M Audio Venom Synthesizer

The front panel is a sparse affair, featuring only controls for the audio interface and four endless rotary encoders to control synth parameters. All the real action happens in the Vyzex software editor.

Unsurprisingly, the ring modulator keeps us in 'challenging' territory. Derived from the first two oscillators, its output is mixed with the internal and external signals, the latter including the summed audio inputs or audio channelled via USB.

M Audio Venom Synthesizer

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Click to a different part of M-Audio's website and you'll also see a raft of audio interfaces too. M-Audio made its name producing high-quality, affordable interfaces and, of course, with the success of the M-Powered relationship some provide highly desirable Pro Tools integration.

M-Audio has experimented with keyboards that also provide audio interfacing before, through products such as the KeyStudio. However when Venom, the subject of this review was unveiled at NAMM, it wasn't the combination of keyboard and audio interface that had everyone buzzing.

The excitement stemmed from the fact that this is no mere keyboard but instead provides M-Audio's first foray into true synthesizer territory. Here, then, is a keyboard controller, a USB interface, a synth with a collection of sampled onboard synth sounds, audio input, performance dials and lots more besides.

At the back, you'll find the physical ports to enable instrument and microphone inputs as well as Sustain and Expression pedal ports. The MIDI trio of In, Out and Thru are joined by a USB port for audio interfacing and instant DAW integration of keyboard data signals while a 9V power port completes the line up.

M-Audio clearly thought long and hard about how to make their first foray into synthesizer production and they've made a sensible choice when deciding how to pack this instrument with great-sounding patches.

Venom's audio interface is also of a very decent quality. The inputs on the back for microphone and instruments are self-explanatory, while the RCA phono inputs can be used to route any stereo audio into Venom.

The latter option inserts audio before the filter, so effectively replaces the oscillator stage but benefits from Venom's synth engine and all of the effects thereafter. It's possible to use all four inputs at once, though be aware that as only two inputs are available over USB, any signals coming in via the left side of the stereo input will be mixed with the microphone input, while the right-hand side shares the instrument one.

There's a pleasingly no-nonsense approach to the Venom's audio interfacing, as the instrument and mic gain dials are mounted on the top panel rather than being buried in menus, like some other interfaces.

The M-Audio Venom 12-Voice Virtual Analog Synthesizer delivers the warmth and tone of vintage analog synthesizers with the modern edge of software editing and control in a compact 49 key frame that travels light. The Venom is compact but packs a large bite with an array of synthesizer sounds from atmospheric and subtle, to angry and downright nasty. The included Vyzex Venom software will display all the keyboard's parameters for endless sound design and configuration possibilities. Perform bass lines, leads, and record into the built-in phrase sequencer. The Venom also features an array of internal effects, arpegiators complete software control over MIDI.

Flash forward past many years of learning synths, sound design, sampling, and sequencing, and by a strange set of coincidences, I find myself working at a really great company, helping to make all kinds of synthesizers. In fact, it just happens to be my dream job, and I enthusiastically join my friends in the creation of every synth ever engineered there. 2ff7e9595c