Gear preview 2017

[Jwar]

Literally everyone.

Except you and I right?

[Inconuucl]

[echorec]

These just arrived in the US, after debuting at Musikmesse last year. You can also find them at Thomann's, if you're in the UK/EU. They're a bit pricey at $299, but they pack a lot more features than the Sansamp stompbox preamps.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... gn20170323

https://www.thomann.de/gb/bluguitar_blubox_vsc.htm

[echorec]

Just an FYI, Musikmesse begins in 5 days (next Wednesday). I haven't seen much yet, except rumblings on modules from established builders, but I would imagine there will be a few surprises in the synth world, since NAMM was fairly light on any keyboard (non-modular) news. I'll post some updates over the next week, though, as any info becomes available.

[echorec]

Waldorf has unveiled an 8-voice, analog-digital hybrid synth at their MESSE booth. It's not expected to be available until the final quarter of the year though. Axel Hartmann (Hartmann Neuron, Waldorf Wave designer) was involved. Some of the sounds are kind of cheesy, but it seems like a pretty deep synth, if you're into weird digital sounds and layered banks.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phi8zPZcWtw[/youtube]

[Chankgeez]

Ja.

[echorec]

Positive Grid is adding a pair of new pedals to their BIAS line, that can work as standalone floor devices, or be edited like the TC Toneprint series or the latest Source Audio pedals (edit via PC/Mac/iPad). The distortion is already available for purchase, but the modulation unit was recently unveiled. I believe all the BIAS series pedals are $349 street. That leaves their delay a bit more than the Nemesis, but there is certainly some variation between the two editing systems. The delay also features a separate reverb pot for additional depth. One big plus for this series is dedicated MIDI ports, with no specialty cables or adapters needed.

I'm not a big fan of digital dirt, but perhaps the customizable drive pedal would be a decent substitute for something like the Elektron Analog Drive (Heat's little brother). For me, I don't really think of any of these as substitutes for effects I already have, but they might be interesting complements in certain situations.

https://www.positivegrid.com/bias-modulation/

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ruDXaupQvY[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY0osJzyQ6c[/youtube]

[echorec]

Ventris vids...

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]

[echorec]

Fxbox (26HP) has 16 effects for Eurorack, which can be run simultaneously. It also allows for user-defined settings to be recalled. It's not cheap at $600, but if you're into modular, you've probably come to terms with shelling out some serious coin already.

https://www.gearnews.com/fxbox-touch-sc ... 1010music/

[youtube][/youtube]

[Strange Tales]

Honestly compared to the price of other things for effects/HP, that thing is really fucking cool because it all can be used at once. There are a few other options, but they are even more expensive (Tiptop Audio zDSP), can't do nearly as much at the same time (Erica Synths Black Hole), or are DIY (Dervish Spin Module). I haven't looked too deep on the CV options of that thing but it seems like a really awesome way to incorporate a ton of effects in one box.

[echorec]

Are you using any Erica stuff already? I have the Acidbox II, which is nice, but somewhat under-used in my current routine. If Erica offers up a drone system (assembled & ready to play) using their Fusion modules, I could see myself picking something like that up for cinematic applications. They demoed a pre-built system last year, when they introduced the final 1 or 2 modules of that series, but I haven't seen any rumblings on them actually selling it as a complete system.

Also, Doepfer has the A-187, but like you said, none of them do as much for the $$$.

[Strange Tales]

I've used their Polivoks filter before (which is half of the Acidbox) and that thing is fucking phenomenal. Want to try out a lot of their stuff including but not limited to: Octasource, Wavetable, Black Hole, a lot of the Pico series. I think what you're thinking of is a DIY only kit, it's a full synth voice based off of everything they learned while making the Pico series: http://www.ericasynths.lv/en/shop/diy/d ... nth-voice/. I actually had to google "Erica Synths Complete Voice" to find that, couldn't find that in their DIY shop by itself, weird.

If I could be honest though, I'm hesitant of doing DIY Erica stuff. They've been having a ton of problems with their Wogglebug and Dtech VCF PCBs (I wanted to build both, badly), so I'm not sure if I'd trust anything from them.

[echorec]

I'm talking about the system in these two videos. It certainly seemed like they were gearing up to launch it as a complete system. They currently offer that 'classic system', but it doesn't use any of the Fusion stuff.

https://www.perfectcircuitaudio.com/eri ... ystem.html

The system from these videos has (3) of their Fusion modules: VCO, VCF, and Ring Modulator, complemented by some Pico utility pieces. Maybe they'll eventually get around to making it available as an actual production system and not one you have to assemble piece by piece---I dunno. Also, the featured RM has a different configuration and is wider than the current product model, which is only 10HP.

[youtube][/youtube]

[youtube][/youtube]

---Have you seen any complaints about their completed modules, or is it contained to just their kit projects?

[Strange Tales]

Oh shit I forgot about that thing altogether, haven't seen that since it was posted.

Their built modules are 10/10, their DIY kits seems to suffer from PCB issues, at least the two I mentioned. It looks like they've just re-released a new version of PCB for a few of their things, so I might build another Polivoks filter since I sold and miss mine.

[echorec]

Thanks. That's helpful and reassuring.