PPG Wave2.3 User reviews -Page 1

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Average rating: 4.0 out of 5

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Allan a part-time user from B writes:

Have mine for 15 years now and its the only synth (together with my Prophet5) that has stayed with me so long. I've owned about 150+ analog and hybrid synths. Why do i keep this one? It has an enormous presence in a mix (cuts right trough ANY sound, even a Moog modular). The basic waves are of highest quality, better even than most current synths. Programming is easy and it comes up with different sounds when it's not expected to. People that say it's shite are not knowing what there talking about or should rather be playing homekeyboards. Together with the Waveterm and EVU it's a marvellous tool. Only minor flaw is the keyboards which is prone to stick, even budget synths have better ones, a real character hybrid!

Rating: 5 out of 5 posted Tuesday-Mar-04-2003 at 11:32

Miraz a professional user from Los Angeles writes:

Got one recently in a trade for an Arp Axxe. System was dead due to a $10.00 battery. Factory sounds then had to be uploaded and Wala! Works. Keyboard needs to be replaced and LCD no longer lights. But it has MIDI so I have been using my OXYGEN to control it. Will be ordering the Virtual-Music kit to refurbish this synth. I have also owned many classic synths. CS-80 being one of them. But this instrument for some reason has been very inspiring. Great sounds. Great looks. I just love it. Perfect when I take it to Berlin.

Rating: 5 out of 5 posted Monday-Mar-03-2003 at 23:17

Chris L a professional user from London. writes:

Has a 'Is it going to work today?' atmosphere about it. Looks like it was built by a guy in his garden shed! Easyish to work with, though certain sections are horribly out of date and are generally pointless. This synth reminds me of an Ensoniq Mirage. You know there are a few still about being used but can't think why any one would bother. The sounds are o.k. It's a bit of a poor man's Prophet VS in many ways. Not a viable synth for the general player/owner/even collector! So don't buy one! $5000!!! Madness in the extreme. Buy yourself a cheap sampler and a Prophet VS and you will have a set up three times as good and as useful. Time has not been kind to the PPG. This syth is worth $50 and I am not joking!

Rating: 2 out of 5 posted Monday-Jan-20-2003 at 03:51

harry a part-time user from US writes:

The Wave 2.3 has a lot wrong with it: it's notoriously unreliable (every PPG owner has probably had to get it repaired AT LEAST once), it's limited (a lot of modulation options are on/off rather than by amount), the LFO timing is dodgy and programming it involves memorising a large number of inscrutable abbreviations.

For example, possible settings for the BD (bender destination) parameter are 0..7. You have to remember that 0 is off, 1 is oscillator pitch, 2 is cutoff, 3 is waveform, 4 is suboscillator pitch etc...Not exactly memorable stuff, and since there are many parameters that are just as bad, programming (at least deep programming) requires having the manual in front of you.

So what's right with the synth? Well, it sounds fantastic. And it sounds DIFFERENT. For context, I own - or have owned - a Prophet T8, Pro 1, Xpander, Juno 6, Wavestation, CS50, SX240, TX802, K5000S, M1, Prodigy, Prophecy and an MS2000R, and the PPG sounds utterly different from any of them. It can do sweet, delicate pads and gut-rumbling basses. It can also rip your ears off with the most aggressive shrieks and blasts that I've heard from any synth. Perfect for ambient and just as perfect for techno or industrial.

So I have a love/hate relationship with mine (which is currently in need of repair - again). I spend weeks frustated with its shortcomings and just when I'm thinking I should sell it, it provides a slice of magic that nothing else could some close to and I'm right back, head-over-heels in love with it again.

I also tried the software Wave from Steinberg: it's quite nice in its own right, but it doesn't provide the magic sound of the PPG. Not a substitute at all.

Harry

Rating: 4 out of 5 posted Sunday-Jan-19-2003 at 19:57

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