Curious if anyone else feels this way after owning one for a bit. The Super Gemini has kind of raised the bar and my overall expectation of what a synth should sound and play like. I’m hearing new synths like Polybrute 12, the new Moog Muse, and I’m just like hmm sounds cool. But I remember the first time hearing the Gemini online and I was just like WOW, and when I ordered one and finally got the chance to play it, I was (and still am) blown away. Every time I use it on a record it just works and sounds unlike anything else.
It’s the first synth (hardware or software) that completely uncomplicated the entire idea of synthesis for me. The learning curve is not difficult, and the more you use it the more you realize how intuitive the synth really is. Before I would slightly tweak existing presets to get the sound I want, but now I am full blown into creating sounds from scratch in manual mode. And it is much quicker than surfing presets in a soft synth (or hardware synth with a screen).
I think George and the team at UDO have truly created a timeless synth in the Super Gemini. I can’t get enough of it!
I definitely enjoy the UDO sound. I have a Prophet 10 that also gives me the feels. Hoping to step into the big league with the Super 8. I swear something sounds different with this one compared to the Gemini. I know they say it’s the same, but something about it gives it an edge. The demos are making me think about ditching the Prophet and just going in on one synth for a while. I have some modular gear just sitting there waiting to be used, but the Super 6 gets to play first chair most of the time.
Yeah the UDO sound just fits well into a mix and sounds incredible every time. Very musical instruments!
I think I remember George saying the Super 8 and Super Gemini have the same architecture (dual layer etc) and the sound engines are the same. They even share firmware updates, and patches are interchangeable between Super 8 and Gemini (unlike the Super 6). So if patches are interchangeable they should in theory be the same.
Listened to some Super 8 demos earlier, and it definitely has that Super Gemini sound and UDO quality to it!
For me the 20 voices, the ribbon controller and the overall layout of the Gemini is just hard to beat. I don’t think I would enjoy both layers sharing the same controls like on the Super 8 as much after using Gemini. If you want to just dive into one synth for a while, I’d say the Super Gemini is the one to get. It’s the workhorse synth of the UDO line and can do what Super 6 and Super 8 can do, but also go a bit further with the extra expression control and voices.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Super 8 and Gemini have slight sonic differences though. Maybe something under the hood tweaked just a bit in the analog makeup (I feel like I recall George saying the analog was a bit different in an interview). Can’t go wrong with UDO though, I think they are currently the best synth makers by a long shot.
Yeah, it’s not that the SG sounds bad, I just hear something different in the S8. I actually like the single layer of controls and overall appearance better. Maybe it’s the red orange color knobs I don’t like. And where are the wood sides?
Hahaha wood sides for some reason I actually like the orange knobs and color scheme. Feels like operating a starship or something! Lol very modern design.
I’m not hearing anything particular in the Super 8 that I don’t hear in the Super Gemini personally. Maybe just a difference in how patches are being programmed maybe? Hazel’s demos sound pretty much the same for both.
In YT demos, they layer a slow pad underneath a snappy synth sound, or an arp underneath some kind of lead or chords. If this is true, what other uses have Gemini owners found for having two layers? Could I make similar with my Super 6 and another synth via audio mixer? I really want to like the Gemini, though it means the Super 6 has to be sold, due to lack of rack space.
I felt (feel) that already with the Super 6, first time I experienced a kind of frictionless sound design in a modern synth, or any synth that went beyond simple analog sounds …
For me, the split mode is also great. I love an Arp in the left hand and a lead or pad in the right hand. I’ve been having lots of fun with just the Gemini paired with a Teenage Engineering EP133 and a DSI Tempest.
I usually use synths for composition (Check out our debut album PROCESSING… for examples), but jamming with two beat makers and the Super Gemini is so much fun.
Another thing I like to do with the two layers in dual mode is make two short sounds with different attacks and releases layered and blended. Add a slight LFO vibrato or tremello to one and get some really rich polyphonic key or synth sounds.
I personally enjoy using the two layers of the Super Gemini as 2 completely independent synths for recording. I’ll usually have one setup for Mono leads and basses in manual mode, and the other layer for Synthy keys and pads etc. It’s an incredible workflow to have in one keyboard especially when tweaking and designing sounds.
Maybe to those like you who adopted the Super 6 first, you may not see the need for the Gemini (it’s basically 2 Super 6’s stacked together with slight variation in the analog components I think). So I get that. And with the Super 8 it’s more tricky now because all 3 synths sound incredible.
However I still think the Super Gemini is the synth to beat right now. I personally have not heard anything that would make me want to trade, downgrade or upgrade.
That’s because the Super 8 and Gemini have the exact same sound architecture. You can lift patches from one and play them on the other. The only differences between the two, as far I know, are the extra controls on the Gemini, the four extra voices, and the touch strip. (For me, those differences are completely worth the slightly higher price!)
George called the Super 8 the “big sibling” of the Super 6, but more accurately, it’s really a smaller Gemini.
There is a subtle but not insignificant difference: having “bend” as a mod source in the 8 but not on Gemini (as it has “ribbon” instead). When programming patches that use audio rate modulation from LFO 3, if you apply pitch bend then the modulation from the LFO won’t increase in frequency in tandem, so the patch sounds off when applying pitch bend. On the 8, one can program pitch bend to affect the LFO rate so that the audio rate modulation pitch relationship between carrier and modulator remains intact. Very useful and not possible on Gemini.
I’d presume that if the patch were created on the 8 with pitch bend applied to the LFO 1 rate, it should play back correctly in Gemini, but one wouldn’t be able to program such a thing on the Gemini itself.
for some reason I actually like the orange knobs and color scheme. Feels like operating a starship or something! Lol very modern design.
