M-Audio Venom Review

Johnny Sniper · Post by **Johnny Sniper** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 4:11 am

You're guys' thoughts?

http://www.sonicstate.com/video/

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:29 am

It has a very weak selection of oscillator waves, and the effects have much less power than the R3, and Radias. It's a step up from the Micron, but it seems as if the designer (Taiho Yamada) didn't take a look at the competition very closely to realize that variations on basic saw, sine, pulse waves aren't very competitive to the DWGS/PCM waves on the R3/Radias. It has some nice features though, I was just very disappointed by how closely the design followed the old ION/Micron models.

ozy · Post by **ozy** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 4:20 pm

I'd love to know SALES FIGURES about this kind of products.

I mean:

Gaia
Ultranova
Venom
Miniak
R3

(... am I missing someone? Ok: Xio. Next? )

all cater to the same public: DJs.

Basic analogue imitation + arpeggios. No balls worth speaking of. No complex modulation/sound design features.

In a nutshell: cheap things designed to get a "supersaw" or a "hoover" and go hump-humpfing on them as long as the drinks' cash register ka-chings.

How many middle-to-level DJ are there in the world?

I ask because this is the only way I can imagine, of evaluating such machines.

Aciphecs · Post by **Aciphecs** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 4:33 pm

Or maybe some people simply can't afford the high-end synths. My bandmate and I went to Guitar Center last night to check out all the synths you mentioned along with a couple more in his price range. Just because some don't have the money to buy the "ballsy" synths doesn't mean that they are DJs. You have some ignorant replies to posts sometimes man.

BTW I thought the Venom was pretty weak compared to the others it competes with and I loved the GAIA....but I'm no keyboardist

ozy · Post by **ozy** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 4:54 pm

Aciphecs wrote: Just because some don't have the money to buy the "ballsy" synths doesn't mean that they are DJs. You have some ignorant replies to posts sometimes man.

or maybe I have had even less money that you have currently,

and I know that a used JP8000 costs less than a Gaia and plays thrice as good

a used matrix-6 costs half a Miniak and kicks its ass around the block

a mopho costs less than a venom if you are in for lead and bass

and a matrix1000 costs half that if you are in for the polys (pads, brass, etc).

So,

either I am a old dumb ignorant,

or you are WAY less informed than you presume, and should listen to suggestions instead of sneering at them.

The only reason for buying a 500-bucks plastic thing when you can have double the quality for 250 is...

... wanting a nice white case and reading too much advertising...

... which is a good definition of "being a amateur DJ".

Regards

PS:

my question stands:

is there really a market for SIX OR SEVEN substantially identical, soul-less synths?

I'd like to get figures.

kimu · Post by **kimu** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 4:57 pm

well, some of the synth above are not be bad...

i mean, miniAk share the same engine of the Micron that is a very powerful engine with the shame of awful user interface...

Xio for its price is a good VA with the addition of embedded audio interface with audio stream over USB (and powered over USB only) that is great if you need a quick setup to record

and so R3....

GAIA instead is really cheap in build quality and sound.

of course, thery are not powerhorse workstation or stellar VA like Virus or V-synth or or Supernova, but i would not say are just for DJ.

ozy · Post by **ozy** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:07 pm

kimu wrote:i mean, miniAk share the same engine of the Micron that is a very powerful engine with the shame of awful user interface...

did you ever play the Miniak? Really?

Forget the theories about its "parent". Did you try extracting sound from it?

I had one for 15 days (bought it because of the small footprint).

Appalling.

kimu wrote:of course, thery are not powerhorse workstation or stellar VA like Virus or V-synth or or Supernova, but i would not say are just for DJ.

I didn't compare those synths with far more expensive and better machines.

That would have been dumb.

I just asked "is producing bad machines, really a business?"

Just asking.

X-Trade · Post by **X-Trade** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:35 pm

ozy wrote::

R3

Basic analogue imitation + arpeggios. No balls worth speaking of. No complex modulation/sound design features.

In a nutshell: cheap things designed to get a "supersaw" or a "hoover" and go hump-humpfing on them as long as the drinks' cash register ka-chings.

I'd have to disagree. The R3 is a decent enough sized chunk of the Radias for users who can't afford the whole thing, and that is one of the most extensive synthesizers I've ever worked with. You can get such a wide variety of different sounds and sound characters out of it, it is very flexible and almost workstation/sampler/ROMpler like in the way it covers so much ground. Not saying it excels at everything, but it really is a very powerful, flexible, and really usable synthesizer. And most importantly it is a true synthesizer - its not really a VA. It might have a common signal path with 'analog subtractive' synthesizers but its strength is where it does not try to be one.

I'm still out on the others though...

Aciphecs · Post by **Aciphecs** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 5:56 pm

ozy wrote:either I am a old dumb ignorant

I never said you were ignorant, just your posts sometimes...you have a way of putting negativity into text very easily.

ozy wrote:and (you) should listen to suggestions instead of sneering at them.

Your OP never offered any suggestions! I was sneering at your comment that all these low-end synths were junk and only "amateur DJs" would consider them- insulting!

ozy wrote:I know that a used JP8000 costs less than a Gaia and plays thrice as good
a used matrix-6 costs half a Miniak and kicks its ass around the block
a mopho costs less than a venom if you are in for lead and bass
and a matrix1000 costs half that if you are in for the polys (pads, brass, etc)

Thank you, that is very helpful

ozy · Post by **ozy** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:00 pm

Aciphecs wrote:I loved the GAIA....and I'm no keyboardist

This is a true, beautiful, and meaningful summary.

See? I said something positive.

PS: I said "DJs". I had forgotten bass players.

Aciphecs · Post by **Aciphecs** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:11 pm

ozy wrote:
Aciphecs wrote:I loved the GAIA....and I'm no keyboardist
This is a true, beautiful, and meaningful summary.

Well that's a backhanded compliment if I've ever seen one. I'm done trying to communicate with you. Have fun

ozy · Post by **ozy** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:16 pm

I got it right.

Bass player.

Aciphecs · Post by **Aciphecs** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:39 pm

Yep, I used to be and proud of it! (I know I said wouldn't respond, but this one is funny)

I appreciate all types of music and musicians. I'm glad I'm not a arrogant pianist, though

xmlguy · Post by **xmlguy** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:52 pm

ozy wrote:I'd love to know SALES FIGURES about this kind of products.

I mean:

Gaia
Ultranova
Venom
Miniak
R3

(... am I missing someone? Ok: Xio. Next? )

all cater to the same public: DJs.

Basic analogue imitation + arpeggios. No balls worth speaking of. No complex modulation/sound design features.

The R3 is the standout from that crowd, as it has most of the Radias features and it isn't missing much in the synth structure, with 8 poly and two timbres good enough for most purposes. Half the patches on the Radias don't even use it's full set of timbres for synthesis, as drum patterns take up one and another is often left unassigned. The R3 is the only one with a wide variety of waves on tap, having 70+ of them with a good selection among them (at least for OSC1).

Bass players and DJ's should get a more powerful synth like the Radias, because it's compact, has all the editing knobs, and it has an envelope follower to do synth FX on audio input.

Aciphecs · Post by **Aciphecs** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:58 pm

He actually decided to purchase the R3! It seemed to have all that he was looking for and from the info I've found here it looks to be the one to get in the price range. I know that he probably could get a better one for cheaper used, but he wants something new with a warranty.