Mopho, the good, the bad. The MiniBrute

[whitecloud]

In a few days I may pull the trigger on the DSI Mopho Module. I've seen a couple places I could pick one up for around
$340.00 I have been wanted one of these guys for quite awhile. This post is going to ask just a few questions
as I have done my research and searched this any many other forums.
As far as the Sound for me I like what I've heard from as many sources I could find, that is not an issue.
I am aware that the editor is a P.O.S. and almost unusable. My concern is more hardware related, the acutal unit
and the encoders and it's current OS. I saw a thread that someone indicated the encoders didn't hold up very long.
If one has to use them much than that is a red flag for me if they have a tendancy to break down. I do have several knob/slider/button ridden midi controllers that have proven to be useful. CC's or NRPN's can be assigned etc. Perhaps these could be used to do some light editing
and more for perfomance to augment the 8 knobs on the Mopho unit. So I ask for actual experience with this piece of kit
keeping in mind what I said above. I might mention that I have a couple hardware VA's and ample stable of quality VSTi's
I want one Analog unit, monophonic is fine. that is great at Bass, leads, and arp type stuff. But I need to make an informed decison.
With the unveiling of the MiniBrute this looks enticing as well. I could live with no preset memory as if there is a knob
and slider for evertying laid out that is the trade off for it's price point.
I have found many of the demos to sound rather harsh but in a way the gritty sound might be cool and more modern and
if it still can get that fuller sound hmm.
and it is not out yet so there are so many what if's I mention the MiniBrute in case there are some deal breakers with the Mopho that a majority of it's user haved shared that has led me to re-consider buying one and perhaps saving for the MiniBrute another consideration. Thanks for any replies

[Nielzie]

I have a Mopho and the only thing that is a bit tedious is the programming interface, because you will have to use a lot of knobs and menu's to program it. But besides that it's really a good hardware unit. Sounds great and seems to be pretty robust.

I can't comment on the MiniBrute, but the Mopho has already proved itself worth. The MiniBrute still has to.

I can also recommend the by the way, but it doesn't have an arpeggiator..

[stonestreet]

whitecloud

I have a Mopho and I have mapped all of the controls to a knobby/button midi controller by nrpn's including the step sequencers. Better than mouse and screen but not as good as dedicated one to one controls.

I have Kenton Control Freak. Metal red box with 16 knobs and 2x8 buttons with shift. A nulling button to stop jumps and other functionality. I do not think it is available anymore.

I bought the soundtower editor and i have not experienced any problems with it.

Sometimes I like to uese the Mopho without turning my computer on. With the midi controller you have to remember what you have been tweeking!!

hope this is of use.

Have fun

Mark

[Uncle E]

I want one Analog unit, monophonic is fine. that is great at Bass, leads, and arp type stuff. But I need to make an informed decison.
With the unveiling of the MiniBrute this looks enticing as well. I could live with no preset memory as if there is a knob
and slider for evertying laid out that is the trade off for it's price point.
I have found many of the demos to sound rather harsh but in a way the gritty sound might be cool and more modern and
if it still can get that fuller sound hmm.

The Minibrute is an interesting little synth that can make sounds I've never heard from another analog. Personally, I'd get a Minitaur first (it's the best sounding new analog I've heard in years, even better than the Doepfer, IMO), then a Minibrute, and then possibly a Mopho or Tetra as a distant third.

[Dogboy73]

Can't speak for the Mopho. But I've got it's bigger brother the TETR4. Very happy with the build quality. A nice solid little unit with excellent feeling pots. Would be nice to have more of them but not really possible on a unit this size. I've also got all of the important parameters assigned to a MIDI controller/keyboard (AKAI MPK49) so programming is a breeze if you're happy doing things this way. I hear lots of complaints about the software editors for DSI stuff. Personally I think the editor works brilliantly. Never had a problem with it once set-up to communicate in/out with the TETR4. I think a lot of complaints come from it not having a VST version. I'm quite happy with it running standalone. Hope this helps

[whitecloud]

I have a Mopho and the only thing that is a bit tedious is the programming interface, because you will have to use a lot of knobs and menu's to program it. But besides that it's really a good hardware unit. Sounds great and seems to be pretty robust.

I can't comment on the MiniBrute, but the Mopho has already proved itself worth. The MiniBrute still has to.

I can also recommend the by the way, but it doesn't have an arpeggiator..

Thanks sounds like your Mopho's knobs haven't fell off yet
I have heard/seen the Dark Energy before, but it seemed like more than I wanted to spend at the time. I've checked out the DSI Forums and haven't read many complaints regarding the hardware unit. I think forums are a good way of gauging a product. It gives the user a venue to complain and hope to rectify a problem. I was surprised that I didn't see rampant complaints like on other Product Forums.
I've just read a few complaints at Gearslutz mainly the encoders, being a huge problem.Now that I have posted this thread on 3 different forums, there hasn't been many that complained about that. Mainly the interface(which I am aware of) complaints about the editor, but here again some come to it's rescue and says it works just fine.

[whitecloud]

I want one Analog unit, monophonic is fine. that is great at Bass, leads, and arp type stuff. But I need to make an informed decison.
With the unveiling of the MiniBrute this looks enticing as well. I could live with no preset memory as if there is a knob
and slider for evertying laid out that is the trade off for it's price point.
I have found many of the demos to sound rather harsh but in a way the gritty sound might be cool and more modern and
if it still can get that fuller sound hmm.

The Minibrute is an interesting little synth that can make sounds I've never heard from another analog. Personally, I'd get a Minitaur first (it's the best sounding new analog I've heard in years, even better than the Doepfer, IMO), then a Minibrute, and then possibly a Mopho or Tetra as a distant third.

Thanks for your reply, I did mentioned that I really like what I've heard of the Mopho's sound(personal preference) but am more concerned about reliability. If
you factor in cost and feature set, the Mopho looks good on paper. I did like what little I've heard soundwise of the Minitaur but need more demos and investigation of it's feature set. The MiniBrute the layout is enticing but I haven't been very impressed with the demos showcasing it's sound. I wonder if it is capable of less edgy but more vintage sounds. Don't get me wrong I see a place for those more nastier tones, I just haven't heard the Wow factor yet.

[mkdr]

How about this VSTi?

[thecontrolcentre]

I can also recommend the by the way, but it doesn't have an arpeggiator..

I'd recommend the Dark Energy too ... and it actually does have an arpeggiator.

An internal arpeggiator is brought to life by a MIDI program change. The arpeggiator can sync to external clock, and although it isn't full of treats, is a fun trinket nonetheless. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan10/a ... energy.htm

[toine6]

I like the Mopho and haven't had any real problems with it or the Soundtower editor. I think it's super nice for the price, but then again I don't use it very much because I haven't been very organized for quite some time now. I don't use it without the software editor, so I don't even worry about the encoders possibly wearing out some day.

The Mopho is great sounding, nice filter, deep bass, bruising distortion (optional), nice LCD screen (which I don't look at much). Bad sides are that it's a pain to edit if you don't use the software, which means you will want to hook it up to the computer or map it out to a controller. Also, it's hardware, and you always have to deal with the headache (I like quick and easy, while some people enjoy complexity and organizing) of saving presets, recall for projects, batteries for internal hardware eventually having to be replaced, hardware parts wearing out, finding another outlet space to plug into etc...

[musikmachine]

I've had mine for over a year, bought used off another kvr member. Still going strong, i would have expected the pots to have degraded or failed by now. The pots themselves are indented and high resolution so you have to turn them a few times at normal speed but they have an accelerometer and you can get full sweep if you turn them fast. So they haven't got the best feel but they are reliable. The case is a solid piece of metal and the i/o seems pretty robust.

[whitecloud]

whitecloud

I have a Mopho and I have mapped all of the controls to a knobby/button midi controller by nrpn's including the step sequencers. Better than mouse and screen but not as good as dedicated one to one controls.

I have Kenton Control Freak. Metal red box with 16 knobs and 2x8 buttons with shift. A nulling button to stop jumps and other functionality. I do not think it is available anymore.

I bought the soundtower editor and i have not experienced any problems with it.

Sometimes I like to uese the Mopho without turning my computer on. With the midi controller you have to remember what you have been tweeking!!

hope this is of use.

Have fun

Mark

thanks. I have an Novation Xio 25 and besides being a VA, it can be set to be a midi controller. 11x2 knobs 11x2 buttons and an XY pad and joystick/.
One thing that helps me remember knob assignments is while in "synth mode"
the Xio's knobs naturally change the internal synth parameters. Obvious controls that are most common to most synth types like Flt/rez and ADSR, Detune, drive LFO's are silk screened below the knobs. When I create a controller template I kind of program similar settings for other synths as labeled on the Xio(easier to remember)

[zerocrossing]

I have a Mopho and the only thing that is a bit tedious is the programming interface, because you will have to use a lot of knobs and menu's to program it. But besides that it's really a good hardware unit. Sounds great and seems to be pretty robust.

I can't comment on the MiniBrute, but the Mopho has already proved itself worth. The MiniBrute still has to.

I can also recommend the by the way, but it doesn't have an arpeggiator..

Thanks sounds like your Mopho's knobs haven't fell off yet
I have heard/seen the Dark Energy before, but it seemed like more than I wanted to spend at the time. I've checked out the DSI Forums and haven't read many complaints regarding the hardware unit. I think forums are a good way of gauging a product. It gives the user a venue to complain and hope to rectify a problem. I was surprised that I didn't see rampant complaints like on other Product Forums.
I've just read a few complaints at Gearslutz mainly the encoders, being a huge problem.Now that I have posted this thread on 3 different forums, there hasn't been many that complained about that. Mainly the interface(which I am aware of) complaints about the editor, but here again some come to it's rescue and says it works just fine.

I'm a guy who fell in love with the MoPho, which then sparked an Evolver desktop and Prophet '08 rack purchase. I've yet to have encoder issues with any of them but to be fair I edit with software about half the time. They may not be the best synths in the world, but I imagine my hearing isn't the best... and my music well... uh... hm.

I honestly did think about a Dark Energy for a while but it finally came down to the fact that 90% of the time I want to reach for a set of presets and make slight tweaks or add effects/eq to them and get to the business of playing as quickly as I can. There are days when I'll create new presets for hours and hours, but as you know with a Dark Energy unless you save things as samples or take picts of each patch, when they're gone they're gone. So for me, when I want the functionality of a modular (which is often the most rewarding) I'll reach for Vaz Modular, Aalto or ACE.

Of course, they're not the same as real analog modulars, but you can't have everything. Where would you put it?

[musikmachine]

How about this VSTi?

Is that yours? Is there a working version?

There's also a panel from ctrlr: http://ctrlr.org/page.php?p=ddb

[zerocrossing]

How about this VSTi?

What about it?