Sequential Take 5 compact polysynth: It’s official
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Sequential Take 5 · Source: Sequential
Sequential Take 5 · Source: Sequential
Sequential Take 5 · Source: Sequential
Sequential has released all the details on their new compact and portable polyphonic 5-voice synthesizer called the Take 5.
Take 5
A different emphasis from Sequential that follows the current trend for decent synths with fewer octaves that take up less space while offering a perfect complement of synthesis tools and tones. It’s aimed at bringing that Sequential sound, quality and expertise within reach of a wider audience who are unlikely to find themselves in a position to purchase a Prophet-5. Or, another angle is to look at it as a portable, stage-friendly synth that more easily takes your studio sound out on the road.
Sequential Take 5 · Source: aptmusic.eu
Sequential appear to have gone for classic simplicity because there’s nothing particularly remarkable about the specs. You’ve got 5 voices coming from 2 analog oscillators and a sub with multiple and continuously variable waveshape, then routed through a 4-pole analog filter that’s based on the Prophet-5. There are 2 LFOs, 1 global and 1 per voice, 2 ADSR envelopes with delay, a 64-step polyphonic sequencer and a multimode arpeggiator. Sequential has included the Vintage knob from the Prophet-5 Rev4 which introduces voice-to-voice variation to give it a bit of authentic vintage character. At the end of the chain are a pair of digital effects with dedicated overdrive.
Checking out the promo the Take 5 sounds more synthy than Dave Smiths mid-80s trousers from TopMan:
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So there’s no doubt that Take 5 can do that synthy thing but what do we make of it as an instrument? The thing about Sequential synths is that you tend to defend their price point by pointing out the build quality, the spacious front panel, the styling, the knobs and no-expense-spared component choice and engineering. With Take 5 lots of that seems to be replaced by generic knobs and an uninspired look that could be from anyone. If you saw this synth and didn’t know it was made by Sequential there’s nothing, not even the name on the front, to suggest that Dave Smith was behind it, and in fact the cheesy piano E in “Take 5” would definitely have you looking elsewhere. On the other hand, people appear to be very pleased with the way it sounds and there’s definitely something in being able to own a Sequential synth for just over a grand. Although the Prophet REV2 isn’t that much more expensive.
So, yeah, very interesting and it would make a great addition to my Korg Modwave and Modal Cobalt8 and I think it’s really only in the flesh that you can judge a synth has very few unique selling points.
One thing I’ve not quite worked out yet is the Low-Split mode. Apparently, it creates two independent zones with different octave ranges. Does that mean something like you can split the keyboard into different octaves so that the keyboard starts on F0 on the left and then splits to C6 after an octave and a half? That must be right because I initially thought it meant you could run two patches at once but they would have made more fuss about that.
According to Thomann the Take 5 is £1,111 and a couple of weeks away. It will be interesting to see some reviews and I wonder if we’ll get that opportunity.
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8 responses to “Sequential Take 5 compact polysynth: It’s official”
The demos didn’t impress me, but this will probably appeal to many others. To me just feels kind of generic – nothing really stands out.
I’ll stick with the original Minilogue over this, since it at least has a dirty lofi delay. I think slapping a dsp effect section onto a synth should be illegal! You want to know why modern synths don’t often have that vintage magic? Partly due to the lack of character in the effects. At least Behringer kinda gets that… not that I like to praise them too much. Moog also got that right on the Matriarch.
Maybe you shouldn’t buy one then.
I think I made it pretty clear I won’t.
Bit bizarre choosing a synth over another due to a lofi delay effect you could just buy on an external pedal for something like £20
At least the prophet 6 has a complete bypass of dsp fx and analog drive.
A small keyboard on a polysynth doesn’t always save space, if the user wants more octaves and requires a larger external keyboard. Hopefully there will be a module version, so that we can choose our prefered keyboard size.
Well, responding to Snobby Knobs, synths in my experience “vintage character” comes from the interplay between it’s Oscillators (VCO’s to be more specific), and filter/modulation, and not from it’s effects, in fact a lot of the synths with that lusted after vintage character didn’t have any effects at all. Sequential Take 5 has a strong tone & has some of that vibey gooey vintage character. There are some pro’s calling it one of the best sounding modern polysynths available, at any price point
I demoed this at a store today and love it – i have too many synths already yet this will be a fun gig synth !
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