Hi everybody ! I would like to buy my only synth, what do you think about Novation Summit ? sound, qualities...i've listened to the polybrute 12 but i find the sound not awesome for such a pricy synth. Somebody said that the The Novation Summit has less character...So, anyone have the Summit ? thank you for your advice.

 

Buy 5 Behringer instead and save some bucks

 

Last edited: Feb 10, 2025

Clear purchase recommendation:

The Novation Summit basically works on the basis of digital circuits, only its filters are analogue. Here is a brief summary of the sound generation: Each sound can be created from up to three oscillators. Each oscillator plays either one of four classic waveforms (sine, triangle, sawtooth or square) or one of 43 wavetables, which in turn consist of 5 waveforms each. Three oscillators can be wonderfully "nested" via the FM section to generate typical DX FM sounds and fed via the mixer into two analogue 12 dB filters, which can also be used together as a 24 dB filter or can be used in different ways such as bandpass or highpass etc. Two ADSR envelopes and 4 LFOs are available for modulation. Finally, the signal can be fed through up to four effects at the same time (distortion, chorus, delay and reverb).

CONCLUSION
The Novation Summit is the perfect evolution of the Novation Peak synthesizer. Double the number of voices, more controls, easier operation and a great sound that is at home in both worlds. The Novation Summit could become something like the "all in one" synthesizer for some.

It also serves as an external effects device to give external signals an analogue touch or to breathe new life into them with cleverly modulated effects. This makes the Novation Summit much more than just a keyboard; for me it is the perfect addition to a digital working environment - a real masterpiece.

Plus

• great sound - both analog and digital
• very well-structured user interface
• invites you to experiment (keyword FM, Karplus Strong and, with a wink, "additive")
• Stereo input for post-processing of external signals
• 43 wavetables

Novation Summit - All Playing, No Talking

 

It's a great synth. I'm an owner of a Novation Peak and have played with a Summit more than enough. Take my experience with a grain of salt, as I'm not someone that performs live with my synth- only in studio use, but 9 times out of 10, I'm more than happy with the sounds I'm getting out of VSTs these days and don't even bother routing or printing the sounds of my Peak. And resale value for these, and finding a buyer for these, is not great (perhaps better for a Summit than a Peak)- I've wanted to sell mine but not been able to find a buyer.

If you are looking for 1 workhorse synth to perform with etc or one that you will just learn very deeply and get all of your sounds out of I'd say go for it. It can cover all the bases. But it's not super unique in the sounds it makes either, I can usually get the sounds close enough out of software with more recallability for the project.

 

ok guys, thank you for all your feedback !

 

I was late coming to the Novation Summit party but when I did 3 years ago I was very glad I did, its an absolute awesome beast of a synth, it sounds beautiful, BUT... we are in 2025 now and the Summit is kind of old these days, still very capable for sure but for the money you have a few more options to look at before jumping in.

If you have plenty of cash then add one to your synth collection you will love it, but if you have saved hard and are looking for your next flagship synth then please do some research at some of the latest offerings as there are some beauties out there.

I recently got the Behringer Poly D on a whim and for the money this is a lovely sounding board and far cheaper than a summit although sure they are in different leagues but you could get 2 or 3 different synths for the same price as a summit.

I wish you all the best in this exciting journey

 

thank you for your reply ! hard to choose indeed...

 

this is exactly what i would do. You can get a much wider variety of sonics. From wavetable/digital to full analog. The downsides, storage / space, and perhaps not knowing a single synth as well.

 

Let me live vicariously through you and so please buy the epic recreation of the iconic CS-80, a DECKARD'S DREAM MK2.

 

Novation/Focusrite has excellent technical support, it can be important and helpful info—I dunno about Behringer.

 

I really loved your comment, so let's say you are in 2025, what actually answers the term of "unique" for Analog OR digital, feel free to choose one of them, I am super interested with your answer because I feel you are very professional and experienced

 

I think you should buy my Novation Peak

From what I'm gleaning from your posts it seems like perhaps you want to invest money into one synth, and this choice must be made very carefully because this will be your first major investment down this path and it needs to be the absolute right one, right? I was once here. In fact, that was my mentality when I bought the Peak. Well, I was very happy with my decision. If you're set on this path then I say go with the Summit. Despite my previous sentiment, it is unique, it has a tone, it has a character that can be a bit strident- it will step directly through any track, but can also be tamed and make beautiful pads, filter it and process it and make great bass lines, etc.

But my alternative advice is this (and I'm not sure if you've already been down this path or not), get a nice MIDI keyboard, play with the best free synth VSTs (Vital) and modular ones (Cardinal). Then maybe buy (or acquire) some paid ones (Serum, Diva, Repro, etc, etc, whatever ones seem the coolest to you). And really hone in and learn whichever ones you get access to for a few months or so. Try making every type of sound you can on those. And do this while reading about synths that seem interesting to you, but also read and learn about the synths throughout history and the lineage of all this.

And try Syntorial if you're thinking about buying a synth to learn on or get better, it will get you better fast.

After all of that, re-evaluate what synth you want to buy and how much you want to invest

(also just want to add, there is a bit of menu diving on Summit/Peak, watch a youtube video on that to see if that is a turn off for you, to me it never bothered me, but I also was determined to learn it inside and out)

 

Last edited: May 10, 2025

My advice would be - buy something with digital oscillators and patch memory. Analog can be a pita, warmup, tuning, no recall, I've got better things to do with my time. Modular stuff can be fun and good for sound design and sampling but you're inevitably ending up digital one way or another. There's a lot of choices out there, Novation Summit being one of them. Personally I wouldn't be buying five analog Behringers over one quality instrument.

If I were you I'd write down what you want to achieve with a hardware synth and make a decision on that basis. Maybe get back to us on here with more detail, then we can offer more appropriate advice.

 

The summit is almost $3,000:

This is certainly not what I would choose if I had that kind of money to spend on a hardware synth.

You are strongly advised to compare with the offering of:
Yamaha, Roland, Korg, Kurzweil and Waldorf, to name just a few.

I believe you will get more bang for your bucks from one of these especially at this price point.

 

For that $$$ I'd get a workstation first. Roland Fantom 06, 07, 08 and midi sync it with the DAW. Or a Kurzweil.

 

You may need a ~$2000+ computer to run it nicely, but the free (for their hw owners) plugin Yamaha released of their $5000 Montage is a good example of why I would pick a good analog over me buying any more new digital synths. Of course, I will not rule out some killer deal on a used digital synth. As others have mentioned, you have to consider what kind of workflow you like. If I was starting over completely from scratch, I would consider using only softsynths and a high quality analog summing mixer to bounce everything through. That is not a workflow for the impatient, but everything you print will sound as good as it is ever going to get. Buying stuff to complement your existing workflow is different than starting with a blank slate. I already have enough VA synths.

 

Whatever you choose, I suggest that you buy it used if you can, so if you decide to sell it for whatever reason you won't loose 30% or more out of the gate (as long as it's not been abused by you or the previous owner).