303 Clones

Owned a TT-303 and a x0xbox, both were great but I wanted a bit more territory to explore. Just recently put in an order for this after seeing at NAMM 2015, packed with features, I/O, and really well built:

yeah, avalon looks mad good. but it’s also too expensive for a one trick pony.

i’d go for acidlab bassline.

it’s looks good, it’s well-built, it’s not exactly a proper clone. but who cares?

other choice would be a nicely modded xoxbox (2xVCO) in that new aluminum casing

And yet at ~$900 still cheaper and way more flexible than an actual 303 lol (funny how that works out). I was originally wanting a x0xi0 since I wanted Devilfish features on a clone, but decided to pawn my TT-303 for $500 and for an additional $400 pick up something better in almost every regard.

I agree though, it has an niche appeal but damn is that niche satisfied well.

Did Clavia supply Avalon with those buttons? Very similar to the Nords.

actually they are “marquardt 6450” switches…pretty solid, i have a bunch of them for my diy-projects… :slight_smile:

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I’ve been itching for a TT303 for months now. From the demos I’ve seen it is spot on.

If anyone (in Europe) wants a cut price TT303, then email the company and ask about B-stock/ex-demo units.

Contact:
http://www.cyclone-analogic.fr/en/contact-us

I did and they got back to me and said they had one available, shipping included to Europe for 390euros. 50euro cheaper than new unit.

I just emailed them back to say I can’t buy it, so maybe someone else can, if it’s there.

Just saying’:wink:

I’ve wanted to build a full XOXIO kit with the sweet looking aluminium case for ages, but no movement on the web page for a while now.

Hi all,

I am wondering what is the best acid synth out there, I don’t have the money for a TB-303 and not a big fan of the boutique series so no TB-03.
What is the best clone of a TB-303 or is there any other synth that can do as good acid bass lines ?

Thanks
Khaled

Do you need a sequencer? If not, the MAM MB33 is a cheap way to get some acid flavor.

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The RE-303 replica (not a clone as the tagline says, hehe!) is as close as you’re gonna get. They go for about 900 EUR pre-built. Can really recommend it.

But yeah, still a pretty penny. (Really worth it to IMO, you get an improved sequencer that still has the same operation, so all the wonkiness but max the live editing, really underrated!)

A x0xb0x goes quite cheap used these days. It’s not spot on, usually not even that close the og really, but it has its own flavor that is quite nice I think.

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I’d recommend the Avalon Bassline. However very hard to get now and expensive.

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TT-303mkII is pretty nice if you want standard acid sound, it has a better sequencer than the TB-03 in some ways.

TB-03 is very good also, I don’t know what it is about the Boutiques you don’t like, but if it is concerns about the sound then I can tell you it isn’t an issue.

FR-777 is great if you want an expanded acid pallettte, quite hard to find now though and probably expensive.

There are quite a lot of other options (most of which I have owned or do own) so if you have any specific requirements then please elaborate.

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TB-03 is nice, it’s got the og sequencer (must need IMO), and sounds close enough for most applications. However, I found that the envelope retriggering and some sequences just won’t sound correct on it. But it’s not something you would notice if you haven’t spent a lot of time with an original. (I don’t think? Not trying to be an elitist or anything)

Honestly a lot closer than most analog clones.

Avalon sounds really great, and has some cool extra features - but the sequencer differs from the original in a way I really dislike.

I have a TT-303mk1 and TB-03. Would recommend either of them. Both have tap write mode which is great, but I’m probably partial to the TT. I imagine the newer TT’s sound just as good (and they look pretty affordable).

That said, sequencing the TB-03 with the trigger-in is a lot of fun.

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With the risk of sounding off track - definitely TB-03. Everything that was said above about it. And I did spend a lot of time with originals.

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I have not noticed this behaviour when I entered patterns from my TB-303s on it - I’m not disputing it though but would be interested to know if it is certain combinations of notes/slide/accents/rests which may invoke it?

Not sure, but I recall someone explaining that it has to do with how the components get saturated from successive triggers and/or don’t have the time to discharge in certain situations causing a very specific behavior.

(I’m not that knowledgeable when it comes to analog circuits so I’m probably getting something backwards.)

It could be the capacitor discharge behaviour on successive accents, described here?

http://www.firstpr.com.au/rwi/dfish/303-unique.html

“The real fun happens when you have multiple accented notes in
quick succession. Since the capacitor has not discharged
fully from the one before, the second and subsequent response
curves go higher: *****
***** ** ***
*** **** **
** **** *
***** * **** *
*** ***** * ****
** ***** *
* ****
*
*
*

Human listeners - and probably a few furry quadrupeds - interpret this
output of increasingly high pitched audio signals as sounding like
the cry of a living creature becoming increasingly distressed,
apparently in response to quickly repeated bursts of stimulus.”

Edit: The formatting of the ASCII representation hasn’t been retained on the quote, so have a look at that section on the link to get a better idea.

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Avalon is the first “clone” to be an improvement on the original

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