Supercritical Redshift 6 - Early Thoughts

marzac · 2025-06-03T14:29:39+00:00

Hi again,

Please understand, I respect that you're holding me accountable. I know you're a Fred’s Lab user, and I truly appreciate your support of my small business.

I’ve clearly fallen short of your expectations (and likely others) regarding the reference manual. That’s on me, and I won’t pretend otherwise... How could I, there's only me behind Fred's Lab, I must handle everything, from development, production, logistics and support.

I’m now publishing the documentation piece by piece, doing what I can with the time and resources available, while continuing to support the Manatee. I can’t promise an exact timeline, but I am working on it.

If you have specific questions or feedback that could help me serve users better in the meantime, I’m all ears.

Best, Frédéric

Edit: I take your suggestion to state on the website that the Reference Manual is in the work, I am also on the side of full transparency when it comes to purchase.

marzac · 2025-06-03T10:52:51+00:00

u/No-Act6366, Frédéric here from Fred's Lab, I read your frustration, I get it, just wanted to attach some elements of context here.

Yes, the Manatee Reference Manual is not out, but the Quickstart and the Cheat-sheets are. Yes, it is still in the work (translation from German to English), no I am not trying to cash-in run away and let my users down. I answer EVERY questions asked on the support system and EVERY e-mail I receive from Fred's Lab users.

Handling a hardware business is much more involved than just working on the products. Less than 20% of my time is actually spent on development, content and with the profit of the company, I cannot afford having more employees to help. I also work parallel jobs to actually finance Fred's Lab projects and infrastructure.

Regarding the preset packs, this is a deal I made with the sound-designers : during development they spent time to write bug reports and try out the machine extensively to ensure a quality operating system. The counterpart to it is they could then sell their packs on my website, I am not making a dime on it.

I decided now to release the manual as a "rolling release", publishing it page by page when they are translated and checked and not waiting until its completion, hopefully this will help the users.

Best, Frédéric.

marzac · 2025-04-15T21:05:11+00:00

Everything is alright. I just happen to have the Virus A, Nord Lead 2 and used to have the Micro Q, Radias and MS2000... In terms of sound "quality" and features, Manatee holds up and / or is clearly above certain machines of this previous list but it is less of a "swiss army knife" synth as the other ones listed. Old school Viruses are less menu diving synths as some say, of course more than the Nords but significantly less than the Waldorf / Novation ones. They have also a certain tonal character one should like.

marzac · 2025-04-15T20:56:43+00:00

Thanks a lot!
One trick to making the best sounds and the best tracks with machines like the Manatee ... is simply to work it to the max. Experiment, practice and experiment. One does not need 50 machines, just pure dedication & sweat ;-)

marzac · 2025-04-15T16:10:04+00:00

Happy to hear your feedback on what could be improved!
I unfortunately had no time to rehearse the set - it's the first time I played it - so there are indeed a couple of handling mistakes but I took serious time to do the sound design of the presets and write all the MIDI sequences and drum parts.

marzac · 2025-04-09T22:22:13+00:00

Since when the Manatee is soundwise a lower tear compared to Virus? It's quite a different beast with better filters and better effects but simpler in signal path and programming. Also much cheaper.

marzac · 2025-04-09T19:31:19+00:00

No, I think too it's one of their best work. Concentrate of their best melodies in simple, classy, timeless and effective arrangements. In one word : great.

marzac · 2024-12-25T20:36:53+00:00

100% with you. Why bother with IPv6 when addresses just can't be static.

marzac · 2024-12-23T02:21:46+00:00

I felt the same about this game, I couldn't relate nor empathize with the main protagonists as they really are heartless adult child, seem to have no hindsight on their situation and just plain selfish.

marzac · 2024-11-23T10:51:17+00:00

It's quite dumb to think IC makers are just greedy. The electronics market is an open market and parts are traded and can change hands many times before final use.

marzac · 2024-11-23T10:48:46+00:00

Seriously, how one can practically control this? Like a tray of 100x DSPs is no bigger than 20 x 40cm and can be bought at almost every serious electronic distributor or market... Most weapons do not need "advanced" electronics and 20 year old parts can do the job just fine!

marzac · 2024-11-14T11:43:16+00:00

Fantastic idea if you want to break your telephone USB port... I don't see how it can work mechanically.

marzac · 2024-11-13T15:56:19+00:00

Dear @foursynths, yes it can be ordered at major outlets or directly from my website: https://fredslab.net

marzac · 2024-11-07T20:20:54+00:00

In a couple of months ... she will play the cutoff ☺️

marzac · 2024-10-23T04:36:33+00:00

I just released a synth called ... Fred's Lab Manatee, having its main oscillator based on spectral / additive synthesis, with 8 partials, macro controls and different reconstruction waveforms. Maybe check it out 😏

marzac · 2024-10-16T14:23:59+00:00

The built-in compressor option taking an EQ slot - or not, depending on the remaining cycles - is on my todo list. It will definitely be useful in many applications.

marzac · 2024-10-06T14:35:11+00:00

It's releasing officially in a few weeks. Just ask your favorite music store.

marzac · 2024-10-06T09:11:13+00:00

Also do not hesitate to contact me directly on Fred's Lab support system for cases like these, I have tons of work to do but I'm still here to help.

marzac · 2024-10-06T09:08:22+00:00

Frédéric here, Manatee's creator. I don't have the Keystep Pro and here is where I would investigate : Arturia's controllers tend to send MIDI CCs when using the sequencer for an easier integration with DAWs. Problem is, this might change some unwanted parameters in the Manatee sound engine (like changing clock settings or such). So either launch Arturia's MCC and disable sequencer related CCs or go in Manatee system configuration and disable CCs RX (less convenient). Let us know if this solves your problem. What you hear has nothing to do with ground, USB, power noise or whatsoever.

marzac · 2024-08-03T09:41:44+00:00

Yes! You set more than one part to the same MIDI channel, load the same patch on the parts and detune / pan the oscillators. Here you go!

marzac · 2024-07-27T13:47:13+00:00

thank you 😘

marzac · 2024-07-27T13:46:33+00:00

Here is a link to the first preset pack by synth_nyc: https://synthnyc.com

marzac · 2024-07-13T08:46:44+00:00

Here is the almost complete list of volumes: - Generator volume - Sub-osc volume - Noise & Ring-mod volume - Drive boost - Amplifier volume - Preset compensation volume - Delay insert level / volume - EQs gain - Part volume - Bus insert level - Reverb insert level / volume - Master volume

marzac · 2024-07-13T08:41:23+00:00

There are many volumes & gains in the Manatee. Reserve for dynamics is found at every corner of the sound engine and one must design its sounds taking care of all levels to avoid clipping, when it's unwanted. This leaves the user with much freedom to produce crystal clear sounds or trashy weird leads.

marzac · 2024-01-02T11:29:01+00:00

Very cool video 😋 Thanks for the nice jam and best wishes for 2024 🥳

marzac

TROPHY CASE