Vintage Soul in a Modern Body // GS Music E7

[@Timecop1983]

Great video! I've been enjoying mine for a few years now. It's an amazing synth. Nice and warm analog sound with a great filter and chorus.

[@MikkelGrumBovin]

OMG - that sound at 15:44 😭 Who needs a Jupiter , when you can HAVE have this little Beast ! And ... if its good enough for Matt "Jamiroquai"Johnson .... its good enough for me ! 🤠👆

[@devinbelangermusic]

Stoked you are finally covering this! Been a fan for a while, great synth.

[@chrisschroeder4867]

Plugging Devin's e7 patches as a great collection of really useable sounds to tweak from. Cheers!

[@socal-synth-sei]

I was gonna say the same thing - this little jewel is so underrated and doesn't get the attention it deserves. It's just about my favorite synth. Certainly the one I can't stop messing with!

[@chrisschroeder4867]

Nice video! Glad to see the e7 continue to get attention. It's an absolute gem that sounds as good as everyone says and even better in person. It quickly took over the prime spot on my desktop and I haven't looked back since.

[@interstellarcastaway]

Excellent timing on this video...I'm getting ready to sell a bunch of stuff in order to purchase one of these. The sound is exactly the kind of stuff I adore...

[@larseikind666]

NOw THIS is a modern analog that I could see myself playing around with a lot. It sounds absolutely amazing! There are just so many modern analogs on the market now, and they're basically all the same (except name and price tag), but this little unit caught my full attention.

[@StarskyCarr]

I agree, it's got a real charm - and I have to say I thought it would be more expensive when I read the specs.

[@skrapadelix]

I bought one 2 years ago on a whim and it’s now in my favourite modern analog poly, narrowly beating the Prophet and OB6. The ability to layer sounds allows me to create patches that rival the Korg Trident in speaker-rattling moodiness

[@droid-9]

Thanks for the review, had mine two months and I love it. I'd been researching for a while and narrowed it down to the Murmux(dream poly but ultimately out of my price range) and p6 but after watching a few vids from Matt Johnson and Miles away I bit the bullet and was not disappointed. The sound this synth makes is warm rich unmistakable analog it really shines in retro soundscapes but can equally sound modern and current but takes a bit more to conjure up.All in all so glad I went with the e7 over the p6 the build quality is excellent the led screen is purfect for information and position haven't stopped grinning since I bought it.

[@emdotambient]

Lovely review! Very interesting synth.

[@lance134679]

Wow, excellent demo. I think it was smart of GS Music to keep sponsoring demos on KZbin. It should be more widely recognized as a valid choice for mid-priced analog polysynths.

[@StarskyCarr]

No-one paid me!

[@lance134679]

@@StarskyCarr Sorry, I shouldn't have assumed. I think GS has been doing some sponsorships recently.

[@StarskyCarr]

@@lance134679haha no worries, just thinking I’d missed a trick 😂

[@_c_y_p_3]

This thing is beautiful.

[@mauchkimberly]

Thanks for pointing this out. Love it!

[@SuperTinez1]

Way to go @gsmusic vamos argentina!!!!🎉🎉🎉 nice Synth!

[@AudioLomtik]

Great sounding synth, and top notch review! I think you did well when evaluating the chorus, sometimes it's better to drop back to a single OSC to evaluate that, because 2 oscillators in stereo + chorus is sometimes difficult to get sounding right. Part of the point of having chorus at all was to fatten a single signal source, which is why it worked so well on the Junos. Some synths like the OB-X8 have such naturally perfect cooperation between oscillators that chorus FX only take something away from it, unless the chorus can add value to the stereo effect. I think the Dimension D does that well.

[@neuronist]

gs e7 is definitely one of my fav synths!

[@pablowentscobar]

Gorgeous synth. It looks really well built and laid out nicely, and more importantly, sounds great. Looks like it's the only synth GS Music make. I can't wait to see what else they come up with. Anyways, Good stuff Starsky, top shelf.

[@StarskyCarr]

They have another one called the Bee6 coming out soon(ish) I saw a NAMM video from last year I think.

[@kierenmoore3236]

@@StarskyCarr *Bree6 👍🏼

[@pablowentscobar]

@@StarskyCarr Awesome, I can't wait to see it

[@jammastervu]

I don't know if this has been done before but the LED's fading out to represent the envelopes releasing is the coolest thing I've ever seen. Would be cool if the attack did it too.

[@StarskyCarr]

I've seen it on monos, but its hard on a Poly - which voice do you follow - but this has something similar on the voice indicator LEDs. If you watch them you can see the volume of each voice, which is essentially doing what you're saying.

[@NicolasMelis]

great sounding synth 👌

[@thirstyCactus]

5:54 kudos for programming that 909 pattern! When I first heard Bjork's Hunter;, I thought for sure it was DAW driving some 909 clone with parameter automation, etc.

[@michaelpierce3264]

yes it was. novation drumstation

[@thirstyCactus]

@@michaelpierce3264 Apparently, it was an actual 909 programmed by Mark Bell. There's a great beatbunny video about it.

[@StarskyCarr]

Yeah Mark Bell tweaked it live on a 909 as far as I know - but I've no idea where I read it - so could be totally wrong!

[@foundatsea3483]

That's a winner

[@dotsmusichicago]

I bought one last year. Fell in love!

[@lundsweden]

Ha, first thought is a new Behringer... then I though, nah, is too nicely made, and also not a clone, lol!

[@thiskingbusiness]

Thanks for doing this! I have watched a few videos on this already. I was hoping this video would convince me that I didn't want it but alas...your run down of features and coverage of the different ways it can sound has only confirmed that this might be the synth for me to pair with an OB-6. It's got a lovely filter, very moog-like. The synth has plenty of grunt too. The only thing that bothers me is the usual bass cut when the resonance is cranked.

[@r0tekz]

I have two of these beauties. Stacking and layering them creates incredible combos. Amazing on their own as well. If I had to nitpick, the lack of Poly-AT and the chorus quality is a bit disappointing. It would also be good to have MIDI overflow for poly-chaining, but not many people are going to have more than one.

[@waggon321]

Tasty MPE playing mate

[@StarskyCarr]

Cheers, … I didn’t practise it for hours.. honest 😂 it’s a shame the upload did something weird and cut off the end. .. it’s all there on Instagram

[@christdolphin69]

this is like an analog hydrasynth. why arent more people talking about this

[@cymonalex]

So, I’ve had my E-7 for around a year now… It’s a nightmare to understand the manual and I’ve written to them to try and find out how to save the patch memory over sysex? I’ve emailed Matt Johnson and he didn’t know either, so if you figure it out Starksy, can you let me know? Cheers

[@StarskyCarr]

Haha I’ve not tried, but will take a look as I might share some patches I’ve made.

[@cymonalex]

@@StarskyCarrTop bloke 🙏

[@dotsmusichicago]

I was trying to upload the Matt Johnson presets to the synth when I first got it, and It was a nightmare trying to do it with with my Macbook, but once I switched to my PC laptop and used the MIDIOX software with a ROLAND UM-ONE mk2. (actually, skip that, I ended up just using a regular usb midi cable, because the Roland was buggin' out) and It was smooth sailing. I don't know if that helps, but..

[@StarskyCarr]

@@dotsmusichicagothanks.. did you just play them in MIDIOX or did you have to set the synth up to receive …. And if so does it import from the current patch? Still looking for how to export.

[@jordanmarx6791]

Yes! I have some patches that I would love to export, but I've had no luck with the sysex stuff. A video tutorial from GS would be excellent.

[@the8bitdeity]

Had one for a while and love it. My only nitpick is the lack of multiout. Feels like the multitmbrality should have been limited to layering since the FX are global.

[@StarskyCarr]

Muti outs would be a big bonus, but I woudnt want to restrict it to layering only. Its amazing what you can do by limiting a track to a lead, bass and chords.. I tried with a Madonna track and Wham track and it was an eye opener - I may make more of them.

[@pwndude]

Like the "Hunter" 909 vibes you got going on in your demo.

[@StarskyCarr]

Not just vibes.. the beats a complete copy -as best I could make anyway ;)

[@calyx93]

NIce machine and nice demo. I have a question. Since the only inter-oscillator modulation is sync it seems rather limited to more exotic timbres. Now knowing that the LFO's can track the keyboard, just how fast can the LFOs go? Can they be used as extra audio oscillators? Depending on how high the frequency rates are, that would allow for trackable FM of the filter and open up a lot of other options for design. Thanks

[@StarskyCarr]

the LFOs got to around 100Hz, so audio rate, but not like cross mod. I have tried to do just what you say. You can get clangy metallic sounds, but not like something with a higher rate.

[@MDHeleniak]

Great tech explainer video Starsky. Thank you. Next up ... a solo sonic walk through? Or a sonic shootout with a Roland?

[@StarskyCarr]

I'll probably put it up quickly against a vintage roland or 2.

[@brandonSpivey-vx4eu]

Wow . Looks like this is going to sell well if its priced good.

[@StarskyCarr]

£1600 or thereabouts

[@christinepaluch7967]

It should be noted it is a ladder filter in terms of the filter type. Basically a Moog style filter. So the filter is more Moog than say Sequential/Oberheim. It's killer though. I have one. It sits right by my classics. Guido really nailed it out of the gate with his first polysynth.

[@thirstyCactus]

Sounds and looks great. The display is comically small, but perhaps that is the point - keep attention on the old-school panel controls.

[@jacquesmertens3369]

This is a revelation. Until now I thought Argentinians only made trouble. But they make synths too ! Thanks for your review.

[@GizzyDillespee]

Don't be daft... they also make the gypsy jazz guitar strings!

[@skrapadelix]

Please put it up against the Jupiter 4 if you get the time. I’d love to hear how the vintage verses modern VCOs compare! Thanks

[@yehonatanbendavid7179]

Nice timing.😂 had my eye on it for a while, beautiful rich vintage sounds, 4 part multi timbrality and MPE compatibility at a fair price packed in a very comfortable size for the real estate on your desk - vintage soul modern body is quite accurate title. Also heard the manufacturer says that tuning stays accurate for quite a while, which is very comfortable regarding analogue synths, don't remember the reason and haven't researched into it much, have you had it for enough time to find out if its true? if nothing special comes as a surprise at namm, there is a really good chance that i am going to get one. Great video and performance. It helped me with some new input.

[@StarskyCarr]

I've not really noticed it going out of tune after playing for a few hours, although I have hit autotune at times by accident! so I probably havent given it long enough to go wild. It doesnt feel like it would be a problem. Tuning takes about a second.

[@DERMARTINi]

that´s a freakin psycho acoustic instrument - hell jeaaah

[@djdksf1]

I sold mine as part of my evil plan to acquire a Moog Muse, but I'm pretty sure I'll get another one at some point. It's just so DIRTY and LUSH in all the right ways. A good software editor would really be a game changer, IMO. It's a little fatiguing to program.

[@irondragonrides]

Mine is for sale right now for the exact same reason, but struggling with second thoughts here. May also pick up another later.

[@ArtyPartyMusic]

Great video! I would like to ask you, if you have noticed that when synchronizing the two Sub oscillators, there is a kind of cancellation in some voices and not others? (They have to be in the same octave) Thanks.

[@StarskyCarr]

That'll be the oscillators being out of phase. They don't retrigger - which is typical of VCOs - and something people complain about with VSTs retriggering which looses that phaziness. Sometimes it's not wanted! I haven't noticed that exactly, but have noticed similar 'artefacts' if thats what you'd call them.

[@ArtyPartyMusic]

@@StarskyCarr Thanks for the reply! Yes, it seems that the Subs Osc are out of phase sometimes in some voices, but sometimes not. The curious thing is that VCO 1 & 2 work “properly” with Hard Sync Switch ON triggering all the time, in my case only the SUBs have this issue.

[@StarskyCarr]

I've just tried.. .you're right sq on the main OSC out doesn't do it but the subs do it on voice 1 and 7.. sounds like one is playing an octave higher

[@StarskyCarr]

Tuning the oscillators changes which ones phase.. I'm now trying to use it in a patch :)

[@StarskyCarr]

modulating pitch with the EG changes things.. and each voices gives a little blip. Sounds cool... haha.. weird. At least I got a patch from it... thanks :)

[@MadelnMachines]

I'd watch a JP4 & E7 video

[@BlackCar_music]

Does anyone know a synth repairer in the UK? Have a Beringher Monopoly that’s gone quackers. Customer support is a nightmare. Kind Regards

[@StarskyCarr]

I use Soundservice in Castleford near Leeds

[@BlackCar_music]

@ thanks dude

[@jeremyjigglebear8096]

I have one, and it’s sound is something special

[@StarskyCarr]

absolutely agre

[@e-conrecords4665]

Why can’t Behringer do this instead of direct copies.

[@brianlespoir6287]

Their stereo voicing works very well when listening back in mono, I dare to say the best I've heard so far.

[@StarskyCarr]

Well that's a first :)

[@cfs]

Had one for months and... really enjoy having it. It sounds lovely. I wouldn't recommend it as your only synth because it's just too limited, but it's a fantastic 2nd synth (or 3rd, etc.). The built-in effect are barely serviceable. It lacks an arpeggiator and sequencer. And it sorely lacks some more options for mapping the 3 LFOs. However, within what it can do, it's amazing. Also lacks a desktop editor, though it has a decent librarian to backup patches. FYI Starsky, the Mono voices isn't selecting how MANY voices in mono mode, but WHICH voice of the 7 you want to use. Mono is always just one voice, except unison, which is all 7. This is another small "miss" by the makers, as it seems it would've been easy to select the number of voices in mono mode.

[@StarskyCarr]

That’s what I explained with the mono… I only chose voice 1 as an example… not as I’m using a single voice. 😀 I explain that a single voice allows the tone to be replicated as per a monosynth as you dont get voicing variability. And yeah, choosing the number of voices for poly mode is something I suggested to them for an update or for their new Bree6 synth (yet to be released).

[@ThisOldCelt]

anyone else get video freeze at 31.48, unfreeze at 32.51 ?

[@AngMoKio8]

Yep, same here

[@StarskyCarr]

yeah it looks like KZbins f**ked it up... its frozen if I look on the edit function.. uurgh. that's a first! The original video is fine, as where my previous draft uploads and checks. It's missing he rest of the MPE demo and the start of the envelope section

[@Bigger-Circuitry-Bigger-SOUND]

cheers Starsky 🖐🏻 is it through hole inside or surface mount ?

[@StarskyCarr]

Hi, I’ve no idea tbh. It’s worth asking them - they’re very responsive.

[@leftmono1016]

Do manufacturers still use through hole components?

[@Bigger-Circuitry-Bigger-SOUND]

@@leftmono1016 of course the serious one most of the high end boutique Studio Electronics, Soma, muSonics, GRP use Through Hole goodness. only a silly ignorant people tricked by marketing BS would buy a Surface Mount synth for premium price, when it comes to Surface Mount Behringer is the only company but if you want to spend premium money than buy premium Synth/Sound

[@Bigger-Circuitry-Bigger-SOUND]

@@StarskyCarr i ll ask but fir that money they better do it Throw Hole differently inside it is just another Behringer but for premium price, Starsky you should point out this factor…. the reason why your vintage collection sound so “3D / Depth tone” is exactly that they are THROUGH HOLE

[@StarskyCarr]

@@leftmono1016 Only Moog as far as I know, for the reissue Minimoog. But thats £5k for one voice - not £1.6k for 7 voices. I don't think there are any through hole polysynths. All the modern ones I have here are definitely surface mount. From a QC perspective they're more reliable. They're harder to fix, but tend not to need as much fixing as the components are generally more reliable. Sonically there may be differences due to tighter tolerances on modern synths - Sequential and Behringer have added the slop functions.

[@domlisboa4024]

Please compare to Jupiter 4!!

[@tolfred]

Funny I asked you about how this synth compares with the Redshift 6 yesterday and today you drop this.. Both are very fine synths I think. I'm thinking about selling my Super Jupiter to get this one (in blue)

[@Drinkyoghurt]

I wish I had money

[@StarskyCarr]

When you get it you buy synths, then you're left with none again!

[@adamarmstrong9408]

sounds lush

[@StarskyCarr]

Yeah, it's got a really nice tone.

[@SomeDudeSomewhere]

You thought nobody would notice the Björg drums, right? 😛

[@StarskyCarr]

haha... I was hoping folks would notice. I uploaded a short to instagram saying they weren't exactly inspired by Hunter, more like copied :)

[@SomeDudeSomewhere]

@@StarskyCarr you nailed it though! I always wondered how they made them. Now I know 😛

[@feodorfiorina7835]

​@@SomeDudeSomewhere A 909-thing? In an interview they say it was made with a Novation Drumstation as a 909 was not available in the studio.

[@pare4918]

playback stops around 32m

[@StarskyCarr]

There’s a glitch in the upload.. it continues a little later - I’ll cut that section.

[@geevee7823]

It's a lot like an Elka Synthex.

[@StarskyCarr]

except it sounds a lot richer. The Elka looks cool as and is nice to use, but sounds a bit lame in real life (my mate has one). This has a much more lush tone.

[@randydarklight]

Where can you buy it these days? Is there a new edition? VCF is great.

[@StarskyCarr]

Thomannn have them - click the affiliate link - they will deliver worldwide.

[@cfs]

@@StarskyCarr Also Perfect Circuit in the US.

[@StarskyCarr]

@@cfs yeah, sorry I got that wrong, it's at Perfect Circuit - they deliver worldwide.

[@NEKRWSPHERE]

I dunno dude, for over 2K I'd rather get a decent 100+ voice multi-timbral FM or FM capable synth with a less rough, more intuitive UI... Wait a sec... I already got one.

[@StarskyCarr]

I totally get that… this is a different proposition altogether.

[@ukura]

how is it different to the prophets of the same look.

[@StarskyCarr]

It has 2 subs, plus more LFOs, chorus, delay, stereo spread, MPE, multitimbral ..... BUT no FM and VCO2 cant be independent of keyboard. So they're very similar in a lot of respects but not the same.

[@NickHowesAstro]

£1599 for a 7 note poly analogue... or 3 x Behringer DM'6's or two DM12's with a vast array of effects and modulation matrices that go on forever.... .. for the same money... hmm decisions decisions

[@StarskyCarr]

They're different things. This is a VCO, the DM is DCO. This is 2 osc per voice plus 2 subs, the DM is a single osc. Behringer will always be able to well undercut the cost of a smaller company, so it's hard to compare them on price ... B will always win that one. This is for a different market.. its a much sturdier synth, very much in the old school style.

[@NickHowesAstro]

@@StarskyCarr That's a fair response, but I do think a 7 voice VCO synth from a relative unknown like this, it's a bit too much. £899/999 would be more in line with expectations

[@roruidos]

@@NickHowesAstro Really? You think an original synth with 7 analog voices (that has 2 osc and 2 sub osc in each voice) is not worth this price? Other than Behringer's, have you seen the average asking price of an analog poly synth?

[@cfs]

@@NickHowesAstro Not once you use and hear it.

[@r0tekz]

@@NickHowesAstro That is totally unrealistic. The e7 is on a totally different level, and is actually very good value for what you get.

[@CRayBeats]

You're late

[@StarskyCarr]

As usual! :)

[@kadiummusic]

The most uninspiring name for a synthesiser ever! 😕

[@boblove2912]

Sadly nothing new really. Sounds good but nothing you would add to a setup if you already had a poly synth.

[@cfs]

That wasn't my experience. I had 2 polysynths and still added it because it has a unique sound and different functionality.

[@voodoohex72]

lose the reverb on the voice dude. no good.

[@StarskyCarr]

It’s the room. It’s deverbed as much as possible. But in the intro the main mic didn’t record. So you’re hearing the backup for the first couple of minutes.