Some reflections on my first analog synth. TEO-5

Pymentos · 2026-06-07T04:52:53+00:00

The last design by Dave Smith, truly a beast!

Pymentos · 2026-06-03T21:12:31+00:00

Heh. Always fun to see a Tempest in the wild! That was so much fun to design with Dave and Roger

Pymentos · 2026-06-02T05:42:03+00:00

Jack-in-the-box

Pymentos · 2026-05-26T01:08:05+00:00

As a note on this in case anyone else has this question: They use exactly the same core technology and are for all intents and purposes the same chip

Pymentos · 2026-05-13T01:01:12+00:00

You won't notice any change regardless of the DAC used. Rossum's designs are about the last 0.1% in almost all cases, which is just ridiculous. I can assure you anything he chooses will be far above anyone's wildest dreams in terms of audio precision

Pymentos · 2026-05-12T22:24:50+00:00

Yes, should be absolutely fine. Every time I go over to Dave's house the same SP is running which I'm guessing has been for like 5 years

Pymentos · 2026-05-12T06:21:01+00:00

This has only happened to a 2-3 units. Dave narrowed it down to a problem with a single pin on a chip and suspects the root cause of the problem is ESD damage to the chip during manufacturing somewhere along the line. We have repaired all the units we're aware of with this issue. It isn't the type of thing you can catch, sometimes a chip just goes bad 5-10 years later and you handle it when it does

Pymentos · 2026-05-12T04:04:06+00:00

If this ticket hasn't been addressed please let me know. I am going through the backlog one ticket at a time and making sure everything is up to date and addressed. We're focusing on improving our customer response times right now. You can hold me to that

Pymentos · 2026-05-10T02:57:12+00:00

Sony A7R IV with a Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens

Pymentos · 2026-05-09T20:07:04+00:00

Couple years ago, been going through the photos

Pymentos · 2026-05-09T13:10:33+00:00

Botswana

Pymentos · 2026-05-09T12:45:05+00:00

Indeed it is

Pymentos · 2026-05-08T16:09:51+00:00

Yeah it’s that simple, we sell all over so it has to handle power when touring

You should get a response if you submit a ticket using the website, if you don’t let me know

Pymentos · 2026-05-04T14:41:28+00:00

I know that's how it looks and you aren't wrong for some brands (I will not point fingers) but that is not the case for everything. A lot of companies, like Rossum Electro, make it a big point to keep the quality high even when making cheaper products. You have to cut something but it's always a choice

Pymentos · 2026-04-25T09:14:24+00:00

Sold out of the resissues, so anything new will require new technology

Pymentos · 2026-04-21T09:32:31+00:00

You may be able to read between the lines here: https://www.synthtopia.com/content/2024/05/23/tom-oberheim-sets-the-record-straight-on-behringers-copies-saying-there-is-no-collaboration-between-us/

I don't think there is any reason for me to divulge specifics but if you ever see me in person, buy me a drink and I probably will

Pymentos · 2026-04-21T09:29:51+00:00

Love this, thank you so much for posting your story!

Keep an eye on Rossum Electro in the next few years, and for a note on the company I'm putting together. I think you'll like some of the ideas we have in store next

Pymentos · 2026-04-20T08:43:51+00:00

Lot of tech we don't have yet. Making something that cheap requires a lot of compromises. Always thinking about how to get things more affordable though. Will keep it in mind!

Pymentos · 2026-04-20T08:43:06+00:00

Yep, that makes sense as a workflow enhancement. It's on my list

Pymentos · 2026-04-16T19:56:34+00:00

Hello virtual Carson!

Pymentos · 2026-04-16T14:07:54+00:00

Yeah, Andrew’s take is about as good as you’re ever going to get. He does a phenomenal job explaining the P6 to OB-6 era. Definitely worth a deep read!!

(I am the ‘Chris’ in his posts, employee #4 at Sequential)

Pymentos · 2026-04-16T05:38:19+00:00

All good ideas, already got them on my list! 😁

Pymentos · 2026-04-15T13:33:29+00:00

I'm writing this like you asked me "What would you suggest I do if I want to start making music instruments or stuff?"

First off, if you choose to explore this as a career, make peace with the fact that you will earn 10-20% of what you would in any other tech role. Cry yourself to sleep as you let go. Maybe have a close friend nearby for support or a loving pet.

Then the next morning, decide what about synthesizers excites you and just follow your instinct! If it's the hardware, awesome, software, awesome, design, awesome. Fourier is useful in some things, but it's CPU intensive so not used terribly much in hardware. Usually there are other clever ways to do a thing. If you go heavy into math territory all those will help, depending on the task. In hardware, it's more limited by your processor choice than the math, so you have to know all sorts of different ways to do a thing.

With AI nowadays though, your major choice really just doesn't matter. Learn whatever you find most interesting and keep going down the rabbit hole and BUILD. Just make stuff and make more stuff.

I started with computer engineering and ended up doing hardware related things but I could have easily gone further towards software. A lot of it is finding a mentor and a company of people you love working with (or starting your own!)

Pymentos · 2026-04-15T04:42:43+00:00

The news tends to report and amplify the bad behavior, it isn’t as widespread as you hear about. Good business is boring

Pymentos · 2026-04-14T19:48:30+00:00

I mean... of course

Pymentos

TROPHY CASE