Mopho, the good, the bad. The MiniBrute

[Uncle E]

It's a VSTi editor for Mopho i've been building for a few weeks now.
Uses sysex and nrpn to talk to the hw and normal vst control knobs that are automatable from the host. Perfect for Cubase's Quick controls or Novations Automap.

I started this project because there was no editor for Mopho that "actually worked". The Ctrl one was crashing all the time and is way overcomplicated for something this simple and the "official" editor is, as we all know, very buggy and only a standalone app.

I still need to iron out a few bugs(the sysex implementation is a bit odd, some midi threading hick-ups etc) and then i'll release it

Great! If it works well, I could talk to DSI on your behalf to have them buy it from you. They might even want to contract you to make custom controllers for each of their products. Is that something you'd be open to?

[Nielzie]

Well I have heard the many praises of this box, but isn't it double the price I can get a Mopho desktop for? All that CV stuff wouldn't be of use to me as I don't have any other synth that has/uses them.

It's EUR 379 here (I bought it there, excellent shop). Mopho is EUR 322 there.

[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.

Hey didn't you just pick up "Geist"? If so have you tried sampling the Mopho's
drum sounds? I bought Geist recently and enjoy it's sampling feature.

I did, sampled a few sounds but i'm going through and tweaking my patches atm so i can sample a few more.

I haven't programmed many drum timbres but a lot of sequences. The mopho is great for creating grungy sequences, that's what i mainly use it for. It may not be super inspiring on it's own but it always adds interesting percussive elements to a track. It's also a good lead synth imo.

[mkdr]

Great! If it works well, I could talk to DSI on your behalf to have them buy it from you. They might even want to contract you to make custom controllers for each of their products. Is that something you'd be open to?

Thanks. I'd appreciate that. I'll let you know as soon as it's in a demo stage.

Btw. There seems to be few undocumented sysex bytes that the Mopho spits out. Anyone know about these? They'r marked as unused bytes in the manual.

[whitecloud]

Well I have heard the many praises of this box, but isn't it double the price I can get a Mopho desktop for? All that CV stuff wouldn't be of use to me as I don't have any other synth that has/uses them.

It's EUR 379 here (I bought it there, excellent shop). Mopho is EUR 322 there.

Wish that was the case here in the USA. The best price I see for the DE
is $625.00, the Mopho is usually around $399.00 but I found a few for around
$340.00. I wonder why that is?

[Uncle E]

Wish that was the case here in the USA. The best price I see for the DE
is $625.00, the Mopho is usually around $399.00 but I found a few for around
$340.00. I wonder why that is?

It's because is a Doepfer is a European company.

[Nielzie]

Well I have heard the many praises of this box, but isn't it double the price I can get a Mopho desktop for? All that CV stuff wouldn't be of use to me as I don't have any other synth that has/uses them.

It's EUR 379 here (I bought it there, excellent shop). Mopho is EUR 322 there.

Wish that was the case here in the USA. The best price I see for the DE
is $625.00, the Mopho is usually around $399.00 but I found a few for around
$340.00. I wonder why that is?

Hmmm from Thomann to USA is a 30.00 EUR shipping fee

Still a better price then $625.00 then

[thecontrolcentre]

Well I have heard the many praises of this box, but isn't it double the price I can get a Mopho desktop for?

Dark Energy is £317, Mopho is £269 at Thomann ...

[edit] Nielzie beat me to it[/edit]

[Dogboy73]

I had one, purchased the soundflower editor and all, sold it & replaced with others. Sure it sounds great, amazingly deep under the hood. But a horrible interface, & not very inspiring. I feel hardware should have creative real-time tactile interaction. If you have to use a software interface, might as well use a VI.

..... and this is a BIG problem if you are not happy with the editor or experience problems using it. As I said previously I really like the TETR4 editor. Good job because without it &/or some sort of MIDI control over this thing it would be about as much use to me as a chocolate fire guard! As Vieris said this (certainly for analogue gear) is all about hands on control for most people. If you can't really do without that then the Mopho/TETR4 is definitely not for you.

I would also say that there is no way on God's green Earth that I would buy a Mopho these days. Seems a ridiculous prospect when for not a huge amount more you can get the TETR4, which is basically 4 Mopho's in one or half a Prophet 08. The Mopho keyboard? Now there's a different prospect because it's much more hands on ..... but then again the Arturia Minibrute looks like a damn fine contender in this respect. For me it's probably stollen the Mopho keyboards crown for a new, keyboard analogue monosynth. I think it's going to be a lot cheaper as well.

Decissions, decissions It's nice to have so much choice these days. Best thing to do is way everything up by asking yourself a series of questions about what you want/expect & tick these off against what the candidates actually offer. Here's a chart I knocked up featuring some of the synths we're talking about + a couple of others on the horizon;

[musikmachine]

Very technical chart there Dogboy.

That's why i say if you're looking at the desktop, get one used cause the integration and lack of control, not so much fun. You'd easily make your money back on it and for what i paid i think it was well worth it for what's under the hood.

[Dogboy73]

Very technical chart there Dogboy.

Telling it like it is

[whitecloud]

I had one, purchased the soundflower editor and all, sold it & replaced with others. Sure it sounds great, amazingly deep under the hood. But a horrible interface, & not very inspiring. I feel hardware should have creative real-time tactile interaction. If you have to use a software interface, might as well use a VI.

..... and this is a BIG problem if you are not happy with the editor or experience problems using it. As I said previously I really like the TETR4 editor. Good job because without it &/or some sort of MIDI control over this thing it would be about as much use to me as a chocolate fire guard! As Vieris said this (certainly for analogue gear) is all about hands on control for most people. If you can't really do without that then the Mopho/TETR4 is definitely not for you.

I would also say that there is no way on God's green Earth that I would buy a Mopho these days. Seems a ridiculous prospect when for not a huge amount more you can get the TETR4, which is basically 4 Mopho's in one or half a Prophet 08. The Mopho keyboard? Now there's a different prospect because it's much more hands on ..... but then again the Arturia Minibrute looks like a damn fine contender in this respect. For me it's probably stollen the Mopho keyboards crown for a new, keyboard analogue monosynth. I think it's going to be a lot cheaper as well.

Decissions, decissions It's nice to have so much choice these days. Best thing to do is way everything up by asking yourself a series of questions about what you want/expect & tick these off against what the candidates actually offer. Here's a chart I knocked up featuring some of the synths we're talking about + a couple of others on the horizon;

cool chart, really put things all in perspective way that lays it all out nice and tidy. This isn't a life and death decision but I certainly don't want to regret spending cash on something that I may end up flipping. The Akai Miniak I got on blow-out for $233.00 was a bargain and I used to own an Micron so I know how it sounds etc. The cold reality is the programming issues. 2 mod wheels and 3 encoders along with iffy software editors and the time and effort to setup my midi controllers should of been experience enough for me when considering the Mopho module. My original intent with this thread was to see what other's had experience wise with the actual hardware. But this has grown into a larger discussion and has me re-thinking things. Back in my youth and while being a guitarist, I joined a band and we had some Analog Synth looked like a spaceship with all the knobs etc. The minute I laid my hands on it and started to explore was utter bliss. I don't recall which synth it was, probably worth a ton now days. Over the years I grew to comprehend subtractive synthesis and know more how to program from scratch. So I think I'll pass on the Mopho module and save. I think now it comes down to the Minitaur or the MiniBrute. maybe the Dark energy. I would think with a midi in on the MiniBrute
I could use my Yamaha KX49 midi Keyboard controller for a wider playing range. I do have a midi merge box and a Edirol UM-550 usb patchbay interface so I could see playing them together. I had a Waldorf Micro-Q and I think the Pulse's interface to be similar which wasn't great. I might just buy the Akai MPD32 now and use it with Geist as there are already templates/presets on both ends. That will round out my drum and sample needs. Then wait and see what the next couple of months brings and I'll check out all three contenders I've decided on. I appreciate all that have replied and taken the time out of their day to do so. Unfortunately I live in a town where gear like this would probably be 6 hours or so away(12 round trip). I will keep an eye on threads and hear some demo's and see where that leads. Again, thanks

[Uncle E]

I would also say that there is no way on God's green Earth that I would buy a Mopho these days. Seems a ridiculous prospect when for not a huge amount more you can get the TETR4, which is basically 4 Mopho's in one or half a Prophet 08.

Agreed.

The Mopho keyboard? Now there's a different prospect because it's much more hands on ..... but then again the Arturia Minibrute looks like a damn fine contender in this respect. For me it's probably stollen the Mopho keyboards crown for a new, keyboard analogue monosynth. I think it's going to be a lot cheaper as well.

The Minibrute will be $499.

Here's a chart I knocked up featuring some of the synths we're talking about + a couple of others on the horizon;

Awesome! FWIW, I think the Brute Factor knob (which I think you refer to on the chart as "bastardizer") is probably used as much as it is because that's pretty much crucial to getting thickness, warmth, and all the other buzz words that people associate with their favorite analogs. Without it, the MiniBrute sounds like an SH-101, which is a great sound but isn't all that awe inspiring out of the context of a mix.

[Dogboy73]

Back in my youth and while being a guitarist, I joined a band and we had some Analog Synth looked like a spaceship with all the knobs etc. The minute I laid my hands on it and started to explore was utter bliss.

This for me, along with how it sounds, are the two most important factors in any synthesizer. You have to be able to take control of the thing one way or another. Scrolling through menus or affecting one parameter at a time with a mouse just doesn't cut it for me. Soft synths are great these days. But soft synths without a decent MIDI controller are not! By the same token desktop synths are also great. But desktop synths without a decent MIDI controller .... stands to reason. As I said the DSI Tetr4 would be as much use to me as a cat flap in an elephant house if I didn't have a decent controller or the computer (via MIDI) taking care of business. Without this it would just be a nice sounding paper weight with a few knobs on it!

As such I'm not personally all that excited about the fact the Minibrute has a 2 octave aftertouch keyboard. My AKAI MPK49 has a 4 octave aftertouch keyboard. So which one am I going to use to control it?! Great as a standalone instrument, if 2 octaves cut it for you, but that's not how I would use this thing. It would be part of a set-up where it certainly wouldn't need a keyboard. But that's just me. This is all very user specific stuff I think. That's why you have to ask all the questions to yourself. What do you expect from a synth, how will you use it & how will it integrate into your set-up & of course, how does it sound to YOU! Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks IMO. Your buying the thing. Do you like the way it sounds? All good then

[Dogboy73]

.... and here's another chart

http://uploadeater.com/main//guestuploa ... synths.jpg

This one includes a few more synths that I own, have or are considering buying;