Hartmann R.I.P

[meeks]

May I come with a comment, don`t spank me if someone suggested this before, if I would read it all, it might not be of interest any more.

But the only solution as I see it is that Hartman released it without the controller, as a download at a fair price 200$ or so, or at at least as a Cd-r, that way they would sell a lot more than now, without big manufacturing cost added. If they did I know I would buy it (right after christmas that is ), and that would maybe be a way for them to afford updating the thing. And maybe they should try some other small devellopers to help them with it, though i am not quite shure who gave them theese problems in the first place.

Exactly what I was saying...then they wouldn't be at this dead end path that they choose selling off thier remaing inventory (controlers et al) to compete with the suippliers just to buy a lawyer...there were better alternatives, buisness wise, that should've been taken. Dev's like this tend to freak out and take hastilly actions without trying to turn a bad situation towards there advantage....(oh man...is my american capatialistic midwest upbring showing again).

I don't give an F+++ to a CM review...that mag is bought and sold....my point was, we (the poor) are to never get to experience the synth, hartman made it unavaialabe to the average joe...now matter how good or bad that it was. Now this synth will go to the waste side...that is the true sadness behind it...is there tuely a bad synth out there? If it makes noise, someone will do magic with it...if they can get there hands on it.

[zircon]

system20, I got it when the price went to 150euro (before I knew what was going on - I just though it was a stroke of luck). The sound is quite simply amazing.

http://www.zirconstudios.com/Neuron%20Pad.mp3
http://www.zirconstudios.com/Neuron%20Pad%202.mp3

Some crude live playing while I modulate the joystick.. obviously programmed automation would sound much better, but I just wanted to get a demo or two out.

They sound nice but they're not really much better than what I've heard from the STS-21 or Protoplasm by HG . . . and the cost difference?

Honestly.. I've used STS-21 and Protoplasm, and they really don't come anywhere close to this. I don't see how one could make that comparison. There's nothing like this as far as I'm concerned.

[Radek]

I was testing the actual "hardware" Neuron at a store. I was disgusted by it!

Let me explain:
A crappy keyboard I was scared to play a harder.
A long times between patch changes.
A long boot time.
A not so good patches from a musical standpoint. Don't understand me wrong - some of them were really interesting but it's an all about them.
A small display for a such comprehensive synth...
Puny polyphony unless of course you are just enjoying a synth for a sake of itself.
The big price tag, far too big.

Imho I just summed all of this well.

[droolmaster0]

system20, I got it when the price went to 150euro (before I knew what was going on - I just though it was a stroke of luck). The sound is quite simply amazing.

http://www.zirconstudios.com/Neuron%20Pad.mp3
http://www.zirconstudios.com/Neuron%20Pad%202.mp3

Some crude live playing while I modulate the joystick.. obviously programmed automation would sound much better, but I just wanted to get a demo or two out.

They sound nice but they're not really much better than what I've heard from the STS-21 or Protoplasm by HG . . . and the cost difference?

Honestly.. I've used STS-21 and Protoplasm, and they really don't come anywhere close to this. I don't see how one could make that comparison. There's nothing like this as far as I'm concerned.

Thank you. Comments like that (and I do like sts-21, though I haven't tried protoplasm) are just so silly. Hartmann totally blew it. They had an amazing product, and they blew it.

[droolmaster0]

I was testing the actual "hardware" Neuron at a store. I was disgusted by it!

Let me explain:
A crappy keyboard I was scared to play a harder.
A long times between patch changes.
A long boot time.
A not so good patches from a musical standpoint. Don't understand me wrong - some of them were really interesting but it's an all about them.
A small display for a such comprehensive synth...
Puny polyphony unless of course you are just enjoying a synth for a sake of itself.
The big price tag, far too big.

Imho I just summed all of this well.

Well, quite obviously your preferences are clear. Lots of polyphony and nice presets. This obviously isn't the synth for you, nor would a Kyma be a synth for you, nor would a modular be a synth for you. But, damn, you summed all of this so well.

[mr.me]

I've never even heard the synth, nor do I know anyone that owns it. Way too over priced!!!...and no demo.?

Does anyone here own it?

If the price was good and you've heard from people like you and I how good it wasand heard it in their tunes, it'd sell more.

[shamann]

I tried out the Neuron in a shop (not the VS). The most striking thing about it for me was that it's quite striking. From across the room, the odd silver sheen, sharp boxy corners and orange highlights are really something. The sound isn't my thing, but I'm generally not into synths that sound similar (always reminded of those old Fantasia patches). But I've heard some folk do some cool things with it, like Jan Nemecek's music.

The one thing I really didn't like were the joysticks - felt kind of flimsy and fragile. I was disappointed when I saw the VS come out with the Nuke, because I simply wouldn't want the joysticks (well, and I could never comfortably pay that much for it).

But, all this back biting really is of no use. Some folk like it, some folk don't, some folk don't care beyond the bad press. For instance, I think Oberheim synths sound like poo, but my opinion doesn't preclude anyone from loving the OB.

Whatever, minds aren't changed so easily that someone is going to win here, and we needn't worry anymore as Hartmann appears to be going away.

[TotcProductions]

Sad, but inevitable.

Hey, that's my car!

[Alan]

Although this is hindsight,the smart move would have been to put the softsynth in the hands of an established company like N.I. who would have known what to do with it.You just can't release a softsynth at that price with those problems(memory leaks etc.)with not so much as a patch for that long and expect anything but failure.But of course,charging as much as they did with their hardware was the seed of destruction,you can truly trace it all right back to that decision which backed them into a corner.

[Muzik 4 Machines]

Apparently there's a cracked version out as well - hard to believe perhaps Coincidence?

Well there might be some poetic justice there considering how unstable its supposed to be.. Tons of pirate computers crashing

All I could find was a piece of an AVI file calling itself the Hartmann.

sad but true
[lets not give exact search terms, please]

[Alan]

sad but true
[lets not give exact search terms, please]

This is probably the one case where that really had no part in the failure of this company.Hartmann had more than a year without that to fail themselves.

[HanafiH]

As far as 'flashy tin'. Well, it's my understanding that the interface is quite useful. that aside from more effects (which you can pretty much get from using the vs in a vst environment), that the keyboard really works well with the software. But - I haven't tried it myself. but then again, neither have you, right?

No, the one time I tried at a London dealership, the thing wouldn't work.

Reminded me of the de Lorean. Nice idea, shame about the car.

[HanafiH]

Apparently there's a cracked version out as well - hard to believe perhaps Coincidence?

Well there might be some poetic justice there considering how unstable its supposed to be.. Tons of pirate computers crashing

All I could find was a piece of an AVI file calling itself the Hartmann.

sad but true
[lets not give exact search terms, please]

You obviously frequent parts of the Internet I do not.

[Dr.Wu]

I played the Hartmann about 2 years ago at a musicstore and wasnt impressed at all.
The fact that pitch and tempo of the samples/models were connected didnt help to convince me that this should be a piece of state of the art technology.
And the loopclicks were pretty annoying too.
I bought a V-Synth instead and never looked back.
The V-Synth currently received a major feature update for free while Hartmann cant even deliver bugfixes and bites the dust.
Looks like i made the right decision!


RU with me?
Dr.Wu

[munchkin]

SOS is the Lancet of music tech journalism. I'd trust my life on it's reviews. If they say it's crap then it's time to get the shovel out. The fact that I own shares in the company has nothing to do with it.

If I owned a £3000 white elephant I'd be taking no prisoners in this debate too. The fact that anyone could (and did) take the synth for a spin at their local music store doesn't really lend itself to the don't comment unless you've played it theory.

Well, then, you, OF COURSE, realize that the initial review was on an early edition, and addressed problems that were mostly fixed. And that the review of the VS was quite a rave review. Right - you know that, right? And the comment about not commenting unless you've played one was directed (obviously) at people who, gulp, hadn't played one. The person who had, had played on one which obviously wasn't working properly. Well, one of the gripes against the assholes at Hartmann is that they didn't communicate with their users, and, it looks like, will actually never fix the problems. but, the fact remains, that the majority of users got it working, and did not experience serious problems.

I don't doubt that it has it's fans but in 5 years time when the music mags do their list of the decades 10 white elephants the Neuron will be among them.

There are some amazing softsynths out there that sound as innovative, in their own way, as the Neuron and cost a fraction of the price. The high price of Korgs Oasys makes sense because of its capabilities but not a one-horse wonder like the Neuron.

Did I read the SOS review? You scolded someone for basing their judgement on the original SOS review. The soft version was also available to demo and many did. Good luck to you for defending it but not everyone who knows the Neuron agrees with you.