PLINKY Review // a charming portable granular and wavetable synth

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More info about the project:

Other gear in the video:
► Happy nerding LED meter
► Supersixteen sequencer from Extralife

BUILD GUIDE:

Intro is a granularisation of the intro to this song by Danski, played by Yehezkel Raz:

Other places I hang out:

My music:

TIMELINE:
0:00 Intro
1:20 Overview
2:00 Note mode
3:55 Tape mode
5:00 Editing params
8:00 Connectivity
10:20 Storage
11:35 DIY kit
12:10 This setup
13:10 Synth
15:00 Sampler
15:30 Sampling
17:00 Slicing
18:20 Multisamples
20:10 Granular
23:35 Noise, distortion
24:05 Resonant LPG
25:05 Effects
26:40 Arpeggiator
27:30 Euclidean
28:50 Sequencer
30:50 Mod matrix
32:30 ABXY explained
37:00 Pros & cons
41:25 Outro

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NOTE: Occasionally I’ll try out affiliate marketing and include affiliate links. This means that I may earn a commission when you click on or make purchases via affiliate links. The content of this clip is entirely my opinion, and was not paid for or dictated in any way by the company creating the gear. Without addressing the particulars of products shown here as they might be under NDA, gear shown on this channel may be either sent by the manufacturer, on loan for review or bought at a discount.

[vgaportauthority]

The guy who makes this, Alex Evans, is a freaking genius. He's one of the masterminds behind the PS4 User Generated Content creation tool Dreams (also Little Big Planet) and he's just making awesome stuff wherever he goes. He's like top tier brilliant when it comes to making tools for others to express themselves with. Plinky looks amazing.

[davidsobel]

at 65 yrs old I'm gonna have to make a square magnifying glass enclosure to use this..haha. But very cool!

[gunnarliljas]

A larger version (Plonk?) would make a lot of sense.

[beenmicrophone]

"Full disclosure, plnkiy sent this over for a review and they're not getting it back" 🤣🤣🤣

[collinownsyou]

This guy's like the lockpicking lawyer of synths

[amJones]

I love the way loopop said ''...and he's not getting it back.''. Sounded like Adam didn't already know that and Loopop is just like ''Nope, no way buddy. It's mine now, bye.''

[paulmint]

This is FANTASTIC !! I can just imagine opening a stargate, a portal to a different dimension of sound. PLINKY looks like an ancient Egyptian, flying pyramid controller. I want one !!

[visuals]

I have to say...I have watched your videos for over a year now. No matter what you review. I am just a noob synth fan who makes noise...but the complexity and precision you bring to the review genre is unparalleled. AND...I was lucky enough to snag the latest batch of V2 Blue PCB Plinky...it's on the way to me now...flying over the ocean from Thonk. I am freaking out right now...can't wait to start putting this together. We are on the Plinky discord channel right now congratulating mmalex. Thank you for the EPIC video review!

[LEVRAN]

Imagine this guy twice as big... this is a masterpiece

[denniso]

Love the honest disclaimer of your funding in the beginning! I think that transparency should be the standard!

[DocTaTech]

Thank you Loopop for making all these great tutorials/reviews! All the best from DK

[mustafaalbaree]

this is one of the coolest things ive ever seen

[lordofthestring]

Alex Evans is a hero of mine. He did a talk at Siggraph many years ago about his work on Little Big Planet (quick search just now and I can't find online anymore), and that kickstarted my need for a career in games. He showed off one of his notebooks once too and I poured over it for hours.

Watching his work was like watching a pioneer, because he (and his team) seemed to be actually pushing boundaries and squeezing the most power out of the consoles, whereas a lot of other game devs just seemed to settle for good enough (probably naivety on my part).

I am sad he no longer works in games, but as shown here he's not giving up using his talent. He also now works for Nvidia if I am not mistaken, and I am sure he is very well suited for getting more nitty gritty with hardware.

[ANSWERTHECALLOFJESUSCHRIST]

Man, this PLINKY synth to me sounds good every time, all the time. I'm super impressed. It has been a while since I've actually went, "Woah, I wouldn't mind owning one. It legit sounds distinctive!" I just wish it was bigger than a homemade waffle for those of us who aren't into modular goodness and want something substantial!

[Gears]

Perfect timing - I just built mine yesterday.As part of my hand- built modular setup, this will add tons of texture and functionality. Thanks for the review and I can perhaps wish for a tips n tricks video later!

[avetisk]

It’s quite amazing! There’s so much into it I can’t believe it. The most interesting is the innovative approach they took for the interface. Like most I would love to see a bigger version.

[thejoshuathomas]

Here from your Softpop 2 video and just wanted to say how refreshing it is that boutique outfits are innovating in such unique ways. It's wonderful to see so many different ways to manipulate synthesis types these days. As always, great job on the demonstration and review. All the best to you.

[MakingSoundMachines]

Plinky is absolutely lovely! Thank you so much for making an in-depth video about it! <3

[sandrainthesky]

This is amazing! I design modules myself and have thought of something like this, but my mind is blown by the innovation and complexity but ease of use. Can't wait until they're back in stock!

[hfos]

I had myself convinced my setup was complete, and there's nothing I need anymore and I should focus on mastering the gear I have, then you dropped this one and now it looks like I'm collecting my Plinky tomorrow. 'Thanks' I guess!