Analogue Solutions Vostok mk-1

[computron]

I know a guy about 300 miles from me who runs a synth museum. He’s a really cool cat and has let me play with everything they have for a short bit. From a Kitten, Cat, Oscar , Arps including a Quadra, Synthex, Older SH's ect . I left my number and email with him last year and he contacted me today with a Vostok mk-1 for sale.He is asking 1,400.I don’t know much about this synth and info seems to be hard to come by. I know its a modular and I have always wanted to get into a modular. Would this be a good first modular synth? Anyone have any time with one and knows anything about them?

[101 Force]

If I were in your shoes, and I had no major financial responsibilities, I'd buy it just to develop a good rapport with him. Don't haggle with him about the price, but when you pick it up talk to him as much as you can about how you're interested in buying some of the more vintage or rare gear he's got in the future should he ever choose to sell it. The worst case scenario here is you sell the Vostok MK-1 because it doesn't suit your needs for a little less than what you paid for, but this guy will now seriously consider contacting you when he's selling something truly awesome. Of course, you should probably start putting aside a bit of money each month, so in the off-chance he wants to sell something like a Synthex in the future you'll have the money for it.

[computron]

If I were in your shoes, and I had no major financial responsibilities, I'd buy it just to develop a good rapport with him. Don't haggle with him about the price, but when you pick it up talk to him as much as you can about how your interested in buying some of the more vintage or rare gear he's got in the future should he ever choose to sell it. The worst case scenario here is you sell the Vostok MK-1 because it doesn't suit your needs for a little less than what you paid for, but this guy will now seriously consider contacting you when he's selling something truly awesome. Of course, you should probably start putting aside a bit of money each month, so in the off-chance he wants to sell something like a Synthex in the future you'll have the money for it.

Thats a good point.He was such a nice guy when I was there he let me play with everything and of course I was like touching a new born with some of these old awesome synths.He has so many and he seemed just so happy to show them to someone.The synthex I was most impressed with along with the ton of Crumar struff I never had the chance to see or hear before.a stratus, Spirit, bit one, and bit 99.The spirt was mind blowing.anyway yea the price dont seem to bad just looking for some more info about this Vostok mk-1 before I make a trip to see it(and of course get stuck on some of his other synths while there)

[101 Force]

I haven't used one myself, and there are lot of crummy demos out there of it in my opinion, but this demo and this demo suggest it would be a useful, and interesting synthesizer to me.

[computron]

I haven't used one myself, and there are lot of crummy demos out there of it in my opinion, but this demo and this demo suggest it would be a useful, and interesting synthesizer to me.

yea that first one was the best i found online too.alot of non plesnet demos on you tube. here is this one playing with others that anit so ear bleeding and sounds pretty cool

[speak_onion]

I would definitely hit that. Vostok is my dream monosynth, and even if you buy it and then turn around and think, "I DON'T LIKE THIS AND I REALLY DIDN'T HAVE $1400 TO SPEND ON A SYNTH!" you can get your $$ back on a re-sale.

[Joey]

if you want to hear some tracks with the vostok check out NIN's songs "sunspots" and "corona radiata" in sunspots it does the crazy shifting lead thing in the chorus, and in corona radiata it does the low drone you hear throughout the entire track.

also there are some vostok tracks here:

http://soundcloud.com/lyonel

[meatballfulton]

You might want to read up on the MkI vs. MkII.

The SoundOnSound review suggests some bugginess. Analogue Solutions is constantly tweaking units so this particular MkI may or may not exhibit these.

The price compared to a brand new one is fantastic.

[n3wt15]

Never used one, but they have always interested me, I've wanted one for a while.
If you decide not to get it, shoot him a message saying your not interested, but you know someone who is.
I would seriously consider it as a next purchase, though it would kill my funds im saving for a nice compressor

[Soundwave]

You might want to read up on the MkI vs. MkII.

The SoundOnSound review suggests some bugginess. Analogue Solutions is constantly tweaking units so this particular MkI may or may not exhibit these.

The price compared to a brand new one is fantastic.

I own a Vostok Mk1 and the SOS's review is a little harsh on an early production model imho

the slight VCO portamento can be solved by using shorting pins instead of resistor pins
the case is a little flimsy although it will fit into any 6U enclosure and the metal MK2 case is available from AS but not sure of the $£ without the PSU
the digital wavetable VCO on the MK1 can only track two or three octaves on a good day (probably why it was replaced on the MK2) however it makes a great mod source at low frequencies with many glitchy rhythmic waveforms at the tweak of a knob (one of my fave features using it this way)
the MIDI/CV converter in the review model obviously wasn't calibrated correctly or wasn't using shorting pins instead of resistor pins


a Vostok is basically a good combination of AS Concussor modules in a handy portable package with the added bonus of the mod matrix which allows you to quickly and easily group several mod and destination sources at the same time instead of the usual one in one out jack lead (which is also an option for use with other modular gear like Doepfer) however this isn't an exact science so learning the best combination of resistors and shorting pins is all part of learning the synth which is where the brief review time of SOS article falls short imho

sure it has its other little quirks but they aren't show stoppers and at the end of the day this is a hand made synth with a lot more features than you would get from its rivals (this side of a Serge) and with a very wide range of weird and wonderful sounds, turn levels down and it behaves like a regular analogue monosynth but the design allows you to crank things up more than you ever could on a digitally controlled analogue (and most regular analogues too) and your soon in extreme territory that even some vintage classics fear to tread

all in all a very powerful Frankenstein of a machine that requires a little dedication to find the sweet spots but I've never spent so long messing around on just one synth as the immediacy of real controls and the infinite variations to explore (especially with the mod matrix) give you something new every time and even then there's stuff on youtube that I haven't come close to yet





the price is a little steep but it is a boutique hand made synth however 2nd hand they are a steal for the features and raw sound

one for the die hard analogue maniacs out there

[computron]

Never used one, but they have always interested me, I've wanted one for a while.
If you decide not to get it, shoot him a message saying your not interested, but you know someone who is.
I would seriously consider it as a next purchase, though it would kill my funds im saving for a nice compressor

I am going to see the mk1 this wensday if it does not strrike my fancy I will let you know.


Thanks soundwave for the first hand info

[analoglsd]

So what's the verdict?
Did you go check it out or what?
I actually bought one locally, used last week, and I'm totally loving it, although I haven't done anything too exotic with it yet.
It sounds amazing. Blows my MS-20 out of the water.
The one I got was bought new about 3 months ago, so it's the latest and greatest, but I'd be really interested to check out the V1 as it had the digital wave table oscillator, which, honestly, I'd rather have.

[Phollop Willing PA]

So what's the verdict?
Did you go check it out or what?
I actually bought one locally, used last week, and I'm totally loving it, although I haven't done anything too exotic with it yet.
It sounds amazing. Blows my MS-20 out of the water.
The one I got was bought new about 3 months ago, so it's the latest and greatest, but I'd be really interested to check out the V1 as it had the digital wave table oscillator, which, honestly, I'd rather have.

I know of one for sale down the road from me, $2500 CDN.

http://halifax.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell ... Z244885126

Seems steep.

[th0mas]

Personally for the price I'd be looking towards a doepfer or similar modular simple because you can swap out modules. It seems to be the first thing anyone starts doing once they own a modular - oh I just need another X (filter, osc, lfo, env, etc.. probably all of the above hahaha).

To have a prebuilt case would remove that lust for more modules but compared to a modular where you can swap modules you're definitely lacking some of the benefit.

[Sir Nose]

If and when I have the cash and desire for a modular. A precased unit is the only way I would trust myself. They don't call it "Eurocrack" for no reason. I could tell, I'd be a filter junky in a hurry. Then there's the unique math modules. A CV delay, sequencers, unique controllers for multiple parameters, if I start the search for the perfect oscillator tone I'd end up compromising some of my personal moral standards.