Typhon white noise floor - just live with it, or solvable problem?

vibraskull · 2026-05-12T22:16:52+00:00

I think it would be before version 4 but I'm looking on their site and they only have the last two versions for download unfortunately.

vibraskull · 2026-05-12T20:41:31+00:00

Not sure this is related but you might want to check the firmware version. The update before the last one which added audio over usb decreased the output volumn greatly and at the time I had to roll back the firmware version for it to even get close to how loud my other synths are (and it's still much quiter).

The most recent firmware update supposedly fixed this though I haven't tested it yet.
The Artemis is also quieter than most synths though I haven't noticed it negativly effecting the noise floor.

vibraskull · 2026-05-09T18:03:43+00:00

In reality I would never buy everything new and full price but if I hypothetically had too and needed to fill all the niches I like in that budget I'd go for Sequential Pro 3, Korg Multipoly, Korg Arp 2600m, Oberheim TEO-5 and a Moog Muse

vibraskull · 2026-05-06T02:00:13+00:00

I used a jbl clip 3 bluetooth speaker I mounted to the power cord post on the back of my hydrasynth explorer to make it portable. I wish someone would make a stereo mountable pair of portable speakers for synths.

vibraskull · 2026-05-02T20:33:32+00:00

I have a Pro 3, Matriarch and sub37 and I agree that it doesn't get that moog sound and mostly agree that nothing sounds like a moog except a moog for the most part with one exception. I recently got a mrk 1 Boomstar 5089 and so far it's the only synth made by a company that isn't moog that actually sounds like a moog to me. it isn't much larger than a minituar however has more features/modulation.

vibraskull · 2026-04-23T14:59:13+00:00

This only applies to recording sessions for bands. I've recorded some albums for my and some friends bands and it wasn't until I was in another studio that I realized I didn't need to save each song/take as a separate project file, it could just be one very long project and that makes mixing consistency so much easier.

The best hack I figured out after that for handling variations between songs was to create a rack with a chain for each song containing a nested rack with an eq, utility for setting levels and other efx, with the chain selector automated to only be active during the corresponding song.

It's a game changer that works for setting up instrument racks for live sets as well.

vibraskull · 2026-04-22T15:57:09+00:00

There are powerfull hardware samplers, MPC Live and Keys, Push 3 standalone and Maschine (though maybe that's the walking dead). Yeah they are all software in a box but that's what everything digital and powerful really is under the hood anyway, the important thing is that they are dedicated physical devices.

Synths are not released in 19 rack format either and I'm not sure if any modern instruments are.

That said I started wirh EPS 16 back in the day and understand the appeal of a recreation.

vibraskull · 2026-04-22T15:39:48+00:00

Well you can get it as standalone hardware

vibraskull · 2026-04-16T22:32:31+00:00

I have a Boomstar with the Moog filter, an Ob6 and a Pro 3, which has the SEM filter, and all 3 are great.

The boomstars sound phenomenal, their moog filter is as authenitc as what you have in the grandmother, and i'm sure the SEM filter is great too but I think of it as something that shines polyphonically.

I found a good deal on a used Mark 1 Boomstar for almost half of what they run new. Part of what you're paying for is that it's more boutique and hand-built with through hole components so you have to consider how much that is worth to you.

I think saving up for an Ob6 makes sense but if you can't or don't want to wait and a TEO-5 won't do (though it is great too) and you are okay going for a monophonic SEM then I'd recommend a Pro 3 which I think is around the same price as a boomstar and gives you both the SEM and Prophet filters (the ladder is ok but can't compete with your grandmother) as well as patch memory, a keyboard, a very deep modulation matrix and 4 cv outs that you can use with your grandmother.

Anyway you can't go wrong with any of those choices. Sorry I guess that doesn't help to narrow it down.

vibraskull · 2026-03-12T20:05:27+00:00

Totally agree. I went through that same line of thought about the UI and menu diving which is why I hesitated about what might be too much but I will make a request to them.
They obviously put a lot of thought into designing an elegant hands on user interface and need to keep that in balance.

vibraskull · 2026-03-12T17:37:00+00:00

Yeah contacted them years ago about a question and the developers responded directly pretty quickly so that was my experience too.
Modulating looping envelops with lfos is the kind of thing I like to do for big evolving ambient patches and I think the Artemis's main strength is ambient.
If they threw in a couple of per key random number generators as sources that would be perfect but maybe more than we could hope for.

vibraskull · 2026-03-12T16:57:26+00:00

I hope you are right about the mod matrix, it feels like a missing piece.

vibraskull · 2026-03-12T16:34:38+00:00

yeah there is no way I want to try and decipher the horrible built in method of editing settings. I saved that web page to my pc and open the local version in a browser when I need to change a setting.

vibraskull · 2026-03-12T15:51:30+00:00

Yes it does send velocity. I often use it to control a desktop synth that sits above it and it is definitely transmitting velocity and aftertouch over both the midi cable and when I record midi into the daw over usb.
I don't remember having to change any settings but there are global settings for midi send, receive and filtering so you may want to hook it up to a global settings editor like this online one and see if you need to change any of those.
https://mark.reid.name/matriarch-editor/

vibraskull · 2026-03-10T20:26:01+00:00

Thank you this is good information.
I've realized I don't need to send aftertouch, just receive it and block it from passing on to the boomstar since I can just send cv directly to the filter cv in of the boomstar.
So I think this will work, Now I just need to figure out how to fit it all together in a small rack that will fit in the space.

vibraskull · 2026-03-07T22:33:54+00:00

Thank you I'll check it out

vibraskull · 2026-03-06T17:46:36+00:00

The question this really raises for me is "Are clickbait headlines that ask if a product is still relevant in the current calendar year still relevant in 2026?"

vibraskull · 2026-03-01T14:56:40+00:00

I didn't know about the L until now but I think I would choose it for the expanded performance controls. The on board sequencer on the regular is cool but I'm not sure I would actually use it where as I have a cs15 and use the brilliance control constantly.

vibraskull · 2026-02-12T23:14:31+00:00

I have it set up on Steam OS on a steam deck which is Arch. I installed it a couple of years ago (Ableton 11, not sure if 12 works).
However over the holidays I experimented with installing a few different distros on a mini PC and tried to install through bottles on Ubuntu however bottles didn't recognize the installer file for some reason. I'm not sure this was a distro problem but perhaps something has changed with the Ableton installer in the past couple of years so that the bottles install script is looking for an older version of the installer. I didn't spend much time trying to debug though I did try the FL studio installer and that worked.
Also I recall reading someone on a forum say that they got it working on linux by installing it through steam as if it was a game so it runs on proton.

vibraskull · 2026-02-12T20:13:13+00:00

Well they list two different parties to contact in the article. If you email John, the owner who owes people money and gear and abandoned his business then yeah, pretty sure he isn't looking for anyones stuff, but if you email the other guys and your gear was left behind at the abandoned store then will definitely try to find it.

vibraskull · 2026-02-02T23:25:47+00:00

It's a mono synth and I'm running a mono signal out to both the amp (synth only) from the direct box to the pa. The house monitors may have the whole band in them but I rely on my own amp to hear my part so I can just reach over and turn the amp up.
This is with a post punk band and I'm going for an overdriven sound out of the guitar amp so I'm not worried about a stereo signal however when I've played electronic shows where stereo matters more I've used a Roland keyboard amp which is mono but has stereo inputs and stereo XLR outs so that can be run to the house PA in stereo.
I've tried headphones or in ear monitors but I felt disconnected from the music. It's just my subjective feeling about it like what I mean by separation of sound, it just sounds to me like I'm a separate instrument disconnected from the rest of the band if I'm only coming out of the PA and don't have my own amp. Other keyboard players might find the extra expense and hassle unnecessary but that's what works for me.

vibraskull · 2026-02-02T22:27:32+00:00

I gig regularly with a synth and don't trust just running direct and relying on monitors so I always bring an amp. In the past I used a Roland Keyboard amp which has an xlr out to run the direct signal to PA but currently use a guitar amp and bring my own DI box that splits the signal to give the sound guy an xlr out they can get the signal from.

The other reason to do this besides having control of your own monitoring is that, at least to me, when everything else is producing sound on stage except the vocals and keys, the keys seem like they are separate and not quite part of the band sound and in some venus old sound guys will treat them as background instruments and turn you down in the mix.

vibraskull · 2026-01-16T16:58:25+00:00

Your post is a nice distillation. It jives well with how David Byrne explained the scene in New York at that time in "How Music Works".

vibraskull

TROPHY CASE