Still happy with your Polybrute?

[discombob]

The extra storage space probably drove the price up by about a grand alone

Now that's pretty damn funny

After all the shoes and liquor rammed in there, does that thing still qualify as "mint" on Reverb?

[zerocrossing]

The new v3.0 firmware adds another dimension for sure, I love the distortions and that you can switch the routing of the FX. Opens up a lot of sound design possibilities.

I’m still scratching my head at the notion that anyone would consider the PolyBrute less than capable compared to pretty much any other poly analog. If you dismiss it due to its presets, that’s on you.

[zerocrossing]

Four banks was filled with presets as I got mine, and almost all very slow emerging ambient ones. And tried one free as well. Really good at those slow evolving stuff, but who wants only that.

Fake news. I'm not a preset guy, not that much, but this statement made me want to see what was up with the Polybrute's presets. While it's true that a lot of the "pad" preset category presets are good for ambient, there are plenty of other preset types that are good for all sorts of different types of sounds, and even the ambient stuff can be easily transformed by adjusting envelope times.

[pocvecem]

I still love my PolyBrute. As well as my MatrixBrute and PEAK. I consider them to be the most versatile and flexible analog (and hybrid) synths I ever had. They don't get me boring for just one single minute.
These synths all have clever gainstaging so you can draw in as much character / drive / crunch as you like to.

Presets are ok for me just to see what's possible but I rather roll my own because this is what all these knobs and faders are for.

[lfm]

I'm not a preset guy, not that much, but this statement made me want to see what was up with the Polybrute's presets. While it's true that a lot of the "pad" preset category presets are good for ambient, there are plenty of other preset types that are good for all sorts of different types of sounds, and even the ambient stuff can be easily transformed by adjusting envelope times.

I use factory presets for two things
- listen for capabilities of the synth that you hope is there
- decode interesting ones "how did they do that?", kind of thing.

Then filled up the rest of banks with own stuff using what I learned.
- and use these presets in projects

PB is brilliant in so many ways, just wasn't a keeper for me. The overview of what modulations are there is second to none. So I don't deter anybody from getting it, but try to motivate this and that why I did not keep it.

[zerocrossing]

I'm not a preset guy, not that much, but this statement made me want to see what was up with the Polybrute's presets. While it's true that a lot of the "pad" preset category presets are good for ambient, there are plenty of other preset types that are good for all sorts of different types of sounds, and even the ambient stuff can be easily transformed by adjusting envelope times.

I use factory presets for two things
- listen for capabilities of the synth that you hope is there
- decode interesting ones "how did they do that?", kind of thing.

Then filled up the rest of banks with own stuff using what I learned.
- and use these presets in projects

PB is brilliant in so many ways, just wasn't a keeper for me. The overview of what modulations are there is second to none. So I don't deter anybody from getting it, but try to motivate this and that why I did not keep it.

I don’t care if you kept it or not. I’m just pointing out that there are a fair amount of different varieties of presets, including basic bread and butter fare. Even a lot of the “slowly evolving” patches are a few tweaks away from not being slowly evolving. Of course, it’s super simple to make your own, and if you can’t do that, just find some plugin whose presets you like and copy them. They won’t sound identical, of course, but you might find something even cooler along the way. Or not. There’s plenty of other instruments around.

[cryophonik]

I love my PolyBrute, but I think Arturia failed with the factory presets. To be quite frank, they are terrible and do not come close to doing what a good factory preset bank should do, i.e., show off the range of the synth. Yes, they show off the range of features pretty well, but are way too focused on the slowly evolving pads and textures, softer tones, etc, and ignore the synth’s excellent raw and hard side. Flipping through presets makes me think that Arturia’s sound designers believe everybody potentially buying this synth makes boring cookie-cutter ambient music.

[lfm]

Even a lot of the “slowly evolving” patches are a few tweaks away from not being slowly evolving. Of course, it’s super simple to make your own, and if you can’t do that, just find some plugin whose presets you like and copy them. They won’t sound identical, of course, but you might find something even cooler along the way. Or not. There’s plenty of other instruments around.

You thought I was a preset guy and was disappointed since no presets for me to use right out of the box
- I tried my best to explain that was not the case at all
- and explained how I use factory presets
- and you still think I am dependent on factory presets and cannot tweak sounds
- so I failed explaining that

In Prologue there is some really wild stuff in factory presets that you really needed to dig deep "how did they do that".
- it showed the range of the synth more fully

First thing I do is mostly turn effects off, since that camoflague the core tone of the synth.
- if everything is barried in effects you can just as well use VST instruments in daw
- all the fines textures from an analog are soon gone with effects

Core timbre is what I am interesting in, effects I do in daw. And I don't use arpeggiator or sequencer in synth either, all in daw.
- so there are loads of stuff I never use in PB

So there are loads of stuff for those using things I do not care about.

Just responding to the title of this topic....

[SiliconDeath]

PolyBrute seems to me like a proto product to freak series. The workflow in both Freaks is 100x better than PB. Saving and browsing presets by just going left and right, who could've thought it's better than all those little squares? Then there's the knob.. the knob used to save presets in PB has terrible feel, it's very "loose" or something, takes energy just to name preset.

Maybe the whole thing in general is too big, the playing posture/position is bad while sitting, even when it's on low level (you'd have to have it on your lap or something) because unlike MatrixBrute the PolyBrute is "flat", it's not tilted, and with "interface" (entire front panel) that big, the thing SHOULD be tilted, not flat.

I get more enjoyment with playing either of the Freaks, and because of how versatile they are (that SEM-style filter plays BIG role in their good sound), I seem to get much more usable and pleasing sounds out of them, than a massive poly VCO, which ends up sounding "thin" in comparison. I never in my life would've imagined when I jokingly bought MicroFreak last year, that it would actually sound so much better than a poly analog. I was hooked instantly.

I think if Arturia ends up releasing "BigFreak", or "MegaFreak", that is gonna be the final nail on the PB's coffin. 3-4 oscs, with SEM + some other filter (for hpf and notch), dedicated filter env, extra cycling envs/mod envs and LFOs.. if Arturia can release such product, I don't see much point in PolyBrute afterwards. So the time for me to sell would be now, when such product doesn't exist yet.

TLDR: Freaks sound better because better sound engine (oh the irony!), better filter, and 100x better workflow. Only "goood" thing of PB is multi-timbrality and keybed split. Playing PB will cause neck/back pains.

[RonBorkent]

Yes.... Just wish their polybrute connect didn't suck. I'm stuck at firmware 2 because otherwise both Cubase and ableton freeze when loading the polybrute connect VST. Without it you can not record the morphee unless you play live and just record the audio.
My older projects will not open after I upgrade polybrute connect. Cubase and ableton just freeze and become unresponsive.

Contacted support but they don't know why this happens so I'm stuck. Saved up for maybe upgrading to polybrute 12 but that one uses polybrute connect as well so.....better not

[discombob]

Latest Polybrute Connect 3.0.2 working absolutely fine for me on Win11 in Ableton, including for recall and project loading.

Maybe something with just your computer?

Does it work if you launch it standalone outside the DAWs?

[RobGee]

Yes.... Just wish their polybrute connect didn't suck. I'm stuck at firmware 2 because otherwise both Cubase and ableton freeze when loading the polybrute connect VST. Without it you can not record the morphee unless you play live and just record the audio.
My older projects will not open after I upgrade polybrute connect. Cubase and ableton just freeze and become unresponsive.

Contacted support but they don't know why this happens so I'm stuck. Saved up for maybe upgrading to polybrute 12 but that one uses polybrute connect as well so.....better not

I copied this from someone on one of the PolyBrute Facebook groups a while back regarding setting up with Cubase. The latest VST3 version of PolyBrute Connect has been solid for me in Cubase on PC.

You’ve probably been through all this but worth a try if not…

This week after receiving mine I had a bit of difficulty getting the PB to sync and setup properly with my DAW, Cubase.
So, for the benefit of any other Cubase users out there here's what I did with the help of Arturia support:

- In the "Studio" -> "Studio setup" -> "Midi port Setup" menu uncheck the PolyBrute VST “In All MIDI” box.

- In the "Studio" -> "Studio setup" -> "Midi port Setup" uncheck the PolyBrute VST “Visible” box on both the in and out port.

This hides the PolyBrute VST port. According to Arturia this port is only needed to communicate with the PolyBrute Connect application and can create issues if accessed directly.

Then I enabled Clock to the PolyBrute in the Project Synchronization setup. I also enabled Always Send Start Message and Send MIDI Clock in Stop Mode.

After this, my workflow is I open a bunch of Instrument Tracks with the PolyBrute Connect instrument in them.

I open an audio track next to each to capture whatever I come up with.

The great thing about it is that if I go back to any instrument track it retrieves the preset I was using on it. I can then make any tweaks necessary and recapture.

I hope all this remains stable for me and that this helps someone...