l1fef0rm]

Nice 909ish Closer beat.

[@leftovernoise]

Oops I got jorbed again

[@SPINNINGMYWHEELS777]

fine tune is a NOD to the ARP 2600 good feature.

[@ktreier]

Did they make it easier to set short ADSR Attack times?

[@JorbLovesGear]

That's unchanged, I complain about it at some point. They're analog, one resistor for each pot could change the curves... Maybe I'll look into that

[@yaledelay]

Have they announced a price?

[@dodgedforgottenn]

Yeah, it’s not the greatest delay section, but it has its place and can be useful. It definitely does not compare to the Matriarch delay, which is the best delay I have heard in any synth.

[@proq06]

i would love it to have presets storage

[@coryflanigan]

Suit & Taiga

[@fentanyljones6956]

I personally love the sound of the delay, but everybody keeps demonstrating it on bass. Echo and bass really aren’t friends

[@lorez6063]

I had a dream that I owned an Oscilloscope...

[@NoirEater]

Put a maths in it

[@tryingtotryistrying]

BUT TORB THE TAIGA ALREADY CAME OUT

[@nkozi]

Looks like they... Built A Better Mono

[@JorbLovesGear]

😎YYEAAAHHHH

[@MrHihowryou]

Taiga keyboard vs Matriarch?

[@JorbLovesGear]

Very different, but Id get more use from the Taiga

[@Farold_Haltermeyer]

Argh, torn between this and revisiting the Matriarch

[@johnnyvandeclit259]

The original module is way too small and cramped and while I love the sound and possibilities, I would never use it because ergonomics. This changes the game. Might be the monosynth of the year with the eurorack expansion, the sound and the capabilities.

[@infertype]

Love the opening patch, but please try to manage your levels. The voice is way lower than the synth, so when you started showing off the oscillators it was way too loud.

[@JorbLovesGear]

Apologies, filmed over several sessions and had some inconsistency from different recordings.

[@markus6409]

Jorb is a joke. My favorite synth... What does that mean out of his mouth?

[@JorbLovesGear]

ONE OF my favorites lately. KZbin titles are a little hyperbolic, gotta get you in the door