Akai Pro Timbre Wolf First Look

At the 2015 NAMM Show, Akai Pro introduced the Timbre Wolf analog synthesizer.

The Timbre Wolf is an analog 4-voice polyphonic synthesizer that recalls the earliest polyphonic synthesizers. In this video, Akai Professional Product Manager Dan Gill gives a quick overview of the Timbre Wolf synthesizer.

The Timbre Wolf has four independent analog voices that can be configured as

  • 4 mono synths
  • a 4-voice unison monosynth; or
  • a 4-voice polysynth,

The user can easily customize the sound of each voice independently as they play.

Other features:

  • Professional quality 25-key custom Akai Pro keybed..
  • 32-step sequencer for each of the four voices
  • LED display
  • Octave +/- controls

The Akai Pro Timbre Wolf is priced at $500 and is expected to be available this summer.

51 thoughts on “Akai Pro Timbre Wolf First Look”

  1. This one is clearly derived from the synth bass of the Rhythm Wolf;
    there are several problems on synth bass of the Wolf (see Akai forum):
    scaling/tuning (the appropriate akai utility resolves the issue only partially),
    knob have a limited effect on the sound,
    the resonance of the filter makes sound very thin…
    It would be interesting to know whether all these problems have been fixed in this release… otherwise we will have another synth that cannot be used in a context of multiple instruments.
    I was very disappointed by the Rhythm Wolf (in particular from the synth bass); i hope that Akai not make the same mistake and put on the market a finished product.

    1. Round Robin means each key press triggers the next OSC. When you get to OSC4, it will trigger OSC1 on the next press. It’s part of what made people love and hate the Oberheim 2,4,6 and 8 voice (SEMs).

      1. What you’re describing is also similar to what a Korg Mono/Poly does in poly mode when the arpeggiator is running . The Timbre Wolf actually has 4 complete 1 oscillator voices with individual envvelopes, filters and amps : So round robin would alternate more than just the oscillators. Too bad the voices are so limited , but at least they have individual outs !

  4. Oh gosh. Two things I just can’t understand. Why can’t Akai find someone who can actually play a friggin synth? And, why is everybody hating a synth which they haven’t even heard a proper demo of? I mean it’s polyphonic and super cheap. There is only one other synth on the market that gives you polyphony with dedicated single voices and that is the Vermona Perfourmer, which is three times the price. I will, at least, be patient and wait for some real demos before I judge that thing. It might be a nice little poly machine for a couple of bread and butter sounds, if Akai doesn’t f%$k it up completely.

    1. I was thinking the same thing when all of my Facebook friends were trashing it, but then I considered a few things…
      1. It’s the bass section of the RW times four, which sucks really really bad, multiplying it won’t make it suck any less at all. No LFO, no real egs and a really shifty filter.
      2. Dan Gill is the big boss at Akai as far as products go, and even though he can’t play a single chord, he still knows everything about the synth, and tells us everything we need to know about it. He envisions it a a four voice xox in another demo video, in this one he is more ambitious comparing it to an OB 4 Voice. In reality what he describes is exactly what it is, four RWs on a 2 octave keyboard. Which sucks.

      1. Not entirely true, the later demos saw the Akai representatives giving verbal appraisals only, rather than actually pressing any keys, hence there was some considerable improvement.

    3. Allow me to help you understand.

      1. We have heard it before! It is, by Akais own addmission, four of the bass oscillators taken straight from the Rtym Wolf. A drum-machine that has already been released to almost universal disdain. The bass section being the part most criticized. Akai refer to this 4xcompliment as “Analogue symmetry” whatever that means.

      2. $500 is not cheap to me. For this price it has to be half-decent at least. For much less than half the price you could get an M-audio Trigger finger, or a Beatstep pro and have a much more powerfull sequencer. Forget the lack of oscillators sice almost anything you interface your sequencer with, HW or SW, will be more malleable and provide more enjoyment.

  5. I think this is the best demo I’ve seen of this thing, but in my opinion it is still a wet fart generator rather than a synthesizer.

  6. Yeah, I’d like to hear a proper demo of what this synth can do. I imagine that being able to program each of the four voices independently of each other can make for some interesting sounds.

    1. Sadly, imagination is the only way you will be able to hear this produce “interesting sounds.”

      If your looking for a cheap analogue with a bit of character try the Bontempi Minstrel. Treat this as you would any real wolf. Make no attempt to domesticate it and leave it be in it’s natural habitat, roaming the wilderness. That includes its closest relative the Rytm too.

  7. The specs of the sequencer and the individual outs are the key to this one. I thinks it’s got potential depending on what you can do with the sequencer.

  9. I am actually looking forward to getting one of these. As a poly synth not so much but for EBM type basslines this will be killer. Having the same exactly oscillator 4 times each with slightly different tuning and filter settings rotating/sequencing along is killer. True it wont sound as nice as a Two Voice Obi but for those of us who want a old sound with some detuned charm Im guessing this is going to be fun. Everyone stop complaining so they actually release this as is 🙂 … and yes I love my Wolf too (and I’m not being paid by Akai).

  10. Wow, this thing sounds anemic. Can you imagine using this in a track? They should just re release the Akai ax60. At least that was a fun instrument. I have NO idea what to do with this thing that could justify the price.

    1. I miss my old Akai AX60. That said, recreating it today is out of the question – it used six CEM3394 synth voice ICs, each of which contained a VCO, VCF and VCA. Without those CEM ICs, it would require a massive board of off-the-shelf chips and discrete components.

      1. yup, I know, without those chips in production it’s impossible right now…. oh well. seems with such a resurgence, that at least some savvy manufacturer would at least whip up a batch of curtis chips or something…. (that said, I have no idea how much that would cost, even if you are making say 100,000 of them, or patents involved etc…)

  12. This was sorta sad. Great idea, great price. Turns out sound and execution matter though.

    With all of the feedback about the bass synth in the RW, I find it incredibly difficult to understand why they would do this. It almost seems user hostile.

  13. The slander is justified in this case, Akai really shit the bed here. I’d take a Bass Station 2 or a Minibrute any day over this piece of shit, regardless of polyphony. The Bass Station has patch memory, a sequencer, an arpeggiator, two (actually good sounding) filters plus effects for this price. Come on Quagmire.

    1. if they could reach mediocrity it would be impressive ….Rythm Wolf,MPX16 and now this….they are obviously trying to plumb the depths of “total garbage” rather than aim for the heady heights of mediocrity……

  17. It seems Akai is making no effort to hide the fact that it’s simply trying to cash in on the analog craze by throwing shit at the wall.

  18. from a marketing perspective, it might have been better not to let this video out. first impressions might not be everything but they do make an impact and this video was pretty sad. I will for sure be curious to hear more demos though.

  20. too bad there’s no way to cross modulate or sync the oscillators to each other… or did I miss something?
    could the oscillators FM the filters?… combined with ON/OFF toggle switches, that could make it interesting..

  21. Akai makes some nice controllers.

    This instrument needs more work. It’s obviously the result of marketing research telling the poor engineers to “make a poly analog for under $500 or else”. Don’t blame the engineers. This obviously wasn’t their idea.

    Akai needs to summon damage control and get a fantastic video with good sound showing this thing off ASAP. In fact, every single one of these manufacturers needs to have video with good sound ready to roll the day they make their NAMM announcement. It’s not the 1980s anymore. You can’t sit around for 6 months getting your things together after your NAMM announcement. It has to be ready to go and show people with a totally pro and slick look.

  22. After AKAI’s extremely poor response in dealing with up-to-date Mac drivers for their EIE Pro (an awful product anyway), I will never trust or purchase another one of their crappy products again. Besides that, this ‘synth’ looks like a total rip-off design of an Arturia Minibrute SE, which I’m pretty certain is a much more superior machine.

    1. “I will never trust or purchase another one of their crappy products again”

      I have a couple Akai products that are really great. The new MPK Mini 2 is cool and useful, them having added the pitch bend wheel I requested, and swing on the arpeggiator. I don’t know what the situation is with the engineers doing synthesis engine design, but it does seem they are learning as they go along. Eventually they might get there. I think their physical hardware itself is not bad and is improving. Obviously the most bad ass company right now is Korg, but it’s not even Korg, it’s ONE GUY at Korg, a Japanese genius designer who combines incredible musical talent with astonishing engineering talent focusing on novel and interesting user interfaces. This counter cultural lunatic is producing insanely cheap and extremely clever instruments. Now this year, just this week in fact, we find there’s some similar minded people at Teenage Engineering.

      Akai can do the same, but they need to get best in class engineer/musicians (can’t just be one), toss out the marketing guys, and let the people who love electronic music do their thing. Maybe they will even kick ass with some incredible budget instrument that supports music from non-western cultures, and own the market consisting of the 6 billion people on the planet not obsessed with the boring clockwork drek that is western european music and typified by 95% of the “synth sunday” postings here.

    2. Not sure where you see the resemblance, other than the fact that tgey both have keyboard.

      This is built like a tank and more sophisticated sequencer, but has a much simpler synth architecture .

  24. seems to me like the only major drawback here is that they accidentally priced this about $200 more than it is worth. oops.

    as a musical toy though, i have no doubt i could run this through some effects and get some nice sounds in the end. like someone else has already pointed out, i think the key here is going to be the sequencer. im hoping they make enough and market the shit out of this so that a bunch of kids who dont know any better buy these up and the sell them two weeks later because they can’t find the ‘make me sound like avicii’ button.

    at least i won’t hear anyone bitch about minikeys…

  25. I have a Rhythm Wolf and I love it! No I’m not insane, yes I understand its failings. For the price its a great live controller, the drum sounds are fun and the bass synth… well thats where it goes wrong sound wise but you do get it to output to MIDI. For the price it is great.

    Now the Timbre Wolf is a different kettle of fish, for one it will be more expensive. Second going on what the Bass synth is like on the RW if the TW is just 4x that it will sound bad. I for one wont be queuing up to buy one on the spec Ive seen so far, however if the 4 voices are stable and sound better than the single synth on the RW there could be a glimmer of hope for it.

  26. ok – so lots of negative comments about this but I have a question. If one is looking for a low-ish cost 1st analogue synth to get a teenager what else is there on the market at this kind of price level that has a sequencer etc ? this is a serious question – i’m looking for advice from those of you who know these instruments well ! I guess there’s the 3 volca keys units, but those are very different – yes ?

    1. Volcas are much better than this. You can get the 3-pack for like $320. And the microbrute is better than this as well, as is the bass station. I own the Volcas and the Microbrute. I’ve owned at least 30 mono synths. old and new. The microbrute is no joke, it is unlike any I have ever owned, very unique in a good way. I’ve also owned all the X0X boxes, the Volcas are no joke.

      1. Arturia are coming up with the goods these days no doubt about it….I have a SparkLE which I brought after being burnt by the poxy MPX16 and haven’t looked back…I am saving for the MicroBrute which looks amazing ….and I really really want a BeatStep Pro too because that looks like it is going to be a “game changer” (how I loath that phrase…) when it comes to live performances with multiple synths…….The Volca Bass makes the Rhythm Wolf look like exactly what it is: a piece of over-priced junk, what was it one guy said on here? something like “a fart machine with a step sequencer”, I will never trust Akai again, they know they are selling junk and they don’t appear to care either….

  28. Why anyone would buy this is beyond me…four Rhythm Wolfs!…you could have eight of the bleeders and it would still be a pile of cack….I don’t know what is going on at Akai these days….all their lower price kit seems to be junk (I wont even sell my MPX16,despite having offers, because I don’t want to make someone as frustrated and disappointed as it made me…) and after having had to go to their forums it looks like a lot of the higher priced stuff is full of bugs and problems too…. ..maybe you could make it sound good running it through a few effects (though I doubt it) but why should you?…. The people they are aiming these boxes of misery at are people with little to no experience of synths, they are “entry level” products, the huge problems with these products are likely to turn someone off rather than make one want to get further involved……for a few quid more you could buy all sorts of much better kit…bloody hell you could prolly get the three original Volca’s for that by now and have infinitely more fun….or if you are willing to fore go analogue, for thirty quids extra an electribe….if you want a good step sequencer get a Beatstep or the (amazing looking..) Beatstep Pro……whatever you don’t buy these Wolf’s …Akai are either employing idiots or wilfully extracting the urine from the poor doomed suckers that buy these pieces of absolute crap…..

  30. A 4x Mono. Poly Multi..Nice keybed.Attractive.The controls of env. amount. , res. cut-off, decay…wave shape…linked by the osc. (MOOG LADDER…I “M CERTAIN IF YOU WATCH THE 500 LADDER DEMO YOU LL SEE ITIS THE SAME FUNCTIONS ONLY BUT 1 or 2 different break downs…but res. env amount cut off and decay plus filter)but there’s priority note settings 4 gates with two track self and other routings and trigger functions 4 independent sequencers….and you can use them in a couple of ways…and they are step programmable….rec functions.. those!
    .It sounds odd that the off beat tact-less…responses are as funky and synthetic as it is…as this new hot entry by AKAI…IT PERHAPS ,WILL BE A GREAT ISSUE LOOKING BACKWARD & MY SYNTH IS ON THE WAY…RIGHT NOW IT’S HEADING HERE.MY TIMBRE WOLF.

  31. I have one. It sounds good on the unison setting, especially with slight variation in the adjustments to each voice. You need to run it through speakers with decent bass to hear its true character.

    Using poly can sound pretty cool when you have a sequence running and, again, vary each voice. I would not recommend the mono setting. 32 steps is enough room to get creative. It doesn’t have a good ‘lead synth’ tone I’ll admit. But for bass or subtle background sounds its good.

    Go it for $300 and its worth that. I would not pay $500 for one.

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