Does it sound better when it's warm?

If I understand it correctly, this is a thing for all analog synths?

So does the Syntakt sound slightly better after it’s been warmed up for a while? Or is just some cognitive bias that makes me think it does? I kind of like the feel of it :smiley:

I don’t know, but my car definitely goes faster after it’s been cleaned :smiley:

11 Likes

Haha, I can totally imagine :smiley:

Could also be that I’ve had the time to polish the track a bit more by the time it gets warm…

But who knows, it might be a thing in a couple of decades. Like the mythical mpc swing: “Yeah the Rytm sounds good and all but it doesn’t have the same mojo because it doesn’t get as hot”

The tuning could stabilize after it has warmed up. Why not record it when cold vs warm and see if you can detect a difference?

8 Likes

Warm-up time seems to primarily affect the analog filters, see this video (I’ve cued it up at the right spot):

Bear in mind that this video is 3 years old, they might have fixed that by now.

10 Likes

Interesting. It says in the comments that they got a reply from Elektron and that they would look into it (three years ago).

I haven’t experienced any real change to that though. The filter resonance is still a bit unpredictable.

3 Likes

Agreed, super interesting!

I send a lot of stuff through the analog filter so it’d definitely make sense.
I don’t know much about analog components but isn’t it a kind of physical fact of how they work?

Perhaps they implemented some form of software wizardry to try and counter balance it, but I imagine that might be hard.

It’s really not a big deal for me personally, but good to know about so that you can boot it up in advance

1 Like

I’m no expert, but I think the stability of an analog circuit is very much dependent on its design. For example, there are super stable oscillator designs, but also unstable ones.

According to Elektron the Rytm/Syntakt vcos are designed to be primarily used for percussion duties, so the need for stability isn’t as much of a requirement as it is with pitch.

This case is about the filter self-oscillation / feedback, and I don’t know what part of the circuit which governs that. I’m guessing it’s a feature that’s difficult to control with high precision? Just look at how little it takes for a filter to go from no oscillation to feedback. With a lot of filters it’s like balancing on an edge.

Sorry, I’m just rambling :slight_smile:

3 Likes

Seems to have been said by others but in many analog synths the tuning of the VCO’s can be impacted by whether they are ‘up to temperature’. This isn’t the case with all synths, as the circuit design and compensation can impact it too. Generally if you can’t manually tune the VCO then it’s probably digitally controlled anyway and probably always in tune regardless of the environment.

A very basic VCO will not only need to get to a stable temperature, but will also need re-tuning every time you use it, unless you operate it within a hemetically sealed environment. You never tune a VCO as soon as you turn on the synth - I might be misremembering but the Rytm can be callibrated and this is something Elektron ask you to wait some time to do once it’s turned on - 30 minutes or maybe an hour - I forget (and might be thinking of something else…).

The comments about the filters are interesting - this is something that may not be compensated for or controlled in the same way as tuning (even though they are tuned), so I could see how they may sound different if the box has had a cold start.

1 Like

My guess is yes. Not exactly the same thing, but I’ve noticed that the analog circuits on my Syntakt sound much better when powered by a real power adapter than when powered by a (by the numbers correct) power bank.

imo it definitely sounds better when warmed up and running at max juice. :cup_with_straw:

1 Like

I notice an especially big difference with analog hat and other track 12 sounds before the Syntakt is warm. And, a little more subtly, the character of the analog filters. Oscillator tuning seems more like a day-to-day minor difference (oscillator 2 on an analog track will be out up to .20 for unison or ring mod).

For a while i was turning on the machine, returning to a pattern i was working on, and immediately wonder what was wrong with the hats, changing the sound …

3 Likes

I would say that digital is a set of ones and zeros, same result across temperatures but can break if the stream of ones and zeros is interrupted. Analog stream can be interrupted, but tuning can be influenced by temperature of resistors etc. (influencing their resistance). In a Lego way, sort of :wink: To be honest, I feel the tonal composition is a little different between Syntakt startup and say 15 min. of runtime.

1 Like

Yes.

(Well, “better” is subjective. It definitely changes as it warms up…)

1 Like

This raises another question: Do all Syntakts sound the same?

Some old analog synths (eg. Junos) are known for sounding different from each other. There’s “good” ones and “bad” ones.

2 Likes

I think that was mostly about stable tuning or not, right? Which shouldn’t make a big difference. Probably more so on AR, I think Elektron have stated that DVCO is a bit more stable/controlled on ST (which isn’t “better”, I love how wild it sounds on Ar, but that might be due to AR’s crazy filters, downside is the limited note range on AR).

Experiment: Try turning on your Syntakt from cold then immediately go to track 9 and make a dual oscillator sound. Tune oscillator 2 down an octave down until both oscillators are in sync, what tuning value do you need? Is it exactly -12.00?

Is it the same after 15 minutes? After an hour? :thinking:

1 Like

I just left mine running for about 40 minutes and unison went from like -.03 when it was cold on the detune knob to +.01 when it was warm. Not really a huge deal for me but interesting to test.

3 Likes

Not only does it sound better, it tastes better too.

3 Likes

The word warm is a little weak when talking about the Syntakt.

5 Likes

I’m not saying it’s a problem, it’s a feature!

Perfectly in-sync oscillators are boring. Who does that?

This is just a way to prove that there’s real analog components in there. :slightly_smiling_face:

(I only found out recently that it has a calibration function in the system menu, who knew?)

1 Like