Novation Summit 16 Voice Bi Timbral 61-Key Hybrid Keyboard Synthesizer

This synth can do it all. You can make any patch you could think of. You can mold it to sound like a synth from the 70s, 80s, or 90s. The first patch I made was a mulitpatch of Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd. Strings on the left and that dreamy warm horn like sound on the right.This really has a great analog sound. The voltage controlled filter and amplifier are unbelievably amazing. There is a setting in the oscillator menu for diverge and drift. Put those between 20 and 30 and the analog sound really starts to shine. This is a string/pad monster. You can also make this sound super 80s with its FM capabilities. The included wavetables are also an added effect to really give you any sound you can dream up. They also have Novation Component software you ... MoreThis synth can do it all. You can make any patch you could think of. You can mold it to sound like a synth from the 70s, 80s, or 90s. The first patch I made was a mulitpatch of Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd. Strings on the left and that dreamy warm horn like sound on the right.This really has a great analog sound. The voltage controlled filter and amplifier are unbelievably amazing. There is a setting in the oscillator menu for diverge and drift. Put those between 20 and 30 and the analog sound really starts to shine. This is a string/pad monster. You can also make this sound super 80s with its FM capabilities. The included wavetables are also an added effect to really give you any sound you can dream up. They also have Novation Component software you can download and create your own wavetables.The effects section is also amazing. The chorus, delay, and especially the reverb turns this into a monster of a synth.I will keep this synth for the rest of my life.

The Novation Summit is a great addition to my synth collection. Novation has done a wonderful job creating a synth which sounds amazing and looks great. I have not yet dove deep into the synth, but so far I am superbly impressed by the synth's capabilities and sound.I highly recommend this synth!

Absolutely amazing

Sound:This takes the Peak experience to a whole new level. Easily one of my favorite synths ever. I’ve no preference, analog or digital, but this is the best of both worlds, from bright electric pianos and Rhodes patches, to bi-timbral analog and wavetable combos, this synth is a performance monster and synthesis workhorse.Features:Feature packed. If you’re browsing this synth you probably know... high res FPGA through analog circuitry with built in wavetables and varied arps.Ease of Use:Easy peasy.Quality:Keybed feels high quality, as enjoyable to use as Fatar, but less stiff, I wouldn’t say I prefer one over the other. For a poly synth, the lack of stiffness has its benefits. On a mono/para, I might prefer Fatar, but its no big deal. Aftertouch and ... MoreSound:This takes the Peak experience to a whole new level. Easily one of my favorite synths ever. I’ve no preference, analog or digital, but this is the best of both worlds, from bright electric pianos and Rhodes patches, to bi-timbral analog and wavetable combos, this synth is a performance monster and synthesis workhorse.Features:Feature packed. If you’re browsing this synth you probably know... high res FPGA through analog circuitry with built in wavetables and varied arps.Ease of Use:Easy peasy.Quality:Keybed feels high quality, as enjoyable to use as Fatar, but less stiff, I wouldn’t say I prefer one over the other. For a poly synth, the lack of stiffness has its benefits. On a mono/para, I might prefer Fatar, but its no big deal. Aftertouch and velocity are perfectly sensitive. All knobs are rock solid, buttons as well, easy to navigate. This is a wide range tool, it does have the ability to sound harsh due to the vast scope of the frequency spectrum covered on FPGAs through analog circuitry. This is the cost of a high performance workhorse. I’ve used other digital oscillator synths through analog and they all seem to have this downside (Waldorf Quantum and DSI Pro 2). Essentially, you have to be very thorough and nuanced in your patching. Can route audio through it, has more filter routings than the Peak, the list goes on. With some overdubbing this synth is the track finisher for music makers. Just experimental and expansive enough to get lost in, but not arbitrarily convoluted to the point it’s often unmusical. I chose this over the UDO Super 6 due to the feature : price ratio. The UDO is a bit more bread and butter, maybe down the road I’ll get one because as of now, I’m a hybrid fan.Value:Got this for an insane price match too at $1,693, an absolute steal for an absolute unit. A SINGLE Peak brand new is $1,399...........Manufacturer Support:Novation has an amazing history of supporting their products years after release and I expect the same here. The software comes with a ton of free patch banks, patch storage is insanely easy, 512 patches available on the Summit, and 512 multi patches, you can wiggle your way into 1,536 separate patches on the unit at once.The Wow Factor:Yes. It wowe.Overall:One of the best purchases I’ve ever made for my musical endeavors.

Great synth with a few quirks and overbearing support

Overall, this is an absolutely great poly-synth with a wonderful range of sonic possibilities due to its hybrid design. The combination of the Oxford Oscillators, a great sounding and flexible dual filter, and an effects section that consistently receives well-deserved rave reviews makes this, to me, easily one of the most interesting synthesizers on the market today. The Summit will give even the fattest of analog synths a run for its money while sonically running circles around just about anything short of a Moog One.— The Good —The amount of thought that went into the Summit's design is immediately apparent. The panel layout is great, with most common functions and even a few uncommon ones immediately available. The menus are also very easy to navigate and, for ... MoreOverall, this is an absolutely great poly-synth with a wonderful range of sonic possibilities due to its hybrid design. The combination of the Oxford Oscillators, a great sounding and flexible dual filter, and an effects section that consistently receives well-deserved rave reviews makes this, to me, easily one of the most interesting synthesizers on the market today. The Summit will give even the fattest of analog synths a run for its money while sonically running circles around just about anything short of a Moog One.— The Good —The amount of thought that went into the Summit's design is immediately apparent. The panel layout is great, with most common functions and even a few uncommon ones immediately available. The menus are also very easy to navigate and, for the most part, reasonably sized when you do need to use them.There have been some complaints about aftertouch sensitivity, but it appears Novation has not only fixed the issue, but is repairing older units on request. This speaks volumes to Novation's committment to customer support, though unfortunately their stance on software support does diminish this somewhat. (See: "The Ugly".)— The Bad —The only notable issue I've run into is with the effects section run in serial mode. In serial mode, the three digital effects can be chained in any order, and the level control for each acts as a wet/dry control feeding into the next. The result is that unless the level for at least one effect is set to 100%, some portion of the dry signal will make it out of the effects section. The problem is that the Summit (and Peak) sum a full level analog bypass signal with the output of the effects section. (Pressing the "Bypass" button just disables the output of the digital effects section.) The slight delay introduced by the processing in the effects section produces a pretty obvious flanging effect on the final output.The obvious workaround would be to run the entire effects section 100% wet in serial mode, as the behavior of the individual effect level controls means that you can still have as much of the dry signal as you want in the "wet" output of the effects section. Unfortunatly, this isn't possible, as the DryLevel parameter for the effects section, oddly, controls the level of the dry signal *before* it enters the DSP. Turn DryLevel down, and aside from anything locked in a delay loop, your wet level is going to go down by exactly the same amount in short order.— The Ugly —Novation requires registration in order to download firmware updates. I have no problem with registering in order to download software which offers any functionality without the hardware physically connected, but basic support like firmware updates should not be tied to registration. The only one benefitting from this is Focusrite's marketing department. I can only hope they allow multiple customers to register with the same serial number, or anyone buying a Summit (or a Peak) second-hand is going to have a problem.

Nice sound but midi 'issues'

I like the overall sound of the Summit very much,though the oscillators sound a bit thin,not as 'organic' and 'lively' as a VCO polysynth.That's not surprising,it.s not a VCO polysynth.I love the audio quality of the FPGA,100% aliasing free even on the highest notes with the filter fully open and distortion.The filter is pretty nice too,I love the various 'split' modes,amazing for sound design.The 2 filter drives+distortion are awesome too,though they quickly sound 'boxy'.An additional EQ would have been perfect...The features are great,the sound shaping capabilities are huge,lot of modulations and controls.It would have been even better with one of two more LFOs though.The keyboard is amazing to me,very pleasant feeling for the velocity and the aftertouch.When ... MoreI like the overall sound of the Summit very much,though the oscillators sound a bit thin,not as 'organic' and 'lively' as a VCO polysynth.That's not surprising,it.s not a VCO polysynth.I love the audio quality of the FPGA,100% aliasing free even on the highest notes with the filter fully open and distortion.The filter is pretty nice too,I love the various 'split' modes,amazing for sound design.The 2 filter drives+distortion are awesome too,though they quickly sound 'boxy'.An additional EQ would have been perfect...The features are great,the sound shaping capabilities are huge,lot of modulations and controls.It would have been even better with one of two more LFOs though.The keyboard is amazing to me,very pleasant feeling for the velocity and the aftertouch.When you play with it,it doesn't feel cheap at all,like my Moog subsequent 37.The build quality inspire confidence.However I find some annoyances.The silkscreen printing on the control panel is misleading and confusing,all the different knobs are side by side with nothing between the oscillators,the modulators,and the effects.No colors,no lines.The 3 effects+distortion sound great and can be fine tuned (but not the distortion) in the 'hidden' menu but they are very basic,no phaser,no flanger,no EQ,no autopan.When you start a patch from an init preset in 'single' mode,then it's impossible to switch to the 'multi' mode and to add a second layer,or split.If you want a 'multi' sound,you must start to make your sound from 'multi' and not from 'single'.###The most annoying problem is that the Summit does NOT receive Modwheel and Pitchbend midi messages!!!That's incredible,you can't write Modwheel and Pitchbend automations from your DAW!I don't understand what the developpers are smoking at Novation,I' have never seen any synthesizer in my life that can't receive those very basic,essential midi messages.This big annoyance makes me think to send the Summit back,I will take my decision very soon.Other than that,great synth.

Review of Novation Summit Two-part 16-voice 61 Key Polyphonic Synth

The main reason why I chose the Summit was due to the control surface. I’m not a great lover of diving down into menus and sub menu after sub menu even on a large display. The majority of control is right out in front of you via knobs and sliders that offer the control as described for analogue sound design approach even though the instrument is not totally analogue. The architecture re signal path / flow is easy to work with and I personally feel “ in touch “ and “ in control “ of the instrument. There are at least 4 other OEM’s that make similar instruments re spec and but not all with this ease of control. The build quality is good and the sound is down to your creativity.

Some of the best pads!

I have owned my Novation Summit for a few weeks now and I gotta say, this thing outta of the box, is packed full of amazing sounds, I did minor tweaks on the sounds because the presets are pretty insane, witch is not normal for synths, I also own the Moog One 8 Voice and I had to do alot of Sound Design, to really make it talk but sounds amazing now! Anyways, Pro Audio, gave me a great deal on this bad boy, and had it shipped as soon as it was back in stock! My fans are already noticing the new sounds and I have already sold my first track made on it, it's a fun synth! but also a powerful Instrument, that can assist you in your music career and make you stand out sonically!