Nord User Forum

Certainly not at Nord but I came across this Venom at a quite low price. Is it any good?
http://www.thomann.de/gb/m-audio_venom.htm

I was very interested in the Venom some time ago ... but got cold feet after reading several reviews ... but I really don't know for sure. Did not buy it anyhow. But if the price is "right" ...

Sort of "you get what you paid for"? I guess that it must be on of the cheapest synths at < 200 Euro...

I've demoed it, it surely has some decent sounds, but I just did not feel so inspired by the unit itself. I think the newer King Korg has a similar concept and it is much higher quality. You should check that one out.

In the review Sonicstate did, Nick got some interesting sounds out of it. If I'm not mistaken, they were selling at 400+ euro when introduced. Now, you can get a second hand one for 125-150 euro. For people who got them when they were introduced, they were a really lousy investment.

I wonder if M-Audio still makes them or if they cut their losses; quite a few shops don't carry them anymore, so perhaps the new ones still on sale are ones still in stock. That might explain why they're being sold at less then half the introduction price (= shops trying hard to get rid of them).

Edit: wasn't the Venom pretty much competing with the Novation Ultranova? That one's still sold new at almost 600 euro. I had one and it was a solid unit (even though it is completely constructed out of plastic), but I got rid of it in favor of a Waldorf Blofeld.

mjbrands wrote:Edit: wasn't the Venom pretty much competing with the Novation Ultranova? That one's still sold new at almost 600 euro. I had one and it was a solid unit (even though it is completely constructed out of plastic), but I got rid of it in favor of a Waldorf Blofeld.

I think so, I also used to have an Ultranova but I seriously was turned off by it when I had it in my hands. Ended up selling it after 6 months of not using it a bit. I think microkorg XL was the best one in that category. That's why I still have it

Saludos,
Gustavo

The venom seems to be a bit more complex than the micro korg. Yes, the sonicstate review was informative and they highlight a number of issues with it, but at 198 Euro... You cannot buy anything else with keys for the Thomann price (oh, yes, that Volca toy ). And yes probably likely that they might be getting rid of all their stock. I came across this completely by chance when looking at the rank of sold kbds. Interesting what their ranking looks like (if it is to be believed... over 1000 stylophones sold? Where are all those players hiding? ).
http://www.thomann.de/gb/prod_vrank~ncx.html?ar=259652

I guess that if you have the money and dont mind parting with it, then go ahead and get it. Worst case scenario you have a €198 decoration.

On a side note, I got a Volca Bass and I love its sound. I havent tried on a band context but I have been using it as a module controlled bythe extern section and it is very fun. I fully recommend it.

I am not thinking of getting a Venom, I was just commenting on the low price, and curious if anybody had tried one out. After seeing the sonicstate review I realised that there are some design issues and also computer is needed to program all the parameters. One thing I do not like of that is that as time passes, it becomes increasingly difficult to run synth editors and librarians that do not get updated in out of date hardware and computer OSs.

Yeah, the computer needed part is annoying. I'd rather get Omnisphere if I'm going to be glued to a computer.

My local music store has had a venom for quite a while and they haven't sold it. Kromes Kronos Electros Motifs and the new Casio SYNTHS have come and gone but no one seems to want to buy the venom