MFB Synth Lite

With all knobs and switches and no menus, it's very easy to use if you understand subtractive synthesis already. The manual unfortunately has some blatant errors around hard sync and mod wheel operation (experienced users could probably dope it out by trial and error) and is poorly translated from German to boot. DIP switches are used for MIDI channel selection which is OK because most users will set once and leave it. What is not OK is that velocity and mod wheel modes are also selected with DIP switches, most users will tweak these often so keep a pencil handy! Audio in and out are 1/8"/3.5mm mono jacks rather than 1/4" (or even RCA) so you'll need special patch cords and/or adapters.

The Synth Lite mimics the architecture of the Moog Prodigy. There are two digital oscillators, a 4-pole analog low pass filter with external input, a single LFO (digital), two EGs (digital). The Moog lineage is evident in the filter controls (marked Emphasis and Contour rather than Resonance and EG Depth) and the ADS envelopes. There are some limitations to the feature set: the external audio input lacks a level control, the keyboard tracking is either on (100%) or off rather than adjustable, velocity response is also on/off only and always affects both the VCF and VCA, portamento offers 3 fixed presets rather than a fully adjustable control, there is no master volume to compensate for level differences between patches, pitch bend is fixed at +/- 2 semitones, you can have pitch modulation (vibrato) or PWM but not both, the ring modulation is limited to square wave inputs only. The good news is that the LFO goes well into the audio range (about 300 Hz) which makes both oscillator and filter FM possible. It turns out DIP switch #6 rather than activating oscillator hard sync as the manual indicates instead assigns the mod wheel to either LFO mod depth to the OSCs (when OFF) or VCF cutoff (when ON). Since the LFO depth knob controls either the OSC or VCF modulation (but not both) you can assign the mod wheel to control the OSC and use the depth pot for the VCF modulation. The filter self oscillates but the keyboard tracking is not perfect (it goes sharp) so playing sine waves in tune for more than an octave isn't possible.

Despite the digital oscillators, it cranks out a pretty fat sound. Like the vintage monosynths it was inspired by it's best suited for electronic timbres. Outside of LFO and EG modulation you'll have to twist knobs to animate the sound since real time control via MIDI is extremely limited. The lack of a noise source means analog drum sounds aren't possible. Some will find the digital envelopes to be too slow to get punchy sounds.

The construction is flimsy: a plastic case, board mounted pots and cheap jacks on the back panel. It's not going to take much abuse and is best suited for studio use.

MFB is in Germany and as of 2006 has no US distributors. Support in Europe is probably better (esp. in Germany!!). MFB does have a web site with downloadable manuals and they respond to email.

As funky and limited as the Synth Lite is, it has it's charms: the filter sounds good, it's tiny (I have mine sitting on top of my workstation) and it's cheap. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who already owns some analog synths but if you're currently all digital and on a very low budget it's worth a look. If lost or stolen I doubt I'd buy another one. I only bought it because it was cheap enough to risk trying it out.

this is the mfb synth, the first one, the black one. no manual to speak of, two pages. no presets. it is set up like a prodigy. you would need to be familiar with a minimoog or a prodigy.

monophonic. it does have a built in keypad, which makes it a bit like a roland mc202, but more sonically powerful. the 32 step onboard sequencer makes this a smaller and oomphier choice compared to the 202 and the rack korg poly ex800. midi in/out.

fantastic sound. like a beefed up prodigy, but not quite that moogy. more yamaha cs series. ok, mix a roland mc202, moog prodigy and some random oldschool yamaha cs board, and you would have this device. it sounds unbelieveable, 3 fat analog oscillators, analog filters, deep deep bass, authentic ufo landing gurgles. even a hint of arp odyssey in some of the square wave string sounds. velocity, but you have to set it up ahead of time, which is an annoying combination of random button pushes. still, very impressive sound.

ok, it's plastic. small and plastic. you better treat this baby right.

If lost, i would replace immediately. if you put this behind an analog modeling synth and mixed them together, it would be very thick sounding. compare to prodigy,if a prodigy had a more clinical yamaha analog sound. it is real analog, not dco's, and you can hear the difference. i have played every analog board you could picture (ok, no buchla yet). this is good. don't be fooled by the plastic chassis. a monster lives within.

The layout is self-explanatory if you understand the basic vocabulary and science behind analog synthesis. I don't really so it was a little difficult for me to understand which bank of knobs affected which parameters. But it's completely plug-and-play. You'll have usseable sounds within seconds of plugging it in.

The manual fits on one 8 1'2" x 11" sheet of paper. While you're only dealing with clearly-labeled knobs I would have preferred a more in-depth manual.

It is what it is. Dual-oscillator digitally-controlled analog synth. No chorusing, no phasing, just pure analog tone. My MIDI controller is very basic so I'm not sure how well the other MIDI controls work. It tracks my keys just fine. You'll find a more well-rounded review below of the device's features.

I like how small the device is. It fits on the upper-left corner of my controller comfortably.

Sounds like a MiniMoog. Though I guess in layout it's more like the Prodigy. Within minutes I had the Dr. Dre whistle tone, detuned craziness...Pretty much any tone I wanted with the ability to immediately tweak it. One thing I missed though was a slow LFO phase but that was more of an Oberheim thing than a Moog thing. I'm quite amazed at how warm and Moog-like the tone is. I have a friend with a Mini and side by side the Synth Lite was very close to the Moog.

The only issue I noticed immediately was some oscillator weirdness on the VCO when all three wavelength buttons were depressed. It has some weird stepped sound. Not bad but I don't think it's the synth that function was meant to produce. And the device's tuning on the main VCA at unity isn't exactly in-tune. Luckily the synth is tunable or I'd be in a real pickle.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with the Synth Lite. I'd have preferred something polyphonic and with a longer sweep on the VCO but...for less than $200 brand new for a MIDI-equipped analog synth I'm very impressed. If I lost it I'd try to replace it.

If you know subtractive synthesis, this does what you want in no time.
Manual is one folded A4 wich is more than enough.

Monophonic hybrid desktop synthmodule with 2 digital oscillators with the usual waveforms, sync and ringmod. One LFO, two ADS(R) envelopes (decay and release uses the same knob in one mode, no release in the other mode) and an analogue moog type filter in a tiny box. External filter input. All audio connections with flimsy minijacks.

Envelope attack is annoyingly slow... The oscillators sawtooth waveform sounds bizarre (lot's of aliasing from a three bit DAC). Sync and pwm also sounds weird, the ringmodulator sounds somewhat similar to Korg Ms-20 (which isn't a surprice since it's a digital x-or gate on the Ms-20). This weird and bizarreness is mostly "weird in an interesting way"... You don't do the classic detuned sawtooth sound with the MFB LITE sawtooth, you do something different. You can do pwm:ish things with the ringmodulator, but not with the pwm...

You can do lots of analogue:ish blipps, great bass and industrial ringmodulated/sync sounds. LFO goes to audio range which helps. It works well in any music where you want to use "analogue" synths.

The filter sounds great. Fat and smooth, and self oscillates. Clearly a moog-type filter, but still different. The oscillators modulate it in an incredibly nice way when input levels are high.

Velocity is either on or off for both VCA and VCF, but the setting works very musical with the usual velocity curve on my master keyboard.

Haven't had it more than six months, but used it a lot and it feels reliable.

Havent needed any.

I use some great analogue synths like ARP Odyssey, Korg Mono/Poly, Korg Ms-10, MS-20, Studio Electronics ATC-1... I bought this like a joke. It costs no more than a toy. Yet I use this little synth in almost every recording. A bassline here, some blipps there, soundeffects... This shouldn't be your only "analogue" style synth, but as an addition with a special sound it adds to any rig. I wish the envelope attack was faster, but considering the price no other rating than "fantastic value" is possible. I would definitely buy it again if lost.

This unit will be hard to rate. The manual is a simple folded
8.5 x 11 instruction sheet. Not even a view of the panel or patch board included. Easy to PLAY with, if you know what your WORKING on.
No presets.. No edit patches. No software involved.

This unit, a snyth-module, is monophonic in nature. It is a analogue snyth module. There are no keys, you will need a controller. There are no effects or expansion capabilities, it in itself is an expansion. It is only midi capable. No sequencers or appegio here.
If you have any knowledge of snyth processing?; you're good here. If you've been snything within the last 10 years, not. Although a small unit, it gives a big kick, with a little box. The pricing was a bit high too.

The sounds are great, but it relies on the slave snyth you use. As for the instruments?, It is an "analog-wanna-be" , the sound, music, and style is yours-to-be.Think of the original analog's like the
"MOOG". Where did they fit in.
As for the reaction, velocity, and aftertouch. It's up to the controller.

In the event this unit were lost, I would not be lost with out it. I believe It cost to much for the bang. Although I would rather pay the 300 for it than the 3000 for the Moog. It is a good tool for the work, space conservitive for the studio, and cool toy for the boy.

Dead easy to use, just like any analogue synth. Oscillator, Modulation, Filter, everythings well-known. Only tricky thing are the dip-switches: the first four are used to choose midi-channels and without a manual you're lost or have to be very patient. Kind of "Channel 6: on off on off". But no real problem.

Monophonic fat synth, two oscillators, ring-modulation, Sawtooth, Square, Pulse. Modulation with triangle, saw and square. Moog-filter with 24 dB (it's apparently a copy of the real Moog-filter). Excellent midi-control (pitch, velocity etc.) External input through filter and VCA: way cool. Keyboard tracking. Lots of knobs to keep you happy for hours on end. 5 pre-programmed sequences on board. Can be transposed by your keyboard and speed can be controlled on the mfb or via the speed-control of your keyboard.

AMAZING!!!!! Its fat, has a filter that makes your knees wobble and simply has guts. Fullstop. The oscillators can be detuned for even more fatness and you can produce anything from evolving sounds by tweaking the knobs to wonderful percussive drum-like sounds. This synth is ideal not just for dance or techno but also for rock if you want those warm Moog sounds but neither want to spend money nor to lug one of those big thingies with you (the MFB is less than the size of a video tape and weighs practically nothing: looks small sound biggerthanwordscansay.) You don't even need external sequences: with five internal ones alone you can create so many different patterns that you're old and grey before you've tested all possibilities.

Looks safe to me. Being leightweight, I guess it won't smash or break anything if it falls down and everything seems to be well constructed. Only problem might be the small output. But plugging a usual jack into it would look like raping this tiny cutey.

Haven't tried, but the've got a good website and I guess it'll be all right.

This is UNDERRATED, as can be seen by the ridiculous low price. For under 200 Euros you get a Moog to carry in your hip-pocket. Complete with midi facilities and everything. I love simply everything of it (including the tiny output-jack) and I would buy it again in a second. I also owned and own (I'll only name the analogue stuff) Korg Micropreset, Yamaha CS-15, Yamaha CS01, Korg Poly 800, Crumar Multiman, Waldorf Micro Q (well, it's not analogue but it tries to be), a Russian synth and a Roland Juno. And I like the MFB best of all.