Here it is!

[MBTC]

Originally Posted by namnibor

How is the build quality on it? What is it about this mono that really captured you, especially since not too many mono's, as you stated, do much for you? Lastly, how would you describe the filter's characteristics; easily overdriven, and do you lose much volume in high resonance?
Cool new acquisition there!

(1) Build quality - I definitely would not throw it off a building to test the build I would call build quality good, not great; it's not a tank. For the cost of these new I'd rather see slightly beefier build quality, but it is no worse than average for the gear of the current manufacturing era. There's no keyboard of course so what matters most is that the knobs work properly and feel good to use, and of course they do. Not sure it would hold up to decades of touring, but perfectly acceptable for the studio.

(2) Why this mono? I think it's because it can be as retro sounding as you want but also seems to ooze "new" sounds. By that I mean not just new in the chronological sense (modern sounds or old, your choice), but new in the sense of sounds that don't sound like anyone else's music. The sequencer adds a lot -- it's a little hard to describe how much it adds in words, because most folks already have a sequencer or DAW that they would use to pattern notes, but this sequencer adds much more to that, and becomes part of the sound sculpting process almost every time (for me).

This all gets very subjective, but when I hear a track with a great bass or similar mono synth line, usually what makes it great and really characterizes the track is the movement in the sound rather than just the sound itself. The sequencer on this synth provides so many options for insane analog movement and real-time control of that movement (remember, a knob for each sequence step!), that you feel like you've got a massive palette of sound possibilities. Aside from really warm basses or mono leads with lots of analog movement, you can also do some really neat analog-percussion and texture type sounds (I think that's what a lot of folks buy this synth for).

If I look at something like DSI Tetra/Waldorf Pulse2 for example, even if all things were equal there's not enough knobs on the front to achieve the same results. Those synths might be capable of sounds I would fall for too if I played around with them long enough, but the knobs on the Leipzig just result in a certain workflow that I wouldn't get with them, especially considering the sequencing knobs. They do make a keyboard version of this synth but it doesn't have the sequencer which would defeat the purpose for me.

3) Filter characteristics - I would describe them as FAST, as we expect of analog..hehe. But yes you will lose volume of the sound as you bring resonance in if that bothers you. For me it's part of the quirks and imperfections I just have to accept from real analog. The thing has a personality and mind of it's own, so making music with it is kind of a challenge to coexist with it, accepting the times when it doesn't do exactly what you'd have it do but at the same time appreciating the beautiful noises it makes even though you didn't specifically command it to do so

I wouldn't describe the filter sound as easily overdriven. The lack of multiple filter options might be limiting for some. I might reach for the ultranova over this synth if going for a more overdriven sound, although you might find that you could achieve some of the sound characteristics you're after in some other way with this. With soft synths or VA sometimes we have massive filter possibilities available to us, HP/BP multiple LP options etc. This is one of those synths that you could quickly cite things you wish it had, then the number of knobs (or cables!) required to achieve that dawns on you and suddenly you're content

As the review Timo posted points out, the resonance knob doesn't do much for about the first 75% of the knob turn, then kicks in with a vengeance. Knobs are of course very sensitive, such that very slight turns affect the sound in large ways, which means forget about writing down your patch settings, as keeping track of knob position is mostly pointless, you'd have to try to recreate sounds by ear and of course recalling them completely is next to impossible (there's no memory or way to store patches, so be prepared to bounce often). Yes this part really affects how you make music, so I can't imagine using this for a live instrument in a typical scenario, only in the rare cases you wanted very unexpected results on stage.

Hope that helps, let me know of any other questions.