Another fun episode! I'd love to see a bunch of the DIY kits and novelty instruments explored. How about the KORG/Little Bits Synth Kit, or The GAKKEN SX-150 or Vocaloid , or the MODAL Craftsynth (especially the first one which sounds great but is difficult to integrate into a setup)? I've alway enjoyed the old Yamaha FM synths and would love to see more from the PSS series (480, 580 etc.) the PSR-36, or DSR 2000 which hide interesting, sometimes powerful FM engines inside ugly home keyboard cases. Friday's are always better with Bad Gear!
Watching Bad Gear and occasionally purchasing the actual recommended gear seems to satisfy my desire towards electronic music production. I just don't need to make music anymore.
Yeah one of the only things i USED to have that now appears here. It's an EX-instrument for a myriad of reasons and i really feel it DESERVES to be in this series xD
it has a solid synth engine, it just needs a better interface or software editor to live up to it’s potential. when it was inside the alesis ion they had enough knobs to do it right.
My friend's family got him this synth when it came out. We were in high school and in a band. I was initially kind of jealous of it because the third Osc made it sound so much sharper than my microkorg, and the presets kind of amazed us at what we could potentially make. Overall, it was impossible to use, even compared to the confusing matrix of the microkorg (which at the time I also didn't know how to use). Every time we tried to pull this thing into a song, it took over and sounded horrible, mainly because the sounds could not be easily tweaked to what we wanted. Glad to see the groovebox features confounded you too and it wasn't just that we were synth n00bs. We ended up using my Mircokorg in conjunction with the ever confusing QY-70, which somehow was still simpler than this synth's UI.
Never had the Miniak, but I had the Alesis Ion and Micron, which are basically the same. They are amazing digital subtractive synths. Some of the best sounding around.
Vintage Bad Gear looks great. Also waiting for other spinoffs like, Dad Gear: only gear designed between 1990 and 2007. Trad Gear: reviews of mandolins. Chad Gear: Sample packs for making mainstream EDM. And for Halloween, of course, Vlad Gear.
Damn, all my samplers are Dad's Gear. All the samplers I like are Dad's Gear. I look at the new ones and I'm tempted all the time but I always go back to my Dad's Gear. It's a great idea, doing episodes about Dad's Gear
I've would love to see a series where you review some old gear, the heavy hitters of the synth world, to see if they're all they're cracked up to be and see if they still have a place in the modern world, sort of like your DX7 video. If nothing else, just to see your always humorous take on things.
That photo of Nick Batt after you said "aftertouchless" lol - he's so disappointed whenever a synth doesn't have aftertouch even though hardly anyone ever uses it 😆
This synth does have aftertouch - both channel and poly ... not in the keybed but in the synth engine. Couple it with a poly AT keyboard and it is very expressive
I LOVE the Miniak, had it twice. Sold it again because of the devastatingly depressing way of programming. Please Akai make a miniak with at least about 20 knobs. It sounds so extremely good. Even alone for the kickdrums and basses. They just blast.
1:25 lmao people are still mad about the show being called 'bad gear' Thank you for all the great episodes over the years, totally love this weekly show, all the music, all the memes, the vocoder shoutout...everything is perfect !! thanks you :D
I know you probably hear this a lot, but I don't know how you pump out such quality content on a weekly basis, it's crazy. At this point, you uploading is what tells me it's Friday. Also more synths should have multiple bindable modwheels
Almost every piece of gear I have owned at some point or another has been on this channel and I am proud of it! Proud looking back to see how I still managed to make music inspite of all odds being against me!
Your self awareness is on point! Layers == Leias… Hilarious!!!. In unrelated commentary I’m pretty sure no matter how bad the bad gear is you are capable of making it sound great! Always impressed with your tracks. Love it.
Lots of love and hate on RU-vid for this synth. As a guitarist with minimal keyboard skills, I fall in to the "love" column because of all the easy to access presets (especially the multis), the rather nice key bed, and the sturdy construction. It's been a whole lot of fun for a quite small investment of US $250 in 2019. 7/20/2024 UPDATE: I worked up the courage to take my Miniak, along with my minimalist synth knowledge and keyboard playing skills, to my local brewpub synth jam Saturday night. Using just this synth, the sounds that two of the "Multi" presets, cranked out through a professional PA system, blew the minds of the analog/ modular synth maestros in the room . . . seriously impressive. I wish Akai would bring out a Mark II version of this incredible machine with USB connectivity and an editor/librarian, but I know that will never happen.
You’ve done it finally!! 😂 I suggested the Miniak quite a while ago to you and you mentioned that it would be something that was hard for you to get ahold of at the time. I own this maddening synth! Some cool sounds but the menu diving is on another level and I HATE it! Great video!
I loved this thing, only sold it because I had to move to another country and couldn't bring it with me. I suggested the miniak for a video a few months back!
I bought one of these when they were practically giving them away at Guitar Center. Not a bad synth, and actually feels nice when I used it as a controller for my rack synths/samplers. Great video as always!
Dude... These make me so happy every week, & I feel like I learn a little bit more every episode, as well. Thank you for doing these, & I guess, for making learning fun?!? Hahaha...
Akai was more expensive than the Alesis at the time. You're not running out of Bad Gear, there are still a lot of synths not reviewed in the channel like Model:Samples, Waldorf Pulse 1 & 2, Roland V-Synth GT & XT, Roland SP-404, Roland JV-90, and half of the catalog of Akai and Ensoniq, just to name a few ones. Thanks for these video reviews !
I had one of these and a Micron too. I always preferred the minimalistic design of the Alesis. That thing is just a slab of plastic and that’s part of the charm. The improvements with the Akai didn’t win me over. Two mod wheels is better than the faders but I was so used to the UI of the Micron that it was second nature flipping those faders back and forth, morphing sounds. Seriously. I used it to such an extent that I made myself sell it and learn to live without it, which was hard because I used the sequencer and the multis everywhere. I always thought it sounded way better than a MicroKorg and once you mastered it you could dial in almost any analog synth sound you wanted. Listening to your demo now I felt some sort of PTSD, not so much from editing it through the letterbox but from the overall sound. I still browse the web for used ones once in a while but people are asking crazy money for them. Never pay over 200$ for these and try it before you buy it because those endless encoders like to give up the ghost and the volume knob is prone to noises after all these years. The volume knob is an ok repair job if you’re handy with a soldering iron, the encoders are a lost cause. I’m pretty sure the Akais suffer the same problems. Replacing broken keys is a piece of cake though. If you can find them.
man i'm so glad i found this channel. love the set up of the videos. the editing and you use the damn thing not just play around with it. just to have the patience to learn every machine is crazy.
Gut gemacht! Wie immer, war's lustig und informativ. Tom war sehr nett, dir sein Miniak zu leihen. Great sounding synth with extensive programming options (inheriting the Alesis Ion engine basically), but a SERIOUS PAIN to program without software and a computer. I always thought it didn't sound so analog, but it also didn't have the typical digital VA sound either (it's slightly dirtier, if that even helps describe it). The manual helps, but it's not nearly as in depth as it needs to be. I had a Micron, but sold it, and then later picked up the Miniak to use live for proggy leads (I do prefer the form factor on the Miniak, with the traditional pitch and mod wheels). Had I tried the Micron with some software (for programming), I might have kept it, because it makes ALL the difference for letting you get fairly deep with creating patches.
This was my first synth ever and while I had no Idea what I was doing, I loved it. In fact this video convinced me that I do still love it. Gonna fish it out of my parents loft and re introduce it to my set up. I'll probably sample loads into my digitakt. I think it sounds great.
Great video 👍. This is another one to keep my eyes open for - though it is far less likely than the Alesis to end up in the kids toys section of the charity shop! 😀
The MiniAK was further repurposed into an iPad/iPhone app that they abandoned and no longer loads on modern devices. It was really pretty good! I keep waiting for them to resurrect it yet again as a plugin for the MPC line. It would make a lot of sense!
I have a Miniak and you hit the nail right on the head. The synth engine isn't half bad, the arranger is pretty cool, the lack of knobs and buttons makes it practically unusable. I built a custom midi controller to add some knobs, sliders, and buttons, and gave it the same kind of instant on the fly mapping functionality as the built in controls so that it would be more usable and that definitely helped. I wish they had come out with a pro model that just like like 30 knobs instead of 3 that would have made all the difference in the world. There are a few decent programs to control it like miniak tools and miniak editor but I find that trying to fiddle with virtual knobs on a computer interface to be just about as bad as diving through menus with a single rotary encoder.
Great video once again. I seem to end up with a lot of the instruments that end up on this show. I just bought one of these two days ago. I don't really know how to use it properly yet but I plan to use it via MIDI with my MPC500 and a Korg ARP Odyssey. Both Akai products have that small screen that lots of people don't like but for me it's just something to learn seeing as I have it and want to make use of it.
I bought an Arturia Minibrute 2s and battled hard to make it sound interesting or good in any of the different modes (FM, Sync, all the oscillator warp knobs). Sold it in despair last month. Highly recommended for a Bad Gear review!
Synth with such minimal human interfaces and which slow you editing possiblitys down are great for ambient music session... The korg r3 got the same feature or issue depending on the view..
Thank you, another bit of my gear ticked off 👍 i pretty much use the presets on mine through some effects for various bits n bobs. Can't really be arsed delving into the headache inducing menus on the tiny screen. I find the drums can be nice and deep. Multis great fun for some instagrooves. Keep up the good work bro 👍
This little beast has more features than you may expect... The 'third' wheel sends aftertouch when you control external gear...(nice for my DSI desktops) As a standard, a patch offers you 12 mod matrix slots, but if needed, you can get more, up to 15...!! Not only gives you the standard portamento, you can emulate Vangelis or ELO with the glissando feature...!! The S&H module acts as the real thing, just like the one on an MS20... and it's the key to get the random panning 'a la Roland'... (static for each played note, instead of the pan movement with the LFO) Balanced stereo inputs & outputs... The inputs let you process any external signal alongside the oscillators: filters, comp/dist, fx... Or use any two sources as the modulator & carrier for the vocoder... There is a step sequencer to control anything via the mod matrix... Far from just the modulation amount, the mod matrix slots let you define an offset value for the destination parameter that overrides its patch value, a good way to hide your programmer tricks to the reverse-engineers... You can set levels for every source (osc, noise, ring and ext) to any filter, bypass one source, and after the filters, mix and pan the two filter signals with the bypassed source before the comp/dist stage... It's possible to mimic the dynamic behaviour of any synth or instrument, since you can set every step of the envelopes to be linear, exponential or logarithmic... By far, the most complex synth engine of all the first generation VAs...!! Enjoy it...!!
Hoping you’ll keep this channel active at least long enough to review the Akai MPC keyboard model. I really am curious what that has on its tabletop module siblings other than the keyboard.
Wow, you read my mind. This week I treated myself to a Behringer Odyssey, so far so good, and it is ticking all the vintage boxes for me, so a Vintage Bad Gear would be great (does the Bodyssey count?). Anyway, whatever you put out next I am sure it will be edutaining as usual :-)
I got one about two months ago. It's. So. Fucking, Good. Also, my main previous HW synth is actually the Miniak! Mostly been using that as a midi controller, but it does have a lot of depth if you can be bothered to menu dive in the abyss. The Boddy, though, is so immediate.
@@MrTomDangerous Couldn't agree more, the immediacy of the Odyysey is addictive. The effects are ok, perfectly passable if a bit vanilla, a separate effects unit really takes it to a new level I have found. I only wish they had added a tuner to the onboard effects and perhaps offered a better key board (the keyboard isn't great but not awful at the same time), other than that I am really glad I bought it :-)
Okay, well you outdid yourself this time. The videos and stills in the background of this episode set the bar too high for competition. I cant say the same about this Miniak thing, but once again you managed to get excellent sounds out of it. Thanks again for helping bad gear sound good.
Great video and jams as always! Can I steal your "THIS TRACK IS DIFFICULT TO CLASSIFY SO I'LL PUT EVERY ADJECTIVE THAT COMES TO MIND" genre description method for my jams? Cheers!
Owned the trinity. The Ion, Micron and Miniak. Sold the Micron but kept the two others. Ion is such fun to program and the Miniak is portable and playable. Miniak may have a newer DA converter and sound a little cleaner. The VA engine is still pretty good I think and quite recognisable. I think it is kind of comparable in sound to the MicroKorg but the engine is way more advanced if mastered. The "analog feel" is not bad at all. They are old instruments today and will require maintenance.
I can't remember if I made this comment on the Alesis Micron video, but I've made the conversion to completely analog gear over the last few years with the exception of the Alesis Ion. I don't know why but when it comes to basses the thing just always sounds good. I have nearly wall-to-wall bass patches in the user bank. I would suspect the Akai MINIAK has the same character if it did indeed inherit the same engine.
Owning and working with both the microkorg and miniak are such completely different beasts. For raw sound design microkorg is way more fun, easy to learn and immediate... the ultimate beginner hipster synth.. buuuutt the miniak.. given the proper attention and focus can play an entire lofi set by itself. Okay sure the beats are serviceable at best, I recommend setting and forgetting.. but once you get a multi with bass arp and lead flowing together with the right tweaks set on the knobs & wheels.. welcome to synth Valhalla. My much more accomplished friend swore by his micron in his live set. Surely not for the faint of heart, but at under $250 to this day why wouldn't you travel to the early 2000s and experience what fun we had.
Listening at 50% speed to (catch the memes) Almost tempted me to whip out my TE - PO-33-KO and start grooving on samples . Especially in the "let's try out the drum machine " part . So much GOLD . Very lofi. Extra Nutella, and Clamato ! I have an answer to your resonance lack . It's the alesis guitar pedal style filter and mod modules . "Christian's sonic spaces" youtube channel uses them constantly in his ambient synth shootout. (Early 2000s bad gear for sure , and worth an episode perhaps) 🙏
Thanks to all the manufacturers that keep bringing out poorly thought out devices. The synth community would probably be in another galaxy without your limitations that breed our creativity.
Heyyyyyy I own this one! I have *such* a love/hate relationship with it, because it has one of the most capable synth engines in my entire hardware arsenal but the workflow (especially as a groovebox) positively blows. Patchbase is your best friend with this little guy, once you have all parameters front and center it can make you pretty giddy in operation.
*PROS:* -A lot of featurers for program dozens and dozens of different and powerful sounds, sequences, etc. -Great analog emulation (still one of the best you can find actually) -You can get it very cheap on the secondhand market. *CONS:* -Very limited real control. -A lot of functions to edit with only one small screen and a few knobs. -Keyboard and controls feel cheap. -Sooner o later, you will have problems with the volume knob or audio outputs.
Your killing me!!!! Fantastic presentation as always, but since adding a mutilated Micron I had to restore to my other bad gear (I also own and play 2 Fusions) I bit for the Miniak, fully knowing which functions are buried in the menus. The DNA of both these is also in the Fusions, which helps. At least this one can be accessed through software, unlike the Fusion, which omitted sysex code and locked the firmware to further development.
I would really like to see manufacturers send their upcoming instruments to be bad-gear “reviewed.” Using pre-release criticism, fodder, vitriol, drama from the interwebs.
Micron was my first synth and got a Miniak a few years later. I think the sound is great for what it’s trying to be. The Jupiter filter sounds really cool and if you know 3 osc FM that’s fun for hours. The menu diving sorta sucks but considering what you can do with it under the hood, small price to pay. What other beginner synth in that price range is basically a Keystep Pro, a drum machine, like 8 feature packed synthesizers and 2 effects slots not counting distortion/comp.. I know of JD-Xi but that’s only 4 midi lanes and no FM… Honestly they should bring it back, just make the hardware better- it’s basically the perfect thing for DAWless jamming and learning how Midi and signal routing work as far as first synths go
Nice. I've got 2 of these. The synth engine itself is amazing even if unwieldy and arguably dated sounding. But it's incredibly tweakable, just not from the front panel. But the real gold (and why I have 2 of them), is the phrase sequencer/multi mode which makes live performance a truly unique experience. That's what's missing in your review. You can set up crazy multi patches, some keys with phrase sequences, others without, and then you can play whole songs live, multiple parts live, without being locked to an actual sequencer. It's phenomenal. There's still nothing in hardware like it today. You can go full Alan Wilder/Depeche Mode on it, so many splits. If only it had more memory and an external storage mechanism (again, why I have 2 of them). This review is solid, points out all the amazing features and all the frustrations: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-VN1AflEAxqw.html
Yeah the engine and the multi part phrase sequencer are both fantastic, but good luck including that lovely unison patch into your multi unless your artistic vision happen to be voice stealing artifacts.
@@hansteike3154 yes agreed voice stealing on it is a major bummer. But using it as a multi phrase sequencer on external synths gets around much of this. Again, emphasis on the phrase sequencer, irrespective of the sequencer and internal synth working together seamlessly or not. But yeah, this is one of the reasons I ponied up for two of them.
I had one for a short time and actually really enjoy the VA engine. I didn't enjoy the editing though and I was surprised that the lack of USB would be as big a pain as it was. When I got an Ultranova I got rid of it, I feel like the UN had it beat in every way. Especially the vocoder. The Miniak vocoder sucks as you demonstrated in the shoutout.
Ultranova and Miniak - complete different synths. For example, UN is one timbre, and Miniak may producing 8 timbres at once. Also, Miniak has a phrase secuencer (phrase stored in patch memory), and assign up to 8 split zones on keyboard.
@@vladikuz Agreed. The phrase sequencer is a unique and powerful feature if you master it, but I have multiple hardware sequencers (and my DAW) for that and it didn't suit my workflow. I also have a Blofeld desktop unit if I want a multitimbral VA. Obviously they all sound different and I did like the Miniak/Micron synth engine but it was a hard beast to program on the unit compounded by a lack of USB. For me it was best sold to a more appreciative home and reinvested into other gear.
