General
The Novation Summit is a synthesizer with a timbrality of two parts: 16 polyphonic voices and a keyboard. This flagship synth is loaded with three New Oxford oscillators per voice (subtractive, FM and wavetable synthesis) and there's an analogue multi-mode with 12/24dB filter per voice with dual-mode. The specialised keyboard gives you 5 octaves and the 61 semi-weighted keys with polyphonic after-touch. Another salient detail is the built-in effects: chorus, delay, distortion and reverb are available to blow your sound wide open and thanks to the stereo connection and routing options as well as aux connections, you can easily hook this synth up to a live rig or home studio.
Higher education from the Novation Summit and its New Oxford oscillators
The New Oxford oscillators are as smart as you would expect. Generated on the FPGA chip, you get the classic range of waveforms: saw, sine, triangle, block and pulse, enhanced by 43 wavetables. With the oscillators, FM can be used so that, while the unpredictable drift of analogue circuits is there, since they're actually digitally generated, they are stable. The filter however is certainly analogue, with low-pass, band-pass and high-pass and any combination of these three in dual-mode. A great bonus is the included copy of Ableton Live Lite along with access to the Novation Sound Collective.
Intimidating Potential
The Novation Summit is a formidable tweak-box. With a control panel teeming with encoders and faders, the potential is almost intimidating. If you're familiar with previous Novation offerings like the Supernova, then you may not be so afraid of scaling the mountain of options available with this synth. The three oscillators, FM-options, LFOs with slewing, multi-mode filters, effects per side and whatever else you want to throw in, are all pushed through an algorithm via the FPGA chip that adds all the unpredictability and colour of an entirely analogue synthesizer, resulting in nothing short of outstanding sound quality at the other end. This synth is definitely hardware, just a little softer.
Wavetable Editor
The Summit also includes Novation's glittering new Wavetable Editor, offering deep control over the wavetable oscillators. The editor operates via Novation Components and features drawing tools and a Live Edit mode so that oscillator shapes can be literally drawn in by hand and calculated in real-time. Via the audio import function, imported audio can be used as an oscillator waveform to unique and inspiring effect.
In Collaboration with Noisia
The Wavetable Editor also comes with stack of breathtaking sounds that come straight from the NASA library, including waveforms and recordings taken during expeditions in space. Content has also been provided by the production masters, Noisia, offering users a comprehensive preset pack to help guide wavetable exploration. Gain access to the Wavetable Editor via the Novation Components platform whenever the Peak or Summit is hooked up to your computer or laptop via USB.