Anyware Instruments Semtex XL

On contacting Anyware I got offered to pay 7oo Euros for the parts then a month later 7oo more in labour costs, would not have been able to afford it otherwise.

I am new to modular synths, so just to figure out what is out and in sockets takes time I am considering marking them myself. Another issue in this context is that the semtex is prepatched, this makes understanding the signal flow when patching it irksome, the prepatch sheet is a necessity. The prepatch may seem to be aimed at the blip blop modular boys who makes strange sounds rather than music, no offence Thommas, it took me near to a week to figure out how to kill a forever pressent LFO signal.

The third issue is that currently there is only a German user manual, how is your German, mine ist sehr schlecht, and it does not touch upon patching at all, you should be glad if it tells the name of the synth you have bought, personally I am reading the manual to Analogue Solutions Vostok to find out something about patching and thereof the Semtex, it is a bit absurd though quaint too. The synth bears the marks of having been aimed at a user who has been working on modular synths before. These are all things that will give one a more indept knowledge of synthesizers, theres no choise really in other words this is a good first synth for anyone, tough it is complex.

The first thing you will notice with the Semtex are the two LFOs as before mentioned its hard to get them to shut up. That said, they are very musical the leds are a good extra help in determining the speed settings, and they are so good you can use them as arpeggios to do things like DAFs Absolute K??rperkontrolle is no problem and a good description of what they are capeable of.

The second thing you will notice is the filter you can do 7 types of diffrent sounding filter sweeps in the filter section of the synth.

The oscillator is however my favourit part of this synth SAW + PULS SUB + PW + PMW + NOISE + RING + FM + PITCH + TUNE, you probably would not know what I am talking about before you try a Semtex but then you will get it, trust me.

Spoiled with Korg and Yamaha 6 stage EGs four stage ones allways leaves me wishing they were 6 stage.

Though it is monophonic it does not have the disadvantage of other monophonic synths eg. Dave Smith Mono Evolver, it does not clip the sound, so providing you hold a key down the synth will continue that note while you play others.

The only thing I will add to it is a potamento, also called lag processor, also called glide.

How does it react to velosity and aftertouch? Well I am never going to buy another digital synth that is a certainty in terms of velosity and aftertouch this surpasses my 8 other synths with near implausible amounts.

As far as copying other instruments, which is not the job of a synth, it is be able to reproduce bowed cellos which is not its job and a jaw dropping likenes to concert pianos better than most rompler synths due to the incredible dynamics in its sound and one of the best sounding filters I have ever come across, this again is notably not what it was made to do.

Before buying it I was really looking at two synths the Dave Smith Poly Evolver which I had tried and had fallen head over heels in love with and the Semtex which I had only found some strange sound examples of on the net.

I gambled on the Semtex because it was a small company, chances of finding one later secondhand would be lesser than Dave Smith and from previous experience with American synths I feard build quality problems. This decision will go down in the book over my life as one of the wisest ones I have ever made.
As it turned out the few sound examples I had found on the net did not do the machine justice. Its sounds are more like a Yamaha CS80 as in Vangelis China, mix that with Oberheim SEM, OB1 and also the type of OBX sounds of Richard Barbieri fro Japans Tin Drum and a dash of Korg MS20 and you will get a notion of what the Semtex is.

Were there was such a thing as a own class of HiFi freak synths this would be a strong contender for first price. Sonicly it pulverises all my other synths, this in spite of the fact that I have a couple of classic top of the range ones, it is the first time a new pice of equiptment has made me consider selling all my gear save the Semtex and a TG77.

Top of the range components through and through, quite frankly I had never really thought that much about built quality of my synthesizers, this synth was the first time I noted that the work was radically better than the other stuf I got.

Personal service, your talking to the designer, the head of the company and the asembly line worker in one person. He is very consciencious that you are content with what he has made for you.

Its a one man company like Macbeth he will probably only make these fantastic synths as long as he thinks it is fun and not work. Personally I would like to be burried with mine when I die, I can hardly belive the value I got for the amount I paid.

Wishlist

Blue LEDs are nice to look at however they will blind you and make seeing what your doing difficoult, the Semtex has three of them which I have taped over.

It will destroy the design but I would have wanted larger dials for tuning the frequency, small dials makes accuracy somewhat time consuming.

Of course some sort of memory would be good, it should even be possible to do a Doepfer MAQ16/3 type memory on for the patch bay I would imagine. If not, then fully midi controle over all the parameters would make saving sounds possible with a midi controler.

And colour markings for the ins and outs of the patchbay.

First of all this is a semi-modular analog synthesizer.
That means you can use the patch panel to make different connections than pre-patched but you don't have to.

As there are many knobs and jacks and they are ordered in rows and columns instead of logical groups and not coloured it is at first a little bit confusing because you have to learn which knob is where.
But once you've got that in your brain this synth is pretty simple to use. Much faster than a digital menu driven synth.

And: I've had no manual (Serial Number 1 :-D), don't know if there exist one now. I didn't really need it.

I have the desktop version with wooden side panels (looks nice!).

Features:
- Built-in MIDI-Interface: Papareil Synth Labs MCV-876 (from Marc Bareille and with too many features to list here)
- 2 VCO's with 2 Sub-Oscillators (Featuring FM & Sync, no Octave switch but frequency and fine tune knobs which I found much more useful)
- Multimode-Filter (Oberheim SEM-clone) with Filter Morph (CV controllable!!!) from LPF to HPF
- Ring Modulator
- White Noise
- Expo VCA (for audio)
- MVCA (linear for modulations)
- 3 Envelopes (Switchable from very fast to slow), 2 x ADSR & 1 x AD
- 2 LFOs (Also switchable, goes wide into audio range), one has CV controlled speed and Sample & Hold waveform, the other one can be synced and has a sine waveform and a variable pulse & ramp (rising saw to triangle to falling saw like the Korg MS-series LFO!)
- External Audio In

-> Very versatile for an all-analog-synth.
And who needs presets and sound saving anyway? ;-)

This synth sounds very fat and alive even without using the sub oscillators.

It is a clone of the Oberheim SEM module but I did never compare the two because I don't own a SEM myself.

With the capabilities of the built-in MIDI-interface you can get very expressive sounds using controllers like the modulation wheel or a joystick (if you have one).

The filter doesn't thin out on high resonance values (self-oscillation is also possible).

Build like a tank, no plastic shit.

The potentiometers are Spectrol 249 and the patch panel uses switchcraft jacks. The MIDI-interface on the back uses Neutrik jacks.

So just quality parts inside!

Potentiometers are bolt together with the frontplate.

This is a small one-man company.

That means: If you want a modification or different case or something:
Just ask and it will be done.

I got my unit back in august 2005 and had no real problem since then,
just a few questions about the handling and the response per e-mail was very fast, helpful and friendly.
But because of the direct communication the telephone is preferred.

I know the guy who is running Anyware Instruments from the germany "synthesizerforum" hosted by Moogulator.

There he came up with the idea of an Oberhem SEM clone and I was so fascinated by the project that I decided to support him by paying the unit long before the project was finished. And for that I got a little discount on the later normal price (now costs 1200 Euro when buying it in Germany, I paid 990 Euro).

I always wanted to have a semi-modular synthesizer (a new one) and therefore compared the SEMTEX XL with the Analogue Solutions Red Square, Technosaurus TSEM (which is announced for a long time) and Analogue Systems Spawn.
The Analogue Solutions Vostok, Cwejman S1 and Macbeth M5 where out of the price range.

I've choosen the SEMTEX XL because it had the most interesting feature list and the best cost/performance ratio although back then I didn't knew how it would sound like.

And I was not disappointed it sounds simply great. But I have to confess that my other analog synths are not know as the fattest so I could never compare this beast to a Minimoog or something similar (I own a Yamaha CS-30, Korg MS-10 and Doepfer MS-404).

It's all analog, no presets, just knobs. What could be easier?
Of course, you have to be familiar with subtractive synthesis.

Two VCOs, two sub-oscillators, two VCAs, one multimode morph VCF, ringmod, FM, noise, three envelopes, two LFOs.
Nice goodies, like syncable and voltage controlled LFO or voltage controlled filter morph (e.g. lowpass to highpass).
Big Midi interface included.
Almost everything is patchable, therefore it is a great entry to the modular world.

It's all analogue, and so it sounds! Marvellous!
The filter reminds of the Oberheim SEM (hence the name), but the Semtex is much more flexible.
The envelopes are VERY fast.

Very heavy and solid. Seems to be reliable. Good quality knobs and jacks.

A friendly guy, just call him or write an email...

A great instrument. Extremely powerful and versatile.

Read more here:
www.joerg-erren.de/sites/anywareenglish.html