by Robin Vincent | Approximate reading time: 2 Minutes
KVgear Vixen

KVgear Vixen  ·  Source: KVgear

KVgear Vixen mixing Volcas

KVgear Vixen mixing Volcas  ·  Source: KVgear

KVgear Vixen

KVgear Vixen  ·  Source: KVgear

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KVGear first showed the prototype of their Vixen mixer at Knobcon in September. One month later and they’ve officially launched the Kickstarter campaign and are taken pre-orders.

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Vixen

It remains a cool if overly specific idea. You’ve got a bunch of Volcas, how do you hear them all? You need a mixer obviously, but these tend to be large and overburdened with features that few people use when mixing synths. The Vixen aims to provide simple mixing for up to 8 Volcas (6 mono, 2 stereo) in the same form factor as a single Volca. That’s pretty cool by itself but the icing on the cake is that it can also power up to 8 Volcas with its 9v power sockets. That is genius.

I think generally the desktop synth world is crying out for small form factor mixers. Mixers that dispense with all the EQ and multiple input connectors and give us something small, simple and effective for mixing synths. The Vixen ticks a lot of right boxes and of course you can mix non-Volcas, you can plug in whatever you like.

However, in the month from showing a naked prototype to the official release, how did they manage to come up with such a weirdly ugly enclosure? Sort of a strange faded blue, like a kids toy that’s been left outside in the sun too long. Maybe the “brilliant blue” is not coming across in the photos. The knobs are also a bit weeny, but they are in keeping with the sort of knobs you find on the Volca. The mute buttons are perfect, just what you need, and so are the two aux sends.

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Preorder now

They’ve done a great job with this. I just wish it didn’t look quite so much like a piece of aged medical equipment. Or maybe that’s just me. Apparently, the blue is a limited edition thing and most of them will be black. Black is ok, colour is cooler, just not that colour. I am so difficult to please!

The $199 early bird Kickstarter pledges have almost gone so it’s probably going to cost you $219. Delivery is estimated for December so it sounds a lot like it’s more or less ready to go.

More information

  • KVGear Vixen product page
  • Vixen Kickstarter page

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KVgear Vixen mixing Volcas

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