Radias first impressions

[Synthoid]

For those who haven't bought one yet, here's a "just out of the box" overview of the Radias.

Speaking of the box....it's HUGE! I ordered the whole setup--with the keyboard--which arrived via FedEx yesterday afternoon. Since the Radias keyboard is about the same size as my Alesis ION, I expected a box about the same size. What arrived was 2 1/2 times larger.

Assembly required. No problem, as it's quite easy to attach the module to the keyboard, but from a "green" standpoint, I think it would be better to ship the unit assembled to decrease the amount of cardboard usage. As it is, everything comes in the "big box"--the keyboard is inside one box and the module in another--with extra cardboard spacers.

The sounds are amazing. I've only had a short time to preview the demos and presets, but they're impressive. Before purchase, I watched loads of YouTube videos to see what the Radias can do. I was originally thinking about purchasing the Waldorf Blofeld, but the Radias has more to offer (for me anyway), and the thought of all that menu diving with the Blofeld was unappealing. (Although the Blofeld module would probably fit on the metal platform that sits to the right of the Radias module....hmmmm).

Anyway, I'm going to spend most of the afternoon with the Radias. Any suggestions/tips from other owners is most welcome.

[Timo]

Welcome to the club!

Any suggestions/tips from other owners is most welcome.

Of course, install OS v2 if you don't have it. It expands the modulation capabilities hugely.

Whack up that Drive knob and find the sweet spot, or add waveshaping, it works wonders. And the tape-delay effect, still makes me "whoa!.." You can lose hours just modulating the feedback, fading it out, bringing it back, saturating and EQing the heck out of it, especially with the drums.

Get those motion sequences running too. Many of the presets use arps/step/motion sequencing, so to hear them as they should press the "On" button in the Arp/StepSeq section to trigger them when you press a note.

Vocoder... fantastic sounding. Drops a nuke on the Virus' one.

The Radias is really open-ended in terms of programming, the flexibility is extremely welcome. And it has a really unashamedly, solidly clean top end - the higher freqs - which will complement your dark Virus nicely. Bounce and mash them off of each other.

The PC/Mac librarian and programmer is a beaut.

I think you'll love it.

[Timo]

One little hidden gem, if ever you want to clear your head and strip everything back to basics, and get back into programming it as a synth from within familiar territory:

• Select a blank Program
• press Edit/Yes to enter edit mode.
• go to Page 3 (the timbre settings page)
• activate a timbre, if one isn't already switched on (in slot 1 or wherever)
• press Cursor ">" to move to the right
• use the dial to scroll through to the initialised template presets, namely Tmp001 > Tmp128...

... and use these as a quick basis to create your own timbres/patches. They're all nicely clean and dry, so serve as a good platform.

Many Init names don't fit on the LCD in whole, so here they are in full (they're in the manual too, of course):

1 Init Program Init Template
2 Init Sine Init Template
3 Init Noise Init Template
4 Init Mono Init Template
5 Init FixedPt Init Template
6 Init PitchEG Init Template
7 Init 2OSC Init Template
8 Init 3OSC Init Template
9 Init PWM Init Template
10 Init Ring Init Template
11 Init Sync Init Template
12 Init Cross Init Template
13 Init VPM Init Template
14 Init Unison Init Template
15 Init SynPCM Init Template
16 Init DrumPCM Init Template
17 Init FcKeyTr Init Template
18 Init CombKTr Init Template
19 Init HPF+LPF Init Template
20 Init Sweep Init Template
21 Init Comb Init Template
22 Init Drive Init Template
23 Init WaveShp Init Template
24 Init AudioIn Init Template
25 Sub Bass Bass
26 House Bass Bass
27 Saw Bass Bass
28 Drop Bass Bass
29 Reso Bass Bass
30 Square Bass Bass
31 Boost Bass Bass
32 Klash Bass Bass
33 Morph33 Bass Bass
34 Bite Bass Bass
35 Drive Bass Bass
36 Detune Bass Bass
37 Unison Bass Bass
38 UniPulseBass Bass
39 MG Bass Bass
40 Glide Bass Bass
41 Octave Bass Bass
42 VPM Bass Bass
43 BPF Bass Bass
44 Reverse Bass Bass
45 DistSqu Bass Bass
46 Sync Bass Bass
47 Ring Bass Bass
48 Pedal Bass Bass
49 Organ Bass Bass
50 Finger Bass Bass
51 Slap Bass Bass
52 AcousticBass Bass
53 Sine Lead Lead
54 Square Lead Lead
55 Dukey Lead Lead
56 Fusion Lead Lead
57 Phunky Lead Lead
58 SoftSaw Lead Lead
59 Detuned Lead Lead
60 UniPulseLead Lead
61 Wired Lead Lead
62 HPF Uni Lead Lead
63 CrossModLead Lead
64 Trance Lead Lead
65 Hoover Lead Lead
66 SawSyncLead Lead
67 VeloDistLead Lead
68 5th Lead Lead
69 PWM Stab Poly Synth
70 Square Comp Poly Synth
71 Poly Comp Poly Synth
72 Arp Pizz Poly Synth
73 Big Pad Poly Synth
74 Cyber Synth Poly Synth
75 Comb Stab Poly Synth
76 Touchy HPF Poly Synth
77 Detune Sine Poly Synth
78 Obie Brass Poly Synth
79 Synth Brass Poly Synth
80 PWM Strings Strings
81 Ana Strings Strings
82 PCM Strings Strings
83 Pad Rise Pad
84 Trance Pad Pad
85 Sweep Pad Pad
86 HPF Fall Pad
87 BPF Sweep Pad
88 Square Pad Pad
89 Airy Pad Pad
90 Air Vox Pad
91 5thRandomPad Motion
92 Horizon Harp Motion
93 Radiation Motion
94 Comb Motion Motion
95 SecretMotion Motion
96 YaiYai Pad Motion
97 Trance Mover Motion
98 WaabWaab Motion
99 Repeater Motion
100 EP Stage Keyboard
101 EP Cho Dyno Keyboard
102 EP Wurly Keyboard
103 WS Vel Piano Keyboard
104 VPM Piano Keyboard
105 Clav Keyboard
106 Synth Clav Keyboard
107 Rotary Organ Keyboard
108 Perc Organ Keyboard
109 A.Guitar Guitar/Pluck
110 E.Guitar Guitar/Pluck
111 Comb Pluck Guitar/Pluck
112 Syn Pizzo Bell/Decay
113 Stereo Arp Bell/Decay
114 ResonanceArp Bell/Decay
115 Perc Square Bell/Decay
116 Sonar Bell/Decay
117 VPM Bell Bell/Decay
118 Chord Hit Hit/Drum
119 Synth BD Hit/Drum
120 Synth Noise Hit/Drum
121 Synth HH Hit/Drum
122 Synth Perc Hit/Drum
123 Electric Tom Hit/Drum
124 Windstorm S.E.
125 Explosion S.E.
126 Metal Whip S.E.
127 CrossModFall S.E.
128 FeedbackBeep

[Synthoid]

Thanks Timo... much appreciated!

The wife is going to be out most of the day tomorrow, so I'm going to have some fun with this synth!

[Critica1]

Congrats on your new Radias Synthoid!

I ordered the entire set myself and when I first saw the box I was like "what the *beep*!"...I didn't order a new frig!


p.s. I have to wait for my wife to leave too! (sometimes)

[Synthoid]

First impressions part 2:

I expected the Radias to have tons of synth patches, but what I didn't expect were the really decent E-piano sounds. I like them better than the ones in the M3. You can make subtle adjustments instantly from the front panel. The grit and drive (plus a little noise) really cut through in a mix. I was able to go back to a song I wrote years ago and re-work it with the Radias. Can't wait to play it live.

Plus, there's the ability to get some really convincing FM and D-50 type sounds. I'm having too much fun here--time for a break.

[Timo]

The EPs sound particularly fantastic distorted. You can get some very modern dance sounds out of them.