Novation Peak Review (and Summit, kind-of)

[SynthWizard]

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Novation Peak Review (and Summit, kind-of)

Context:

I rarely approach sound design with a specific goal; I prefer to explore and experiment until I stumble upon something interesting and refine it from there. That's why I value ease of use and a large "sweet spot" over technical capability. I choose hardware synths solely because a good hands-on interface helps me stay in a creative flow better than clicking and dragging virtual knobs with a mouse. This review will be extremely subjective, but if what I've just described sounds like you, maybe I can help you make better buying choices than I did.

Novation Peak:

It took me a while to warm up to the Peak - on paper it was amazing, but I hated the mod matrix and menu diving. I had to flip through several pages to find the setting I want, and it's extremely easy to accidentally change patch and lose any unsaved progress.

It was only after adding other synths to my collection that I realized: I could completely ignore the mod matrix and most of the menus, and the Peak would still have a lot to offer. Having the ability to go deeper when I really want to is a bonus, not an obstacle.

Strengths:

With virtual analog, wavetables, and limited FM, this is one of the most versatile synths you can find with a mostly knob-per-function interface. I especially appreciate the ability to modulate pitch, wave shape, and filter cutoff by LFO and/or envelope via the front panel without ever touching the mod matrix. If you want to go deeper, the mod matrix includes just about every source and destination you could want, and even lets you multiply two sources together per slot.

The Peak's built-in reverb is one of my favorites, and it sounds especially dreamy when modulated by an LFO.

Limitations:

For FM, the Peak only allows a specific routing among its 3 oscillators, noise, and the filter, and you can only apply FM via the mod matrix. It's more flexible than the FM capabilities of the System 8, Nord Lead A1, or Wave 2, but less than you'd get from FM-focused synths.

While the Peak does allow custom wavetables, personally I haven't figured out how to do anything interesting with them. I'm not sure if that's due to the limited 5 slots per wavetable or my own lack of expertise.

The Summit:

Most of what I don't like in the Peak has been improved in its newer, bigger, and more expensive sibling - the Summit. The patch knob that destroys your work when accidentally bumped is gone. Dedicated controls have been added for FM and other things that require menu diving on the Peak. Of course, double the voices and bi-timbrality are major upgrades as well, and the Summit has a built-in keyboard.

In Conclusion:

If I could undo every synth purchase I've made and spend that money differently, knowing what I know now, I would start with a Summit. While I don't love everything about the Peak, its sound engine is easily one of the best I've spent time with. The bass is strong, the FM is clean and stable, and there's a wide range of possibilities to explore.

It isn't quite as deep or flexible as a Hydrasynth, but I find the Peak far more pleasant to use, with a much bigger sweet spot. The Peak isn't the most direct and streamlined synth either, but it's a good compromise. You can treat it like a simpler synth and make a lot of great bread-and-butter sounds, or go deeper when you want to do what those simpler synths can't.

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What do you think of this kind of review? If there's interest I can review several other synths.

submitted by /u/QuantumChainsaw
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