It’s not lost on me that the same week InMusic announced its acquisition of Native Instruments, NI’s original founder, Stephan Schmitt, was busy with his team showing off new ideas about what a digital instrument can be.
The Nonlinear Labs C25, like the C15, is an exercise in building a synth around the player. It’s a decidedly premium instrument, but it’s also a statement, from its deep engines to its focus on physical interaction.
I’d expect nothing less from Stephan Schmitt. Even his own Reaktor patches most often focused on this question of performance interaction. Nonlinear Labs’ C15 almost seemed like it came out of some parallel dimension, a bespoke craftspiece in wood with an enormous ribbon controller and, you know, no MIDI in or out. At launch, it felt a little like one of those kit sports cars an eccentric recluse builds in their garage. Over time, it’s become an excellent keyboard, and yes, you can add MIDI I/O if that was really bothering you.
Don’t let the more conventional look fool you, either. While the C25 is now dressed up in black and a more conventional rectangular shape — a keyboard you can more easily take home to mum and dad, perhaps — it’s every bit as packed with engineering innovations. And it’s still manufactured in Europe, down to even “most” of its components (which is no mean feat). You get the same original continuous sensors developed by Nonlinear Labs, combined with the same TP/8S keybed from Fatar, and you can access the full C15 preset library. But almost everything else is reimagined.
The C25 has MIDI. And it has a big display. But it’s actually more hands-on, not less, even though the ribbon controller is relegated to a corner of the main panel. (Betcha someone decides they prefer the C15. I think whether they intended it or not, Nonlinear has cleared the path for a Special Edition C25 that brings back the wood and angled shape and full-size ribbon. “Signature Edition.” Whatever.)
New in the C25 — including some features that we saw over at NI HQ back in the day (ribbons and haptic controls):
New Phase 22 Synthesis Engine. Full C15 preset compatibility, yes, but now phase modulation/FM, waveshaping, and physical modeling, not just subtractive synthesis. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say this starts to feel like the original vision of Generator/Reaktor in an integrated keyboard.
Polyphonic expression. Poly aftertouch and poly modulation, or it wouldn’t be Nonlinear Labs. Every parameter can be continuously morphed, too.
New Lever and updated ribbons. The Lever joins the Bender, with magnetic return force. The touch ribbons may be smaller, but they each have a bar of 33 LEDs for additional visual feedback and new interaction possibilities.
Pots you can feel. Six high-res potentiometers now have touch and haptic feedback (plus a step encoder). That opens up a ton of behaviors — detents the software can create, push and pull, simulated physics, and bi-directional interactions with the internal engine. Smart instrument builders are going to start to put more of this into standalone gear.
Feedback signal routing.
Complete tuning support. Of course.
7″ TFT display with touch. This just looks and feels terrific, and those engines deserve visual feedback and touch. From everyone glued to the keyboards at the stand, too, I’m convinced that this still feels every bit a performance keyboard, not another computer thingy.
Nonlinear Labs still loves your feet. 8 inputs for pedals and control voltages.
Studio audio. High-quality effects, 24 voices at 96 kHz if you so choose, tons of effects slots, and hours of lossless audio recording onboard. The keyboard is the studio as well as the instrument, which is not an attitude we see so much these days. But don’t worry, it’s now not quite as weird — USB host and device and MIDI in and out are there now, too.
The whole team at Nonlinear Labs is made up of really lovely people, and talking to Stephan is always inspiring, so I promise to go visit them and go deeper into the C25. It’s one of those things where it’s like having a chat with instrument builders; it’s more than just some new piece of gear. Even if you aren’t in the market to buy the thing, you want to know more about it.
Don’t miss the talk: