NAMM: M-AUDIO VENOM

Update: M-Audio Venom Review & Interview here
Update: already on eBay
"Top Features
the warmth of vintage keyboards combined with modern digital processing > aggressive new sound
512 single-sound patches and 256 layered patches > start playing right out of the box
intuitive real-time performance controls plus software editor > endless sound design possibilities
49-key, full-size, synth-action keyboard > great playability
Pro Tools compatible USB audio/MIDI interface > ready for the stage and studio
The M-Audio Venom 49-key synthesizer combines the character of classic analog synths with modern digital processing to deliver an aggressive, infectious new sound. Whet your appetite with the included presets, then sink your teeth into creating original sounds—from atmospheric and subtle, to angry and downright nasty. Easily tweak parameters from the intuitive top-panel interface, or explore endless sound design and configuration possibilities with the included software editor. Perform bass lines, leads, and more with a full-size keyboard designed to satisfy serious players. You can even use Venom as an audio interface with Pro Tools M-Powered* and other music software—forming a powerful production machine to take your music in dangerous new directions.
* Requires Pro Tools M-Powered 8 or higher.

Full Features
49-key, full-size, synth-action keyboard
12-voice polyphony, each voice including:

* 3 oscillators with 41 waveforms and 53 drum sounds sampled from vintage analog synths, FM digital synths, and drum machines
* pulse-width modulation, sync, FM, and ring modulation
* resonant multimode filter with tube saturation limiting
o 12 dB/octave (2-pole) low pass
o 12 dB/octave (2-pole) band pass
o 12 dB/octave (2-pole) high pass
o 24 dB/octave (4-pole) low pass
o 24 dB/octave (4-pole) band pass
o 24 dB/octave (4-pole) high pass
* 3 LFOs with selectable sample-and-hold
* 3 AHDSR envelopes
* 16 modulation routes

4-part multitimbral operation with independent MIDI-syncable phrase sequencers
512 onboard Single patches
256 onboard Multi (layered) patches
2 global bus effects

* Reverb, Delay, Chorus, Flanger, Phaser

1 insert effect per multitimbral part (4 total)

* Compression, EQ, Distortion, Bit Reduction, Decimation

classic arpeggiator with up, down, and alternating patterns
tap-tempo and manual BPM control from top panel
built-in USB 2.0 audio/MIDI interface (USB 1.1 backward compatible)

* 2 x 2 24-bit, 44.1 kHz operation
* mic, instrument, and stereo line level inputs route to DAW
* synth sounds route to DAW
* DAW audio output mixes into main outputs
* stereo main audio outputs (1/4" TS)
* stereo headphone output (1/4" TRS)
* master volume knob; instrument and mic gain knobs
* MIDI In and MIDI Out (5-pin DIN)

large custom LCD
4 rotary encoders and 1 button for performance control and editing
dual-function octave up/down and transpose controls
assignable pitch bend and modulation wheels
sustain (1/4" TS) and expression (1/4" TRS) pedal inputs
included Vyzex Venom software editor

* arrange sounds into banks, rename patches, and save backups
* patch collider feature mashes up multiple patches to create new hybrid sounds
* 16-cell modulation matrix offers comprehensive routing configurations"



Update:



Update:

Avid Venom - NAMM 2011

YouTube via soundonsoundvideo | January 15, 2011 |

"12 Voice Virtual Analogue Synthesizer"

Introducing Venom from Avid on Vimeo.

"Feast your ears on the new M-Audio Venom synth—plus hear from veteran synthheads The Crystal Method, Mark Mothersbaugh, and James Dewees."

Update:

NAMM 2011 - Crystal Method Pimpin' M-Audio Venom

YouTube via SynthMeTV | January 16, 2011 |

"One of the big reveals at NAMM 2011 has been the new Venom synthesizer from Avis / M-Audio. This is their first ever hardware synthesizer that was teased pretty hard before the show with video they released featuring Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland of Crystal Method drooling over the "Storm Trooper" synth off camera. Check out the panel from NAMM with Scott and Ken talking about the Venom and even playing us some new tracks they used the synth. Scott even gets up and noodles on the patches for us. Good stuff!"

Update: Keyboard Magazine videos:







Update:

M Audio Venom synth demo

musicradartv | January 16, 2011

M-Audio Venom Controlled by TouchOSC

Two parts. Part 1 is a lead in to Part 2. Do not miss Part 2 (watch past :46). Watch these full screen 720HD to read the labels and see what I'm doing. I just started creating the editor and exploring the Venom. Aggressive and powerful little synth. You can find the template here.

M-Audio Venom Controlled by TouchOSC Part 1 of 2

YouTube via matrixsynth | Feb 24, 2011 |

"Watch 720HD full screen to see the waveform names and what I'm doing in detail. Prototype TouchOSC template controlling M-Audio Venom using The Missing Link to translate OSC to MIDI. Only one oscillator on the Venom is heard in a latched arpeggio. This page in TouchOSC allows you to select the waveform via toggle buttons and via a slider at the bottom. All 94 waveforms are available. Be sure to see Part 2. The purpose of these videos is primarily to showcase the editor controlling the Venom. It sounds much better live. The audio in on my Canon Rebel T2i isn't cutting it. But yes, this can be one aggressive sounding synth."

M-Audio Venom Controlled by TouchOSC Part 2 of 2

matrixsynth | Feb 24, 2011 |

"Watch in 720HD full screen to see what I'm doing in detail. I don't want to give it away, but let's just say there are some interesting things going on in this one... "

Update: For details see this post.

Full Venom Review with tips & tricks here.
M-Audio Venom
The Missing Link - wifimidi.com
iPads on eBay
TouchOSC - hexler

M-Audio "Venus" : a New Side to the M-Audio Venom Synthesizer

Published on Apr 20, 2017 Cloudwalk Music

"I am sharing these sounds and more for free, in a bank of 33 single presets for the M-Audio Venom. You can download the SQB file at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/87nu1o16x6...

I wanted to make this demo to show off the versatility of the M-Audio Venom. Most fans are familiar with it's edgy, gritty, dance and industrial sounds. These are great sounds themselves and really set the Venom apart as a unique sounding instrument, but I wanted to show that the Venom is capable of much more versatility, like beefy vintage synth sounds, colorful digital sounds, softer sides like pads, and even electric pianos.

I decided to share these presets since the M-Audio Venom has a very small sound library. Venom users deserve more sounds!"

M-Audio Venom Videos by filoswerk

YouTube Uploaded by filoswerk
Don't miss my M-Audio Venom Review and Interview with Product Manager Taiho Yamada

Playlist:
M-Audio Venom Controls
Venom Multi Part Program
M-Audio Venom Pitch Bend Range.mp4
Pro Tools playback M-Audio Venom

First Look Review of M-Audio Venom Synth

First Look Review of M-Audio Venom Synth from AIR Users Blog on Vimeo.

"An initial first look taster review of the M-Audio Venom synth.

Russ shows you some of the reasons why he has written such a glowing review on the AIR Users Blog.

Read the whole review on the blog" No link provided in the description.

M-Audio Venom Vyzex Show And Tell from AIR Users Blog on Vimeo.

"Another M-Audio Venom video.

This time Russ shows you around the new Vyzex editor and gives you an in depth tour of the FREE software that comes with the new Venom Synth."

RS042 M-Audio Venom: The Bad Guy

video upload by rejected synths

"It one of storytelling's oldest tricks, the bad guy that turn out to be the good guy. From Dickens’ Ebeneezer Scrooge to Jane Austen‘s Mr Darcy, from J.K Rowling‘s Snape to (who ever came up with him!?) Jonny Lawrence from Corbra Kai, the tough guys aren‘t as tough in the end and often the bad reputation they carry isn‘t really their own fault.

So, will a synth that is both notorious for being little more than a dub step noise machine and a cheaply built and quickly abandoned piece of glossy white plastic actually turn out to be the hero of the story?

It very much depends on who tells the story here, as M-Audio‘s Venom clearly has it‘s strengths if you can overlook the questionable design decisions made during it‘s inception. Like the hard to read grey on grey lettering or the fact that M-Audio thinks it totally ok for a stand alone hardware synth to heavily rely on a software editor that requires a PCor Mac to be able to utilize most of its extensive set synth engine features. Even the Virtual Analog Synthesizer claim that is prominently featured on the synth itself, it a bit of a hoax, as the Venom basically is just a souped up Rompler running on Amtel‘s Dream series ICs that were also found in PC sound cards and Karaoke Machines in the late 90s and early 2000s.

If you ignore these shortcomings and manage to get the editor running, you might be surprised of what the Venom can actually do. Apart from all the obvious dirty and distorted stuff, a lot can be achieved with the synth engine. Also as it was designed as an all in one solution for music beginners, you can even use it to record and process other instruments and even your own voice (vocoder anyone?).

Last but not least, the Venom might be pretty much the only synth whose price tag doesn‘t seem to have skyrocketed during the pandemic, here in Europe, you can still regularity find one for around 100€!

Curious? Then go ahead and press play!"

0:00 Intro
0:46 Introduction
1:29 The ugly parts
2:10 The bad parts
3:12 The good parts
4:35 Controls and connectivity
6:07 'Sick and Nasty' Patches
8:40 'Mad FX' Patches
9:29 'Whirling Pad' Patches
13:19 'Clean Keys' Patches
14:54 'Stained Keys' Patches
18:12 'Amazing Arp' Patches
20:46 'Traditional' Patch
21:13 Some Drumkits
22:39 Multi Mode Demo
25:31 Conclusion
26:10 Outro

RS042.1 M-Audio Venom: 'No Talking Edition'


"This is a shorter 'No Talking' edit of my video about the M-Audio Venom for those who prefer 'pure' demos without comments."

VenomControl Editor and Control Surface for the M-Audio Venom

VenomControl (Editor and control surface for the M-Audio Venom synthesizer)

YouTube Published on Aug 22, 2012 by june74tube

"More info at: http://www.fabriziopoce.com/VenomControl.html

Editor and control surface for full integration of the M-Audio Venom synthesizer in Ableton Live (Max for Live required). The package provides tools for preset storage&recall, automation, full-parameter access synthesis and preset morphing, integrated in Live's native GUI.

It requires a Max for Live license in order to be used."

If you have an iPad, check out my editor here. Also see my M-Audio Venom Review and Interview with Product Manager Taiho Yamada including a tips and tricks section. And finally, see the M-Audio Venom blog for more.

Related: MTribe Monotribe Editor

New M-Audio Venom Blog & Alternate Designs of the Venom

Taiho Yamada, Product Manager for the M-Audio Venom.

"My dad is cool.

One day when we were getting out of the car to visit my grandparents, my dad and I heard the sound of someone playing a synthesizer from an open window of a nearby apartment building. The sound twisted and morphed and made music in ways I’d never heard before. My dad asked me if I liked it and I said, 'Yes.' That one word changed the course of my life.

A short time later, I had my first analog synthesizer. My dad bought it for me, but I’m pretty sure that he secretly played with it after I’d gone to bed. It was a budget synth, but designed by the master himself, Bob Moog. On this instrument, I learned about Oscillators, Filters, LFOs, Envelopes, Pitch Wheels, Mod Wheels, Portamento, and Sync. I was nine years old."

Taiho Yamada, M-Audio's Venom Project Lead, has started a new blog on the Venom. Currently there are two posts up. One with an interview of Taiho and one with alternate designs of the Venom, pictured. Did you know the original color was going to be purple? According to the post it was a color not often used in the synth world and would have made the Venom stand out. "The problem with this purple was that the iridescence in the paint caused it to turn pink under certain lighting conditions, which we felt would not really help us reach our target audience."

See the direct links above for further details in each post. You can find the main feed for Venom posts on M-Audio's main blog here.

Finally, don't miss MATRIXSYNTH's exclusive review and interview with Taiho Yamada which includes a tips and tricks section as well as a custom iPad editor.

CLICK FOR MORE »

M-Audio Venom Review and Interview with Product Manager Taiho Yamada

A quick note: This review is long. You can jump to sections that interest you vs. reading it straight through if you prefer. This review focuses primarily on the synth engine for one single patch on the Venom. The Venom supports Multi mode with up to four multitimbral parts. Not only can you layer sound programs but you can set global parameters for the set. Be sure to see the Multi mode section of "Tips and Tricks via Taiho Yamada" at the end of this post. Taiho is the Lead Project Manager of the Venom and served as my contact during the review. I want to thank Taiho for his help and enthusiastic generosity. He is a true synthesist and the Venom is his baby.

Synth connections: Taiho previously worked at Alesis on the Andromeda A6. The DSP developer of the Venom worked on Radikal Technologies' Spectralis and the Accelerator. People that contributed to the presets via sound design include Richard Devine, Francis Preve, Mark Ovenden (Avid's AIR Instruments, ProTools VIs), Joerg Huettner (Waldorf, Access, Alesis), and of course Taiho Yamada.

*Don't miss the "Q&A with Taiho" section towards the end of the review. Also keep an eye out for "Taiho's Tips and Tricks" throughout the review in grey. You can find the consolidated list below the Q&A section.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Something Wicked is Coming From M-Audio

"Get ready for an aggressive new M-Audio sound.

On January 13, 2011, we'll unveil a wicked new sound to the world.

Enter your information below to be notified at launch—and if you’re in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, or Ireland, you’ll be automatically entered in a drawing to win your own."

via M-Audio where you'll find the form and a teaser video with The Crystal Method.

Update: some additional info.

Teaser splash. Details in Googlish:

"Venom 49 synthesizer keyboards from M-Audio combines classic analog synthesizers character modern digital processing to bring a new sound, aggressive and catchy. Stimulate your appetite with included presets, and then feed up with original sounds that you can create them - from the sounds of the atmosphere, subtle, to sound angry and categorical. You can easily play with the parameters of the synthesizer or potentiometers can explore the limitless possibilities of sound processing using the included software publisher. You can play bass lines or main parts made with this synth can please even the most demanding musicians. You can also use the audio interface with Pro Tools M-Powered (minimum 8 or higher) or any other audio software. Thus, you have a production car that you can lead in some areas where the music never was.

Venom comes with 512 patches and 256 straight multi-sound patch (the layers) made by the renowned team of sound designers in the world. All the Venom will find a classical arpeggios, for more animation. With the new synth engine of the M-Audio, Venom flavor blends anolog sound on digital power. Thus they create a distinctive note that is distinguished easily from other digital synthesizers. Where you have 41 oscillators and 53 sample drum sounds from the keyboards of cargo last 40 years, and an oscillator for a DSP May retro vibe. Each of the 12 simultaneous voice virtual analog oscillators have three each, which gives tremendous flexibility for octave, intervals and detuning. For more ways to manipulate the sound, the filter multimodal operations can 12dB/octava Venom (2-pole) and 24 dB / octave (4-pole).

The most important caractersitici:

* heat combines modern digital processing of vintage synthesizers
* 512 and 256 single patches patch layers
* intuitive control surface and easy to use software + editor
* 49-sized keyboard
* Compatibility with Pro Tools
* USB Audio / MIDI"

NAMM 2012: M-Audio Venom Booth Pics

A couple of pics of the Venom at the M-Audio booth at NAMM. Below is Venom Project Manager Taiho Yamada. It was great to finally meet Taiho in person. Be sure to see my M-Audio Venom review and interview with Taiho. You'll find a tip and tricks section. Also see: New M-Audio Venom Blog & Alternate Designs of the Venom.

audioMIDI Presents The M-Audio Venom, Part One

YouTube via audiomidicom | Feb 24, 2011 |

"Synth expert Mitchell Sigman talks about M-Audio's new Venom virtual analog synth with integrated audio interface. Part Two with computer editor review/demo coming soon! Get Venom at www.audioMIDI.com!" product page Part 2 video to follow.

Update:

audioMIDI.com Presents The M-Audio Venom, Part Two

YouTube Uploaded by audiomidicom on Apr 8, 2011

"Synth expert Mitchell Sigman talks about M-Audio's new Venom virtual analog synth with integrated audio interface. Get Venom at www.audioMIDI.com!"

Avid M-Audio Venom live demo

YouTube Uploaded by volleyclisson on Mar 28, 2011

"Démo en live du Venom de M-Audio, tordu par Olivier Briand, gourou du synthé, filmé en direct à l'IRCAM à Paris, le 29 janvier dernier. Tous les sons du Venom sont d'origine. Pas d'autres instruments, ordinateur ou quoique ce soit...et ouais !!

Live demo of M-Audio Venom in Paris! Olivier Briand is showing us what the first M-Audio synth has to say! He is only using the factory presets and no other instruments. There is no cheating - no hidden computer, effects box, etc., just the Venom synth!"

Update: Video moved. Now Uploaded by avid on Mar 29, 2011

"Learn more: http://goo.gl/pt3AU Take a genre-bending trip through Venom's amazing sounds—from glitchy electronic and retro, to dark and dangerous."

M-Audio Venom - Venomous to the Maximus [NO TALKING DEMO]

Published on Apr 14, 2020 Marshal Arnold

"M-Audio Venom - Venomous to the Maximus [NO TALKING DEMO]

Almost 10 years go M-Audio released their first synthesizer the Venom (2011). Sadly, this was also their last Synthesizer, at least to date. I remember being super jazzed about this synth after seeing videos at NAMM and seeing demos from Sonic State and others.

I had sold mine many years ago after being super disappointed in it and seems as though I was not alone. These synths now go for about $100.00-150.00 USD. When new they were quite a bit more. Anyway I picked one up about a year ago to have some fun, this video is a no talking demo of some of the performance presets. I moded a few of these, but ll audio is direct from the M-Audio Venom, no post processing was done."

X11 New M-Audio Venom Presets

Published on Apr 11, 2014 VintageSynthPads·77 videos

"X-11 is a new preset expansion for M-Audio Venom.

This collection was designed to effectively cover needed presets for Venom.
After hearing the available and stock presets for Venom, we wanted to bring out its ability to reproduce vintage analog synth sounds.
Not only were we able to reproduce this, but we also used Venom's "edge" to make one of the most authentic electric solo guitars available from a synth.
New Presets for M-Audio Venom."

M AUDIO VENOM SYNTH PATCHES.wmv

YouTube Uploaded by tonylongmusic on Apr 10, 2011

"M-Audio Venom Patches - Introducing Snakedance, the M-Audio Venom Soundpack, giving you 50 Aggressive Single Patches and 10 Infectious Multi-Patches for your Venom Synth

It combines the characteristics of classic analog sounds with modern digital processing! This powerful synth offers everything from filthy leads, to vast sweeping filters, right up to Speaker Shaking Bass Sounds.

Genres
Drum 'n' Bass, Trance, Psy-Trance, World Sounds, Electro, Cinematic, Dub Step, Garage, Underground, House, Techno"

M-Audio Venoms on eBay

M-Audio Venom Distortion

YouTube Uploaded by matrixsynth on Mar 10, 2011
follow-up to this post

http://www.m-audio.com/ - Venom
http://wifimidi.com/

"More fun with the M-Audio Venom. Note this is not a proper demo. I am creating a TouchOSC template for all editable parameters in single mode of the Venom and I thought I'd throw this video up. The Venom is turning out to be a surprisingly deep synth. In this video I'm just tweaking the distortion parameters in the Insert FX page of my editor. Wireless control is via The Missing Link. Sliders from left to right: Depth, PreGain, PostGain and High Cutoff. The bottom end drops out in the video as I am still using the mic in on my Canon T2i. No time to sync audio and video just yet. Trust me, it sounds MUCH better live. The more I play with this synth the more I am impressed. I don't want to give too much away before my proper review, but it sounds really, really good. There are things you can do with this synth that you simply cannot do with others. This is a deep and powerful synth. Note this is Single mode with only one patch. The Venom supports Multi mode with up to four patches active."
hexler - TouchOSC
iPads on eBay

NAMM & NOT NAMM - New Products on the Synth Front

Well, it's that time of year again. Keep an eye out on the NAMM label (added to top right menu) for everything NAMM and more. More in that anything new will get the label whether it's shown at NAMM or not. It's about new gear. Updates in this post will be preceded in red. Some already in below. See "The NAMM List!" link under the Twitter, Facebook, and RSS labels on top of the right to get back to this post later.

(A note on the top site menus: I removed the iPhone and iPad labels as they go up in posts every day now so you can find them there. eBay links are on the right, so I removed it as well.)

That said, the following are some of the things to look out for. If you have any NAMM info feel free to comment and/or send it in. If I missed anything, let me know! If you are going to NAMM, feel free to send pics and video in.

On the list:

CLICK FOR MORE »

M-Audio Venom Controlled by TouchOSC Part 2 Update

YouTube via matrixsynth | Feb 24, 2011 | Watch full screen 720HD

You'll find the template posted here.

Some additional info on this one:
"I start on the OSC1 page messing with the different waveforms for oscillator 1. All you are hearing is oscillator 1. At :46 - I flip through to the Oscillator Control page (I briefly hit the OSC3 page) where I have the following settings:

Red - OSC1 Course, Fine, 3>FM, Shape and Keytrack
Green - OSC2 Course, Fine, Keytrack and Sync to OSC1
Blue - OSC3 Course, Fine, Keytrack and Sync to OSC1
Yellow - Start Modulation and Drift
Purple - Mix for OSC1, OSC2, OSC3, Ring, Ext, and Ext Src
Grey - Portamento/Glide On/Off and Rate, Bender Range

I turn OSC1 down and turn OSC2 up. I then flip to the OSC2 page so you can hear it by itself. Note the waveforms although the same sound different in some cases. This is because the envelope setting for OSC2 has a longer sustain than OSC1 so you hear more of each waveform. This is especially noticeable with drum samples. I then go back to the OSC mix page and add OSC1 back in. I adjust waveforms for each in their respective waveform pages so you can hear them work together. I go back to the mix section and add in OSC3. At 2:08 I enable OSC3 sync. I then disable it but it sounds different than before (I'll have to look into that :) Update: this was due to an error in my template which has been fixed). I flip through some of the waveforms again to hear how they mix together. At 3:00 I try OSC3 to OSC1 FM. I set OSC1 to a sine wave so I can hear the effect better. At 3:02 I turn down the levels for OSC2 and OSC3 so I can only hear the effect with only OSC1.

If you watch closely you will see each of the three oscillators has the full 94 waveform sources to select from and you can have them interact with each other. OSC1 can be frequency modulated by OSC3, OSC2 and OSC3 can be synced to OSC1, each can keytrack which means if you disable it the pitch does not track, so if you turn it off for 3 and have it FM 1 it will have a different effect than if it was on. There's also ring mod. You can also set the frequency for an oscillator below audio rate into LFO range. Note there are non standard waveforms including drum waveform samples to chose from, so you can do some really interesting things here. The reason I am creating an iPad editor is because only certain parameters are accessible via the front panel of the synth. You cannot edit OSC waveforms via the synth directly. You have to use the included editor on your PC or go the iPad route."

"Prototype TouchOSC template controlling M-Audio Venom using The Missing Link to translate OSC to MIDI."

Description also added to the original post here.

Full Venom review with tips & tricks here.
M-Audio Venom
The Missing Link - wifimidi.com
iPads on eBay
TouchOSC - hexler

M-Audio Venom - inexpensive 12 voice, 4 part multitimbral virtual analog synthesizer

Published on Mar 24, 2020 Floyd Steinberg

"On your request, here's a lengthy video on the M-Audio Venom, a virtual analog synth from the early 2010s. This Video is sponsored by DistroKid: http://distrokid.com/vip/floyd . Table of contents below!

The M-Audio Venom was released in the early 2010s. It's a 12 voice polyphonic, 4 part multitimbral virtual analog synthesizer (or is it?) This synth is quite inexpensive at the moment, you can find it on ebay for around $120.

In this video, there's a 3 minute track made only with this synth, an overview of the hardware and features, some selected sounds / patches and a brief look at the synth engine and the Windows Editor needed for creating your own patches and how to work around compability issues in Windows 10.

I also show how external instruments can be run through the Venom's effect engine.

Table of contents:

00:00 Demo
03:00 Introduction
03:40 Sponsor message
04:37 Hardware overview
06:24 Patches:

CLICK FOR MORE »