POLYEND SYNTH REVIEW // an innovative multi-engine synth that needs more firmware love

[@BoBeats]

If you enjoy my synth videos support them over at www.patreon.com/bobeats Check Polyend Synth in stores here EU: thmn.to/thoprod/603957?offid=1&affid=623 US: sweetwater.sjv.io/7amgPr US: link.perfectcircuit.com/t/v1/S0BERUlFSUBFR0VHSEdATEpITA?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.perfectcircuit.com%2Fpolyend-synth.html I also personally quite like the the Polyend Play+ (but it has a pretty unique workflow so check my original Play review first) Check it in stores here: EU: thmn.to/thoprod/577955?offid=1&affid=623 US: sweetwater.sjv.io/qzndMj US: link.perfectcircuit.com/t/v1/S0BERUlFSUBFR0VHSEdATEpITA?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.perfectcircuit.com%2Fpolyend-play-plus.html

[@mklschwrtz2]

I really haven't got a clue about how to play a piano, keyboard or anything of the sorts. But this... This looks really interesting and FUN! This machine along with something I can lay down some drums on could keep me occupied for hours!

[@marceldesmith9958]

Firmware complaints aside, it sounds gorgeous. I’m often critical of digital synths just sounding like something I could easily do in the box but sounds like there’s some really special sauce and workflow opportunities with this

[@GeorgeL909]

While it doesn't have terribly impressive specs, I'm not gonna lie, the three synth split on the pads where you can bounce between different patches looks incredibly fun to play and perform with. I give it a *neat* rating.

[@BoBeats]

This is definitely a cool concept! And with some more work I think it could truly shine

[@maxmartinez6430]

If you like this the OXI ONE sequencer has a function kind of like this called matricial mode but with up to 4 synths. 4 mono synths or modular oscillators

[@eweystewy]

If you wanted could you use the split to control external devices like say 3 tracks of a Digitone?

[@RikMaxSpeed]

Audio developer here: changing filter type without getting a pop is really difficult, unless you've got lots of CPU and can afford to run both filters in a parallel and mix between them. Filters have internal state and it may not be smoothly re-usable in different models. A difficult alternative would be to have a single filter model that can emulate all these different types, but that's also likely to be CPU-heavy.

[@BoBeats]

Good to know! I notice that on Korg synths or Elektron gear there are almost no clicks and pops that bad.

[@RikMaxSpeed]

KORG are using ARM chips, plus have decades of development experience. (Elektron I don’t know.)

[@Jason75913]

​@@RikMaxSpeed Elektron Digitakt 1 is confirmed to run on the equivalent of a Pentium2 CPU, I wouldn't be surprised if their other products are similar. My Juno-DS61runs on what is basically a quad-core i486.

[@RikMaxSpeed]

@@Jason75913 That's fun to know. I've never seen any information on what CPUs Roland are using in particular. All of this highlights how much all these synths are mostly about software!

[@Jason75913]

@@RikMaxSpeed the newer Zen-Core gear runs on modern ARM chip sets, so not quite so weak

[@cresshead]

really cool video - i most appreciate the 'user experience' portion of the product review here. very helpful.

[@milk_bath]

Same, this is what matters the most to me.

[@BoBeats]

Thanks!!

[@0xphk]

I'm waiting for mine, the interface looks so nice, I really hope we'll get the same visual editor for the synth patches on the Play+ some time later

[@ambitsmusic]

Excellent review Bo and your feedback improvements are spot on!

[@Raku777]

Thanks for sharing. I was curious about this product, which seems very new. I was happy you took a good dive into what it does.

[@digitaldiezel5870]

I think many people will like this. Nice interface!

[@billyruss]

Really good demo, shows off the sounds really nicely, and your demo are very musical and sympathetic to the sounds you're using.

[@drmseq]

Thank you for the reveiw! It would be cool to sequence external synthesizers with that "follow" feature.

[@simonc8265]

Thankyou. just watched this after getting for Christmas. Thankyou Santa. It looks simple but as usual with the polyend stuff there are a few layers if you want them. I think that I chime with the company philosophy which feels like were gonna but idea generators that you can play with after working for 8 hours, coming home tired and actually make you feel creative. / there is no such thing as writers block. completely agree that the sequencing would benefit from development, also really hope that we get variation and pattern ability from the play to enable chaining. The effects do a good job of blending the 3 synths together. Nothing is as silky as roland /elektron for this, but when your brain wants to chill and practice preparing for that magnum opus this is a really good pickup.

[@BoBeats]

Merry Christmas!!

[@7177YT]

Very grounded take. Thank you!

[@EdoardoMarcora]

I am on the fence buying it because several videos mention the bad quality of the pads when it comes to trigger and velocity sensitivity in particular. How bad are they really? Are they really bad for easy playing like an instrument, which I thought is the point of this synth? I have seen videos and forum posts where they suggest turning off velocity sensitivity by setting the pads to max fixed velocity, which I find it absurd given the concept of this synth.

[@ruscular]

I think you nailed it on how Polyend could improve this. I would love to have a midi sequencer to control chord mode of all followers. But for now maybe a audio loop station unit addition is the way to go.

[@elarielo]

My kingdom for this kind of visualization options for my Polyend Play+

[@TimurBatyrshin]

Thanks for the review! This synth looks quite cool. I'm really interested in a few points, could you shed a bit of light on these? - Is there much menu diving while selecting the pages of params? I see there are 3 buttons for selecting synth and like 4 buttons to select pages of params. Is that all or there is some diving apart from that? - Are the synth engines tend to sound good only in sweet spots? How wide is the variety in them? The bad example here is Microfreak which sounds nice but you mostly dance only around a few sweet spots - Is it possible to record seq pattern live using something like "Record" button or you have to program the pattern in advance? Can you adjust the length of the seq pattern on the fly? My reference here is Circuit's sequencer -- you can record a pattern live and you can expand or shrink its length (or otherwise modify the pattern) on the go

[@BoBeats]

- Not alot of menu diving. The menus are often just 1 layer deep - Its much more capable than microfreak in terms of versatility of sound - not much in terms of real time control of the sequencer. Its more like a programmable arpeggiator, and not a track sequencer like the Circuits

[@mCKENIC]

Thanks Bo - very interesting synth! I agree that sequencing the chord mode is fairly vital imho.

[@BoBeats]

Thanks! Glad I am not the only one that see it 😆

[@TheArtistisIrrelevant]

+1 on that. I was getting super excited from other videos because I assumed I would be able to sequence the chords with an external sequencer, so I'm glad I saw your video. Seems like a hugely missed opportunity, I really hope they will at least add the possibility of controlling it externally.

[@treschlet]

Yes! I want more synths and sequencers to allow sequencing transpositions! So few even have multi-track transpose. Basically just this and the keystep pro. But I really want to be able to set up chains for modifying MIDI stuff

[@natethebesttt]

Happy the Medusa pads are back. I really miss those. I am really not blown away by any of these sounds though and that’s a real shame. I wanted to love this thing badly

[@navidee]

This looks fun as hell to play with.

[@JimHast]

How about this one vs hydrasynth? What do you guys think?

[@Jason75913]

Bobeats makes a comment about that.

[@LachieMcg]

I hope they bring some of these new synths to the mini sometime. I can’t relate to the polyend hate. I have never regretted the Medusa or tracker mini. Maybe I was lucky or chose wisely..got the mini presale and love the tracker workflow

[@DerMofinator]

It sounds truly gorgeous, the lush on-board reverb and delay are pretty nive sounding considering the price. Does each synth in this receive midi through its own channel? I wonder if you can sequence all three synths through for example an Oxi One?

[@lucanos34]

This is a very pretty spunding synth

[@thomasyon4332]

Nice one, Bo. It's very interesting, soft, and versatil..

[@astrostasis6928]

You sure do know how to make a synth sound lovely

[@andyinderbyshire]

Not sure about this one. Different interface, but makes me think of the Roland SH 4d. Could be a bad gear candidate quite quickly?

[@larryvonloop]

SH4D is a keeper.

[@JawanBailey]

Yea, i love my SH4d, only thing is, I use a different sequencer only because of the rigidity of the on-board l. ​@larryvonloop

[@larryvonloop]

@@JawanBailey I do too :-) Make music friend.

[@Gainn]

it's ticking alllll the boxes

[@SonicVibe]

the SH-4d is almost perfect what ya mean !

[@edwingarden6878]

Thanks Bo! What about a band context please? Are you able to set root notes and is there some kind of logic to the keypad layout to play along with other instruments?

[@BoBeats]

Yes, root not, scale selection, and different kind of chord sets available

[@edwingarden6878]

@@BoBeats Thanks Bo

[@deastman2]

Something you didn’t mention is that unlike the Tracker and Play, this doesn’t have a USB audio interface. This is a real problem, because as it stands now there is no way to record the individual synths on separate audio channels while performing them together. I really hope that they’re working on an audio interface feature which simply isn’t ready to release yet, but if not, it seriously limits the applications for this instrument.

[@renevanderkraats224]

My synth GAS has already been taken care of (only saving for either the Oxi One or the Torso T-1 right now), but it looks like an interesting product. Nice clean design, I personally like the GUI (minimalistic and to the point), interesting concept overall. To me (over KZbin compression) it sounds nice too.

[@purposefulsound]

Nice and fun workflow and it sounds good. Curious if the voice limitations will get in the way. Nevertheless tempting.

[@AndyFirebladeMuza]

The GUI looks great but this has no place in my studio. I have a play which has the sole purpose as a sequencer and I love it. This may come in useful for those trips away with a battery pack though.

[@cookie13lu]

Sounds interesting for people not wanting to mess with Midi connections

[@natethebesttt]

Wait what

[@Jason75913]

Excellent vid, you've sold me on this synth, but I think I'll wait for when it is outdated and on clearance, lol Nice to have, but very unnecessary for me. Someone without a wavetable synth would benefit from this. 16:06 I think part of what sounds so nice to you (and me) is the decent reverb on the synth. Even their Trackers have a very pleasant reverb. Built-in effects are mediocre on 99.99% of hardware synths.

[@wendelynmusic]

I've had mine for a few days now. Plus - very intuitive and easy to figure out. the 3 synths are very nice and sound good. Minus - the software is buggy and it's driving me nuts. when I save a sequence and come back to it later, it doesn't work right and I end up having to delete it and redo. I hope this gets fixed quickly or I will probably send it back. The sequencer is lame and it's frustrating that I can't have the synths in follow mode unless one of them is in chord mode. I also wish that you there was a 2 synth grid. You can have one synth or 3 synths.

[@EdoardoMarcora]

How about the pad trigger and velocity sensitivity? Are they really bad for easy playing like an instrument, which I thought is the point of this synth?

[@wendelynmusic]

@@EdoardoMarcora the aftertouch works well. I liked the pads but mine stopped working and started making a humming sound so i sent it back yesterday. Hopefully i was just unlucky and got a bad unit. I haven't heard of others having that issue.

[@EdoardoMarcora]

@@wendelynmusic thanks for your reply. What about the trigger and velocity sensitivity? Did they have to be pushed hard to trigger? Are you getting a new unit or you are not getting a new one because of quality control issues like the one you experienced?

[@nerdslapper9361]

Looks fun enough. I am just not sure if I want to invest in a company like this, but still... Looks cool.

[@dannymolns3573]

What do you mean by company like this? What's wrong with the company?

[@funkingitup1805]

Not for me, but I applaud the creativity. I'm more the kind of guy that wants multiple synths in close proximity with as much knob per function as possible. I love my Tracker, and the Play looks like a very promising machine that I will eventually pick up.

[@Tripwelleverday]

What awesome synth went and played it at perfect circuit they had a crazy crazy sale if I wasn’t stuck on the perkons I mighta got it wish it sounded more analog wish they could do a collab with game changer do a plasma version of this like the Medusa to bad that think had all those problems it was awesome sounding

[@vertigev]

Damn, no battery. Polyend is killing it lately though!

[@BoBeats]

yeah a battery would have been fantastic!

[@milk_bath]

USB C power input. Can use a power bank.

[@connorsol]

​@@BoBeatshave been saying this since Polyend's original Tracker, they just don't care about putting a battery in anything or enabling anything for battery operation. The Polyend Paradox: "let's make quirky stuff that quirky people will want but half-ass everything we ever do but charge people as if we put 100% into what we do, and just keep doing that because we either hate ourselves, or our quirky-stuff-loving customers" Basically the "Teenage Engineering at home" (in the bad way)

[@scheelio]

@@milk_bath Not at all the same. You can power almost any device with the right power bank and adapter these days - that’s not the point. I want as few cables as possible connected to a device that’s begging to sit on my lap.

[@Rondoggy67]

If you use midi instead of one of the engines, do you get more polyphony?

[@BoBeats]

No

[@donaldpriola1807]

The limited polyphony is the dealbreaker. They had to bring it in at a good price point, but man, I'd pay $100 more for even 12 voices.

[@smd8790]

Love the ability to apregiate three chords simultaneously would love to see a follow up video how to connect this to a syntakt or ableton move love this video might order one for live performances thanks you

[@icemannbmw]

Can you change the root note all together? Every demo is playing with C as the the root note. I'd like to see if it can play something like an F# minor scale and chords.

[@BoBeats]

Yes you can change scale, root note, and even make custom chords

[@NoxBoxdy]

I get what you mean about direction of synths not going far and how did we get here from the days of EMU... How would this stack up against another newer option in same range like the Roland SH-4D? I feel the multi timbrality is a nice option here but a bit limited with 8 voices.

[@BoBeats]

Roland sh4d is a stronger groovebox and sounds overall a bit better…. But it is also way less fun to use. While it has a by roland standards good user interface the Polyend Synth is just much more interesting to play! So if you just want good synth sounds sh4d works well, if you want an innovative & fun instrument then Synth will be more for you. Thats my 2 cents

[@NoxBoxdy]

@BoBeats standalone it definitely seems more fun and intuitive to use for sure but I always seem to just use an external controller in the end. Too bad this polyend synth isn't battery powered. That would take it to that next level.

[@ihelsabot]

can we get a demo of MIDI functionality? i would love to see controlling three voices from a sequencer, and if its possible to play two voices on the synth and use the third grid section for an external synth.

[@BoBeats]

In my demos of the multitimbrality you see the syntakt sequence 3x different sounds on the Synth. You can ofc play it at the same time if you wish. As for using the third grid for an external synth… this I never tried but there is a midi out so I dont see why not.

[@actorjohanmatsfredkarlsson2293]

Cool finally PD making a comeback :-D

[@D3ROXX]

Great video as always ! I have a question divided in two, could it be used to transfer the sounds via usb on any daw, for ex LIve a bit like Move, and is it possible to use it as a surface control for any daw and parameter the knobs as midi controller, play the pads.... midi / usb midi ?

[@Marco-ek8wu]

I’m thinking the same. How would this work with my ableton live setup, 3 engines 🤔 Also could it work as a controller for Ableton, lets face it it looks like a mini push. Better than the move if it was mapped correctly.

[@stuartcarter7053]

Can the pads be set to whatever chords you want? And how many patches to save these can it have?

[@Tuvalu12]

I'm unsure... The synth engines, while each being morecapable for sure, quality-wise look and sound a bit like the Wavatable/Single Cycle and Granular engines on the OG tracker. On the tracker though, you can tweak many parameters over time, so that you could find and harvest nice or quirky sweetspots, even exaggerating them by adding step FXs etc. Don't know how well all that works without the dedicated tracker layout though.

[@alice_orcmommy]

how does it feel compared to the polyend side of Medusa??

[@brainbox9219]

That was a collab with Dreadbox and that synth is an entirely different beast compared to this beauty

[@Gainn]

Medusa is fantastic. This is a cash grab (yet again) before they release a + version.

[@BoBeats]

there is a little Medusa DNA in this product with the pads... But they work quite differently both in terms of feel and what you can technically do

[@alice_orcmommy]

@@brainbox9219 lmao yeah. I have a medusa, thats why I said "polyend side of"

[@GeorgeLocke]

FM with wavetables gets noisy very quickly even without feedback. It doesn't have to be all squirts and squawks if you have a light hand with the index, it's very playable. The trick is to use wavetables that aren't too rich, so, like, not "modern" dubstep wubs.

[@DankePlace]

Never buying anything Polyend ever again. Bought the SEQ and they abandoned it, then the promise of the Play with MIDI perf support which 6 months later has no where to be seen. My Hapax does what a sequencer should do and I love that Squarp listen to their customers.

[@BenBassist22]

Same here instant 👎on any Polyend video.

[@croolis]

Same here, sadly .. went from the Polyend Tracker to Dirtywave M8 - no comparison between the two!

[@jamesbond339]

They just announced midi performance for the play.

[@DankePlace]

@@jamesbond339 they announced this feature 11 months ago, that's how long I have been waiting, I bought one because of this announced feature.

[@DankePlace]

@@jamesbond339 no they did not.

[@cyberoverkill5844]

Wake me up when the Play/Synth tech in the Trackers.

[@milk_bath]

Hey Bo, I really appreciate you giving us the full story that includes the issues, UX snags, and feature wishes.

[@BoBeats]

Thanks for letting me know!

[@petrusbarbatusberolinensis2102]

Can you HOLD chords?

[@BoBeats]

Yes. Shift + press a pad

[@slickepinne]

Kommer du recensera Bastls 2 FX Wizard?

[@darrylthomas815]

I like the Polyends conceptually... but don't know which one to spring for.

[@Jason75913]

Tracker or Tracker+

[@falazarte]

Thanks for the review! Me want....

[@telumatramenti7250]

If these pads are anywhere as expressive as Push 3, and especially if that expressiveness can be sent over MIDI - I'm sold on it. Otherwise, not so much... It will just be another desktop synth to feed my GAS. I've steadily tried expressive instruments with polyphonic aftertouch and things like the ROLI Light Block, and I feel like it's really the future particularly when it comes to live performances. So I figure it's more than enough for me to just watch Bo have fun with it ))

[@IsoMacintosh]

Hopefully they will add MPE support if it isn't already there

[@alexiwiedemann]

Hope two things migrate from here to other polyend products. 1. The new synth engines to play+ and tracker+. 2. Does PERC here make sense? 3. Use the graphic possibilities of the screen to do samples editing in the play+ 😊

[@BoBeats]

Perc likely wont make sense on Synth as there is no sequencer to really use it.

[@alexiwiedemann]

@@BoBeats thanks. Interesting to see polyend synths sequenced by tracker+, play+. How do you compare it with torso S4?

[@connorsol]

My Tracker+ came with a sticker sheet for the PHZ synth so I assume at least that synth will come to at least that and Play+. probably once they're done gauging how many of their abused customers are willing to whale up to buy yet another buggy half-baked concoction from them so they don't have to hire more software devs

[@toslinked]

I will never buy another polyend product. I had two trackers, both of them gave up their data wheels, a play, which is still terribly bugged and a medusa, which is incredibly unstable.

[@romi2910001]

Agree they never helped me out fixing the issues with my buggy poleyend play . I finally gave up.. I just ordered and m8 2 🤪😄😎 crazy excited

[@milk_bath]

I’m looking for a Medusa, can you tell me more about the issues you had?

[@toslinked]

@@milk_bath the medusa is very unstable tuning wise. much worse than vintage analog synths. also, the analog oscillators don´t sound very good, the three digital oscillators are fine, as is the added rudimentary FM mode. it´s still a charming machine, very unique, it´s the only polyend instrument I kept. no fx though, and mono.

[@202xcic]

@@toslinked The analog side is the dreadbox side.

[@toslinked]

@@202xcic I know, that´s why I expected quality.

[@ToyKeeper]

It's kind of wild that Polyend, of all companies, made a synth without fancy sequencing built in. I'd expect them to lean into their brand identity and give it a full "Polyend workflow" for composing songs on the device.

Probs they just want you to use any other devices to sequence it? Basically a synth without a sequencer.

[@GlitchWolf]

I feel the opposite. I think it's great that Polyend can focus on something purely synth based. And I have a Play and Tracker if ever I want to give it some of that PE spice.

[@BoBeats]

i think its unlikely that it will ever become a full groovebox. They already have Play+ for that (some engines are the same, the basic ones). Instead I hope they just lean into the performance aspect of this synth but make it easier to use for us normies that cant play well :)

[@0xphk]

It probably already plays very nice along the Play+ or the Tracker+ giving their better getting Midi sequencing capabilities

[@Modrunnermusic]

Its great that this is a synth, as most people will be pairing this up with grooveboxes or other sequencers like oxi one, torso or their polyend tracker or play(+)

[@logemann74]

i suspect that i can midi control each of the timbres simultaneously right?

[@BoBeats]

yes. i show of the midi settings and me playing 3x synths at once. For CC I dont remember exactly whats available but there are things that can be CC controlled too

[@WrvrUgoThrUR]

Now they're talking!!! It sounds great! The whole "spreadsheet" music making thing was a big turn-off for me--someone who prefers to play-in the notes rather than program-in. The 8 note polyphony is questionable. But it sounds awesome and unique.

[@RobWilmotUK]

Definitely need to double the voice count. Global transpose? Would be great to have three sequences at once triggered and transposed on the fly. This video does sound better than others. It’s crying out for a sucker/side chain effect. Even if it’s faked one

[@thedarkestrainbow]

Great review as always. This isn’t a product I’d be interested in. For me part of the fun an about synths in all of the knobs, faders, patch cables, etc. They have personality, both as instruments and as objects. I know some people really like pad based interfaces but for me this feels really clinical and anonymous. A quick Look at this product, it could be mistaken for any number of music production tools. Where as a Matriarch is clearly a synth.

[@BoBeats]

Totally get what you mean. Thats sort of why I want them to develop their UI more to have a more clear identity… given that the formfactor and colors of the hw is focused at being functional rather than having personality

[@Kiethsimins1724]

Great review as always!

[@wren23_bass-synths]

Nice in-depth review!

[@matt_phistopheles]

Sounds interesting. But I will wait for the + version next year or so. At this point the normal version will be obsolete and almost worthless and the + version will be the one supported in the future.

[@Vorg66]

There will not be a + version as stated by Polyend.

[@ITATTRACTS]

Let it gooooooo

[@peterfuzz3887]

very nice beat at 5'22 !!!

[@JoeM1314]

Not a big fan of Polyends adhd product development/abandonment, or the mini jacks i/o, but this is a pretty damn unique synth that solves a lot of problems for the current live hardware player.

[@alice_orcmommy]

yeah. actually it IS weird that when sequencing in chord mode it doesnt still effect the other 2 synth grids 🤔

[@tronos]

My Polyend Play had problems with the MIDI connection, especially via USB, so I sold it again. Now I hear that Polyend Synth also has midi problems. It's a real shame, it's an interesting product. Better wait for Polyend Synth+. Polyend's pricing policy is also very questionable as Play+ got started. Better to wait and see.

[@NathanChisholm041]

I'd like to hear more techno house and less of this obsession with ambient sounds which seems every man and his dog is making.

[@Jason75913]

It's as if ambient music is what's in these days. But the Synth can do techno leads and basses, sure. Limbic Bits should churn out a demo of relevant custom sounds later. LFOStore may also do such later.

[@MatthewChristianMurray]

I bought this. Got it today. First thoughts: -I used an old charger and plugged it into an adapter which I then plugged into my laptop’s USB (the skinny kind) port. This caused an amount of noise that bordered at times on unbearable. I’m pretty sure it was this because the noise would change or stop altogether depending on how I moved the cord. I was using this method because I did not initially discover the wealth of adapters inside the box. I’m hoping using a fresh cord, and maybe a power strip, will clean up the sound. -The sounds themselves don’t strike me as anything super special, but I like the pads MUCH more than I had anticipated. I have some classical training - years and years of singing in various choirs; really good at reading music; took voice and piano lessons and music theory in high school. The approach of the Synth is…different. Very different. But play with it a bit and it becomes incredibly intuitive. When you are playing a chord on one engine, the notes of that chord will light up brighter for the other two engines. With some regular use, I could also pretty easily memorize which pads most often correspond to which notes, but it’s eminently playable even without that knowledge. -Having the colored lights and the tactile feedback from the pads makes this quite immersive. It’s also very pleasant to look at. The color scheme of blue-yellow-purple is fantastic. -As small as they are, the pads work very well. It seems that most of the presets I’ve played so far make limited use of the aftertouch, but it’s definitely responsive when it’s programmed in there. -The 8-voice polyphony, total, for three sounds seems minuscule. Making one or more of them arpeggiated can really make it seem like more though. -The CPU is major weaksauce. I think the terrible Windows Phone I used in 2016 probably had more processing power than this thing. -Related, a lot of times you’ll hear a glitchy noise when you change “scenes” (basically going from one preset group of sounds to another). It doesn’t last long but can be annoying, though I can see it perhaps becoming endearing down the road. -This is probably related to the crappy charger again, but some of the “scenes” would have electronic or static noises right AFTER switching to them, and they didn’t always go away. -I’ve not yet played the Synth with a MIDI controller, but I suspect that, with all three engines layered together, it can generate some truly massive basses when played in a more conventional manner. That said, I don’t know how the preset scenes are mapped in terms of layering vs. splitting. -The reverb and delay effects are both really good - I don’t usually use a synthesizer’s built-in effects in my recordings, but I could see using these. However, the “experimental” parameter almost immediately created harsh and unpleasant distortion. I only tried it on one scene, so perhaps it works better on others. -The layout when playing the pads is so left-field for someone used to playing keyboards. But I kind of like it. It feels like a next-generation, musical version of the old ‘80s toy Simon Says, with its own language that you learn by playing it. -I haven’t yet read the manual, but it is surprisingly large. And also it’s physical, which is rather nice when so many these days are online-only. -Overall, as Bo and others have alluded to, this strikes me as somewhat rushed and buggy, and there are certainly issues - particularly related to noise - that I hope can be fixed either through use of a better adapter or through a firmware update. However, it also feels to me like there’s a tremendous potential there; this could be the prototype for a new line of non-traditional synthesizers.

[@BoBeats]

Very fair and glad to see I was right about a more skilled player could enjoy the pads more! I think your conclusion says it well: there is something magical here. But its not finished.

[@MatthewChristianMurray]

@ - I doubt I’m more skilled at keys than you are. I struggle often. But the way the programmers have the pads laid out in presets is very intuitive.

[@jeffryarchambeau5441]

Polyend is the Microsoft of electronic music when it comes to naming their products: tracker, play, Synth like outlook, word, Excel

[@BoBeats]

This is how i feel about the UI and graphics! Functional but I want more charm!

[@milk_bath]

Good try, but how does Outlook equate to email and Excel equate to spreadsheet?

[@BigBadWolf..............]

Can you put each synth on its own midi channel.

[@BoBeats]

Yes! See last workflow section and early examples using it multitimbrally

[@BigBadWolf..............]

@BoBeats Thank you for the info. I was kind of skipping around trying to find it. I will try again a little bit later when I have a little more time.

[@scheelio]

Sigh, another Polyend product and another paid beta “release”.

[@rovenordiales]

It looks like the novation circuit tracks' big brother....

[@-processdrone-]

As you seemed to spend the whole video grumbling about stuff it's made me want to grumble. I want you to take responsibility for infecting me with a grumbly mood while you read this. Your expectations of a €500 synth are just outrageous! You complained about the polyphony of the physical modelling engine when the Korg Prophecy that pioneered it had to be monophonic because it's such a mathematically intense process . You complained about the granular modelling because you demonstrably have no idea how to operate it and end up using lonnnnng samples rather than "grains" of samples where the power (AND NAME) of the method is. You complained about FM being metallic sounding when it's been metallic sounding for 41 years. You grumbled your way through it like someone who has no idea of the demands each synth engine makes on a processor , like someone who does not accept established limitations of a synth engine type despite owning so many synths. Fortunately the sounds it produced during this video proved it to be very capable despite your attitude. It managed to demonstrate it was a good product to me here despite what YOU were saying. The D to A clearly lacks bottom end (which isn't exactly rare thanks to Philips ICs) apart from that there is little to grumble about at all at this price point. The synth managed to shine, please have a nice rest and remember how to enjoy things before you make your next video.

[@inputsandoutputs]

Did Polyend release a limited 3 track maximum synth and make people go crazy for it due to psychological UI ?

[@nyanko2077]

Somehow you had to show an elektron machine. I guess it was a pun to people who bought the digitone 2 for twice the price or something? :P

[@BoBeats]

Dont read too much into it. Elektron gear is just my go to

[@michaelwalsh6913]

Will you review the DN2 (I hope)?

[@BoBeats]

@@michaelwalsh6913 no not likely

[@The_artist_called_The_Engineer]

Looks pretty interesting albeit a bit rough around the edges…

[@BoBeats]

Yeah that sums it up well!

[@ITATTRACTS]

Chord mode not working via MIDI is ridiculous and still not addressed. You touch a single note on the grid while Synth is in chord mode and it plays a chord...Great! You play a single note on a MIDI keyboard or sequencer while the Synth is in chord mode, you get......a single note. To have a synth that relies solely on MIDI to be useful and to have it completely ignore that it's in chord mode when you are triggering notes externally FROM MIDI is mind boggling. Adding further insult to injury, if you are syncing it with their own Tracker or Tracker + (which only allows you to play mono notes per track), you'd need to use three tracks to play a chord. Asinine.

[@DominicJacksonFilm]

Anyone else think it doesn't sound that great?

[@ronborkent]

I think this is where a company like polyend loses the game. Compare it with a wavestate.... 60 voice polyphony at € 799.... in polyend terms that would come to €3500 euro, and that is with the most optimistic 8 voice polyphony. The tracker and play+ have the novelty factor going for it. At €499 .... this is not for me. Sold the original play awhile ago and didn't mis it.

[@samuelyang1140]

Synths aren't always about voice counts. But yeah, Polyend stuff isn't for me, mainly because of the UI/UX.

[@Antonio_Ortiz]

I'll give them credit for an improved UI and Synth Engines for this new product, but I too sold my Play + shortly after buying it. Deluge is where it's at.

[@relative_vie]

Can’t wait for the Polylend Play ++

[@DJSpecialSauce]

But does it Blade Runner?

[@Jason75913]

There's more than enough of that already out there.

[@brainbox9219]

Need

does anyone ever dislike gear the manufacturer sends them? seriously. i don't mean "pros & cons" bcuz that's a cop-out. post the links in your reply.

[@Gainn]

Wait for Synth+ when this bombs because of how underpowered it is. Or just buy an SH-4D for less and get more.

[@D3ROXX]

Almost the same price, I watched some videos, and reviews... But this not exactly the same type of fun to work with. They say that the sequencer isn't that great ... does it have mpe ?

[@Melodic623]

no more dust collectors please 😊

[@Poulet39]

Mini jack out and no cv in 2024 plz... 5 real connectors cost 5$... Right now we just have a bad toy for kids... and iam not talking about the ridiculous voice polyphony, a simple Blofed from 2007 can do 25 voices, 16 parts with a shitty cpu (explain to me...).

[@milk_bath]

Blofeld doesn’t have multiple synth engines. Also, Blofeld is known to be a bit buggy.

[@Poulet39]

@@milk_bath it has except granular…

[@milk_bath]

@@Poulet39 Oh cool, didn't know that.

[@squarelanguage]

Yeah Blofeld was buggy and not intuitive. It was a preset player like the Microkorg and DX7

[@D3ROXX]

I had a blofeld and it's crackling too much, the interface is a nightmare....

[@flamesintheattic]

Very generic sound. I don't know what people hearing but this is a miss.

[@BoBeats]

I think some things like the phase distortion synthesis are very cool as well as the wavetable synth. Not generic at all. And some things just sound what you'd expect from a 2 osc basic VA synth. Check the section with the synth engines and especially the phase distortion. Its a different vibe!

[@squarelanguage]

Sounds great to me. To each their own

[@D3ROXX]

it doesn't sound generic at all... you can have the Autechre's touch with it and more idm 90s trust me this is solid. what's generic ?

[@Jason75913]

This isn't generic.

[@BendApparatus]

Polyend is like the opposite of Synthstrom...

[@Gu1tar1st]

It’s ticking aallll the boxes…

[@vasilijkozacuk7072]

Bo i hope you got what you want. At the end it is your job. Have a good life. Unsubscribe.