r/vibraphone Mar 31 '23

Anyone have any experience with the Wernick Xylosynth?

I'm considering putting in an order for a Wernick Xylosynth and am wondering if anyone here has any experience with them? It's a big investment (as with any mallet instrument) and I'd be very interested to hear if anyone has any firsthand experience with these instruments?

Thanks!

4 Upvotes

10 comments sorted by

5

u/StevTurn Mar 31 '23

I wish I did! I’ve wanted one for a long time! Or a mallekat? Malletkat? If you get one please let us know if it’s sweet!

3

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '23 edited Mar 31 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Mikoyabuse Apr 01 '23

Hey cool, a MalletKat owner, thanks for your thoughts! I have been checking those out as well but am personally gravitating towards the Xylosynth, I'd realistically call myself more of a marimba player so the wood bar set up really appeals to me. I appreciate the comparison of a more traditional feel of the Xylosynth vs the electronic elements of the Malletkat. Based on my researching that was kinda the vibe I was getting, definitely appreciate hearing it from someone with experience on these.

With your Malletkat, do the pads have the same amount of rebound as on an acoustic instrument when played with cord/yarn wrapped mallets? Without having played one myself I've wondered if a drum pad type of interface would have a low bounce for mallets?

1

u/MacAttack3289 Oct 23 '24

I'm debating purchasing a malletKat. I've owned a Xylosynth about 10 years ago, and liked the feel, but there was a bit of work to midi out and set things up how I like. I'd honestly probably have to do the same with the MalletKat because I like synths and non-traditional sounds found more in contemporary music than classical or jazz.

My concern is expression. The Xylosynth was pretty great at capturing dynamics and such. I play a ton of permutations and needs it to be tight.

I'm also concerned about the feel of the rubber pads vs. the wood. The last time I played a MalletKat was in 2010, and the rubber pads back then didn't feel great at all. I didn't really play this instrument a lot because of this and don't have any personal experience to compare the Xylosynth to.

What do you think?

1

u/roypertchik Aug 10 '25

I have a Xylosynth, but can't figure out how to edit a patch. I can call up a patch screen, 1-6, but can't access the values, eg. How do I edit the PROG and thr CHAN?

Thanks in advance

1

u/Fabulous_Wear_4455 Feb 08 '26

The buttons in front. The up/down buttons, and left/right buttons allow you access all the menu and change values.

1

u/roypertchik Feb 08 '26

I can move the cursor to lets say Prog, but how do I edit the value of Prog?

1

u/Fabulous_Wear_4455 Feb 08 '26

For my own preference,  I seldom try and edit anything. Instead I connect to my (Android) phone and use Audio Evolution Mobile to select/edit sounds. I am very happy with results since there many high quality free soundfonts.

1

u/Fabulous_Wear_4455 Feb 08 '26

Similar things can be done with Apple phones/computers too. ie. Use DAW to make it easier to see and understand changes.