[A6] potential a6 owner questions

[Doug Pearson]

At 10:39 PM 5/5/03 -0400, Brian K <MelloT at aol.com> wrote:
> >>>Subtractive Synths are "all the same". So what should be the hard to
> >>>program thing on the a6?
>
>I do disagree - as we know from the filter discussion we had here this week.
>...
>I consider myself VERY experienced in analog synthesis (since 1974 to be
>exact), and there are days when I sit at the Andromeda and say "WHY is it
>doing that?". It is deep - I think no one will argue that.

I think the best example of the Andromeda's *initial* difficulty to even 
those well-versed (or in his case, an expert) in subtractive synthesis is 
Jurgen Habile's post to AH a couple months back comparing initial 
impressions of the A6 and Voyager.  It is not at all an instantly-rewarding 
synth (except some of the presets).  But as Brian says, it is a very deep 
synth.

However, I wouldn't want to stop someone from purchasing an A6 as a first 
synth for that reason, as long as you're aware of the fact, and willing to 
put in the effort to learn and understand the synth, which does take quite 
a bit of time.  I would suspect that even when Brian asks, "WHY is it doing 
that?!?" about the A6, it only takes a minute or two for him to figure out 
the how's and why's of the sound (wheras it may take someone without 
experience a couple hours and a message to this list).

My personal experience (2 years with A6, over 10 years of prior 
analog/subtractive synthesis) is that programming is not difficult, and 
that a huge array of sounds are possible, BUT, depending on the sound 
you're after, the programming can be very time-consuming, even if it's not 
difficult per se.  If you want deep, I would highly recommend the A6; if 
you want instant gratification, probably best to look elsewhere.

hope this helps ...

         -Doug
          jasret at mindspring.com