I had the luck to find this mpc by accidant in a shop in Berlin. I knew a lot of Phil's mpcs but never heard of this one before. The shopowner told me these were prototypes of a new mpc Phil created for a more darker sound. It was never the idea of the owner to sell these because they only wanted to try these new mpcs. I also knew that one of the employees also had his eyes on one of these. I tried both and immediatly fell in love with one (the label, telling it is the number two, still is sticking on the mpc).
The mpc is a 8* and i tried it with Queen 2.5 reeds. What a sound. Full, fat, lush and "dark" without sounding tubby or dead like i sound on many bad hard rubber Links (a good hard rubber Link is hard to find). The attack was so fast and the sound is very shapeable. It still has enough highs (or upper partials) that it sounds clear and you can use it versatilely. It would not be my first choice for a Rock or Funk concert but for most occasions that i have to play it is perfect. And what i like is that although it sounds darker than i am used to the playing also not feels restricting, often with darker mpcs i don't like the resistance or a slow attack that i have found with several mpcs but with the Onyx i feel like the mpcs follow what i want it to do and the attack is very fast and the resistance is perfect for me (not too high not too freeblowing). This one will not leave me as long as i can play (not even for a lot of money). I still wonder why Phil does not have any words about it on his website. I have a lot of mpcs but only come back to a few again and again, this one outplays most of them and is one of my 3 most loved and used mpcs on tenor..
I did two recordings with it:
The mpc is a 8* and i tried it with Queen 2.5 reeds. What a sound. Full, fat, lush and "dark" without sounding tubby or dead like i sound on many bad hard rubber Links (a good hard rubber Link is hard to find). The attack was so fast and the sound is very shapeable. It still has enough highs (or upper partials) that it sounds clear and you can use it versatilely. It would not be my first choice for a Rock or Funk concert but for most occasions that i have to play it is perfect. And what i like is that although it sounds darker than i am used to the playing also not feels restricting, often with darker mpcs i don't like the resistance or a slow attack that i have found with several mpcs but with the Onyx i feel like the mpcs follow what i want it to do and the attack is very fast and the resistance is perfect for me (not too high not too freeblowing). This one will not leave me as long as i can play (not even for a lot of money). I still wonder why Phil does not have any words about it on his website. I have a lot of mpcs but only come back to a few again and again, this one outplays most of them and is one of my 3 most loved and used mpcs on tenor..
I did two recordings with it:
