macbeth m5n price : $5,995.00

There have been some refinements in this design of the M5N instrument including yet further tightening of the of the transistor based Envelope Generators- on the 'FAST' setting- the Attack/Decay/Release parameters have been shortened by some milliseconds to produce our 'snappiest' envelopes to date. On the contrary- the 'SLOW' setting has these same parameters generating constants of up 5 minutes in rise and fall times...great for slow evolving ambient movements. Both Filters have been subject to far greater signal to noise ratios providing clean and equal outputs due to improved output stages using a combination of different parts.



Cosmetically- it's not just a new paint job- we have changed the slider caps from the mixer type to a more conventional synthesizer type...we listened to the comments on the Yahoo! group- thanks Yves!



Each Oscillator now has the 'hidden' preset calibration parameters available to the user- with the use of a small screwdriver- parameters such as tuning, waveshaping and range are now at the discretion of the player- not everybody wants oscillators rigidly in tune- and some may feel that they prefer a more vintage sound by affecting how the oscillators track in accordance with each other- subtly adjusting the oscillator tracking can provide the user with some very 'fat' bass end sounds- conversely - high end detuning can add some real sparkle to recordings! Any of the adjustments can be quickly and easily returned to the normal without fuss. Other functions also have this facility and this also means not having to send a unit back to be recalibrated.



Other features that have been included in the M5N are the facility to voltage control the dual LFOs with and external OV to +5V signal- great with an external function generator. Even some of the 'normalised' patching has changed too- VCF2 mixer is now mixed in to the VCF1 should the user desire- this is a favourite patch of mine- as is mixing the VCF2 mixer into the Ring Modulator- that's been done too.

Here are some sounds made using the Macbeth M5n synthesizer:
1. heavy spring reverb stuff...
2. octaving up and down the keyboard- sounds fat!
3. sinister sounding track- lots of LFO modulation...
4. inspired by that 'ol t-dream sound!
5. M5 programmed sequentially via software program thru Kenton Pro 4...all sounds played at the same time- this is not multitracking!

More clips can be found on the manufacturer's webpage.



Here is a video of Ken Macbeth demoing the Macbeth M5 at the NAMM trade show in 2006, and here is a user demonstration by REwire.

Please click here to visit the manufacturer's webpage for more info.