In my modular, the plan B model 15 oscillators failed me, is not stable enough for my tastes. I simply got tired of having to calibrate the keyboard scaling every time I turned the unit on. Oh well. I am very glad to say that Shawn of Analog Haven and I worked out a deal to work this out. I still want a plan b model 09 though. Plan b is good, I think I just got a couple of sour modules.
What am I replacing the model 15s with? MFB OSC-01 triple DCO oscillators that sound more like a juno 106 and sh-101 but super stable and scale almost perfectly. DCOs are great, but do lack a little warmth and lower frequencies. Not to worry, I will add a Moog Freq Box that will work just like any oscilator in my rig, controlled with cv. This is an oscillator from the minimoog voyager. This will fatten up my dcos nicely.. The voyager oscillators track great so i should have no problem. THIS DEMO of the Harvestman Polivoks Filter is mindblowing. I love my bitcrusher from Harvestman. In fact that is what kept me from selling off the modular. That polivoks sounds simply amazing. WOW. A while back I used to layer my juno 106 and micromoog together and would get huge sounds. Now I will have that with better filters. I cannot wait to get all this.. I will post reviews of it once I have it for a week.
http://www.velvetacidchrist.com/synth/planbfreqVSjp8080.mp3
Roland JP8080 VS Modular Plan B Osc and Livewire Frequensteiner. Analog VS Digital! Round one. Yup I did a shoot out on a super basic sounds with a multimode filter. A basic SAW wav, Into the filter with the same env settings on each. Simple octave bass patch. Then I play with the filters while I record. Only Good ears will tell the difference. How it works, The first sound is High Pass Filter, Synth A then a pause then Synth B. The second sound is Lowpass Filter, Synth A then a pause then Synth B. The third sound is Bandpass Filter, Synth A then a pause then Synth B.
Go ahead and guess which is which… on each sound.
http://www.velvetacidchrist.com/synth/8080vssh2.mp3
This time its the Jp8080 VS The SH2. Two tests, The first is played up high with the filter open in lowpass mode, simple saw. First Synth A will play then pause then Synth B will play. Second test is a bass octave saw with the filter open. First Synth A will play then pause then Synth B Will Play.
Guess which one is which.
Results: On Modular VS Jp8080 multimode filter, Synth A on every instance was the Plan B with Frequenstiener. Synth B was the Jp8080.
On SH2 VS Jp8080 lp clip, Synth A was the SH2, and Synth B was the 8080 on each instance.
What should of given it away, the clicky envs on the 8080 mimic the jupiter 6. Not to mention that the plan b and sh2 glow, they have this high frequency sound that sounds 3D and pops out, A better presence. As to where the digital sounded more dull and sunk back. It subtle, but this is a big deal in musical terms. On the sh2 8080 lead comparison, if you listen with head phones, if you focuse in on the background, you can hear the synth b aliasing, like broken machine with odd harmonics, you can really hear it with head phones.. This causes ear fatigue. And one of the biggest reasons I hate digital oscillators.. Only two people got it all right, Elegia here, and javier from matrixsynth got it right. I made the test very simple, just to show you the differences on a basic level, it gets even worse for digital the more complex the sounds get. The lead i made super annoying, just a raw high pitched saw with the filter open. This shows how bad digital aliases, and how the analog does not.
What can i say. Click here! to go to the future retro web site where you can listen to mp3 clips of this amazing synth! Amazing. 303? well, sort of, but in my opinion a lot better at some things, i prefer this for bass, it has a meatier tone to it over all as to where the 303 is a tad more nasal sounding and rubber bandy sounding tone. The revolution has a thicker tone, i’ve used both a 303 and a revolution now, for the chicken squak type 303 stuff it can get close but not 100%. But who cares, because honestly i think comparing how the 303 is actually inferior to the revolution is more important, i would rather own the revolution over a 303 and that is really saying something to me. The modern midi and layout is way better on the revolution, so easy to use once you read the manual. I love the roland acid sound, and i think future retro has gone a little beyond the standard old school sound with this synth. For the money you cannot beat it. It’s awesome. I also use the sequencer via cv into my sh2 and modular, wow now that kicks major butt as well. I can use it as a synth or a sequencer to control things via cv gate or midi out. Really cool. I use this on my emiliy autumn remix for the fast arp lines. I had it sequencing my sh2 and my jupiter 8 in that remix. It syncs up well with midi clock, and i can track it right in through a distressor, and wow, its pure magick. I could not live with out this synth, i would rather sell my vintage gear than part with this, and i don’t say that lightly, that is how great i think the sequencer and the synth sounds are in this thing. Also, this thing sits in the mix well i laugh when i hear a VA or software synth try and pull this sound off, nothing beats real analog resonance, nothing does, and this has it, it cuts amazingly and really can help drive the song with tight sequences, i used this extensivly on my remixes with stellar results so far, and it is now the back bone of my studio. I used it to back bone my Mortiis remix, my brain leisure remix, my emily autumn remix, and the nine inch nails remix. Future Retro also has a new semi modular synth comming out called the XS. I will buy this as well, I cannot wait to get my hands on it… I will write up a review for it once i get it. Below is a video of me using the revolution in the nine inch nails remix i did. check it out!:
Oh, and i all most forgot, Right Click Here! And select save download, to download an mp3 of the NIN survival remix i did over this summer, It really shows off the revolution in high quality. Enojy.
ok after a week of messing around with it. Wow. it has a lot of pluses. It has that low end of the moogs. The filter sounds very moog like, but i do have some complaints that i will get to later. The oscillators are big and fat and sound kind of like the voyager.
It has one modulation matrix, only one modulation tho, which i think really sucks all things considered, way to limited, should allow to rout to multiple destinations, and it doesn’t. not from what i can figure out any how. The mod wheel setting is not remembered by patch storage(the mod wheel controls the amount of modulation for the modulation destination), which i think is purely idiotic. this is 2007 for crying out loud, why on earth did they choose do to it like this? stupid. So every time i pull up a patch that relied heavily on modulation, i have to guess where i had the mod wheel set to. This is stupid, and i cannot stress it enough how irritating i find it. i like to run synths live, and if i want to program change to a new patch that relies on the mod wheel setting I’m crap out of luck. talk about a bummer. My old juno 106 never gave me modulation bs like this and that synth came out in the early 80s.
Ok. the sound. For certain types of bass, it rocks, its really warm and fat. Envelopes snap good, and the over all sound in this area is rally nice. Now, if i open up the filter, the sound is well, NOT VINTAGE. IT lacks this high end frequency information that my micro moog, and my sh 2 have. and i know the original minimoog had this high end presence as well. This synth and the voyager do not. It irritates me a little, i have to add a lot of high eq just to get it to sound ok on some sounds, and that is no real fix either. but honestly, its still really usable compared to anything digital. its so fat.
Lets get to the resonance on the filter. It lacks spit, wetness, and high end frequencies that my jupiter, micro moog had. It has this duller resonance compared to some of my other older vintage pieces, but i have managed to get some good resonance bass out of it actually. I am changing my mind more and more as i program this thing.. (UPDATED) I posted resobass mp3s below, new!
So despite those complaints, i do like this synth, It can cover some ground, but for leads, the lack of high end really makes it sound kind of dull compared to a real old moogs. for certain bass sounds, i really like it. i can get great sub bass, and those woody wormy aggressive non wet bass sounds of the mini and micro. And i can get good resonance bass with snappy envs like most moogs. The midi is nice, and i really like the action of the keyboard, it responds well to playing fast.. and for me thats great.
I’ll use this synth to thicken up the low end on my tracks when ever it needs it. and for that, this is a great synth. But do not expect it to replace anything vintage, it most certainly does not do that.
The interface is great, no stepping on the knob movements, cool lights to show you the ballpark of where the knob once was kind of like the nord 3. Very cool. It is so easy to edit sounds and get your head around this if you have used any old analog before. a button for anything you want to edit, and the knob above.. very good. i can honestly say that with the filter over drive, and the tight sound, i do prefer how simple it is to edit and get great sounds out of right away, vs the voyager which confused me with its new stereo filter nonsense that i didn’t care for at all. They added sample and hold and noise in the latest os update. there are a few hidden menus that you need to figure out. they added per patch pitch bend and filter pole controls per patch now, and this really helps. the filter poles can give you that 303 or arp sound pretty well. this gets me the moog sound i wanted without breaking my bank account. I like this ok, i give it a 6 out of 10.
Kenton pro solo: Amazing midi to cv converter, its tight, real tight with logic sending it midi. i like the portamento and other things i can get out of it.. very good, worth every peny, also can do extra cv modulations with the aux out jack.
doepfer a-105 ssm 24db low pass fitler: The resonance is kinda weird just like the monopoly, but great for scifi zaps and weirdness. And man, when i do osc to the filter for fitler fm, holy smokes, crank the resonance, mess with the freq of the model 15, mes with the frew of the fitler, oh boy, 60 sci fi galor, so far my favorite. Amazing. But for bass duties, its nice and fat, and i can get it pretty aggressive. Much fatter than the frequensteiner in lp. So for me this is a must have. Shawn at analog haven told i would love this on bass. he was dead on.. Very smooth and aggro, kinda moog, but not really. more like a monopoly but with snappier envs on the doepfer. very cool. i would buy this again if i lost it.
doepfer a-137 waveshaper: Kind of boring to me, just not drastic enough. Cool for drones and weird textures, but honestly its not to my liking at all. to vanilla. i expected much more. takes a lot of valuable space, i might keep it if i had two racks. but all i have is one, and it didn’t win me over enough.
doepfer a-118 Noise/random: wow, i love the colored noise on this module. and the random voltage thing is kinda neat as a modulator on my filter and other things. nice.
doepfer a-138 mixer: Wow this sounds decent. if you over drive this past 7, it gets pretty aggressive, great for the kind of music i do. nice..
doepfer a-131 VCA: Again decent sounding, and man if you go past 7, it gets real mean. i love it..
doepfer a-143 quad lfo: nice to have 4 lfos, i like the speed switch, this goes real slow and nice and fast. i love it. better than most synth lfos i’ve had. Can go real fast in the high mode, fm audio. nice…
doepfer a -125: this is the best phaser i’ve ever had, and i haven’t had many, makes the phaser in the virus ti sound like a toy..can sound real thick and heavy, very psychedelic. wow. this will make my psy trance tracks kick major butt..
doepfer a-188-1 1024 bbd: Very cool short delay that does chorus and flange ok, not the best i’ve heard, the modcan sounds the best so far. but for strange detuned rubber band delay modulation sci fi weird stuff, this thing really rocks, but it makes me wish i had room for the 188-2 instead.. hrmm… still really good for the money.
a-140 adsr: Very snappy. i mean this thing handled my 160 bpm bass duties at 16th notes very well. better than most stuff i have owned. i have not tried to make kick drums yet or other percussion, so i don’t know how well it does there. but for bass and leas, out standing fast poppy envs. i have not messed with the other speed settings other than the m. and that suits my needs so far. i got two of these. and man, i’m loving it…. so fast tho, they can pop, you have to mess with the attack and release a tad, but man. it snaps..
1-180 multiples: what can i say, they split the multiply a signal by 3. awesome. does its job well. i get 1 in and 3 out x2 per module, i got 2 of these..
Livewire Frequensteiner multimode filter: i saved the best for last. what can i say, this thing is aggressive, and man, it is simply the best multimode filter i have ever owned. The low pass is very aggressive, as is the bandpass, and the highpass, but man, the high pass is the best on this filter. it hisses and bites and cuts in a mix so well, i cannot explain how much i love it. But honestly i really like all the filter modes a lot. if i push the audio input past 7 or 8, it over drives and gets really mean, i mean super pissed. AMAZING. This thing is worth every penny, i love the knobs, and the nice big frequency knob is much loved here. What other multimode filters have i owned? nordlead, jp8080, virus up to the ti, the jupiter 6, the andromeda. This thing is sick, i mean so great, i cannot rave bout it enough. This is now my favorite synth filter ever. Even beating out my love for the minimoog and jupiter 8 filters.. i’m just into that aggressive exciting sound this thing gives me.
I sold my roland jupiter 8 for this: i am not looking back, i love the old vintage lush instruments. but i needed something with more balls and bite and aggression, i got it. What i am able to pull of with this is amazing seriously mean bass and leads, that cut on all frequencies of the spectrum. And all the strange ufo sci blips and beeps that modulars are know for as well. This doesn’t sound vintage, it has its own new sound, its stable and alive, but very precise and tight. zippy, and responsive. so much more so than i am used to. the modulations in the andromeda were sluggish and oogy, this is lightning fast and responsive, just how i like it. I am so glad that i took this big step. Sure i have some issues with the implementations on the the plan b model 15 with its pwm strangeness, but other than that, i love it all. I took back my virus ti and vsynths because they just didn’t cut into my analog drum machine and monosynth dominated mixes. This thing does. it can get in there with my sh2, and future retro revolution just fine. as to where my virus would sound all faint and wouldn’t cut, even with the high pass, it would kinda get lost and not stand out. that is not a problem here with this system. This is why i love analog so much more in the kind of music i make, i need stuff that has presence in the mix. digital doesnt. ANALOG DOES!
I bought it all from http://www.analoghaven.com .. please if you do buy stuff because of these sound demos, tell them that you heard the clips from velvet acid christ and read this review. I want a hook up for getting him business. I’m addicted to this modular stuff, and i need all the help i can get now.. :) Shawn really is the one who help me build this system. He and i go way back. I’m so glad his store exists now. really helped me out here. i’ve been lusting after a fat system with a multimode filter for years. I FINALLY HAVE FOUND IT.. i’m so happy..
I finally got my attenuator. Now i can use the PWM on the plan b model 15. So i made some basic growly pwm osc lead and bass pad patches and showed off the ssm filter i got as well and the frequenstiener.
this is the model 15 pwm into the ssm lowpass filter. basic sweeping of the filter. pretty big if you ask me. model15pwmssmlp.mp3
Same as above but with the frequenstiener in lp. but the lp on this is not as fat as the ssm, its more noisy and aggressive. notice my horrid bad live playing :) ouch. talk about slop. ehehehe model15frequensteinerpwmlp.mp3
I love this pwm in band pass. kind reminds me of my old juno 60 but with bandpass. nice.. model15frequensteinerpwmbp.mp3
Warning, this will blow your ears loud heehehehe. model15 pw out into filter in on ssm filter with resonance all the way up in self osc. then mess with freq on the model 15, and the freq knob on ssm to get outer space ufo 60s sci fi sounds. this filter does it the best, much better than the frequensteiner. Let’s hear a digital synth modular or not sound like this, not a chance in hell. never.. model15ssmfm.mp3
these are all recorded directly into my rme fireface 800… nothing else..
Best poly synth ever made. versatile. pretty metallic bells, searing leads, warm lush pads and strings, creamy soft sounds, hard phasing sounds, industrial ambient, techno, you name it, it can do it, but in a very pleasant way that no other synth can. I can even get damn good bass out of this thing.. its like a juno 106 on massive steroids.. i will never part with this synth, it is simply amazing.. i’m so happy to finally have one after all these years of lusting for one.. The filters, wow, the resonance, wow, the high pitched pretty sounds, wow. i am in love, and yes, this is now my favorite synth of all time.. And yeah i kinda think the limitation of 16 for the osc on the jup8 really is stupid, but not enough to make me not love the jupiter 8 as my all time fav poly. and if you need, you just put the sh2 and the jup8 together in a layer, and its simply amazing the end result, the syrup of the jup 8 filter with that raw fat sh2 tone under it.. WOW..
The jupiter smashes the mks 80 in the face when it comes to smooth sounds that are very musical. It is liquid, watery, acidic, and snappy as hell, or long and evolving.. what makes the jupiter 8 really kick butt, is layering 2 patches, then messing with the arp, it is the king in that regard.. I think the mks80 sounds really chippy, its good but not vintage. The jup 8 sounds discrete… jup 8 with an sh2 will rule the analog universe, well, and a jupiter 6 for multimode filter stuff. Open filter bread and butter stuff? where i notice the real big huge differences is in resonant sounds, sweeps, and things like this, the jupiter 8 clearly wins here, it smashes every synth in this category in my opinion. the warbly nature of the osc, and the watery filter that sounds like candy syrup, the jupiter 6, the mks80 don’t even come close. the juno 60 sort of does but it does sound different, not as aquatic.. + no unison. Heavy sync sounds for arp lines with the filter being acidic, this is where the mks80 only wishes it could stand up to the might of the jupiter 8. layer 2 of these types of patches and tweak em differently, whoa it’s like the world is crashing down. and also, i love tweaking the hell out of my synths when i am tracking, and man that sucks with the rack synths. the jupiter 8 tweaks real smooth, and this is another reason why i pick it and my sh2 over any mks80. cost a tad more, but sounds a million times better. i hate chip oscillators, unless its from the junos… If you are a unison freak and need the power to detune to your liking, and like open filter fat huge sounds, the jupiter 6 and mks80 are the way to go. If you want resonant sounds, sweeps, arp lines that get very wet and mean, and watery, pads that shimmer with that watery filter, really bright metallic sounds from sync and from the filter. the jupiter 8 is the pure winner. The osc on the jupiter 8 are just so much smoother and open and perfect sounding compared to the chips in the jupiter 6 and mks 80..Yeah, the jupiter 8 is fat, but not in bass sounds, it does fat poly sounds, and fat leads…The only reason it isn’t bass fat, is because of the 16 limitation on both osc, and no sub osc.. My junos are fatter for bass than the jupiter 8, but because they have sub oscillators that go down to 32.. or 44.. heheheh I use the jupiter more for poly sounds than for bass. like i said, the best bass comes from mono synths, minimoogs, white faced arp odys, roland sh2, sh09… best unison bass is prolly the mks80, because the envs are snappy enough and it has a bass boost on it… so for unison bass, the mk80 is the synth to get…
Another thing i think makes the jupiter 8 blow the mks80 away, is the 12db filter setting, throw it in 12db, and man it slices and dices, gets very aggressive and cutting. I prefer to make my bass patches in 12db, it sounds tighter, mean, and ripping.. Sure its not ultra fat, but man it sticks out in the mix just right, and is very usable.. I prefer it, because the jupiter 8 is an arp machine. big fat sounds don’t arpeggiate as well.. But present ripping, cutting, gritty sounds do arp well, and that is what the 12db filter gives you.
January 25th, 2008 by Hexfix93
4 Comments »
