NiftyKeyZ - Modular Case and Keyboard - Sonic LAB Review

[@lashtal]

congrats to CR8, for recognizing this is EXACTLY what we wanted. Way to read the total lack of availability in the market and fulfill it phenomenally.

[@ukiemexican]

“I’ve got an audio rate PWM” I was waiting for it. Nick never disappoints!

[@sub-jec-tiv]

This is great. Bravo. Again. Cre8 are really making eurorack fun for people. Bought 2 nifty cases and got the ears to mount them together at an angle, it’s gorgeous.

[@Cre8audio]

♥thank you!

[@Zinfidel1]

Wow. Nice job Cre8audio. Been wanting something like this for a while. My first case was almost the Waldorf keyboard case but I couldn't justify the $1k price VS hp space. Really impressed with the polyphony, arp, and utilities. Will probably replace the rails with sliding nuts. Would have loved more clock divisions but for the price it's fine.

why replacing the rails by nuts ? don't you think rails are way more convenient ?

[@Zinfidel1]

@ on 2nd glance, I don't see any rails, just a strip. But to answer, I've had problems with the rails in my 6U rackbrute: 1. On two occasions I've had to remove every module because the strip was crooked once I reached the end of the case which caused screws to catch on the metal part that holds the strip. 2. sometimes the thread can be stripped. Replacing a sliding nut is easy. 3. module width isn't always perfect and sometimes strips can leave HP gaps. In general, sliding nuts do not leave gaps. Once you figure out a method for sliding nuts, they're not hard to use. I've done professional assembly so it's second nature to me. With hand tightening screws there really is no excuse... Sliding nuts are just better.

[@user-sz2ce1pt2p]

Bought this as soon as I saw it, solves many problems and possibly allows me to take my Eurorack modules out and on stage.

[@anderswikholm957]

This one needs Klavis CalTrans. Calibrates 4 voices. You also get portamento, quantizing & transpose per voice.

[@PendelSteven]

It's the start of something I want. I remember we were here in the 70s - if you get what I mean - and then some bright blokes thought: "Hmm, can we save this patch?" I'm sure, if all makers of modules - or certainly the likes of Moog, Dave Smith, Pittsburgh, Cre8ate, Erica and such - would work together, we can even get modules with memory. That let you see where a patch cable should be placed to restore the memory. Still I can see the charm of modular and this sure is a nifty keyboard.

[@sonicstate]

True, but the nature of modular is flux and for the moment, you can always get that rcall with something like VCV Rack.

[@justinforlorn3679]

Great video, I got one and the east best and west pest because of your channel. God bless you and the videos you put on KZbin get up the great work

[@Cre8audio]

Zoning out to the super cool patches and excellent playing. Great all around as always! Thanks Nick!

[@derschlendrian2425]

I would be very happy about another episode featuring the Niftykeyz. I would find it very interesting to build a 4-voice synthesizer based on the Synthesizer-Voice-Moduls Behringer (Roland) 110 or Doepfer 111-6 modules. All additional modules should stay in the same range - Behringer 100 System or Doepfer.

[@Psychlist1972]

Nice overview and review, Nick. I have the KB37 and like it. This has a lot more to it. I've ordered one :)

[@Cre8audio]

♥thank you!

[@lloydstephens2135]

Build your own Moog Matriarch but pick your own modules. I ordered my NiftyKeys.

[@Cre8audio]

♥thank you!

[@JDStoneCreations]

I was looking at this as you were describing all of its features before saying the price, thinking "its going to be too expensive and adding the modular bits in will make it unaffordable to most"... And then hearing the £499 price I thought, Behringer made some modules that would fit in this that could result in a really affordable but modifiable analogue synth!

[@montecoucou53]

This might drag me back into Eurorack. Would love to see an accompanying simple 3u or 6u case (without the bells and whistles) that you can place behind the KeyZ.

[@sonicstate]

Yeah that would make sense. Whenever is 1 row enough?

[@johnsmodularjams2123]

@@sonicstate is any number of rows enough?

[@MichaelRohaly]

Good to see you doing the reviews again!

[@PaulBoos]

Nice quick review... As always you showed us the core features we needed to know and how to use them effectively.

[@heltutrolig7645]

This might be my way into modular. Seems VERY interesting in my workflow!

[@superdad942]

Opening riff was insanely rad....thank you again!! And yes I definitely want this!

[@ToyKeeper]

This is great as a way for modular fans to put together an all-in-one unit similar to a traditional synth. Or perhaps for a more traditional musician to try modular without diving completely into the deep end. The usual wisdom still applies though... it's generally best to avoid modular unless other solutions just aren't capable of doing what you need.

[@thesrabbit]

Really cool and a great option for someone just getting into modular. I’d definitely consider it if I didn’t already have the kit that accomplishes the same thing. In my case I use a Pro 2 with the CV.OCD box to get polyphonic or paraphonic modular. But that’s quite the spendy rig! Then again it includes a standalone synth, so there’s that. Imagine if this thing had a 4 track sequencer built in too. And an extra row on top. A deluxe version. That would be killer.

[@johnnymidnight2982]

That's my question. I see under the arpeggiator array that there is a "sequencer" mode, but no reviews have addressed it.

[@thesrabbit]

@@johnnymidnight2982 I think it’s probably very basic.

[@tobiasdomes2731]

The Klavis Caltrans should work great to sync the tracking curves of the individual oscillators

[@sammadden5540]

Get this case and a couple of quad doepfer modules and you'll end up with a pretty unique 4 voice analogue synth

[@jungstrauma4]

yeeeeeess! so cool to know this available "again". so good!:):):)

[@DavidDeLuge]

Now that looks a great way to get into modular.

[@SebastienLeger]

can it does Duophonic/Paraphonic like the Odissey or the Moog Sub37 ? Press one note, both VCO are playing in unisson, press two notes, VCO's split and «steal» the voice when a note i pressed again.

[@hoagy_ytfc]

I'm trying to work out what the opening tune is, it reminds me of Chvrches but I can't think of which track.

[@CinematicLaboratory]

Just wondering if you could patch the midi out into a midi compatible module like e.g. the Knobula Cinematic or a BitBox. That would be cool!

[@gamma_noize]

This case is indeed pretty nifty. 😁

[@uhoh007]

nice review :)

[@peterpeper4837]

Did he mention the keybed? I missed it. How is it good, usable , bad?

[@straticah2865]

Is the Dave Smith Curtis filter characteristic for the oberheim synths? I am looking to build a Eurorack OB character with this case!

[@klstay]

Nice overview as always. It might have been nice to also have a few minutes on possible alternative "entry point" approaches. If form factor/nostalgia are a driving factor (not to be underestimated in such decisions IMHO) then this is compelling and I do quite like it to be honest. However, something like a keystep pro + Doepfer 6UX84 (or Eurorack Go) is not much more compared to both upfront and ongoing module costs and there is more gas in that tank + better power. Still, it is pretty slick.

[@lenylecointre3304]

If you want to do almost the same thing than the niftykeys. After having a case+keystep what are the utility module to "map" the oscilo to mono or poly use ?

[@klstay]

@@lenylecointre3304 that is the beauty of the keystep pro; you have 4 onboard sets of pitch/gate/vel(AT) CV outs or one of the 4 sets can be assigned to the 8 trig CV outs. More capable sequencing & arps as well. The annoyance is no note priority setting for poly out if say you did an E370/Quadigy/4xVCA and pair of dual filters for full polyphony.

[@lenylecointre3304]

@@klstay Ok thx for info. But if you dont have a keystep pro, lets say a regular keystep. What is the module to organise Midi (note priority, CV/gate attribution...) for poly, and send it to the different oscillo/enveloppe/VCA/Filter...?

[@klstay]

@@lenylecointre3304 that I do not know since my polyphonic setup before I decided to vastly downsize modular in my setup was built around CV connections from KSPro. I will state from experience doing fully articulated polyphonic in modular is NOT ideal - I question even paraphonic though if your rig supports that incidentally that is great.

[@spaceman103]

11:22 Sounds nice? Sounds fantastic!

[@heymynameisharry]

bang on nick

[@NicolasMelis]

very interesting! what are the differences between this and the Waldorf kb37?

[@cresshead]

Waldorf kb37 is second hand/ebay/reverb only now.

[@synthanatomy]

the Cre8audio has 4 voices of polyphony, arp/sequencer, 2 buffered multiples, 112HP (more space)...

[@NicolasMelis]

@@synthanatomy thanks 🙏 😊

[@Chevytravelleruk]

it also has an extra keyboard octave

[@spaceman103]

and €300

[@cecilkeebler4254]

What does the velocity and AT voltage outputs mean when playing polyphonically?

[@cate8096]

Looks good value- their Nifty Case is really nice too.

[@Formal-DeHyde]

112 = 7x Roland System 500 or Behr 100 modules. That’d make for a nice uniform synth

[@ehtcom]

or 37 Erica Synths Pico modules ;)

[@cresshead]

nice one!

[@robertsyrett1992]

seems to be made for multiple plaits

[@Cre8audio]

That would be fun. We'd love to try that!

[@JohnTrasher]

Sold.

[@synthanatomy]

great video as usual Nick :)

[@sonicstate]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@LarsBjerregaard]

Interesting.....

[@eddy_sonik]

👍I LOVE ! 💙⚪❤

[@ScoopexUs]

Fart sound achieved, mandatory thumb!

[@tragicbeatzs8183]

So this comes with all the moduels right? I wanna buy it but I don't wanna have to buy all the pieces separately lol. This looks amazing. I hope this is how it comes😩😩

[@sonicstate]

No it doesn't. Just a case

[@tragicbeatzs8183]

@@sonicstate if u had to guess, how much would that specific setup cost?

[@Gmartin4049]

curious about fulsome clouds? custom faceplate or firmware? cool case

[@sonicstate]

Custom faceplate for the 500th Sonic TALK podcast :-)

[@HatredPrime]

4 octaves wtf? 6 would be Good and this would give more space for modules

[@BigPlasticPlant]

Only 6!? Why not 12? More space for modules...

[@repasiv]

too expensive for a midi keyboard with a slightly larger housing

[@virallode]

CV to MIDI/USB, Line level outputs, clock, buffered mults, a pretty big eurorack case - that's going to add up to way more than the list for this

[@sonicstate]

Not really a comparison with a regular MIDI controller. The Waldorf was close to $1000 and had quite a lot less feature wise. You do seem to get a lot of bang for the buck on this I would say

[@Chevytravelleruk]

Nope.. it's actually very well priced considering all the features.. You would do well to actually understand the functionality before jumping to such limited conclusions

[@thesrabbit]

It’s a great value with a lot of utility. Getting all this functionality in multiple pieces would be more expensive and of course a lot clunkier and less convenient. I wish it had a multitrack sequencer though.

[@repasiv]

@@sonicstate I'd like to argue on that. From a technical point of view it kind of is a midi controller. This is an empty case with a power supply and a midi keyboard. Compare it to lets say the keystep pro. Got a bunch of outputs, a quiet smart sequencer, encoders whatever, it is way smarter than the nifty keyz, just lacks the rail to screw in the eurorack modules. And the keystep pro costs only 400, not 600. These "features" are marketing selling points which cost next to nothing to realize. I am looking forward to Behringers take on this as they offer a lot of eurorack mountable gear already.