I’ve been schooled. Thank you for taking the time to explain it.
3 Likes
Not at all, that wasn’t my intent. Just clarifying for the sake of the discussion.
2 Likes
That’s how I understood you and it’s good the info is out there. I think it helps people make more informed decisions on whether that’s a reason for them to buy something or not. I remember that especially when I was starting with hardware, I just read how this or that thing sounded so incredible, but rarely had an idea of what the special thing that people are buying something for is and whether I‘m the person to whom that matters or not. It’s good to know that some things are important to some people but don’t matter at all to others. None of which makes the others right, wrong or more of a pro, it’s really just a matter of preferences and tastes.
To give another example: If I was buying a Prophet today, I know I wouldn’t care about whether the 5, 6 or Rev 2 sounded more „analog“ or „like a real Prophet“. The decision for me personally would come down to whether I‘d like to have more or less options / whether I‘d like to have something immediate or deep. But I get that the sound differences are there and important to others.
3 Likes
The sound differences get more and more expensive, it’s a never ending quest if you don’t decide to be happy and make music instead — a bunch of og prophet owners even think the rev4’s resonance is piercing and unusable for instance. I can’t afford to feel that way!
3 Likes
Honestly I think I didn’t realize that phrase has a negative connotation. It was intended to be a compliment for putting in the effort to explain it when you could’ve just left it as the summarization at the end.
4 Likes
As @shigginpit said that stuff happens with all other analogue drum machines too, it’s not just the CR/RD78. The majority of them used similar tech to do the same thing. There are differences in the trigger circuitry, the logic side (and its impact on the triggering) and the sound generation sections. They’re a fascinating subject to study from an electronic point of view (if that’s your thing!), finding out how cunning and inventive the designers of them were, especially in a time before widespread use of microprocessors and the like.
5 Likes
Seems to be a bug ( software ? ) with the sequenced guiro sound. Here’s a video showing the situation. This is rather poorly done by the tester, he fails to isolate the problem properly, but it does seem to be other than intended and outside of spec.
I got mine recently. Disappointed that the tempo knob just has one through ten numerically rather than the actual tempo? Do the numbers correlate to an actual tempo? I like combining beats with other sources (keyboards, beats) and it seems like it’s gonna be a pain in the butt not going to a setting? Any thoughts
If it has midi out, or clock/sync out, you can sync/clock other gear that has a screen. If so, that should let you know.
There’s a review in Amazona.
Something new here, the reviewer doesn’t go into great detail but does talk about the tweakable controls provided on the cirxuit board for manufacture.
The trim pots are labelled and you can do things like tune the kick and change its sustain. The reviewer considers modifications to bring these outside as controls.
Analog sound generation opens up all these circuit bending options. It might be fun to use a electromagnetic variable frequency wand to introduce some non destructive magnetic fluxes to the coils and see what happens. Low frequency variation on the trim pot resistance is another option.
Presumably you could also get access to the digital to analog control points as well, and set up other ways to sequence this, or to glitch out that interface.
Get two, one factory set, one for experimentation and examination.
It should be really easy to bring out those controls but as with all these things it’s a matter of where you mount them. Not beyond doing tho
Will the RD-78 to get modded up like the RD-8 was by Maffez and others ?
Can’t see why not? I suppose it depends on the popularity of it and how far ‘outside the envelope’ the mods take it? That said I think for some modders the reverse engineering aspect is the appeal
Firmware version V1.0.16 is here:
• RHYTHM patterns have been refined to more closely match the original unit
• VARIATION patterns have been improved for greater authenticity
• You can now edit all RHYTHM and VARIATION patterns directly in the SynthTribe app
• The Guiro sound has been enhanced for a more natural and classic tone
Use the latest SynthTribe app to update.
Also a new video from Ian
2 Likes
Another one after the FW update 
1 Like