It’s not a video. But I still think it gets the point across.
I do like the sound, and I’d be willing to put up with all the little things, but I found in its current state it simple gets in the way of my workflow, mostly because it does not perform well enough in the context of other instruments.
First I find balancing 3 sounds unusually hard on the Synth, which is essential in a mix where other stuff is going on as well. I find that there is a only small range of usable control in the mixer levels (my guess is that’s because the volume curve is linear). I don’t want that in a live situation, or when jamming with other people.
Then it demands too much attention. Because macros and volume/panning are not accessible via MIDI, I constantly have to jump around between switching slots and selecting pages. I’d rather use my Faderfox for controlling macros and volume, also because it has nicer knobs. And I want to automate macros, pan and volume, in my sequencer, too.
I tried getting around the first 2 issues by only using one sound at a time, but that is actually not what I bought the Synth for.
Then there’s the weird response to Osc. Volume, that, among other things, leads to some of the effects discussed here around pad sensitivity.
Maybe a little influence on my decision also had my impression that the Polyend team does not appear be too eager to engage with users, which I find weird around the launch of a product with a firmware and manual that are both very rough around the edges. I’m sure there are reasons for everything, but I had wished for a bit more.
I’m glad that I had a 30 day return window, because after two weeks I was convinced I’d keep it, took me a while to figure these things out. But finally this recommendation was what made me pack it up and send it back:
Solid advice, especially with a fixed roadmap that is kept under wraps. I decided to stick around here for a bit longer to see what happens to all the open discussions, questions and bugs.
Maybe I’ll buy another one next year, they already start popping up on classifieds, and for 60% of the price using just one voice is not a bad proposition.