East Beast and West Pest review: Affordable intros to the addictive world of modular synths

The price of entry into the world of modular synthesis has been falling for some time. The Mavis, a Eurorack compatible synthesizer, was recently released by the company for $350. Cre8Audio thinks prices haven't come down enough. It has been setting the pace in an amazing race to the bottom.

The East Beast and West Pest are Cre8Audio's first pair of self-contained synths. The Korg Volca Modular is one of the cheapest analog semi-modular synthesizer that I know of.

The East Beast and West Pest are very similar. A 20-point patch bay, a 32-step sequencer, an arpeggiator, a one-octave keyboard, and a digital multi-mod tool are all included in the basic Chassis. The West Pest has most of the same waveshapes and a slightly "buzzier" tone. The rest of the sound-shaping modules make the East Beast and West Pest different from each other.

The build quality on both is good. There is a lot of plastic and it doesn't seem like they are designed for the job. They feel like entry level synthesizers and don't feel cheap or toy like. The larger knobs are easier to use than the tiny ones on a Volca and the package feels more robust than an IK Multimedia Uno. They look a lot better than those instruments. I like that the aesthetic here is almost comicbook-esque, but it won't be everyone's cup of tea. It is playful and silly, and should be enjoyable.

For auditioning patches or punching in arps, the keyboard is a great addition. I wouldn't want to depend on it for performance. The keys are not very strong. There are two additional shift functions in most of the keys.

The best bet is to use an external controller and set the built-in keyboard to yellow or green. Thanks to the fact that the East Beast and West Pest have inputs and outputs for controlling other parameters, it's easier to do this. It is not uncommon on a budget semi-modular synthesizer. The DFAM is one of the more expensive instruments. I was initially a bit confused when I found the instructions for changing the octave offset in the manual, but I was able to figure it out after reading the book.

The digital multi-mod tool is a unique feature. The instruments have an extra set of controls to draw on since they only have one envelope generator. This can be an additional output. The envelope is a simple decay envelope with seven preset rates and it is a nice addition.

The same thing happened with the arpeggiator. I am glad they are here, but both are basic. There are only two modes for the arpeggiator. You just add notes to the end until you like it. If you make a mistake, your only other option is to start over.

There are a lot of options and features hidden behind the shift functions. It can be difficult to navigate them. I don't expect a giant display with detailed graphics on a $250 synthesizer, but the "4-bit display" can feel arcane at times. I still have to refer to the manual to remember that the first two lights mean I have set the swing to 64 percent, or that the first three lights mean I have divided the clock by two. This is not a dealbreaker. If you are the type of person who doesn't like to read manual, you might feel frustrated at times.

East Beast

The instruments are more normal than you might think. This is what most people imagine a synthesizer to look like. There is an ADSR envelope for controlling the amplitude. This doesn't sound like a Moog, but it is definitely a descendant of one.

This decidedly budget affair has some serious street cred due to the fact that the multi-mode filter and oscillator are made by a boutique synthesizer maker. You can combine two of the waves to deliver more unique sounds. It has been perfect for around a decade at Pittsburgh Modular. It sounds huge.

The East Beast is a lead and bass machine. It can shake a large room with its thick creamy solo and delicate high-end pluckings. The square wave has pulse width modulation, which makes it sound like a video game. The best way to shave off a lot of the high end is to use the filters.

The star of the show might be the filter. It is often what brings the most character to the sound of a synthesizer. It goes from a low pass to a band pass. Combining those can be interesting. Acid bass lines and nasal reedy sounds can be heard. The most powerful tool on the front panel is the filter cutoff knob, which is four times larger.

Cre8Audio and Pittsburgh Modular like to say that the filter has no dead spots, that it is all one large sweet spot, and that they are probably correct. I couldn't make this filter sound good. Even with the mod set to ludicrous levels, it is still musical. It doesn't self-oscillate so it doesn't bother me at all.

West Pest

The West Pest is similar to the Eastbeast. It is a tad strange and has to do things differently, but it is still compelling. It has the same features but trades the variable state filter for a lowpass gate and adds a wave folder.

The Pest is most comfortable with plucky leads and bass. The sound is not the same. It's more aggressive and sharp, trading in the creamy goodness of its counterpart for the plasticy weird more often associated with Buchla.

It can feel a little harder to make an arrangement when it's not familiar. It can be satisfying on its own. The West Pest feels more like home to the robust randomization features of the two synths.

Setting the digital mod tool to random will affect how long notes ring out. A continuously evolving sequence can be played with the random pattern generator. It's possible to get the wave to change for every note. Feed that through an epic pedal and you have a soothing soundtrack to use.

The East Beast has a lot of the same randomization tools as the West Pest, and it is more versatile, but I like the results on the West Pest more. This is one of the ways I use the synthesizer in my studio, where I use it to set a mood while I plug away on editing articles.

With other gear

The West Pest needs more help than the East Beast. It's rubbery bass sounds are usable on their own, but once you get into the higher frequencies, you'll want to use reverb and delay.

What you want to know is how they interact with other gear. Whether these are your gateway drug or just the latest symptom of your GAS, the 20-point patch bay makes it easy to integrate into a larger Eurorack setup.

The patchbay is where the most trade-offs can be made. Four of the 20 patch points are dedicated to MIDI functions and one is the audio output. There are 15 points for internal patching. Both of these can be used to control other gear that isn't compatible with the MIDI protocol. You could feed the controls from your computer to the West Pest and then send them to Mavis. It eats into the options available to you for sound design.

It would be great to be able to see the resonance level on the patch bay. It's possible to have a few utilities. Cre8Audio crams a lot of flexibility into the patch bay through the multi mod tool, but it also has limitations. You will probably start wishing for a few more ins and outs sooner than later, because there is enough power here to get you exploring the basics.

Wrap-up

Both the East Beast and West Pest are impressive. There isn't anything like them on the market. There are unique and compelling features to them. They are easy to integrate with other gear and you can even take them out of their cases and put them in a larger Eurorack set up. They are ideal choices for someone who is interested in learning synthesis.

They are not an ideal first synthesizer. These are not for people who want to get on with their day. Exploration and experimentation are what Cre8Audio demands. You'll need to take a lot of notes when you recall a patch. These are a good place to begin your journey if you have ever watched a video of someone's massive modular rack.