Product Reviews by KVR Members

Quick review. I've had this for nearly a year and have been kick started into creating my own sounds by the release of version2. Note that now the spec above doesn't include the new modules. The total number of modules are I think the same but you can swap modules. So you can add sample & hold (x2 by swapping out 2 envelopes) a Bode Frequency shifter, a formant filter (swaps with an LFO) and a ring modulator (swaps out an envelope).
Coming to Modular synthesis for the first time (my background is early 80s monsynths) it was a bit of a steep learning curve but the manual is very good.

User interface - now scrollable, I do sometimes find it hard to get fine control even pressing shift.

The presets are a little better in V2 with banks by Klaus Schulze among others, but overall I don't think they are a great advert. I would have prefered less.
Stability - sometimes I have problems when running several instances with other heavy VSTs but that comes with the territory. Having said that I understand V2.1 is on it's way.

Oh, and nearly forgot...it sounds great! The sound is very heavy and organic, I've not really got any "delicate light sounds" but that is probably down to my programming but again it's also down to the actually real life model for this software, it was a bit of a bruiser! The new modules do open up a lot more sound creation possibilities, especially if you are going for complex sounds like those on the early Tomita albums.

My first review. The real killer app of this product is the detail of the copying of original Mellotron sounds. If you liked the mellotron sounds on Radiohead, early Tangerine Dream, King Crimson, or Genesis, reat assured, you will get exactly that. If you think "that's close but not exactly the meelotron on xyz's ablum" then get the tape banks for all the variations including a number of customised tapes for the likes of Yes and Tangerine Dream. With no distracting effects you can add your own (filter and reverb and hey presto you have Phaedra) which I usually prefer.
Negative points? The choice of some of the sounds is a bit eccentric, fun, but not maybe not that usable (though you have plenty of very usable flute, strings, brass/woodwind and choir sounds).
Also I find the selector bar (which allows you to either change the sound or the attack/release etc) a bit fiddly and I have no idea why.
Overall a must have though if you love the mellotron sound. The additional tape banks also make fascinating reading with the details of where the sounds came from.
User interface - lose one point for the fiddly selector bar, apart from that it's simple and looks ok.
Sound - Spot on.
Features - while it is faithful copy of the mellotron down to the tape wear and 8 second "sample" it adds attack/release which others have commented the hardware version didn't have and I find really useful.
Documentation - really not much to it, just select and play!
Prests - have to give it a 10 even with the "wacky presets" because the core sounds (for me) are so usable.
Customer support - I had a couple of minor probs. I got a reply within 24hrs and the problem was seen through to a happy conclusion very professionally.
Value for money - I've put this at 9, the M-tron itself, additional banks are at a reasonable cost, but it still adds up for 100 or so sounds.
Stability - I've put this at 9, I do find sometimes that I have ended up with different sounds being called up when I run a track within my host (Cubase SX2), others have mentioned the same. It's a minor irritation, you just get the right preset back and resave the project.

To re-iterate, if you like meelotrons, get this without hesitation!