Cre8audio Synthesizer (West Pest)

3 reviews for Cre8audio Synthesizer (West Pest)

1. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Gray Hodgkinson – 11 June, 2024

   Be aware that if you want to put into a Eurorack case, you’ll need to purchase a non-standard 16 to 16 power cable. Like other manufacturers do I think they could have included this $5 cable. That niggle aside, it is a great unit.

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Hawk eye – 24 June, 2024

   I’ve got a DAWless jamming rig consisting of a Novation Circuit Tracks that I connect various synths to.

   This rig is just in my bedroom, but it’s nice to be able to stow the devices and just take them out and plunk them on my bed when I want to jam. I just connect the audio to my home audio receiver to fill my bedroom with sound.

   So, when I saw these twin synths, I really wanted the West Pest. But, the East Beast with it’s more complex layout also attracted me. So, I got both!

   I’m not going to dive into the tonal nuances of both of these synths, there’s just way too much to cover, and you’d be reading my perception of them. If you want to know how these synths sound and their tonal palettes, look up videos of them online. Both synths complement each other tonally though.
   Synoptically, the East Beast is warm, thick with a lot of adjustability at minute levels. The West Pest is more direct, with less adjustability overall with brighter, thinner more cutting tones. Pair them up and you’ve got a lot of options for one unified wall of sound tone, or two different tones.

   Here, I’ll start off with the note in my review title: I really don’t use these synths, which is a shame because I REALLY like their tonal palettes. Why? Neither of these synths will respond correctly to my Circuit Tracks.

   I am using my Circuit Tracks exclusively for MIDI note data. Since both of these synths have digital control, I bet I could use my Circuit to control up to eight of their control parameters, but I prefer to stay hands-on with each device. The issue is that both of these synths will keep latching note data and ignore the sequence data I feed to them via the Circuit Tracks. If I manually control the synths via the Circuit’s buttons, they respond as I expect.

   But, since my intent here is to improvise simple songs, I need these synths to behave, and they won’t, even after a firmware update.

   Now, in other regards, these synths look, sound and feel solid. The enclosures’ sheet metal feels of appropriate thickness, all knobs sweep smoothly, I really don’t hear notching in the filter controls of either synth, and despite the digital control, both synths have a wonderful analogue sound.

   So, you may think, okay, they have good physical quality, but it sounds like the software needs improvement. Why five stars?

   Because of the customer service. Perry at Cre8audio has been AWESOME at responding to me. He has also been very knowledgeable, and best of all, when I’ve stumped him, he’s admitted it. I’ve never received any bogus info or cocky guesses from him.

   I’ve dealt with a number of electronic music vendors such as IK Multimedia, Korg, and Modal Electronics. I either get no response, a general checklist that’s almost insulting to read (“Please power the device off, wait 10 seconds, then power the device back on.”), or, if I even do get to speak with a technician, I get cocky guesses and/or answers that insinuate my other gear is at fault, not theirs. Perry has never done any of this, and I dearly wish more manufacturers’ help centers were this good!

   So, do I recommend these synths? Yes, with a caveat. If you want either or both of these synths, first consider how you want to use them. If you’re going to sequence them with other gear, either check out Cre8audio’s website for a list of tested devices, or if it’s not there, send them an email, and tell them what you’re going to use. If they say it’s been tested and they work fine, go for it!!

   But if you’re wanting to use either or both synths with gear that isn’t tested or has issues like the Circuit Tracks, and you don’t want to try and figure it out, I’d say pass on these.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   IAM – 18 July, 2024

   I have a few synthesizer in my studio, but this one is truly unique. I have maybe one other synth that can make bell and chimes sounds like this one. Oh, and the wavefolder gives you soooo many possibilities. I love it! The keys could be better, but in the end I never use keys on synths like this directly, unless I’m programming the sequencer. Oh yeah, and the sequencer is very intuitive. In terms of value, It’s at the higher end of what I’d pay for a synth like this, but still very nice.

   In terms of looks, I’m not a fan, so if you want to include it in your rack, it will most certainly going to clash with other modules. But just listen to the sound coming out. It’s worth it. Listen to demos. If you don’t like the colors, make an overlay for it or something.