- Dave Smith has been as central to the development of high-quality analog synthesizers as anybody else in the industry's proud history. Beginning his career by founding Sequential Circuits, Smith oversaw the development of the Pro-One and Prophet 5 and even proposed the interface standard which became MIDI. After spells at both Yamaha and Korg, Dave began developing instruments under his own name (Dave Smith Instruments, or DSI for short), with a product range which currently includes the Prophet 08, Tetra and Mopho synthesizers.
The Prophet 08 remains an instrument to inspire lust among many of us but, realizing that its price tag would be beyond many, DSI's more recent releases of the four-voice Tetra and monophonic Mopho modules have allowed many more synth enthusiasts to enjoy a slice of the DSI audio pie. The Mopho, in particular, represents fantastic value for money albeit with a few compromises in terms of a control set. So it's perhaps no surprise that Mopho is now back in extended form.
The Mopho Keyboard features the same core sound engine as its desktop predecessor but with some crucial and welcome additions. Mopho Keys continues the yellow theme of the desktop module but adorns its steel case with classy wooden end panels. It adds a 32-note keyboard with pitch and modulation wheels but most importantly, hardware control over the sounds beneath are now edited from a hugely enhanced control set with a plethora of rotary dials and switches providing access to parameters in a much more intuitive way over its desktop brother. The layout is logical with the oscillator section, mixer and filter sections flowing from left to right directly above the keyboard, with envelope and LFO modulation sections above these. Any parameters which don't fall within these confines are accessed at the very top in a Miscellaneous section, with a text panel above to allow you to navigate easily through the options offered here.
Both a sequencer and arpeggiator are provided too, so despite the single-voice nature of the instrument, it doesn't take long to get this keyboard dancing to your beats of choice. Over the original Mopho, this control set is immediate and extremely welcome, with a comfortable and reliable feel offered by the rubberized rotaries. As with any compact synthesizer, there's some inevitable doubling of some functions as you toggle between oscillators with a switch before using the same dials to select parameters, for instance, but this is not a significant problem and despite its size, the two line LCD display keeps you updated with parameter changes efficiently. For even greater control, you can turn to the software editor which works its magic over USB. The keyboard itself is a quality affair, with a pleasing action which responds to both velocity and aftertouch, with both configurable to your playing style.
While it's fair to describe the basic architecture of Mopho Keys as two-voice, as two independently controllable oscillators are provided, that doesn't really tell the whole story. As with the desktop version, Mopho Keys provides a sub-oscillator to enhance each oscillator which can be dialed in to take bass and lead sounds right over the edge if you so desire. The noise generator is also an independent source so the power potential is enormous, despite Mopho's monophonic limitations.
The presets offer a useful overview of the instrument's capabilities with the lush, analogue sound oozing quality through the selection of basses, leads, sequence sounds, running patterns and arpeggiated wonders on offer, though with any instrument offering this much flexibility, I doubt you'll stick with the presets for too long. The switchable two/four pole filter is particularly worthy of note, with huge tonal travel from minimum to maximum settings (particularly once you've adjusted the envelope) and true self-oscillation if you crank resonance to maximum.
What's particularly refreshing is to compare the sound here to other synths which rely on internal effects and even EQs to ensure their sounds are "impressive" as they're auditioned—hearing the raw warmth of the Mopho Keys without such bells and whistles really underlines how sumptuous and full Dave Smith's instruments sound. The sonic possibilities are enhanced by a weighty stack of modulation options, with four fully assignable LFOs and three envelopes, all of which can get an impressive spread of parameters variously moving.
One welcome and slightly surprising addition is the option to create internal feedback effects via a dedicated dial in the Mixer section, as seen on the Tetra module. This can create anything from subtly enhanced sounds to speaker-bustingly enormous results and adds a whole new level of sound design possibility of over the desktop Mopho. Add to that the capacity to route external audio signals through Mopho Keys to benefit from the glorious internal filter section and the unit becomes a powerful processor too.
Mopho Keys is a fantastic instrument and a worthy step-up from the desktop module. The latter continues to provide the most cost-effective way to get your hands on the warmth and quality of the DSI sound but, for me at least, it's well worth shelling out the extra money for a hugely enhanced control set which makes programming this instrument a joy. Indeed, if you're planning to buy both a Mopho Keyboard and a Tetra, the former can be chained to the latter to provide not only extra voices but also to control its own parameter set, so that a turn of the filter dial, for example, will also control tone on the Tetra. It will be interesting to see whether such a radical update to Mopho's control set prompts an update to the original desktop unit but for all those who want to be able to play these sounds directly and edit them in real-time, the dream has just become reality. This is a storming instrument.
Ratings:
COST: 4.5/5
SOUND: 5/5
BUILD: 4.5/5
EASE OF USE: 4.5/5