In case anyone cares, I wasn’t offended by anybody’s opinions here.
I admit I’ve talked too much already on this thread - because I was actually interested in the Medusa until Polyend’s comment on the MIDI portion was published.
Ok I haven’t totally lost interest. Upcoming beta update which adds some multichannel MIDI stuff and MPE.
No it won’t “fix” the oscillators for those who think they’re too noisy or just don’t sound good - from what I can tell. I’m guessing the oscillator tones (except the wavetable stuff I guess) is pretty much set where they are - for better or worse.
Update history:
v1.1.0 beta (04.10.18)
Fixes
- Few minor MIDI bugs fixed.
- Repaired scale generator.
- Fixed menu display bugs.
- The highest note on the Grid isn’t repeated anymore, just muted.
- X, Y & Z targets are now modulated by the last pressed pad only!
- The AMP as a X, Y & Z pad modulation target in the P1 and P2 modes is now functional (this is dependent from the AMP ENV Amount knob position).
Updates
- Redesigned auto-calibration function - updated.
- New MIDI menu (full bilateral MIDI input/output implementation - including transport, clock, CC communicates & MIDI channels).
- The Grid MPE functionality is now enabled for controlling external gear.
- MIDI channel per voice option. Control, play and sequence each of Medusa’s voices on a separate MIDI channel form 1 to 6 (fixed mode) with external MIDI gear (this works in P2 mode only).
v1.0.2
Fixes
- Slightly adjusted filter functionality.
v1.0.1
Fixes
- Improved parameter display in certain menus.
- Fixed bug where the back button was dropping values to 0.
- Better noise envelope in the polyphonic play modes.
- Enhanced filter resonance envelope.
Updates
- A developed method of assigning the ENV & LFO targets. Besides using the target knob, now hold the ENV or LFO button and nudge the synth parameter you want to target.
- Connected with the above, now double-click the ENV or LFO button to toggle it on/off.
- Revised digital oscillators waveforms.
2 Likes
Midi channel per voice has a whiff of Nord Drum 2 about it (tasty tasty), and MPE out (not that I care for it myself) definitely expands potential integration.
If this box had fx I’d buy it, but for now it’s just a nice idea if I won a tish load of cash.
Still, love my Seq and Poly so I’m a happy chappy, hope these Polyend/Dreadbox peeps do well x
Just noticed that Yannis (Dreadbox) started making his own Medusa videos. Not surprisingly, he’s tweaked it to sound more like a “classic” Dreadbox synth, despite the lack of built-in FX like echo as found on Erebus, Abyss, etc.
He does have some fun with the noisy side of it in this faux drum machine demo
1 Like
The filter has a harsh ‘nasally’ quality to it
Not nice
The guy that was giving Doty such a hard time on the other forum was also in love with Nick Batt, but I have to admit when I listen to Nick and Gaz tweak the Abyss filter vs. Doty tweaking the Medusa’s I like the former quite a bit more. Yet, both synths are supposed to have the “classic” 24 dB Dreadbox filter. Maybe I was wrong about the difference just being in the FX - the Abyss having a nice arsenal and the Medusa having none.
It’s a good thing I’m not in a desperate rush to buy new gear. Medusa with MPE is like Linnstrument with a built-in synth, minus the colored pads, and a more sophisticated sequencer. OTOH I like the sound of the Abyss overall. OTOH again, Abyss is listed as no longer available at Musicians Friend and other online shops. And MODX is yet another pineapple to Abyss’s apple and Medusa’s orange - definitely the most versatile out of the 3 but it won’t satisfy my enduring GAS for an analog polysynth, even just a 4-voice one.
I can afford to wait this out and see what Dreadbox comes up with next.
Yeah in contrast MODX seems like one giant sweet spot.
Have yet to hear a bad demo.
Had my finger hovering over the ‘buy it now’ button on that bad boy for a few days now
So for comparison w/ Abyss’s filter this is where Nick and Gaz focus on it for a bit.
EDIT: Time jump should be fixed now
I’ll post something in a bit on that 
Pretty sure you’ll be able to find some nasty spots in a few of the 88 FM algos as well
LinnStrument is also likely to stay more expensive (you can get the Medusa for exactly the same amount of money as a LinnStrument 128).
Yeah, Linnstrument 128 would be the more direct competing product than the bigger model.
SonicStates Medusa review.
I was interested a bit in this but now that I’ve seen a more in-depth look I don’t think it’s for me.
One of the reasons is you could only record in step mode with the current firmware.
But it does have a sort of p-locks implemented into it which is cool. Around 15:00 is where he demos it.
1 Like
That’s one of the risks of putting so much into one product to try to please a variety of potential users - users who want Elektron-ish sequencing, users who want an MPE-ish controller, users just checking out hybrid analog-wavetable synths, etc. If you try to please everybody, you might not please anybody, as the saying goes.
Abyss with the XYZ grid controller - no sequencer (or sequencer in a separate unit) would have been ideal for me.
There’s one new owner on MW who seems happy with his Medusa.
I can’t get past how I prefer the pads and other textures Nick (and Gaz) did with the Abyss vs. the Medusa. There’s more of that hard to describe “Wow” factor for me in the Abyss.
Well I’m getting a lot of ‘wow’ factor from the Medusa
Like ‘wow I can’t believe how shit that sounds’
5 Likes
It doesn’t sound as shit to me but I feel like something better - for me - is coming from Dreadbox - Abyss v2 or something.
That attempt to make acid house with Minitaur - now that’s what I call a shit sound. I never thought I’d hear a worse synth sound than the D-50 stuff (can’t identify one particular patch - too many of them sound terrible to me) or the DX7 Doogie Howser EP… until I heard “Minitaur acid house”.
It’s subjective I guess. I’m sure some of my most beloved synth tones are the worst crap ever to someone else.
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On paper and in theory this seemed like a great product.
A shame that in reality it isn’t so
2 Likes
Considering I’m gas free right now (you know that delicate precipice) as much as I REALLY love my Seq, the Medusa (my favourite mythical/non-mythical creature) is at best right now looking like a drunken second hand purchase.
Anything with 5xlfo/envs is worth a gander drum wise but it just seems like a first step on the ladder that could lead to the stars, I want to like it more than I admittedly like it.
It feels like a rehearsal for a stunt, where in the final shot you can still see the tracks of the takes before…
As in, watch this space. Next time it will be just right.
3 Likes
I feel like they’re already making v2 based around some of the criticism. I’m disappointed you can’t sequence each oscillator individually which probably means only one midi channel out instead of 5(mirroring each oscillator). Even the matrix looks oversized somehow and tacked on with loose integration to the synth itself.
All that said it’s still nice to see companies getting together and making a unique product. Hopefully it sells enough that they can revise it with a v2 and possibly make it more affordable.
1 Like