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| | Product Details | | Product Length: | 31.7 inches | | Product Width: | 11.9 inches | | Product Height: | 3.4 inches | | Product Weight: | 10.1 pounds | | Package Length: | 33.0 inches | | Package Width: | 14.0 inches | | Package Height: | 5.6 inches | | Package Weight: | 13.8 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 11 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 11 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Best new VA synth to come out in a long time. Jan 24, 2011
By Pandaren Brewmaster
"Freak"
I have two vintage analog synths and a Waldorf Blofeld in my studio. I love my Blofeld don't get me wrong but this new Venom just made me feel creative again. The placement of everything on the synth itself could not be better. The LCD screen could be angled slightly more for better viewing but that is the only small gripe I can find on this thing so far. After I updated the firmware and installed the software editor that comes with it (which is one of the best editors I have ever used), I instantly was able to make a nice little sample track. Everything is right at your finger tips for editing on the fly...I was twisting knobs all day long when it first arrived lol. It has some really harsh sounds and it has some of the best VA sounds I have ever heard as well. There are so many patches I still haven't had time to go through them all and the arp on this thing is awesome as you can "tap" the tempo or just manually set it whichever you prefer. Anyways if you want the best bang for your buck do not hesitate to buy this synth. Looks snazzy in the studio as well.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Best Synth at the Price Aug 01, 2011
By Karl Hendricks
Nothing beats the Venom in its price range, especially if you're a new electronic musician.
Not only does this synth look good and sound good... but it doubles as a MIDI controller and an ASIO audio interface as well. If you're just starting out in the world of electronic music, and you happen to need a MIDI keyboard, an interface, and a synth... then there's absolutely nothing better you can buy than a Venom.
The competition:
Depending on who you ask, the Venom's major competitors are the Alesis MICRON, the Novation Ultranova, and the Roland Gaia SH-01. These are all strong synths and definitely give the Venom a run for its money. I do not own any of these synths, so I can't talk in depth about their sonic potential, myriad of features, etc. What I can talk about is the feature breakdown.
*** Keys ***
The Venom has 49-key, "synth action" keyboard. Right off the bat, this an octave larger than any of the competition. The keyboard lacks aftertouch, which is a bit of a disappointment since the UltraNova and Micron managed to include the feature. The synth engine does respond to aftertouch data, though, so you can take advantage if you use an external controller. Some have criticized the quality of the keyboard, but I can find no fault in it. After 6 months of ownership, I have found no issue with the keys and find them quite comfortable to play on.
*** Synth Features and Sound ***
Quite honestly, all of these synths have similar synth architecture: subtractive, multi-oscillator into filter/effects with various modulation options. The only one I can talk in detail about is the Venom. It is 12-voice polyphonic and 4-part multi-tembral with a unison mode that fattens up the sound at the expense of extra voices. If you're used to using software synths, you might find yourself running out of voices if you're fond of using the unison and holding some rich chords. The Venom is geared toward making harsh, distorted sounds and it does this quite well. This, of course, does not prevent it from making equally good classic sounds (sweeping pads, saw leads, trance plucks, etc.). The main difference I see between the models in this respect is the flavor of the presets (of which the Venom has the most at 768). The Venom also comes with a powerful arpeggiator with 100+ pattern presets. Using the arp, the Venom uses its "drum kit oscillators" to play drum-machine style rhythmic patterns. I find these patterns mostly unusable for real songs, but they are amusing to play with. Along the same lines, the included drum sounds are good enough to sample and use in a track, provided you're not set on ultra-realistic tones. I admit that I do not know the drum/rhythm capabilities of the Venom's competition, though I would hesitate to say they are as fully featured.
*** Knobs and Such ***
Let me start by saying this: not every feature of the Venom synth engine is accessible from the front panel. What you do get is access to the top 30 "tweakables" for your patch, plus a software editor for making deeper changes if you see fit. For me, this isn't a big deal as the major features are all there (filter cut/res, osc pitch, LFO rate/depth, FX levels, adsr controls, and more), but if you're a big knob jockey, you might be a little disappointed. Also, the knobs come in the form of a 5x6 assignable matrix, so it might take a bit of clicking to get to the parameter you want if playing live. As for the competition, the Micron and UltraNova share a similar knob philosophy... while the Gaia is a knob-encrusted tweaker's paradise.
*** Software Editor ***
The Venom comes with a stand-alone software editor that gives you full access to all the synth engine features. The software itself is pretty slick and easy to use. If you're working with the Venom for recording into your DAW, you can have the editor up alongside your DAW for making synth patch tweaks while you work. Any change you make in the software is immediately active on the Venom (no waiting for a patch sync, upload/download, etc), so you can really get lost playing with the sound while recording. As of this writing, a VSTi for the Venom is in development. When completed (and for the extra cost of around $20), you will be able to edit the full synth parameters from within your DAW and save your Venom patches with your project data. Neat! Conspicuously missing from the software editor is an arp editor. This functionality has been talked about for future releases. The UltraNova includes a software editor as well, and I believe the Micron has a 3rd party app.
*** MIDI and Other Cool Stuff ***
If you are using the Venom as a MIDI controller, the 4 main knobs actually send different MIDI control messages based on the row you have selected in the performance control matrix. This means that if you want to really hook deeply into your software synths, you have a total of 24 continuous knobs and 6 on/off buttons to assign as you see fit. That's another cool bonus if you're buying the Venom to be your main MIDI keyboard since most controller-only models only give you 8 knobs. The audio interface is quite a welcomed feature. I actually use the Venom as my main audio device (over my Fast Track Pro) because of the ease of getting Venom sounds into my DAW. It has two mono line inputs for instrument and mic (I have used neither) with independent control for adjusting the gain. You can even use the software interface to route the external inputs through the synth signal path in case you want to use the effects for your guitar or something. It does not provide phantom power. As for the competition... I am woefully uneducated as to their MIDI and input capabilities. I do know that the UltraNova includes a similarly featured audio interface, but do not believe that the Gaia or Micron do.
*** Price ***
Value for money, nothing beats the Venom. You'll pay $200-300 extra for the Gaia or UltraNova, and maybe $100 less for the Micron.
All in all, the Venom is a great piece of hardware if you're looking for a starter keyboard or an inexpensive synth to add to your collection. Honestly, the UltraNova, Gaia, and Micron look pretty cool as well. Do I react so favorably to the Venom because I own it and not the others? Possibly. But I believe that if you listen to the sounds, look at the features, and compare the prices... you just might come to the same conclusion I did.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Not just a good synth, but a great scratch pad and improvisational music tool Mar 18, 2011
By Anthony Kilna
"Eclectronic Musician"
There is simply nothing at this price level that does this much. The built in multi-sounds are the quickest and easiest way to sketch out a new song in little or no time... you can mix and match synth patches and arp patterns, making for literally thousands of sound combinations within a few button presses. The interface for accessing all of the patch parameters is well thought-out and simple. The tap tempo with tempo-synced arps and beats allow you to jam with other musicians with a minimum of effort for a maximum of sound. The patches range from smooth to chunky, clean to nasty, and there's a sane set of built-ins.
Suggestions for the Venom 2:
* Since this is a great keyboard for jamming, I'd love a separate volume control for headphones and 1/4 inch outs... that way I can test a sound out on my cans before sending it to the main mix
* Individual gain control knobs for each of the parts of a multi-sound, so I can avoid button presses to adjust levels
* Some way to have separate arp-lock/sustain for each side of the multi-sound. Quite often I'd like to have arp-lock on the lower half and none on the upper half.
Even if I have a wish list it's just a sign of how much I love this thing. There's nothing at this price point that is this great-sounding and fun to play.
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 Why is Mark Mothersbaugh praising this? Feb 18, 2012
By Herbert West
As a synth player in my own band AND a huge Devo fan, I saw Mark Mothersbaugh say how great the Venom is in an ad and heard a few cool sounds so I bought it on impluse. It also looks like a Stormtrooper.
Hype is the only thing this synth has. I have a Nord Lead, D-50, JP-8000, and a Micron - They all crush the Venom sound-wise. I understand that the Venom's sounds are sampled, but I'm hard pressed to believe that even a single sound on this machine was sampled from a classic synthesizer. Every single sound is an obnoxious, overly buzzy mess and its few attempts at something cool like pads or strings falls flat. The "samples" have no warmth or depth. Everything is tinny and sounds like a copy of a copy.
Worse yet, you need to have the thing hooked up to a computer slaving over software if you want to do anything that resembles synthesis. The final nail in the coffin was when I thought I could salvage it and use it as a midi controller in Reason. No way. The latency on this thing lags so bad it kills all creativity.
The one plus is that the arpeggiator can be dialed in without having to sync to a midi clock. This should be a standard for any new synth. Too bad it doesnt have the sound variety or quality to make it a tool worthy of being used to create new music.
These comments are being made after comparing the sound of the Venom to many other synths from different era's. It's just my two cents, but the Venom is an epic fail as far as synthesizers go.
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Incredible keyboard for the money May 22, 2011
By NH gadget guy
This keyboard is one of the best I have ever purchased. I was blown away at how much fun this was right out of the box. The presets and arp patterns are just fantastic to play around with. I purchased this product not just as a synth module but as a way to plug into my iPad 2 to control the iMS-20 app. More on that later on. The editor that comes with this keyboard allows tremendous control over all the parameters. The documentation is not all that great but at least they are pretty clear on the midi implementation so I could hook up external controllers like my Korg nanoKontrol and Akai LPD8. All good.
I wanted to get this as a controller for my iPad 2 because of the fantastic arpeggiator. It is by far the most flexible one I have used in any keyboard I have owned. Initially, while I could play the keyboard and control the iPad I could not get arpeggiated notes through. After a brief investigation I discovered the parameter in the editor under general settings that causes arpeggiator midi notes to be sent through the USB port. Fantastic!!! Now I can play notes and also arpeggiated patterns into my iPad 2! But wait....there is more to this keyboard that will just blow you away. You can put external sound through the filter engine of the keyboard and have it mixed in any way you want with the keyboard itself. The mix is right on the keyboard itself. I hooked the iPad up with the USB camera kit and plugged the Venom USB cable into it and not only control the keyboard on the iPad 2 via midi but can get sound from it into the Venom filters if I want. Great stuff.
The unit also has standard midi in and out ports as well as 1/4", mic, and RCA inputs. All really helpful. I had a real blast with it.
There a couple of things I am not ecstatic about. The primary one is that there is no way to directly enter a program change. You have to dial it in. This is easily solved with an external controller. I have so much fun with this keyboard I can't take too much off for that. Some of the parameters are only available in the editor such as arp midi out and this is unfortunately inconvenient since they are not something you can program easily into an external controller since most don't do midi sysex commands. I wish I could define the functions of the controllers so that it could act like a more flexible midi controller. You can do this with the mod and pitch bend wheels in the editor but that is all you get other than defining globally what midi channel you are playing on. Note that it seems to default to omni instead of midi 1 which would be more standard.
Overall, I highly recommend this keyboard. I am still scratching the surface of possible sound design with this synth but am very happy.
See all 11 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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