NAMM 2023 - (SOUNDS ONLY) NINA from Melbourne Instruments

Melbourne Instruments showcased their synthesizer, the 12-voice Nina, at NAMM 2023. and Jim Heywood of Earmonkey Music gave us a delightful exploration of its capabilities.
Nina offers a combination of analogue and digital synthesis, with wave morphing, a four-pole transistor ladder VCF with modulatable resonance, a voice-level filter overdrive and digital wavetable oscillators. Nina's most defining feature, however, are its motorized controls, which are pretty unique. Melbourne Instruments tell us that Nina's encoders are long-lasting and offer the precise feel of analogue pots. The recallable and automatable controls, patch morphing, and powerful mod matrix make Nina an exciting prospect for musicians looking to explore its sonic possibilities.
Nina Price: 3,599 USD
melbourneinstr...
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[@oldman1944]

Best sounding new thing I've heard in ages.

[@peterking3131]

Wow this is how the synth should function and sound in 2023. Kudos to fine engineers from Melbourne. The sound is strong, massive and very variable. Probably the best synth in addition to 3rdWave.

[@dancarter5595]

Regardless of the absolutely groundbreaking controller, this synth sounds great! Shame I can't afford it right now

[@XanderEwald]

A great sounding subtractive polysynth! Classic tone paired with innovative features.

[@skippyfast5115]

read my comment above as i played it last FRIDAY you will need to strap in!

[@Pulse2AM]

That's awesome the motorized controls. My first synth was a Pro 1, the original, I knew nothing about synths so I put little colored dots next to all the knobs when I dialed in a sound I liked. Let's the yellow dots was that bass sound right?

[@_c_y_p_3]

its huge on my studio monitors! I love the depth of the voices! It sounds like something fun to build sounds on with so many voices 💙💙💙💙💙

[@Donetur]

Premium sounding synth with innovation and good possibilities.

[@asynchronicity]

Beautiful both visually and aurally

[@Geepstar]

Very interesting device. I am only curious how long the motorised knobs will last. It looks very solid and sounds really nice!

[@GizzyDillespee]

I asked a man who claimed to be from the future. He said the heaviest used synths will start having errors in 12 years, but by that time, everyone will have either moved on from it or bought a 2nd one as backup for their live production. I can't vouch for my source, though...

[@skippyfast5115]

they are great and Magnetic and high quality it is Nina so handle her with care like a fine woman wants her knobs...OOOO

[@peterking3131]

These knobs are very sturdy and will last forever. Not bad idea to have few spares, though.

[@timdanyo898]

This has go my attention. It seems so accessible and fun. It sounds freakin incredible.

[@patrickfitzgerald2861]

That is one fabulous beep-booping machine! 🥰

[@Garflips]

It's a beautiful synthesizer - I mean the concept and execution, the sounds. I applaud the innovation and if I had the money - and fewer synthesizers already.🙄 I think the orange is a bit much for every button and I'd put the LCD screen front and center. I'd have to also research to see how easy it is to set up mods and to recognize them in new patches - that's one thing you can't motorize. Also external CC routing on a per patch basis, which is very important for me. But man, back to the sounds and the morphing - it's sweet!

[@xfghffhfg]

if you mean modulations, it does just that, the source are the bottom buttons, the destination are the encoders, the motors show the depth.

[@Garflips]

@@xfghffhfg are you saying that the motorized encoders will rotate according to the modulation? For example, if an LFO is applied to cut off the cut off knob will rotate in real time with the modulation?

[@xfghffhfg]

@@Garflips no, not yet anyway, but in "modulation mode" all encoders are centered (if there is no modulation) you press one of the bottom buttons (that represent the sources) and whatever you turn will be it's depth -/+, so it's easy to see the depth of each modulation thanks to the motorized encoders

[@DoctorRevers]

Oh yes. That is nice. Hello Nina

[@GizzyDillespee]

That siren a couple seconds after 7:45 is the 💣

[@GizzyDillespee]

Whoa this thing seems to have Area 51 harmonics all over it. I like that, but it's 👽too. If I had the space and $$$, I'd want this flavor available for unsettling vibes whenever that was called for. It wouldn't be a Juno replacement, that's for sure. IMO, obviously. It just naturally has the UFO harmonics, or something. Cool synth, anyway. And that's aside from the round flying faders, which are cool. Industrial drone motors, or something?

[@dankeplace]

Awesome synth by an awesome company!!!!

[@Mercy_Pants]

If they make a keyboard version, I’d buy right away

[@Dogboy73]

I want one. I can't afford it. But I want it!! :D Serious GAS for this beauty.

[@manny_f]

That bass at 11:00 is lush

[@thomasyon4332]

What a great player, still !!!

[@jjrusy7438]

Seriously nice sounding.

[@JustHackingAround]

Moog's recent ridiculous price hikes make this thing seem "affordable". Sounds incredible

[@SIINZRMVZIIK]

|Holy Moly/- ɪs ᴛʜɪs ᴀ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍ_ ᴡᴏᴡ/! 😈😇

[@teddym2808]

Yep, sounds about on the same level as the deepmind 12 to me, so it's $4300 more just for motorized knobs. Glad I saw this demo. It sounds nice, but I expect breathtaking for 5.5K. I mean the motor synth is 2K less and THAT sounds "special". Motorized knobs are not worth a 4300 dollar penalty.

[@NickHchaos]

Too much reverb.

[@odmusicman]

I'm all for knobs and buttons, but I get all these sounds and more out of the box on my VST's like Oberhausen and Reveal Spire. Maybe better. Oberhausen was free with my Focusrite 18i20 purchase and I got Reveal Spire on sale for $99. I use my M audio, RD88 or FA06 as the controllers. It no longer makes sense to spend in the stratosphere for synths like these let alone when you only get a measly 12 voices and no keyboard. On Oberhausen I get up to 32 voices and a rich sound engine and Reveal Spire is limited only by my CPU which is i9. It was a much better investment to upgrade my computer system rather than buy physical synths and I am in a way sad to say that. If I do get another synth, when my FA06 dies, it will likely be the Colbat, or Deepmind ....I think. I doubt there will be a synth revolution in sound or capabilities (maybe Osmose) by the time I'm in the market again.

[@gautrstafr]

I think the magic is in the hardware UI, plus it does sound good. It's been several years where all you need is VSTs and ITB plugins to make amazingly good productions. Hell even an opensource and free plugin like Surge XT is now a days more powerful than any hardware synth.

[@SWATTECHNOLOGIES]

@@gautrstafr Yes, I have a PAD I made on Surge that I have yet to see one of my Paid VST match in color and depth.

[@xfghffhfg]

@ODMUSICMAN sounds like you try to persuade yourself, hard...

[@SWATTECHNOLOGIES]

@@xfghffhfg Yes and it usually works out

[@xfghffhfg]

@@SWATTECHNOLOGIES great :)

[@teddym2808]

way too expensive, it costs more than a decent second hand car. There's got to be sanity thresholds for stuff like this.