Vongon's Replay is a 6-voice single waveform selectable VCO digital poly synth with one LFO (from 0.1Hz to 30Hz), a 4-pole ladder filter with resonance control, white noise, PWM (when the VCO is in square wave mode), a VCA, a four-stage ADSR slider-based envelope, and a multi-mode arpeggiator. The keyboard is something out of an 80s sci-fi movie, with Replay's voice being based off of synths (Roland Juno and the Korg Polysix) from that very era. It has USB connectivity and MIDI in and out, so it's compatible with most anything you'd need it to be compatible with, and the build seems sturdy, if not overly robust. While the 2.5 octave's worth of keys are computer-y (actually, genuine Cherry MX keys for those in the know), they're not overly noisy or clacky and are laid out in a fashion anyone familiar with a piano will instantly recognize, and there's a nice physicality to them. They feel pretty good, but are also easily swappable if one is so inclined.
Replay is most definitely an interesting-looking synth with its light taupe-y color, Tetris-y keyboard, and minimalistic design. That, with the lack of text on the faceplate...oh, wait, there is text, it's just white, which on top of the taupe makes it nearly impossible to read. This is definitely the elephant in the room. Case in point, I had a few hobby type musician friends over, the kind that have a few instruments around their house and mess with Ableton. Well, I had Replay set up and one of them started looking at it, squinting a bit, tilting it…it was obvious he was trying to figure out what everything was and couldn't see the text. For sure, this design choice, this white on taupe, may frustrate some nerves, as it initially did for me, but I (and Vongon, I'm sure!) hope that won't deter you from playing Replay. It didn't for me, and in the end this synth more than lived up to its name. As for the controls, there were many times I either had to reference the included cheat sheet or tilt Replay so that the light would hit the face of it just so, where the slightly raised text would just be readable in order to navigate it. And even though I really like the way Replay looks—it is pretty sleek—and consider myself more than familiar with analog subtractive synth basics (even though Replay is digital, it behaves analog-y) and the subsequent flow/layout of many such synths—like the Roland SH-101 and Juno-106—I still had to look up some of the parameter labels from time to time. Naturally, the more familiar I became with Replay, the less this was so, and after a bit I even began to appreciate the nearly invisible text; it breeds stumbling around and experimentation—whether intentional or not. Either way, the text thing is bound to be divisive, and really, somebody should just make an overlay for Replay, so there will be no more divisiveness in this manner.
The other elephant still milling about is the price to feature ratio of Replay. As of this writing, Replay is just under $900USD, which is (at) the high end for a single VCO subtractive synth with no onboard effects, one LFO, and a non-Fatar keybed. While Replay probably wouldn't be my choice if I could only have one keyboard-based synth, it's hard to argue with bang to buck when it comes to actually playing Replay, and if you can get past the fact that there are less pricey synths with more features that blah blah blah, Replay will reward you.
After taking it out of the box, I played (and replayed!) it nonstop for over two hours, and not just to test it or to learn how it works—that's easy enough—I played music on it. Say what?! There was no scrolling, programming, or menu diving, (though, again, I was tilting it so I could read it) but honest to goodness music playing. Repay is lush; it's beautiful—in both sound and looks—and invites playing and exploration in ways that most other keyed up synths don't. Adding in some spring reverb and delay (via the Teaching Machine's Wellspring, see the review in this issue) and Replay was transcendent.
Playing it as an arpeggiated mono synth, all latched up, freed up the hands to manipulate those controls, and the feel and response was great. It operates as a sort of cross between a small modular setup with a keyboard and a cross-bred analog monosynth (even though it's poly).
Using the MIDI out from the Vector Sequencer via the Jack Expander module to sequence Replay, some unexpected fun surfaced. If I decided not to synch Replay via Vector's clock, I could have Replay on Latch with the arpeggiator and the speed/clocking of this was freeform. This led to the possibility of strange and wonderful sequences—always changing, and it was still possible to add notes to the sequence coming out of the Vector since Replay adds any note played to the already playing sequence. With the envelope set to short notes—all sliders down except a little Delay—it was good fun to play with the Release, pushing its slider towards the heavens and bringing in a droning organ pad of notes that had already come and gone before returning my pingy sequence back to earth. Adding some square wave LFO wavering to the OSC was really enjoyable as well.
As a poly synth, lush pads (again, going through the magic of Wellspring), and beautiful backdrops were the game here. The keys are responsive, so that you're able to fly across the almost 13-inch keyboard pretty nicely. Like most (all?) modern digital synths, you're able to save/recall up to 29 presets (one for each key), and there's also a Secret menu where there are alternative modes/functions for quite a bit of the parameters, though for this you'll need the included cheat sheet.
Vongon has a web interface that they've designed to work in collaboration with Replay, and it's intuitive enough, though as of this writing isn't anything that expands greatly on Replay's capabilities. I expect (and hope!) that to change. A few more waveforms for the OSC would be great (maybe even an extra VCO with the ability to be detuned in the web interface?), as would the ability to create/edit/manipulate sequences—along with being able to add rests. And if there is the possibility of using the Ext in to interact with the VCO (yes, doing some FM!), that would be cool.
Yes, there are plenty of packed to the gills synths that have more features, more bells, more whistles, more more more, but there is such a thing as "option paralysis," not to mention good old preset reliance.
McGill’s quest to make instruments that are inspiring to play and gets users into a creative flow is a definite success here. I really thought that I wouldn’t like the computer keys—maybe fine for sequencers, but not for a playable keyboard—but I was converted; they’re different and make you think and play differently.
Replay might be considered "limited," and yes, it's got boundaries and is hard to read, but it’s incredibly fun to play, sounds beautiful, is immediate, and differs from any other poly synth I’ve ever encountered. If your definition of "more" always equates better— more worthy, more valuable—then I urge you to rethink what you define as valuable.

Price: $899

vongon.com