Modal Argon8X

When this synth was first release it was met with excitement, but also some criticism. To Modal's credit, they listened and have been addressing the criticisms in their updates, and after the latest update I knew I couldn't resist any longer. Having had it for over 6 months now I'm certain that I'm over the honeymoon phase, but I can still say that I absolutely love it.

The key bed is a dream to play and the overall build quality is very good indeed. The frictionless encoders seemed odd at first but now that I'm used to them I much prefer them to traditional pots which feel less fluid in comparison. The joystick feels great. The buttons are perhaps a little clicky, but I'm really nitpicking even mentioning them.

The sound of this synth is really the main attraction. It's capable of patches that are simply stunning, and the sound design tools at your disposal mean that this thing can go from incredibly modern digital sounds to vintage analogue synths to realistic sounding acoustic instruments.

The control layout is pretty simple and once you get used to the dual layer controls it's incredibly quick to get the sound to where you want it.

When I bought this synth I thought I was getting a cool wavetable machine, but it turned out to do so much more. It's now my number 1 synth and I pretty much use it for everything. Very impressed!

This is my first synth so I wanted a lot of bases covered and some uniqueness to get a different sound than regular virtual analog synths. The prices on here compared to in the U.S. was a HUGE discount which made this synth a way better value. I figured I'd need a large keybed at some point and while most people get a midi controller like the novation, I figured getting the superior fatar keybed would be a much better experience for learning keys and not just sound design and I'm really happy with my choice. Having a lot of knobs and buttons to adjust parameters easily without menu diving is awesome. Then the little screen gives you adequate info and is easy to cycle through presets and patches. The Argon also feels solid and heavy and I like that. I also liked that it comes with a sequencer and arpeggiator. One thing that might not be used a lot but is just awesome to have is the app, which is just a larger view of everything on the synth and makes parameters more visual. When it comes to assigning mods it just makes it easier for me to see whats saved to what, and all the values. It's nice in a pinch for sound design.

Some of the weak points people talk about are the encoders, amount of mod slots, and and depth of sound design. All i gotta say about that is you can't get everything in a synth, and at this price point there will be sacrifices. As someone with no previous exposure, I haven't felt limited. The encoders work fine, but the initial turn takes a a click or two to start going which might be annoying to some but I think it's such a minor issue. Maybe more annoying if you're sequencing it and want much finer control while live knob turning. Mod slot's might be few, but 8 is fine for me, and it also has 4 static mods that are always assigned to the same thing.

I think this is an awesome synth for the price and key bed. Makes some great sounds and can make some classic patches. I recommend unless you want a more classically designed synth.