New British hybrid polysynth on the way!

[3ee]

Too much drop shadow on the knobs imo

As taken from the Sonic State video...

[pdxindy]

Oh, I don't think it's a ripoff or anything, it has 12 analog voices (minus the oscillator), and I like the fact that the oscillators are numerically controlled, which in theory should give it a sound similar to the SID. I also think the look is fantastic with those bulbous lines and the spacing of the knobs, the sharp screen, etc.

It's just that, sound-wise, it doesn't really offer anything I can't get already. And for a digital oscillator, I was quite suprised that PWM only does stuff to the pulse wave, and I don't see any cool stuff like weird sync modes or ringmod, which is exactly the kind of stuff you'd like to see in a digital oscillator.

It is surprising to me the sparse modulation. Per voice you have 1 LFO and 2 hardwired envelopes.

[pdxindy]

Analog, analog, analog...

It's getting pretty boring, people who want 100% analog synths go and buy the avaible stuff vintage or new there are quite a few options, why the need to criticize products not intending to be or sound 100% analog?

There is not a lot to choose from if you want a new 100% analog polysynth. Lots of people would like one...

[Frantz]

Apologies for beating this point into the ground but I guess someone may find it interesting.

If you look at this Modulus demo http://www.modulus.me/Acid_Jam.mp3 in a spectrum analyzer, you can see a solid band of high frequencies all the way up to 22kHz every time he opens the filter. The filter opens up completely and the frequencies aren't rolled off at all.

(I have a lot of sensitivity to high frequencies. They can be almost painful for me.)

[ghettosynth]

Oh, I don't think it's a ripoff or anything, it has 12 analog voices (minus the oscillator), and I like the fact that the oscillators are numerically controlled, which in theory should give it a sound similar to the SID. I also think the look is fantastic with those bulbous lines and the spacing of the knobs, the sharp screen, etc.

It's just that, sound-wise, it doesn't really offer anything I can't get already. And for a digital oscillator, I was quite suprised that PWM only does stuff to the pulse wave, and I don't see any cool stuff like weird sync modes or ringmod, which is exactly the kind of stuff you'd like to see in a digital oscillator.

It is surprising to me the sparse modulation. Per voice you have 1 LFO and 2 hardwired envelopes.

Yes, this has been commented on elsewhere. It boils down to design philosophy of the user interface, I think. While it's rather trivial to add additional LFOs or EGs, if you want a pure one knob/per function interface, then it dramatically raises the cost to do so. Still, they did include a data wheel, endless encoders, and that nice display so the choice seems a bit odd. Even so, I'm pretty sure that's the reason for the limited modulation. It's meant to be a player's instrument that can be adjusted quickly live without menu diving.

[ghettosynth]

Analog, analog, analog...

It's getting pretty boring, people who want 100% analog synths go and buy the avaible stuff vintage or new there are quite a few options, why the need to criticize products not intending to be or sound 100% analog?

There is not a lot to choose from if you want a new 100% analog polysynth. Lots of people would like one...

I agree, but it isn't reasonable to expect this to be one, Paul Maddox's "thing" is PPG style wavetable synthesis, he's been working on it for years.

[pdxindy]

It is surprising to me the sparse modulation. Per voice you have 1 LFO and 2 hardwired envelopes.

Yes, this has been commented on elsewhere. It boils down to design philosophy of the user interface, I think. While it's rather trivial to add additional LFOs or EGs, if you want a pure one knob/per function interface, then it dramatically raises the cost to do so. Still, they did include a data wheel, endless encoders, and that nice display so the choice seems a bit odd. Even so, I'm pretty sure that's the reason for the limited modulation. It's meant to be a player's instrument that can be adjusted quickly live without menu diving.

There is also the animator/sequencer. I'm not quite understanding the capability, but 16 sequencer tracks is a lot of potential modulation as well.

[rod_zero]

The sequencer has 16 tracks, each one with 12 rows.

So you can have 3 notes per sequence and assign the other 9 rows to seq any parameter, is other way to add modulation.

[pdxindy]

Analog, analog, analog...

It's getting pretty boring, people who want 100% analog synths go and buy the avaible stuff vintage or new there are quite a few options, why the need to criticize products not intending to be or sound 100% analog?

There is not a lot to choose from if you want a new 100% analog polysynth. Lots of people would like one...

I agree, but it isn't reasonable to expect this to be one, Paul Maddox's "thing" is PPG style wavetable synthesis, he's been working on it for years.

indeed... however hearing about a possible new analog polysynth, i can understand why some people would wish it were.

[Sendy]

Apologies for beating this point into the ground but I guess someone may find it interesting.

If you look at this Modulus demo http://www.modulus.me/Acid_Jam.mp3 in a spectrum analyzer, you can see a solid band of high frequencies all the way up to 22kHz every time he opens the filter. The filter opens up completely and the frequencies aren't rolled off at all.

(I have a lot of sensitivity to high frequencies. They can be almost painful for me.)

I listen to chiptunes and like bright, unfiltered waveforms, but I have to admit that's even a bit much for me. The ear is very sensitive to high frequencies so they really don't need to be loud, especially pre-filter. Just looking at that chart is almost painful

[Frantz]

I listen to chiptunes and like bright, unfiltered waveforms, but I have to admit that's even a bit much for me. The ear is very sensitive to high frequencies so they really don't need to be loud, especially pre-filter. Just looking at that chart is almost painful

I guess Paul Maddox thought this was an improvement over the PPG - brighter sounds with a wider frequency range. However, like most middle aged people, he probably can't hear those extreme frequencies. If he played that MP3 for average teenagers at high volume, he'd realize he inadvertently created a weapons grade sonic device.

If you can't hear this, you are missing out on Modulus' (painful) high frequencies: teenbuzz.mp3

Teens are using that as a ringtone in class because they aren't supposed to be texting and their older teachers can't hear it.

[EvilDragon]

I'm thinking it's not really the oscillators here. It's the filter - it seems that it can go way above 20k.

[Frantz]

I'm thinking it's not really the oscillators here. It's the filter - it seems that it can go way above 20k.

Yes, the filter is essentially doing nothing when it is fully open.

However, when I played with Waldorf Q wavetables with its filter disabled, I never experienced any harsh sounds like this. And if I recall correctly, Waldorf imported some PPG wavetables directly into the Q.

So I think Modulus has a combination of very bright oscillators and a filter that can open completely.

[EvilDragon]

Q is a DSP synth, it does use band-limiting in the oscillators. There you go.

[Frantz]

Q is a DSP synth, it does use band-limiting in the oscillators. There you go.

Yes, that makes sense.