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Does anyone like the M-Audio Venom?


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I bought an M-Audio Venom with my tax refund last year. It's pretty ugly and cheaply-constructed.. but it has cool sounds - I just haven't found a way to use them in my songs yet, and I see used ones selling pretty cheaply. Does anyone like this synth and use it?

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I bought an M-Audio Venom with my tax refund last year. It's pretty ugly and cheaply-constructed.. but it has cool sounds - I just haven't found a way to use them in my songs yet, and I see used ones selling pretty cheaply. Does anyone like this synth and use it?

 

 

I have it, and like it. I bought mine used so that I could have something at my office downtown to hook up to my laptop. I think it's actually a nice synth. I compared it side by side with the GAIA, and liked the sound of the Venom better. The accompanying software makes it easy and even fun to edit and create patches, and I have to say the quality of the raw waveforms is quite good. As a synth, the Venom is as good as anything Korg, Roland, or Novation have put out in this price range, especially when you factor in multimbrality.

 

The keybed is nothing fancy, but I wouldn't say it's cheaply built. The overall build quality seems durable enough. It feels like a middle of the road usb controller. The knobs and buttons are solid and responsive, and I even like the dark ribbed end cheeks. The plastic they used has a certain flexibility and thickness to it that (I gather) would withstand impact reasonably well.

 

As a USB audio interface, it's quiet and does the job. No complaints there. Again, nothing fancy but it's a nice little bonus. This makes it a lot easier to run audio from my laptop to powered monitors without using a separate audio interface or running directly out of the laptop. I especially like that the Venom has separate gain knobs right on the panel for synth volume, instrument gain, direct monitor, mic gain, and master volume. This is VERY useful. I find myself constantly needing to adjust all of the respective levels, especially when using the Venom in tandem with Reason or Maschine, and having dedicated knobs for each one is a plus.

 

Another interesting thing about the control surface is that the real time "performance control" knobs have a graduated response. That is, you turn them quickly and the rate of parameter change per radial degree increases. Turn it slowly, and it fine tunes the parameter. A nice little touch that makes it more fun to tweak.

 

Venom is definitely a programmer's synth. Most of the presets that came with it are of little use to me. They're not bad, I guess, just odd.

 

I think the biggest gripe people have about the Venom is that you can't access all parameters from the panel. I always use it with a laptop, so that's never been an issue with me. The software is not at all difficult to get around in.

 

So far (I've had mine for a couple of months) I like the kinds of pads, sharp and mellow leads, and basses that I've been able to coax out of it. I mostly use it as a controller and audio interface for Maschine and Reason.

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I bought one some time last year as well but I've been so busy with everything else I've had to do I've spent all of 15 minutes with it. I can say that overall I'm not overly impressed with the presets, in particular the multis because I don't normally want the drum sounds coming from my "analog" style synth. On the upside, however, the editor program looks very deep and I can see some great possibilities when I take the time to actually dig into it.

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There are other features I like in the Venom that I didn't mention earlier. The filter cutoff, for example, has a ridiculous number of adjustment increments (something over 16,000). The result is that when you sweep the filter cutoff -- even very slowly -- you hear no stepping at all. It's very smooth.

 

Sonicstate covers this at 7:00 of their review:

 

[video=youtube;ILVT5WTmq0E]

 

Again, I have to say it's really quite a nice little synth. But it is a programmer's synth. The presets don't really do it justice. When I originally demoed the Venom, I didn't get to play around with the software editor (it wasn't hooked up to a computer), so I scrolled through the presets and did some cursory tweaking on the board itself. That made me decide to pass on it for the time being. Then I found a used one in mint condition for a really good price, took it home and had a great time with it. The Sonicstate review shows a number of other interesting features (osc stacking, drum kits, arpeggiator, things you can do with the mic/line input, etc.).

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I've always been interested in it. The videos with the designer and also the Sonic State videos showed off more of what it could do - as opposed to M-Audio's marketing. Need to try one out, they might still have them on the floor @ GC.

 

I don't really want or need a cheap VA though unless it brings something new to the table. I have a mishmosh of cheap VA and analog anyway that I'm trying to pare down. The new Casios are a bit more interesting and one has the Hex Layer and the other a sampler so I know that's cool. but couldn't hurt to compare.

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I've always been interested in it. The videos with the designer and also the Sonic State videos showed off more of what it could do - as opposed to M-Audio's marketing. Need to try one out, they might still have them on the floor @ GC.


I don't really want or need a cheap VA though unless it brings something new to the table. I have a mishmosh of cheap VA and analog anyway that I'm trying to pare down. The new Casios are a bit more interesting and one has the Hex Layer and the other a sampler so I know that's cool. but couldn't hurt to compare.

 

 

Did you consider a Gaia from roland

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me like better casio xw p1

 

 

You've got to be kidding.

 

I just got a Venom used last week off eBay for $225. I think it is amazing. Fat as hell, edgy as hell, and IDK why you would say it is cheaply constructed. I just got done playing it for almost 2 hours straight. As a pure synth, it is the most fun I have had since the Roland JD800 and the Wavestation.

 

AND, FWIW, I kept my XW-P1 based on the potential of it. I still think internally it is incredible, but still think the chassis feels like junk. I'd look for Casio to release a pro version in a better chassis within a year and add a small amount of sample ram to it.

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I actually hope M-Audio produces a higher end synth or workstation somewhere down the line. I think they'd do a good job. Maybe they'd even consider making an analog synth. That may seem far-fetched, but stranger things have happened. If you told me a year ago that Arturia would be releasing an analog synth, I'd have eaten my hat.

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M-Audio would have to seriously upgrade their keybed/action for me to ever consider buying something from them.

 

 

^^^ This!!! Everything M-Audio keyboard I've touched has been a totally "toy" feel to me. I'm a keyboard player first and formost - so the feel of the keybed/action is at least as important to me as the "brains" that it controls. Given what I've seen of M-Audio keyboards - I'm as likely to buy one of 'em as I would be to start "playing keys" on my iPad. Chances of either of those is just about zero!

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I think the criticism of the action on the Venom is justified. In my case, I already expected it to be no better than their USB controllers, so I wasn't bothered by that too much. But that would be something I'd hope for in a higher end synth from them -- a better keybed. I suppose for the price point they were aiming for, something had to give.

 

Truth be known, I'd rather have them skimp on the keybed a little than the internal specs of the synth itself. I'm not saying the action isn't important, but I can get around that if I like the way a synth sounds and what it can do. For me, the converse is never true.

 

I think the problem here is that M-Audio is in the business of making keybeds, so they saved a little money and used their own. Maybe next time around they'll go with a better one made by someone else. I really like the action on my Arturia Laboratory 61 keybed, for example, which I think was made by CME. Novation also put some decent keybeds in their lower end synths (Xio-Synth, X-Station), so it's definitely doable.

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While the Venom is not as good as the Arturia, which I owned, it is also not as bad as the other M-audio controllers I have cycled through. the 49 key/Oxygen, etc all felt like crap compared to the Venom. And, compared to my XW-P1, the Venom feels way better....My only complaint is the lack of aftertouch. The SOUNDS fat. I have played the Gaia, and while I have heard what is can do, the stock sounds did not blow me away. Considering that the Venom can be had so cheaply used, I think they are a really strong addition to a sound palette.

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I REALLY like the Venom. I did a pro review on it so had the chance to dig really deep, and found that it's a super-deep synth. Zoink is right that it's a programmer's synth, but I'd have to disagree about the presets - Venom is actually one of the very few synths I use where I've kept the presets more or less intact, but that's because I often use the multis as a jumping-off points for songs.

 

If you want to hear the presets in action, post #87 in the pro review has a video that uses nothing but a bunch of the Venom presets, strung together like a sort of DJ set. It's fun stuff (at least for me!).

 

As to the keybed, it's what I would expect at that price point - not great, but useable. Perhaps more importantly, after pounding on it for quite some time now it's held up very well.

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I watched the Sonic State review. It seems pretty nice for its price point. I would have to play around with programming to be able to say much more than that. If I were looking for something like this that functions as a controller and audio interface, I would consider spending a little more for an Ultranova.

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I watched the Sonic State review. It seems pretty nice for its price point. I would have to play around with programming to be able to say much more than that. If I were looking for something like this that functions as a controller and audio interface, I would consider spending a little more for an Ultranova.

 

 

I have both, and they each have their strengths. The Ultranova is more refined and feature rich, though they should have given it 49 keys, imo. The price, multitimbrality, FM synthesis, and having 49 keys are all points in Venom's favor.

 

The Ultranova, OTOH, competes more directly with GAIA, and in my opinion, beats it on every front.

 

Here's a useful table that compares Ultranova, Venom, and GAIA side by side:

 

http://www.modulatethis.com/2011/06/novation-ultranova-vs-m-audio-venom-vs-roland-gaia.html

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