Pros:
- Outstanding build quality
- Top-notch Fatar keybed
These two reasons alone made me purchase this product, even though originally I was looking just for the quality MIDI keyboard to hook up to my PC and play jazz on electric pianos VSTs. However, the "synth" part of the product turned out to be fantastic as well.
Continuing with pros:
- Fantastic oscillators: you can get sounds that are impossible unless you go modular, super inspiring
- Very responsive joystick, combining both classic wheels into one control
- Subjective, but visually I find it very beautiful, and so does almost everyone who sees it in the room
- Modal's product support is great. Not only they continue rolling out new firmwares and developing the already great product further (as of December 2022), also they reply all emails in a very polite and helpful manner.
Pros with a "but":
- Effects are hit or miss. With the latest firmware update some are now excellent, some are still lacking. However, all of them are usable, and even the not-so-good ones don't sound bad. Will I use the built-in effects when recording? Hell no, I'll use my VSTs. Will I feel bad about using these effects if playing live? Absolutely not, they sound good enough.
- Same goes for filters. Some sound excellent, some don't. Also all usable, and I don't feel bad about them.
- Handling is ok, most of the functions are labelled on the synth. However, I'm giving it 4/5 starts for two reasons. First of all, not ALL functions are labelled. Some you just have to find out about in the manual, and then memorize them. And also, secondary functions are in a grey-blue colour on a dark blue background. There is no way you can see it well in the dark environment. Still, after spending a couple of months with it, and learning all shortcuts, I can handle it with my eyes closed.
- Mod matrix is ok. However, even on Microfreak it's implemented in a more convenient and straightforward way. Still, it's usable, and not too irritating to program.
- Connectivity is excellent except for unbalanced outputs. Not a big deal for me personally, but might be not so nice for those who play live on big stages with long cables. Other than that, hooking up different sustain or expression pedals and setting them up is no problem.
- The sound is clean, but it's very quiet. It got fixed a bit with the latest firmware, but it's still weirdly quiet comparing to other synths.
- ModalApp is an amazing piece of software, but it still feels a bit janky. You cannot drag and drop patches, you don't have dropout menus when you need them, so you have to hold and drag, looking for the option you need, etc. So, UX can be definitely improved still. However, compared to competitors, it's insanely useful.
- ModalApp VST works perfectly on MacOS. You can use it as any other plugin in your DAW, and you don't need any connection other than USB from the synth you your MacOS device. However, with Windows things are much more complicated. You have to connect your synth to PC via USB in order for VST to send information back and forth. But since you also want to send MIDI to synth from your DAW as well, you need to connect it to your PC once again using standard MIDI cables. Also you need to set up your DAW in a specific way, and you cannot use Cobalt's keyboard as your MIDI controller anymore. So, if you are on Windows as I am, you have to do extra work or give up using the VST. Not Modal's fault, but Window's audio architecture quirks. Still sucks.
Speaking of cons, I cannot think of any, really. There are a couple of annoying things that bother me personally, but I don't feel to bad about them.
- The aftertouch is quite stiff (to be fair, it's not worse than on most synths). It's not Modal's fault, but Fatar's, but I know it can be done better nowadays. And it's not poly, which is also a bit of a bummer.
- Some parameters can be done a bit better with simple tweaks. For example, I don't want a single pitch bend range for down and up, give me two separate parameters. Also I want to create my own default preset, so when I initialize the patch, I don't have to set up a dozen of parameters that I want my every patch to have, etc. Stuff like that - it's not too bad, but a bit annoying.
Overall, it's a fantastic product. I'd have bought it even as a MIDI keyboard, because the build quality and keybed alone are worth the price and stand strong against the competitors. However, the synth is just top notch, and what's most important for me - a lot of fun. Cobalt 8X quickly became one of my favorite instruments ever, there is just something very special about it, so I end up playing it almost every day.
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