Hi everyone, I got an 856 in the scratch and dent sale. I've had a CT5 for a few years so I've been really excited to jump on one of these.
I'm still deciding if I'm going to keep it or not. It has SO much potential for interesting stuff, but the interface is so obtuse that I find myself fighting with it a lot. It reminds me a lot of Buchla synthesizer equipment in that everything about the interface operates on its own logic - logical functions aren't necessarily grouped together and it's very, very easy to inadvertently change something because of how interdependent all of the controls are. Even after learning and understanding how it all works and getting a "feel" for it, I still find it far too easy to end up stuck at a point where I don't understand why it's behaving the way that it is and it doesn't seem to be obeying the input and instructions that I've given it. That's cool - I like gear that pushes back - but I've had several "holy shit!" moments with it and about three times as many "why isn't it working?" moments where I just pull the plug and start over. Super interesting and insane device - definitely not a "Count to Five on steroids" like I thought, but something else entirely. I've been doing vids here if anyone wants to check them out -
https://www.instagram.com/transistorrhythm/