GSi Gemini Rack

Could be Perfect, Or Not

This is an interesting device and I don't think there is another like it on the market. The goal of this item is to give keyboard players all of the primary sounds they might need on a gig or in the studio. Therefore the focus is on classic keyboards, organs, old school synth tones, melotron, 80's and 90's digital keyboards, etc. There's a smattering of orchestral sounds, a vibraphone and some other extras but the focus is on classic sounds. The modeled rhodes, wurli, clavinet, B3 and other organs are fantastic, they really do feel organic and real. The modeled CP electric grand, while not totally realistic, also sounds very cool. The newest acoustic pianos are a huge improvement on the old original ones. The virtual analog synth can sound very analog with good programming, though it has its limitations. The various sampled sounds vary in quality from very nice to very pointless. The downsides: Most importantly I have found several bugs which I emailed the developer about. He has not even acknowledged them. Before I bought the unit he was very responsive to questions; now there are problems and he is nowhere to be found. Secondly, it's not possible to import user samples; the developer told me that no other keyboard does this correctly so he decided not to add the feature in. This is of course purely false. Lastly the synth has some limitations; and filter keytracking does not behave properly. There are only 4 slots in the mod matrix which is fine except if you wish to use aftertouch to control vibrato, this takes up 3 slots! 2 for the pitch of the oscillators 1 and 2 (there is no global option,) and one to direct aftertouch to the LFO. I would think of the synth as a way to get basic sounds relatively quickly, not as a deeper more expressive power synth. In short, if you are needing mostly keyboard sounds this really cannot be beat in its flexibility. If you need a wider variety of sounds you may wish to add more sound sources or get a more expensive product.