The electronic musical instrument world is littered with cases of one person, individually solving a problem. This one gets even more specific. There’s some beloved MIDI gear out there that’s just a bear to program. Yes, you can use various knob boxes – but because some of the programming requires archaic System Exclusive messages, prepare yourself for some work.
The Stereoping device adds knobs and custom firmware for that hardware. Amusingly, the product is available as a kit, but maybe that’s perfect – you spend a bit of cash and devote that time to the soothing task of soldering rather than the hateful task of mucking about with old SysEx commands. Frankly, it looks like a fun build. Being able to work on the JX-8P alone could make you happily cough up the change. (Pre-assembled versions are planned.)
The video series Electronic Beats caught up with the creator, a one-man shop in Germany. Call it a documentary on a labor of love.
I have to admit I’d never seen these before. Devices it supports – in case you were wondering:
‘Microwave’ for Waldorf Microwave 1 (Software V 2.0)
‘1006r’ for Oberheim Matrix 1000 / 6 / 6r
‘AlphaJ’ for Roland Alpha Juno 1/2, MKS-50
‘8P’ for Roland JX-8P
‘8000’ for Korg DW-8000 / EX-8000
‘K3′ for Kawai K3 / K3m
’81Z’ for Yamaha TX-81Z
‘K1′ for Kawai K1
‘Mirco’ for Alesis Micron / Akai Miniak
‘Microwave 2′ for Waldorf Microwave II
‘Qfeld’ for Waldorf Blofeld / microQ / Q
‘Puls’ for Waldorf Pulse 1
‘Revolver’ for DSI Evolver
No Yamaha DX-7 yet, unfortunately (they explain why on the site – basically, it’s hard to do).
At first, this may seem redundant, but there are loads of little details. For instance:
“Some Synthesizers allow to change the patchname by midi sysEx-data. We added a special “Letter-dial”-Mode allowing you to dial the pots for selecting letters – saves time, is funny”
It’s not inexpensive by any means at €225,00, plus another 10€ for a full set of extra faceplates – but if that saves an investment, I imagine it could be worth it. (This does seem ripe for a tablet app to cover these use cases, though.)
Clarification: Yes, the store is a bit confusing. But here’s how the system works: you only need one box. Presumably, you buy the kit for the gear you most need to control – it already comes with a faceplate. You can load other firmwares onto the hardware, one at a time, and for another 10€ buy a set of faceplates for those other templates. Now, it is a shame there’s no way to quickly swap between layouts, but yes, this one box can support all the hardware listed above (with maybe some additions soon). I’d love to see an update that allows you to change firmwares with DIP switches or a knob rather than re-flash the unit, though.
Others have pointed to similar solutions on Lemur and Livid controllers. Most notably, though, the Kiwi 3P programmer covers the one piece of kit missing from this list – the JX-3P, notorious for being cheap on eBay before you get absolutely killed for the (rarer) programmer accessory.
You might actually find his Eurorack creations more interesting, depending on your tastes. There are some nice-looking delays, plus a spring reverb. I know what you’re thinking — “spring reverb,” in quotes. But this is the real deal, a Eurorack module attached to a tank big enough to hold an actual spring.
And I’m looking forward to seeing what Electronic Beats does next with this new video series they’re calling Audio Intro-vations (this is only the first episode). The focus is on lesser-known tech; this certainly qualifies.
All images: stereoping.com.
Didn’t Trent Reznor use one of this for the live version of “Copy of A” that was first introduced on youtube?
Don’t know, good question! Link?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRrQrow-PK0
Pretty sure it was a Livid controller, not a standalone synth.
I can verify that is was a Livid controller. In fact, it was an Alias8.
Ah, cool. Yeah… more than one way to skin this cat…
That was a Livid Alias (awesome controller)
Didn’t Trent Reznor use one of this for the live version of “Copy of A” that was first introduced on youtube?
Don’t know, good question! Link?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRrQrow-PK0
Pretty sure it was a Livid controller, not a standalone synth.
I can verify that is was a Livid controller. In fact, it was an Alias8.
Ah, cool. Yeah… more than one way to skin this cat…
That was a Livid Alias (awesome controller)
Didn’t Trent Reznor use one of this for the live version of “Copy of A” that was first introduced on youtube?
Don’t know, good question! Link?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRrQrow-PK0
Pretty sure it was a Livid controller, not a standalone synth.
I can verify that is was a Livid controller. In fact, it was an Alias8.
Ah, cool. Yeah… more than one way to skin this cat…
That was a Livid Alias (awesome controller)
No mapping for a Cheetah MS6? Sigh!
No mapping for a Cheetah MS6? Sigh!
No mapping for a Cheetah MS6? Sigh!
can u change the firmware if u own several of them synthies ?
Why don’t you read before you write? The website, the manual, other posts in this very discussion…?
Easy — just been out of the office, got to update the actual article. 😉
trolling others, I see
Yes, It’s pretty easy. And you can’t get or print Faceplates for different synths.
It’s good to try them out. But the original idea for sure wasn’t to produce a All in One solution. And if you are in production mode it makes no sense to change the firmware and Faceplates every time you wanna use another synth.
I got the Matrix programmer and Iam pretty happy with it. It’s the first time that I can program my Matrix without the usual problems about the slow processor and to many SysEx informations at one time. Of course I can’t control every single parameter but it gives me most of the ones I need and the surface is really well arranged. I’ll check the TX81Z one soon and if this one is as same as good as the Matrix one I buy another kit. Against original programmers like Access, PG-300 etc. the Stereoping is cheap in my opinion and Iam a bloody amateur when it comes to soldering and things like that and I builded this controller without any problem.
Of course I mean you can get or print faceplates in my second sentence.
can u change the firmware if u own several of them synthies ?
Why don’t you read before you write? The website, the manual, other posts in this very discussion…?
Easy — just been out of the office, got to update the actual article. 😉
trolling others, I see
Yes, It’s pretty easy. And you can’t get or print Faceplates for different synths.
It’s good to try them out. But the original idea for sure wasn’t to produce a All in One solution. And if you are in production mode it makes no sense to change the firmware and Faceplates every time you wanna use another synth.
I got the Matrix programmer and Iam pretty happy with it. It’s the first time that I can program my Matrix without the usual problems about the slow processor and to many SysEx informations at one time. Of course I can’t control every single parameter but it gives me most of the ones I need and the surface is really well arranged. I’ll check the TX81Z one soon and if this one is as same as good as the Matrix one I buy another kit. Against original programmers like Access, PG-300 etc. the Stereoping is cheap in my opinion and Iam a bloody amateur when it comes to soldering and things like that and I builded this controller without any problem.
Of course I mean you can get or print faceplates in my second sentence.
can u change the firmware if u own several of them synthies ?
Why don’t you read before you write? The website, the manual, other posts in this very discussion…?
Easy — just been out of the office, got to update the actual article. 😉
trolling others, I see
Yes, It’s pretty easy. And you can’t get or print Faceplates for different synths.
It’s good to try them out. But the original idea for sure wasn’t to produce a All in One solution. And if you are in production mode it makes no sense to change the firmware and Faceplates every time you wanna use another synth.
I got the Matrix programmer and Iam pretty happy with it. It’s the first time that I can program my Matrix without the usual problems about the slow processor and to many SysEx informations at one time. Of course I can’t control every single parameter but it gives me most of the ones I need and the surface is really well arranged. I’ll check the TX81Z one soon and if this one is as same as good as the Matrix one I buy another kit. Against original programmers like Access, PG-300 etc. the Stereoping is cheap in my opinion and Iam a bloody amateur when it comes to soldering and things like that and I builded this controller without any problem.
Of course I mean you can get or print faceplates in my second sentence.
Any idea if this is a one-box, many-synth unit? It’s hard to gather that from their website. I mean, they offer the entire lot of the faceplates and the hardware, and one can only assume the firmware/programming per knob as well in what I guess would be a sysex file, since all I see is a midi in; and therefore you could switch the synth controller with an additional sysex file? Since I have 5 of these synths in question, this would be an ideal solution for me, I’d like to know if this is the case.
Errr… What exactly is not clear? There is only one box, but 13 different faceplates. You buy one and then you purchase faceplates for any other edition you’d also need/want (or download the PDF files and print them out yourself). And then you download the firmware for those editions from the website too: http://www.stereoping.com/synth-controller-downloads/?lang=en
It’s MIDI SysEx, so that should be pretty straightforward. Took me 2 minutes to find out, what was difficult with that in your opinion?
1) Does not indicate that it’s reprogrammable in the article
2) The website store lays out each individual nameplate next to the components & breadboard (etc), each with its own individual price… sends the message that you have to buy a new box per synth make
3) It does not say directly anywhere that you can use the same box for different synths (with a firmware change, of course)
4) Any other time this has been done in history by other boutique editor builders, you had to buy a different box per unit.
If this is the case (one box, many synths) that for god sakes man, it should be written directly that way.
That’s what is difficult in my opinion.
See section 6 of the manual
“Your hardware of the SSC is compatible to all other SSC synthesizer editions. If you own more than one synths supported by the SSC, you can safely dump firmware files of other editions into it and play around with them. Only one at a time of course.”
Right, so to review for those still unclear:
1. one kit supports all the hardware
2. if you want faceplates for all the hardware, they’re available separately (10€)
3. you can’t switch firmware. you have to re-flash the hardware each time you want to use a different unit
#3 is something I’d like to see addressed. 😉 DIP switches, a knob, something. There might be a more convenient way to go about that…
The reflashing seems a weird limitation, IMO.
Presumably his chosen microcontroller has insufficient rom space to handle more than one device, even though device specific info is relatively small and even something like 32k would be sufficient to hold the OS and the full list of given device specific details. Thus he must be using a microcontroller with less space.
The solution is to use a more capable microcontroller. There are many and they are likely the same price as the one he is currently using.
1) Correct, but Peter provides links to the website, so it would have been just a click away.
2) Yes, but it also offers each faceplate individually, if you bother to scroll further down: http://www.stereoping-shop.com/en/synth-controller-faceplate.html
3) http://www.stereoping.com/synth-controller-faq/?lang=en (see: “Is it possible to dump the firmware e.g. of the 1006r-edition into my Microwave-Edition controller?
Sure. The hardware of all edition is – except the faceplate- identical. Each firmware perfectly can be dumped in any editon.”)
4) What was in the past, does not mean it has to be like that forever.
I apologise for ranting, but writing before even doing some basic reading is just too lame in my opinion.
Wow, folks are so sensitive today.
I did do some reading first, at several locations on their website (see my post: “it’s hard to gather that from their website”… obviously you didn’t read my post thoroughly).
I wasn’t being critical of Peter’s article. Nor would I expect him to stick his neck out and say anything more than is obvious and present on the builder website. I am being a curious potential customer for the unit… now if only the information was presented more clearly up front, that would be great. I’m just saying it’s probably the first question folks will have about these units, and the answer is not obvious.
So, in closing, it wasn’t obvious to my obviously inferior mind that this was the case; that the unit could be reprogrammed (vs hard coded chips). I was just looking for some clarification, because having one unit (instead of 3 or 7) for this task is exciting news.
Sorry to have ruffled your personal feathers with my questions.
Thanks for answering my questions, although it could have been done minus the attitude.
Go troll somewhere else.
If that’s how you see the world…
Whoa, whoa, easy… God, it’s like on those 80s cartoons where some evil baddie made everyone grumpy.
It’s winter; we’re apparently all on edge. 🙂 I know both commenters… you’re both right. It’s fine. Yeah, I can double-check on compatibility, that wasn’t made as clear as it should be on the site.
Thanks, Peter, for the edit. 🙂
Well, I guess it was a long day at the office with too many people asking questions *before* reading the manual… And btw, I *did* already write: “I apologise for ranting”
Any idea if this is a one-box, many-synth unit? It’s hard to gather that from their website. I mean, they offer the entire lot of the faceplates and the hardware, and one can only assume the firmware/programming per knob as well in what I guess would be a sysex file, since all I see is a midi in; and therefore you could switch the synth controller with an additional sysex file? Since I have 5 of these synths in question, this would be an ideal solution for me, I’d like to know if this is the case.
Errr… What exactly is not clear? There is only one box, but 13 different faceplates. You buy one and then you purchase faceplates for any other edition you’d also need/want (or download the PDF files and print them out yourself). And then you download the firmware for those editions from the website too: http://www.stereoping.com/synth-controller-downloads/?lang=en
It’s MIDI SysEx, so that should be pretty straightforward. Took me 2 minutes to find out, what was difficult with that in your opinion?
1) Does not indicate that it’s reprogrammable in the article
2) The website store lays out each individual nameplate next to the components & breadboard (etc), each with its own individual price… sends the message that you have to buy a new box per synth make
3) It does not say directly anywhere that you can use the same box for different synths (with a firmware change, of course)
4) Any other time this has been done in history by other boutique editor builders, you had to buy a different box per unit.
If this is the case (one box, many synths) that for god sakes man, it should be written directly that way.
That’s what is difficult in my opinion.
See section 6 of the manual
“Your hardware of the SSC is compatible to all other SSC synthesizer editions. If you own more than one synths supported by the SSC, you can safely dump firmware files of other editions into it and play around with them. Only one at a time of course.”
Right, so to review for those still unclear:
1. one kit supports all the hardware
2. if you want faceplates for all the hardware, they’re available separately (10€)
3. you can’t switch firmware. you have to re-flash the hardware each time you want to use a different unit
#3 is something I’d like to see addressed. 😉 DIP switches, a knob, something. There might be a more convenient way to go about that…
The reflashing seems a weird limitation, IMO.
Presumably his chosen microcontroller has insufficient rom space to handle more than one device, even though device specific info is relatively small and even something like 32k would be sufficient to hold the OS and the full list of given device specific details. Thus he must be using a microcontroller with less space.
The solution is to use a more capable microcontroller. There are many and they are likely the same price as the one he is currently using.
1) Correct, but Peter provides links to the website, so it would have been just a click away.
2) Yes, but it also offers each faceplate individually, if you bother to scroll further down: http://www.stereoping-shop.com/en/synth-controller-faceplate.html
3) http://www.stereoping.com/synth-controller-faq/?lang=en (see: “Is it possible to dump the firmware e.g. of the 1006r-edition into my Microwave-Edition controller?
Sure. The hardware of all edition is – except the faceplate- identical. Each firmware perfectly can be dumped in any editon.”)
4) What was in the past, does not mean it has to be like that forever.
I apologise for ranting, but writing before even doing some basic reading is just too lame in my opinion.
Wow, folks are so sensitive today.
I did do some reading first, at several locations on their website (see my post: “it’s hard to gather that from their website”… obviously you didn’t read my post thoroughly).
I wasn’t being critical of Peter’s article. Nor would I expect him to stick his neck out and say anything more than is obvious and present on the builder website. I am being a curious potential customer for the unit… now if only the information was presented more clearly up front, that would be great. I’m just saying it’s probably the first question folks will have about these units, and the answer is not obvious.
So, in closing, it wasn’t obvious to my obviously inferior mind that this was the case; that the unit could be reprogrammed (vs hard coded chips). I was just looking for some clarification, because having one unit (instead of 3 or 7) for this task is exciting news.
Sorry to have ruffled your personal feathers with my questions.
Thanks for answering my questions, although it could have been done minus the attitude.
Go troll somewhere else.
If that’s how you see the world…
Whoa, whoa, easy… God, it’s like on those 80s cartoons where some evil baddie made everyone grumpy.
It’s winter; we’re apparently all on edge. 🙂 I know both commenters… you’re both right. It’s fine. Yeah, I can double-check on compatibility, that wasn’t made as clear as it should be on the site.
Thanks, Peter, for the edit. 🙂
Well, I guess it was a long day at the office with too many people asking questions *before* reading the manual… And btw, I *did* already write: “I apologise for ranting”
Any idea if this is a one-box, many-synth unit? It’s hard to gather that from their website. I mean, they offer the entire lot of the faceplates and the hardware, and one can only assume the firmware/programming per knob as well in what I guess would be a sysex file, since all I see is a midi in; and therefore you could switch the synth controller with an additional sysex file? Since I have 5 of these synths in question, this would be an ideal solution for me, I’d like to know if this is the case.
Errr… What exactly is not clear? There is only one box, but 13 different faceplates. You buy one and then you purchase faceplates for any other edition you’d also need/want (or download the PDF files and print them out yourself). And then you download the firmware for those editions from the website too: http://www.stereoping.com/synth-controller-downloads/?lang=en
It’s MIDI SysEx, so that should be pretty straightforward. Took me 2 minutes to find out, what was difficult with that in your opinion?
1) Does not indicate that it’s reprogrammable in the article
2) The website store lays out each individual nameplate next to the components & breadboard (etc), each with its own individual price… sends the message that you have to buy a new box per synth make
3) It does not say directly anywhere that you can use the same box for different synths (with a firmware change, of course)
4) Any other time this has been done in history by other boutique editor builders, you had to buy a different box per unit.
If this is the case (one box, many synths) that for god sakes man, it should be written directly that way.
That’s what is difficult in my opinion.
See section 6 of the manual
“Your hardware of the SSC is compatible to all other SSC synthesizer editions. If you own more than one synths supported by the SSC, you can safely dump firmware files of other editions into it and play around with them. Only one at a time of course.”
Right, so to review for those still unclear:
1. one kit supports all the hardware
2. if you want faceplates for all the hardware, they’re available separately (10€)
3. you can’t switch firmware. you have to re-flash the hardware each time you want to use a different unit
#3 is something I’d like to see addressed. 😉 DIP switches, a knob, something. There might be a more convenient way to go about that…
The reflashing seems a weird limitation, IMO.
Presumably his chosen microcontroller has insufficient rom space to handle more than one device, even though device specific info is relatively small and even something like 32k would be sufficient to hold the OS and the full list of given device specific details. Thus he must be using a microcontroller with less space.
The solution is to use a more capable microcontroller. There are many and they are likely the same price as the one he is currently using.
1) Correct, but Peter provides links to the website, so it would have been just a click away.
2) Yes, but it also offers each faceplate individually, if you bother to scroll further down: http://www.stereoping-shop.com/en/synth-controller-faceplate.html
3) http://www.stereoping.com/synth-controller-faq/?lang=en (see: “Is it possible to dump the firmware e.g. of the 1006r-edition into my Microwave-Edition controller?
Sure. The hardware of all edition is – except the faceplate- identical. Each firmware perfectly can be dumped in any editon.”)
4) What was in the past, does not mean it has to be like that forever.
I apologise for ranting, but writing before even doing some basic reading is just too lame in my opinion.
Wow, folks are so sensitive today.
I did do some reading first, at several locations on their website (see my post: “it’s hard to gather that from their website”… obviously you didn’t read my post thoroughly).
I wasn’t being critical of Peter’s article. Nor would I expect him to stick his neck out and say anything more than is obvious and present on the builder website. I am being a curious potential customer for the unit… now if only the information was presented more clearly up front, that would be great. I’m just saying it’s probably the first question folks will have about these units, and the answer is not obvious.
So, in closing, it wasn’t obvious to my obviously inferior mind that this was the case; that the unit could be reprogrammed (vs hard coded chips). I was just looking for some clarification, because having one unit (instead of 3 or 7) for this task is exciting news.
Sorry to have ruffled your personal feathers with my questions.
Thanks for answering my questions, although it could have been done minus the attitude.
Go troll somewhere else.
If that’s how you see the world…
Whoa, whoa, easy… God, it’s like on those 80s cartoons where some evil baddie made everyone grumpy.
It’s winter; we’re apparently all on edge. 🙂 I know both commenters… you’re both right. It’s fine. Yeah, I can double-check on compatibility, that wasn’t made as clear as it should be on the site.
Thanks, Peter, for the edit. 🙂
Well, I guess it was a long day at the office with too many people asking questions *before* reading the manual… And btw, I *did* already write: “I apologise for ranting”
This is great. My solution to the problem, as to an Alpha Juno, is an iPad app called iPG-800 – which works perfectly.
It just doesn’t have those nice knobs on the touch screen… 😉
This is great. My solution to the problem, as to an Alpha Juno, is an iPad app called iPG-800 – which works perfectly.
It just doesn’t have those nice knobs on the touch screen… 😉
This is great. My solution to the problem, as to an Alpha Juno, is an iPad app called iPG-800 – which works perfectly.
It just doesn’t have those nice knobs on the touch screen… 😉
Lovely idea! Korg DW/EX-8000 is cool – might make me reconsider if I’d want to purchase one, finally. A controller for the Poly-800 would be great too.
Yeah, sadly, the Poly-800 can’t do any kind of sysex parameter changes (just wasn’t built into it). I think the mkII had a very rough patch export feature, but it had to get a “request” from the backup device first.
Oh – I don’t know that. That’s a pity. But thanks for the info!
Lovely idea! Korg DW/EX-8000 is cool – might make me reconsider if I’d want to purchase one, finally. A controller for the Poly-800 would be great too.
Yeah, sadly, the Poly-800 can’t do any kind of sysex parameter changes (just wasn’t built into it). I think the mkII had a very rough patch export feature, but it had to get a “request” from the backup device first.
Oh – I don’t know that. That’s a pity. But thanks for the info!
Lovely idea! Korg DW/EX-8000 is cool – might make me reconsider if I’d want to purchase one, finally. A controller for the Poly-800 would be great too.
Yeah, sadly, the Poly-800 can’t do any kind of sysex parameter changes (just wasn’t built into it). I think the mkII had a very rough patch export feature, but it had to get a “request” from the backup device first.
Oh – I don’t know that. That’s a pity. But thanks for the info!
Wow a k3, I used to have one of those. (and box lke that would have been handy.)
Wow a k3, I used to have one of those. (and box lke that would have been handy.)
Wow a k3, I used to have one of those. (and box lke that would have been handy.)
Great idea, but please keep in mind that not all parameters are accessible in regards to modulation sources: “On modern or more complicated units (e.g. Waldorf Microwave, Oberheim
Matrix 1000) we just can map the – from our point of view – 48 ‘most
important’ parameters.”
Great idea, but please keep in mind that not all parameters are accessible in regards to modulation sources: “On modern or more complicated units (e.g. Waldorf Microwave, Oberheim
Matrix 1000) we just can map the – from our point of view – 48 ‘most
important’ parameters.”
Great idea, but please keep in mind that not all parameters are accessible in regards to modulation sources: “On modern or more complicated units (e.g. Waldorf Microwave, Oberheim
Matrix 1000) we just can map the – from our point of view – 48 ‘most
important’ parameters.”
No JX-3P support 🙁
No JX-3P support 🙁
No JX-3P support 🙁
This looks like a great device and is compact. The KiwiTechnics is fantastic and brought my Matrix 6 to life. I couldn’t imagine ever them not being married together.
http://kiwitechnics.com/patcheditor.htm
This looks like a great device and is compact. The KiwiTechnics is fantastic and brought my Matrix 6 to life. I couldn’t imagine ever them not being married together.
http://kiwitechnics.com/patcheditor.htm
This looks like a great device and is compact. The KiwiTechnics is fantastic and brought my Matrix 6 to life. I couldn’t imagine ever them not being married together.
http://kiwitechnics.com/patcheditor.htm
Oooh. Just bought an Juno Alpha 2 and this would be rad with it. But can I justify the price point considering I got the Alpha 2 for less than $200? Argh…
Oooh. Just bought an Juno Alpha 2 and this would be rad with it. But can I justify the price point considering I got the Alpha 2 for less than $200? Argh…
Oooh. Just bought an Juno Alpha 2 and this would be rad with it. But can I justify the price point considering I got the Alpha 2 for less than $200? Argh…
I’ve made Lemur templates for the Matrix 1000 and the DW-8000 (available in the user library at Liine) and hated every minute of the experience. I’m somewhat fascinated to see what he managed in terms of the real time control with the Matrix; it lags drastically with much SYSEX input. It also lacks access to the titular mod-matrix. Still, might have saved me numerous hours.
Yeah, the Matrix1000 is notorious for a slow microprocessor. I’ve got a kiwitechnics Patch Editor, very similar to the stereoping here, that can easily choke him with fast slider moves.
I’ve made Lemur templates for the Matrix 1000 and the DW-8000 (available in the user library at Liine) and hated every minute of the experience. I’m somewhat fascinated to see what he managed in terms of the real time control with the Matrix; it lags drastically with much SYSEX input. It also lacks access to the titular mod-matrix. Still, might have saved me numerous hours.
Yeah, the Matrix1000 is notorious for a slow microprocessor. I’ve got a kiwitechnics Patch Editor, very similar to the stereoping here, that can easily choke him with fast slider moves.
I’ve made Lemur templates for the Matrix 1000 and the DW-8000 (available in the user library at Liine) and hated every minute of the experience. I’m somewhat fascinated to see what he managed in terms of the real time control with the Matrix; it lags drastically with much SYSEX input. It also lacks access to the titular mod-matrix. Still, might have saved me numerous hours.
Yeah, the Matrix1000 is notorious for a slow microprocessor. I’ve got a kiwitechnics Patch Editor, very similar to the stereoping here, that can easily choke him with fast slider moves.
Good idea, but over-priced for the lack of functionality. If i’m going to pay like 300 USD I want a full controller, not 16 assignable knobs with labels.
The Kiwitechnics Patch Editor is a bit more capable and hefty, with sliders, but is around 500 USD, so the stereoping slots into the market nicely in the middle. Using an ipad (lemur) is the low-cost solution.
Good idea, but over-priced for the lack of functionality. If i’m going to pay like 300 USD I want a full controller, not 16 assignable knobs with labels.
The Kiwitechnics Patch Editor is a bit more capable and hefty, with sliders, but is around 500 USD, so the stereoping slots into the market nicely in the middle. Using an ipad (lemur) is the low-cost solution.
Good idea, but over-priced for the lack of functionality. If i’m going to pay like 300 USD I want a full controller, not 16 assignable knobs with labels.
The Kiwitechnics Patch Editor is a bit more capable and hefty, with sliders, but is around 500 USD, so the stereoping slots into the market nicely in the middle. Using an ipad (lemur) is the low-cost solution.
i like the idea of these, kawai’s stuff is really under rated, hope the k5 and k5000 make it in there.
but i wonder why not usb midi and a software program to handle some of the sysex? piracy? maybe issues along the lines of the matrix and tx81z couldn’t be addressed then? those kinds of problems are pretty common. if you own more than 1 piece of hardware it’s not a bad price at all, but i’m not sure i’d want to reflash the firmware.
very cool that they’re working on dx7. sy/tg77 would be nice to have something for the envelopes as well.
lots of samplers it could be interesting too. considering how cheap mirages are…
i like the idea of these, kawai’s stuff is really under rated, hope the k5 and k5000 make it in there.
but i wonder why not usb midi and a software program to handle some of the sysex? piracy? maybe issues along the lines of the matrix and tx81z couldn’t be addressed then? those kinds of problems are pretty common. if you own more than 1 piece of hardware it’s not a bad price at all, but i’m not sure i’d want to reflash the firmware.
very cool that they’re working on dx7. sy/tg77 would be nice to have something for the envelopes as well.
lots of samplers it could be interesting too. considering how cheap mirages are…
i like the idea of these, kawai’s stuff is really under rated, hope the k5 and k5000 make it in there.
but i wonder why not usb midi and a software program to handle some of the sysex? piracy? maybe issues along the lines of the matrix and tx81z couldn’t be addressed then? those kinds of problems are pretty common. if you own more than 1 piece of hardware it’s not a bad price at all, but i’m not sure i’d want to reflash the firmware.
very cool that they’re working on dx7. sy/tg77 would be nice to have something for the envelopes as well.
lots of samplers it could be interesting too. considering how cheap mirages are…
Really nice little boxes. Definitely a market there. Bear in mind you can make your own with the BCR2000 and the BCR Manager program. I’ve made templates for many of the synthesizers represented here. I was quite proud of my Microwave template. If anyone wants it, let me know. No charge of course. Just email me at neonlightsmike @ gmail. Gotta love those 80s synths!
I’ve used the BCR for this too. The issue with it is the footprint…its huge! For instance, it doesn’t fit on top of a JX-8P, a synth with a pretty large space to lay a controller on.
Really nice little boxes. Definitely a market there. Bear in mind you can make your own with the BCR2000 and the BCR Manager program. I’ve made templates for many of the synthesizers represented here. I was quite proud of my Microwave template. If anyone wants it, let me know. No charge of course. Just email me at neonlightsmike @ gmail. Gotta love those 80s synths!
I’ve used the BCR for this too. The issue with it is the footprint…its huge! For instance, it doesn’t fit on top of a JX-8P, a synth with a pretty large space to lay a controller on.
Really nice little boxes. Definitely a market there. Bear in mind you can make your own with the BCR2000 and the BCR Manager program. I’ve made templates for many of the synthesizers represented here. I was quite proud of my Microwave template. If anyone wants it, let me know. No charge of course. Just email me at neonlightsmike @ gmail. Gotta love those 80s synths!
I’ve used the BCR for this too. The issue with it is the footprint…its huge! For instance, it doesn’t fit on top of a JX-8P, a synth with a pretty large space to lay a controller on.
There’s a guy in Argentina that’s been doing this for a while, but he’s made it a little hard to find his gear. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxLeRotbKc6mEr7lPkytvDg
There’s a guy in Argentina that’s been doing this for a while, but he’s made it a little hard to find his gear. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxLeRotbKc6mEr7lPkytvDg
There’s a guy in Argentina that’s been doing this for a while, but he’s made it a little hard to find his gear. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxLeRotbKc6mEr7lPkytvDg
Oooh! Oooh! Ensoniq VFXsd?
Oooh! Oooh! Ensoniq VFXsd?
Oooh! Oooh! Ensoniq VFXsd?
Peter mentions the irony that it is available as a kit. The reason a lot of things are kits is that it is believed to be a way to avoid having to go through the self-certification process required by the FCC to sell digital products in the US without facing massive fines that can kill your business. Many kit builders believe that kits don’t require certification. This is true for modules in modular rack synthesizers, but kits that result in a standalone product it may not be true for. In any case, certification requirements are more lenient for things used in industry, therefore constraining sales to professional customers who work in a studio in an industrial zone, and excluding home studio use, might possibly work. Since the cost of proper certification and modifications typically runs $10k – $20k it is a killer for everything that is a small run boutique instrument. Another alternative is to only sell outside the US, as EU regulations are more reasonable.
Peter mentions the irony that it is available as a kit. The reason a lot of things are kits is that it is believed to be a way to avoid having to go through the self-certification process required by the FCC to sell digital products in the US without facing massive fines that can kill your business. Many kit builders believe that kits don’t require certification. This is true for modules in modular rack synthesizers, but kits that result in a standalone product it may not be true for. In any case, certification requirements are more lenient for things used in industry, therefore constraining sales to professional customers who work in a studio in an industrial zone, and excluding home studio use, might possibly work. Since the cost of proper certification and modifications typically runs $10k – $20k it is a killer for everything that is a small run boutique instrument. Another alternative is to only sell outside the US, as EU regulations are more reasonable.
Peter mentions the irony that it is available as a kit. The reason a lot of things are kits is that it is believed to be a way to avoid having to go through the self-certification process required by the FCC to sell digital products in the US without facing massive fines that can kill your business. Many kit builders believe that kits don’t require certification. This is true for modules in modular rack synthesizers, but kits that result in a standalone product it may not be true for. In any case, certification requirements are more lenient for things used in industry, therefore constraining sales to professional customers who work in a studio in an industrial zone, and excluding home studio use, might possibly work. Since the cost of proper certification and modifications typically runs $10k – $20k it is a killer for everything that is a small run boutique instrument. Another alternative is to only sell outside the US, as EU regulations are more reasonable.