Stimming reviews Modal Electronics' SKULPT and CRAFT 2.0 Synth (Electronic Beats TV)
Stimming reviews Modal Electronics' SKULPT and CRAFT 2.0 Synth (Electronic Beats TV)
Martin Stimming, Telekom Electronic Beats TV’s resident studio wizard, tests out the Modal Electronics Skulpt and Craft 2.0 Synthesizer. The Skulpt is a four-voice, virtual analogue synthesizer with 32 oscillators. And the Craft is a monophonic wavetable synth with 8 oscillators and 2 selectable waveforms. Stimming runs through their possibilities in this review here on Telekom Electronic Beats TV.
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Hope you some day maka a review like this to the Akai Force. Lot of Users like me feel unsatisfied due to too many lacks, limitations and things not ended. Watch my latest (and only) review about this. Surely you can do It much much better, and be heard by the manufacturer. Thanks
Well done Martin! Thanks!
You really should of used your pad Stylus…
Just got the Craft 2.0… and WOW! Directly ordered the SKULPT, yes it feels "cheap", but what a sound! One of the few synths that impressed me directly after hearing some presets.
Tried it myself too. The plastic is really cheap and way too light. It flies around the table when using. Connecting an Ipad cuts the whole sense of it of having a standalone synth. There are tons of apps that would sound close to this around 10 euros so the build of the synth would make the most difference…
Thank you for being the ONLY channel I’ve seen to point out this touch issue on the Skulpt, while Skulpt sounds great the touch thing would be a deal breaker for me.
Does using it in the top cover mitigate this issue at all? Thanks
I have to say the skulpt is incredible for live jams/permormances. Used it yesterday live at a festival along other gear and it stood its ground nicely. It was playable, sounds absolutely great and fun to use the knobs to morph the sounds. Something like a microfreak would not fit in my bag. Yes sometimes you turn a knob and forgot that you had shift pressed but it also leads to happy accidents. What bothers me a bit is that the volumes can be all over the place. Switching from mono to poly drops in volume alot for instance.
The satifaction I get from watching Stimming play with knobs and buttons never fails..no homo
There seems to be a weird distribution of products … I have Skulpt and Craft made of high quality plastic and glass and super-smooth and precise encoders with not a hint of wobble. It works very nicely on my table or lap … I have never played a synth like a game controller … and the Skulpt plays very useful arpeggios and (in chord mode) sequences … but like all small boxes it’s nice with a larger controller (Linnstrument) or portably a QuNexus or Keystep. I find it’s layout extremely practical … LFO 1 and 2 adjacent and between (but below) is their mixer for instance. But hey, I skimmed the manual, read the labels next to the encoders and vaguely remembered a few things… so perhaps I am at an unfair advantage?
I am hugely impressed by both of these little boxes (and I have a fair old collection of those to make comparisons from). Fantastic sounds from the presets, and enormous potential for more designs.
This review has been enormously helpful to me, since it’s about stuff I know a bit about … I have learned that I shan’t take much interest in, or place any value his views on things I don’t know about.
had my handy on recently, small sized instruments you can get out great sounds for its price! have more the feel some user lost their patience to create cool music and exspect everything for paying nothing 😉 nice pocket line, also the new argon synth is awsome.
The Skulpt might be confusing for you, but I can make patches very quickly and intuitively. Shift functions are not difficult. The thing I dislike the most is the power switch turns on in my backpack. I put a piece of clear tape on the power switch to keep it in off position while in transport.
Your reviews are very good. Honest and detailed to a healthy degree. Thanks for good work!
Expensivce toy
If you have to use a tablet (software) to edit the hardware synth then it completely defeats the purpose of having hardware IMHO. Just make it an app. Great review from Stimming as always.
I prefer the classic midi output, to connect with every synth I want
🖤love it.
Fine plastic for price. And awesome sound.
Dommage que vous ne fassiez pas de présentation en français. Vos critiques semblent très intéressanteS
Best review of these two synths that I have seen yet. The "keyboard" really seems to be a detriment on these. I get it, it’s for triggering notes during portable use, and normally I like that, but with those issues I can’t really see myself attempting to use it portably all that often. The sounds are massive though and still compel me to look into them. I’m very glad you compared both of them as I was under the impression that they were basically the same but with one voice versus four. Given the massive stacking possibilities I think the Craft 2.0 is probably worth buying based on its price alone. Paired with a good delay and/or reverb it probably sounds even more awesome.
I was hoping for stimming to just wipe the desk off with one fell swoop and place a microFreak down instead. Nice sounds, dumb setup. The little monophonic one is arguably better based on price alone.
wobbly shwobbly. Gutes Review.
Könnt ihr was zur roland MC 707 zeigen???
I agree with "not at all intuitive" for the layout (I have the Craft Synth), but it is possible to get used to it. EXCEPT that you need to be able to see those lines on the face plate, so not so good in a poorly lighted area. The app does help with both the layout and seeing the knobs in the dark. I love the small size and the battery operation. The sounds are amazing and fun.
Modal makes a budget synth and it’s a flop. Makes me think of the 001r or whatever that was $2k and bug ridden garbage. At least this is affordable garbage.
On par with the reface cs for warm, organic, and smooth. The ergonomics and build quality could be better but at least you can save patches and it has a sequencer.
to make it clear "its a bad layout" … THANK YOU! 😀 i would like to add: it is really ugly and confusing.
24:40 the sarcasm ! That was Great
I would love to see Stimming do a review of the OP-Z
Wer megaaaa cool wenn Stimming was zum neuen Modal Argon 8 machen würde ;)))))))
The other nice thing about these synths and the microfreak is that the midi outs can be configured as a soft midi thru. This works fantastically if I am using my keystep to trigger the notes for multiple synths. It’s also great for using the keystep with a midi splitter and novation circuit or korg electribe.
Simmer down now! lol ya this Craft 2 is really good as bass, not to mention making percussion sounds.
Your reviews are great man. I love that you really pick out all the things that are annoying/will be annoying after some time 🙂
please , use it ones
You’re hilarious. Thanks for this review.
03:39
Ermmmm…Why would you want to touch the little Craft 2.0 on the bottom anyway? You cheeky devil. hehe I never had a problem with this when leaving it in place, and as someone else said , i use an external keyboard mostly. Only thing i really use the keys for is auditioning sounds when tweaking buttons. Nonetheless I dont think firmware would help this anyway as it is an issue with the sensor being too close to the indented bit on the back side. Stuff some foam in there or cover it with some tape maybe if it is a problem. You can clearly see the sensor in them there little holes. No touchy little bottom holes…mmmkay? PS…knobs are endless digital rotary encoders…not traditional pots….THEY ARE FINE!
so herrlich es ist ehrliche reviews zu sehen über diese kleinen plastik spielzeug kistchen die ihr ihm da in letzter zeit so zum testen gegeben habt …. tut er einem doch fast schon ein wenig leid xD baut denn kein hersteller mehr instrumente in voller größe?
cool.
Modal game changer NOT…looks like spaghetti fingers when using this thing…oh dear another toy. No doubt it will go with the ‘modal’ bag for carrying it to that next special toy gig…hahaha next…
Good honest review
@3:43 ROFL !!!!!
16:53 2019 has proven a good year for "cheap but expensive sounding synths"
Most honest review hahaha
Great job!. Keep on doing this sincere reviews, please. Thanks
Sounds enormus!
What are you doing? Use the synth, not a tablet and external keys! Otherwise You can use a plugin.
Most people prefer a real 5-pin MIDI port versus mini jack I’m glad they put a full jack on there
Great review. Thank you!
Stimming is becoming the most honest artist gear reviewer. I love his takes on the past few products. Great job man! hold these companies to the fire.
I’m surprised that you’r surprised that it works best in windows, Mac is not audio friendly, and is crap.