In his latest Sonic Lab video, host Nick Batt takes an in-depth look at the new Arturia PolyBrute 12 synthesizer, the flagship of their hardware synth line.
The Arturia Polybrute 12 takes their Brute line to new level, pairing their expressive FullTouch keyboard with a powerful 12-voice architecture, and adding a ribbon controller, Morphée pad, bi-timbral morphing presets and more.
Batt says that the PolyBrute 12 “doesn’t disappoint” and “is a very impressive instrument”.
Check out the review, and then share your thoughts on the PolyBrute 12 in the comments!
Wish I had the scratch to afford this but I’m genuinely happy for anybody that gets their hands on what seems like a modern day classic.
I’ve got to agree. The Matrixbrute is a masterpiece of modern-day monosynths, and now the Polybrute is a pinnacle of polyphonic playability.
The way I see it, the Polybrute excels in at least three major ways:
1. It is a _very_ stable synthesizer in a notoriously challenging domain of electronics,
2. It is truly innovative in the morphee transitions between pairs of patches, and
3. It incorporates multiple new forms of expressive playability.
Arturia is very much on a roll these days, and I hope this continues long into the future. I have a Matrixbrute that I absolutely love, but my lack of playing skills wins out over my deep longing to get my hands on this new instrument! To me, the asking price is quite reasonable, and as before, Arturia’s intention is clearly NOT to make this a boutique instrument.
Finally, what can I say about Nick Batt’s skill at understanding and describing these instruments for us? It’s so obvious that this man has deep talent and love for his craft, and along with his ability to bring out the sounds for our benefit is, as far as I can tell, the best all-around package out there today. Bravo!
Yeah, its pricey. This is what you should get for the money, but its also an excellent early guidepost for how to implement such expressive features. If the trickle-down works, we’ll start seeing very solid synths with just two or three of them, for more real-world prices. That will be plenty for a lot of players. The 12 is a gorgeous, aspirational instrument.
I contacted Arturia. I agreed to waive a portion of my standard endorsement fee if they give me a PolyBrute 12.
I’ll wait for the 73 key version without the Morphe pad which is redundant based on the multiple aftertouch modes.
Good. Now they need to launch an 8 or 6-voice dark version under 2.5K, and we are all in.
I played with it at Superbooth. Amazing synth. I love the polyphonic aftertouch and all the expressive controllers. I wished the patch switching was a bit quicker, but that might be fixed with future firmware updates.
I admire flagship synths like this like I admire high-end sports cars. Not in my budget, but I’m glad they exist.
Only high end sport cars are usually not mass produced in china
That is what was missing from the PolyBrute, consistent polyphony. Well done.