Novation Summit 61

Building upon the success of the Novation Peak synthesizer, the flagship Novation Summit is a two-part multitimbral, 16-voice polyphonic synthesizer with a premium five-octave, semi-weighted keyboard (with velocity and aftertouch); it is well suited for musicians, sound designers, and synthesizer enthusiasts.

Summit effectively puts the power of two Peaks at your fingertips, enabling two completely independent patches to be split or layered across the keyboard, or switched between on the fly. It also expands on Peak’s layout, with many hidden controls and functions made accessible on the front panel including FM routing, LFOs 3 & 4, all arpeggiator parameters, and dedicated pitch and mod wheels. What’s more, the Summit features numerous new filter options, and an audio input for processing external sources with its reverb, chorus, and delay effects.

The instrument features analog-sounding NCOs (numerically controlled oscillators), which include 3 new Oxford oscillators per voice, as well as a flexible digital domain with 43 digital wavetables of 5 waveforms per row. The instrument also features an analog, multimode, state-variable OTA filter with high-pass, band-pass, low-pass, and dual-filter selections with 12/24 dB slopes. The dual filter offers several routing configurations including LP to HP, LP to  BP, HP to BP, LP + HP, LP + BP, HP + BP, LP + LP, BP + BP, and HP + HP. Summit’s sound engine is rounded out by analog distortion, overdrive, and digital effects including chorus, delay, and reverb per part.

At the heart of the synthesizer lies the high-powered processor component called a field programmable gate array (FPGA) chip, which far surpasses traditional DSP chips. Each of Peak’s 16 voices has an independent oversampling digital-to-analog converter (DAC). These DACs are oversampling at over 24 MHz (24 million times per second), using a simple RC (resistor-capacitor) filter on their output in the analog domain. Peak’s ability to generate waveforms at the oversampling frequency (up to 512 times the traditional rate) ensures that Peak’s waveforms are pure at all frequencies and free from digital artifacts, no matter how aggressively the pitch is modulated.

The front panel of the synthesizer provides a variety of controllers for 1:1 control over most of its parameters. There are 50 control knobs, 8 sliders, 1 data encoder, 1 volume knob, 55 function buttons, 2 animate buttons, and a crisp OLED display. What’s more, most of the control knobs, switches, and sliders transmit continuous controller data for recording and playing back automation from your sequencer of choice.

The rear panel offers a 1/4″ headphone output, stereo (left & right) 1/4″ outputs, two auxiliary 1/4″ outputs, two 1/4″ inputs, two 1/4″ pedal inputs, and an 1/8″ CV modulation input for incorporating modular synthesizers. Additionally, the instrument features MIDI In, Out, and Thru via standard 5-pin DIN connectors. The onboard USB port is class compliant and transmits system and MIDI data. The Summit includes a power cord, USB cable, and a download card for Ableton Live Lite 9 and Loopmasters sample content.

Summit Key Features

• Peak Powered Up: 16 voices, expanded front panel controls, new filter options, a five-octave keyboard and more
• Two Sounds at Once: Multitimbral engine for splitting, stacking and switching between two simultaneous patches
• Digital Where it Counts: Digital FPGA-generated New Oxford Oscillators for analog-style, wavetable, and FM synthesis
• Analog Where it Matters: Dual analog filters, analog VCAs, and three stages of analogue distortion per voice
• Per-Part Effects and Arpeggiator: Process each part or an external audio signal with reverb, chorus, and delay effects, and create riffs and melodic lines with a variety of arp modes, adjustable gate time, and preset patterns

General Features

• FPGA-based numerically controlled oscillators (NCOs) running at 24 MHz generate waveforms in the style of those produced by analog oscillators
• 16-voice polyphony
• Three multiwaveform oscillators per voice
• Waveform shaping on all waveform types
• Analog signal path (filters, distortions, VCA)
• Traditional, dedicated-function rotary controls
• LP/BP/HP filter with variable slope, resonance, overdrive, and modulation options
• Two independent LFO sections
• Separate Amp and Mod envelope sections with ADSR fader controls
• Ring modulator inputs (Osc 1 and 2)
• Versatile arpeggiator with wide range of patterns
• Glide (portamento) with dedicated time control
• Preloaded with 256 brand new patches
• Memory for 256 additional user patches
• Two animate buttons for adding spot effects in live performance
• Powerful effects including distortion, delay, chorus, and reverb
• Class-compliant USB port (no drivers required), patch dump, and MIDI
• OLED display for patch selection and parameter adjustment
• Standard IEC power cable
• External CV input for integration with other analog equipment
• Headphone output
• Supports any two pedals (sustain or expression)
• Kensington security slot

Synth Engine

• Structure
  • 16-note polyphony (dependent on voices used per note)
  • 2-part multitimbral
  • Layered, Split, Dual Bitimbral Modes
  • 5 voice modes (Mono, MonoLG, Mono2, Poly, Poly2)
• Per voice
  • 3 oscillators
  • 1 noise generator
  • 1 ring modulator
  • 2 LFOs
  • 1 amp envelope and 2 mod envelopes
  • 1 filter
• Waveforms include sine, tri, sawtooth, square/pulse, plus 43 wavetables of 5 waveforms per row
• Filter
  • 1 state-variable OTA filter per voice
  • 12/24 dB filter slopes
  • Low pass / band pass / high pass / dual filter
  • Dual Filter: LP to HP, LP to BP, HP to BP, LP + HP, LP + BP, HP + BP, LP + LP, BP + BP, and HP + HP
  • Pre-filter overdrive
  • Post-filter distortion
• Modulation
  • 16 modulation slots per patch
  • Each slot has 2 sources to 1 destination
• Mod sources
  • Direct (depth)
  • Modulation wheel
  • Aftertouch (polyphonic and channel)
  • Expression pedal 1
  • Expression pedal 2
  • Keyboard velocity
  • LFO1 positive
  • LFO1 bipolar
  • LFO2 positive
  • LFO2 bipolar
  • Amp envelope
  • Mod envelope 1
  • Mod envelope 2
  • Animate 1
  • Animate 2
  • CV mod input bipolar
  • Bend up
  • Bend down
• Mod destinations
  • Oscillator 1-3 frequency, v-sync level, shape amount, and level
  • Noise source level
  • Ring modulator output level
  • Overall synth output level
  • Filter drive, distortion, cut-off frequency, and resonance
  • LFO 1 and 2 frequency
  • Amp env / Mod env 1 / Mod env 2 attack, decay, and release
  • FM osc 1 to osc 2, osc 2 to osc 3, osc 3 to osc 1, and noise to osc 1
  • Osc 3 to filter cutoff frequency
  • Noise to filter cutoff frequency
• Effects
  • FX are per part
  • Analog distortion
  • Chorus – 3 types
  • Delay with 16 types of delay sync, LP and HP damping, slew, and stereo
  • Reverb – 3 types
• FX Mod Matrix Source
  • Direct (depth)
  • Mod wheel
  • Aftertouch
  • Expression pedal 1
  • Expression/breath pedal 2
  • Velocity
  • Keyboard
  • LFO 1 +/-
  • LFO 2 +/-
  • LFO 3 +/-
  • LFO 4 +/-
  • Amp envelope
  • Mod envelope 1 & 2
  • Animate 1 & 2
  • CV +/-
  • Bendwheel +/-
  • Bend up
  • Bend down
• FX Mod Matrix Destinations
  • Distortion level
  • Chorus level
  • Chorus rate
  • Chorus depth
  • Chorus feedback
  • Delay level
  • Delay time
  • Delay feedback
  • Reverb level
  • Reverb time
  • Reverb low pass
  • Reverb high pas
• Miscellaneous
  • FM controls on front panel
  • Global LFO 3 & 4
  • Arpeggiator with key latch – 33 patterns
  • Patch storage – up to 512 on hardware (ships with 256 factory patches)
  • All knobs (excluding volume), sliders, and most buttons transmit and receive MIDI CC commands for external control and mapping
  • Microtuning with Scala table import and table tuning creation
  • Manual mode
  • Multi-pot modes: relative, pot pick-up, snap

Sound Collective

Get free creative tools every two months:

• The Sound Collective is a platform that will provide a free third-party software instrument or creative effect to all registered Novation hardware users every two months
• Register your Novation hardware to access innovative software courtesy of the Sound Collective every two months
• Free and discounted synthesizers and effects available every two months when you purchase and register any Novation product

FEATURES

• Digital/Analog Hybrid Synthesizer
• 61-Note Keyboard with Velocity & AT
• 512 Memory Patches, 256 Factory Presets
• 5 Voice Modes & 3 Oxford Oscillators
• State-Variable OTA Filter per Voice
• 4 LFOs, Ring Mod, Noise, 3 Envelopes
• 16-Slot Mod Matrix + Arpeggiator
• Chorus, Reverb, Delay, Analog Distortion
• Includes Ableton Live Lite + Samples
• Free Plugins from Sound Collective