M-Audio Venom Synthesizer

[Psicraft]

hmmm.... over a month later and no replies... I think Mr. Craig may be sipping a Margarita on a sunny beach somewhere... Well, he certainly deserves it!

Tony

[Anderton]

 

Originally Posted by Psicraft

hmmm.... over a month later and no replies... I think Mr. Craig may be sipping a Margarita on a sunny beach somewhere... Well, he certainly deserves it!

Tony

 

I wish. Actually, the New Mexico wildfires turned my life upside down for a while, and then there was NAMM. I'm just getting back into the pro review swing of things.

But also...I've been kinda waiting for that new version of the editor along with the plug-in capabilities. Is that out yet? If so, that would be a great way to re-start the thread

[Psicraft]

 

Originally Posted by Anderton

Actually, the New Mexico wildfires turned my life upside down for a while

 

Yikes! Everyone and everything okay, I hope?

 

Originally Posted by Anderton

and then there was NAMM. I'm just getting back into the pro review swing of things.

 

Right. We don't go to Summer NAMM since we don't sell guitar products to the country musician market - I often miss the news when it happens. Was it a good show?

 

Originally Posted by Anderton

But also...I've been kinda waiting for that new version of the editor along with the plug-in capabilities. Is that out yet? If so, that would be a great way to re-start the thread

 

Glad you remembered that - We are working on it now even as I type. We're pushing to have a release ready for next week so hopefully we can pull that off. I'll be sure to post here when we go live.

Cheers,

Tony

[Anderton]

 

Originally Posted by Psicraft

We don't go to Summer NAMM since we don't sell guitar products to the country musician market - I often miss the news when it happens. Was it a good show?

 

It's like a giant Hall E, lots of fun. You can see videos on everything of note on our YouTube channel - click on Playlists in the top nav bar, click on Summer NAMM 2011, and you can enjoy the essence of the Nashville show without having to eat the convention hall food!

You can also get a show "executive summary" from issue 127 of our newsletter.

[trupro]

Anderton and all, thank you for the review and the comments. Really need some guidance if you all have a moment, and i'd love if the Venom's designer could chime in, as i have seen him do on this thread a while back. I sent him an email along with his the consumer advocate at the m-audio site, regarding fixes to address the Venom freezing in standalone mode, among other issues.

I am simply wondering if anyone can tell us when the firmware fixes that are being worked on as we speak will finally debut. The fixes proposed are alleged to include the following: a fix to the tempo drift issue, a fix to the firmware updater hanging, a fix to some interactions with the software editor on the hardware side, and hopefully a fix for the issue of freezing when the cutoff knob is moved.

I have been on the edge of purchasing a Venom now for a couple of weeks. I loved the sounds and the onboard hardware interface is exactly what i need. However, when using the Venom itself to demo the product, it froze up on me alot. Going to the M-Audio site, i found more complaints of this, and was totally bummed, as the competing products to the venom have laborius interfaces and a much smaller keyspan...both of which are no good for my live needs, while the venom was a joy to use...until it froze on me repeatedly. Allegedly this is rampant in standalone mode, while the unit seems near rock-solid when connected to the editor on a pc via usb.

I purchased the next best thing, and last night found myself at a loss for the wider keyspan of venom's keyboard, with which to program my splits and layers on for live performance. All this in a package that weighs less than the synth i ended up purchasing, which is half the size of the Venom. I really want to take the plunge, but ive yet to hear anything about when the firmware update will drop, and what it will include.

Would totally answer my prayers if we get some info on this, because if i hear its coming within the next couple of weeks, i can return what i bought and exchange it for the Venom. Which i would have got in the first place if i didnt see all these reports of it freezing in standalone mode (and experienced the issue as well...twice in just 20 minutes of playing it).

Thanks for any info and keep up the great work!

[Anderton]

Hopefully someone can provide an answer. Interestingly, I've had it hooked up almost constantly through USB to the editor because for the review I've been doing the screen shots, and for my own projects, I send it right into the DAW. So, I haven't experienced the stand-alone freezing issues you've mentioned, so haven't felt the need to analyze why/how it happens, and come up with a workaround.

I can ping Avid and see what they have to say, but most companies do not give commitments about update arrival dates because software is such a moving target...

[trupro]

Hey Anderton, thanks for chiming in on this! Indeed alot of folks seem to use it with the editor rather than live in standalone mode so they have it constantly connected to a cpu, which makes sense. After alot of reviewers felt it was very necessary to use Vyzex to achieve what they wanted, i was pleased that it was so fast to edit basic filtering, adsr and ocillator mods on the front panel, that i was instantly sold on the Venom for live purposes, and i really like that Vyzex is part of the overall package as well. But agreed, its probably very hard to lock down a date for patch releases for the reasons you noted.

That would be fantastic if you would ping Avid, you are the man, sir!

Thanks again for the great reviews and insight all over the site

-S

[Anderton]

Hey Venomites...there's a great blog by the synth's designer, Taiho Yamada, with all kinds of tips and insights. Well worth checking out if you're into Venom.

[GloomGenerator]

I'm a little late to the party on this one, so please forgive me. Anyone actually buy this thing and get in some long-term use? I have this idea that I might want this to replace a lot of the software I tend to use. From the video demos I've seen, it seems this synth would be able to do everything I'm using my softsynths for and more.

I do mostly industrial and metal, so I use largely bass and more aggressive sounds. Feel free to check my Soundcloud link if you like.

I like software for a lot of stuff, but I feel like it ends up being a more significant investment over time. OSes get updated and then software needs to get updated and vendors force you into new versions. Then there's the MFing dongles... Wish I didn't eBay my Microwave XT and Nord rack.

I'm not sure if Venom or the Minibrute will be the answer, but they're both in the same price range.

[Anderton]

 

Originally Posted by GloomGenerator

I'm a little late to the party on this one, so please forgive me. Anyone actually buy this thing and get in some long-term use? I have this idea that I might want this to replace a lot of the software I tend to use. From the video demos I've seen, it seems this synth would be able to do everything I'm using my softsynths for and more.

I do mostly industrial and metal, so I use largely bass and more aggressive sounds. Feel free to check my Soundcloud link if you like.

I like software for a lot of stuff, but I feel like it ends up being a more significant investment over time. OSes get updated and then software needs to get updated and vendors force you into new versions. Then there's the MFing dongles... Wish I didn't eBay my Microwave XT and Nord rack.

I'm not sure if Venom or the Minibrute will be the answer, but they're both in the same price range.

 

They're quite different. MiniBrute is a true analog synth with one oscillator but a variety of techniques to fatten the sound. It also has a very cool arpeggiator and an external input. It does not store presets so you need to build sounds from scratch, and if you want to recall patches, write down the panel settings and re-create them. As such, it's a one-trick pony, but it's a helluva pony.

Venom is digital, and much more versatile. It makes a wide variety, includes some great drum sounds, does arpeggiation, and has a "multi" mode where you can have four sounds going on at once (e.g., drums, arpeggiated bass, a lead sound, and something else). It can also serve as a USB audio interface and has an external audio input.

Venom is designed more for live performance where you program sounds at home using (excellent) editing software; there are several live performance controls you can use to control banks of parameters. However, to truly program sounds, you HAVE to use the editor. What you can do from the front panel is limited by comparison, unlike the MiniBrute, where all parameters are front-panel accessible.

So it really depends if you're into versatility with a live performance slant, or a true analog synthesizer that's designed for real-time tweaking.

[GloomGenerator]

Everything beyond the sounds is all gravy for me. Performance features are nice and so is being able to save patches, but if the sounds I want are there I would gladly make sacrifices.

Which one is more likely to make the kind of sounds I'm looking for?

[Anderton]

 

Originally Posted by GloomGenerator

Which one is more likely to make the kind of sounds I'm looking for?

 

Check out post #87, it has a video with about 7 minutes of different sounds...gives a pretty good idea of what Venom can do.

As to the Minibrute, it's not out yet - but remember, it's an analog synth. It doesn't do the Venom drum sound, have sampled waveforms, etc.

[Awakened_Yeti]

this synth seemed like a perfect fit for me, as i love super aggressive synth sounds.. wasnt able to find any videos that really got me excited until i saw these:

 

 

this one illustrates a weird technique of scolling through osc types while FMing them

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXy2DWUmKP4

 

i like the really wet filter sounds on the later half of this video.. lots of old school roland vibe here

 

 

tasty distortion... i prefer to not use pedals and outboard stuff on synths, especially for solo gigs

so im planning on buying one sometime soon, i have to clear a paycheck or two, but the decision has been made

im looking forward to pairing it with ablive and a mpc40 on a macbook pro, using the venom for the audio interface AND sounds... would be nice to have such a tiny setup

[catpower]

Hi,

first of all thank you Anderton for this fantastic review, I've been thinking about changing most of my gear recently and I decided to buy a Venom after reading everything you wrote there.

So I got a venom last week, unpacked it, started to tweak sounds and turns knobs and everything was great, I really enjoy the possibilities, Vyzex Venom seems to be a really good software to go deeper and deeper with the sounds, and I'm really looking forward to explore it.

The thing is, I have a major issue with the Venom, I will try to explain it the better I can (sorry if my english is not that good, I'm french btw ).

So I use Ableton Live a lot (I have a macbook with mac os 10.6.8) and naturally I wanted to use it with the Venom, but it didn't went that well...

Well, I started ableton, went to preferences, audio, and put M-audio venom in "audio input device" and "audio output device". At that point I was very satisfied to see that Ableton recognized the Venom and started to think that it would be a piece of cake to record some crazy sounds.

But then when I played, I played 4 or 5 notes on my keyboard, and for some reason the last note sustains for 7 to 10 seconds, and everything kind of freeze for a moment, as if Ableton is not detecting the synth anymore. Then the audio is back and when I try again, the same thing happens, I can hear the notes but all of a sudden one of them sustains, making it impossible to play other notes, even if I'm pressing the keys.

The same thing is happening if for example I launch the demo song, it plays for a couple of seconds, then it freezes on a note, catch up for a few seconds, freeze... it's very frustrating and I have no idea why this is happening.

I tried with garageband and the same thing happened!

What is really weird is that, appart from that, the Venom is functioning perfectly with Vyzex.

I tried a lot of things to fix this, uninstalling the drivers, rebooting, changed some parameters in my macbook, in Ableton Live menus, and I can't figure it out.

I read online that one or two people encountered the same problem but unfortunately no solution so far, do you have any ideas what I can do to fix this ? I don't know if it's a Ableton/Venom compatibility issue or something else...

Thanks for you help and thanks again for the amount of info I got on this really good forum!

Laurent.

[Anderton]

Pas de probleme, Laurent! Je crois que peut-etre c'est une probleme avec MIDI, pas l'audio. J'ai utiliser Venom avec Ableton Live sans peine (mais avec Windows, pas Mac). J'ai Live sur le Mac et peut lui donner un essai.

Aussi, il y a de nouveau "firmware" - avez-vous l'installer? Ca fait un grand difference.

English: I think it's a problem with MIDI, not audio. I've used Venom with Ableton live without trouble (although on Windows, not Mac). I do have Live on the Mac and can give it a try.

Also, there's new firmware - have you installed it? It makes a big difference.

[Ken Vaughn]

 

Originally Posted by Anderton

Pas de probleme, Laurent! Je crois que peut-etre c'est une probleme avec MIDI, pas l'audio. J'ai utiliser Venom avec Ableton Live sans peine (mais avec Windows, pas Mac). J'ai Live sur le Mac et peut lui donner un essai.

Aussi, il y a de nouveau "firmware" - avez-vous l'installer? Ca fait un grand difference.

English: I think it's a problem with MIDI, not audio. I've used Venom with Ableton live without trouble (although on Windows, not Mac). I do have Live on the Mac and can give it a try.

Also, there's new firmware - have you installed it? It makes a big difference.

 

Thanks Craig for the tip. I installed the new firmware and it made a huge difference. I no longer hear that usb whine and the programs seem to change faster. -Ken

[pdudits]

 

Originally Posted by Anderton

However, the coolest part (well at least in my opinion) about the external audio inputs is that they can be routed into Venom’s filter, amp, and effects. Yes, gate an incoming guitar sound…process it…you get the idea. We’ll get into this in detail later, but it seemed like a teaser might be appropriate

 

Hello Craig,

I'm very interested whether you found this feature useful and as cool as you expected it to be. I'm considering buying a Venom, and in addition to all those gritty sounds, hooking my Nord Electro to it to add some delay. Or turning the direct output of Nord down and using Venom's filter and filter envelope, which Electro also lacks.

From reading the manual it appears, that it should be possible with a patch with all oscilators silent and MIDI sent from Nord to control the envelope. What are your experiences?

[ggm1960]

I've also developed an interest in knowing about applying the effects to input signals. Specifically I'd like to know how I can use the Venom as a delay "pedal" for my guitar. Looking through the manual gives me the impression that I can do it but I haven't used the Venom keyboard enough to be very familiar with it's ways.

[ggm1960]

I've spent some time today messing with the Venom and the Vyzex program but can't find anywhere that mentions or addresses the instrument/mic inputs? I'm surely missing it right?

[badseed79]

Unfortunately it seems that both M-Audio and Psicraft (who made the Vyzex editor software needed to access the Venom's deeper functionality) are possibly abandoning this great synth to an early grave. Anyone that reads this review should be aware of this and factor that into their potential purchase.

For instance, when the Venom was first launched around 18 months ago, we were promised that we'd have the ability to buy (for a small fee) a more advanced software editor called Vyzor, which would allow (among other features) the ability to edit the midi messages sent by the controllers, and also would act as a VST plugin. Initially they said this software would be ready in 3 months. Needless to say, there has been delay after delay.

At NAMM in January they refreshed their 'coming soon' front page at www.vyzor.com to say that Vyzor is in final testing and should be available in 'around a week'. That was around 20 weeks ago.

There has been no response from the Psicraft reps in their forum, or from M-Audio staff in their Venom subforum for the past 6 to 8 weeks. In this case, I don't think we can apply the old adage 'no news is good news'.

This is really a great shame. One of the primary reasons I bought this synth in the first week of availability was the promise of this more advanced editor, and specifically the ability to work as a plugin within my chosen DAW. I'm still waiting over 15 months later.

If anyone from M-Audio / Psicraft or our trusty reviewer could shed some light on all of this, there are quite a few users waiting on some answers.

[Anderton]

 

Originally Posted by badseed79

If anyone from M-Audio / Psicraft or our trusty reviewer could shed some light on all of this, there are quite a few users waiting on some answers.

 

While I can't reveal my sources, I can say that neither M-Audio nor Psicraft are abandoning Venom. Don't ask me to elaborate, because I won't/can't. Suffice it to say I have a network of spies that extends throughout this industry

From my perspective, if they HAD decided to abandon Venom, I'd still be happy with what I have. But as someone who really likes and uses Venom, I too am looking forward to whatever's going to happen next.

[badseed79]

Thanks for your update Craig - it really is appreciated.

There are many of us out there that also love this little synth - we'd just like the last few things ironed out and the promised advanced editor to appear and all will be well.

[dsc]

Yes, I wait patiently too

[Anderton]

Okay, the cat's out of the bag. Here's what I couldn't tell you about.

Jack O'Donnell seems to have some kind of golden touch, he's resurrected Alesis and Akai very successfully after being told they were a lost cause. I suspect that Venom will prosper under Akai, assuming they continue to plan producing it (I would be shocked if they didn't). Taiho Yamada who designed Venom was also involved in the Alesis Ion, so there's already a connection.

[namnibor]

On the subject of Akai/Alesis, I read a news update; more of a public announcement by AVID with no qualification of WHY AVID is doing this but AVID has decided focus ONLY on Pro-Level gear instead of the requirements of a "Home Studio", refering to M-Audio, which AVID owns, and almost sounded like "restructering/reorganizing", the kind of words one uses to avoid saying bankruptcy. Wish I could find the article to post here now, but it was a very "matter-in-fact" statement that Numark will now be handling M-Audio so AVID can concentrate on their Audio/Visual Professional Gear. This bothers me in fact AVID takes a REAL LONG time before releasing updates to say Pro Tools or M-Audio Axiom Pro Controller and their Hypercontrol programs to ensure compatibility within product line. So will Numark now be responsible for the Venom and updates to hypercontrol AND will AVID no longer be producing M-Powered Software as what I have, MP9? It was a Public Announcement just last week or so either here on HC , SOS, or perhaps Keyboard Magazene's parent Co's website...sorry, just had surgery and am a recently disabled Veteran so when I find the exact announcement, will post it. One would think it would be on AVID's webpage as well, however, it SURE sounded like AVID was distancing themself from the home studio musician crowd by placing emphasis on their Pro Tools HD and AVID Audio-Visual efforts.

OK, I feel like a total idio because the post above by Anderton has the EXACT news release I read...I am surely blaming the post surgical medications for pain on not seeing that link on top of his post...there you go, confirmation! By the way, I posted *unanswered* questions to AVID about my concern for compatibility and updates since like in Alesis' case, Numark seems to be the once great gear producer's purgatory and they slowly die off after doing nothing but producing plethora of midi controllers and by the way of DJ GEAR....eehh!