Dreadbox Typhon

The Lounge Other Gear
#655

yea, the EP that know DJ will buy, lol.

Yea, it seems that BPM drift was not addressed at all in this update. It is not listed in the “fixed features” list.
It drifted before (when using its own external clock) and does the same now.
But somehow also exhibits that identical behavior when externally clocked.

This comment from the dev on FB regarding bpm/sync drift in V2.0 is a bit concerning,

“This is a compromise between bpm stability and latency. Some controllers send clocks with a lot of jitter. Typhon is stabilized at most within a quarter note due to heavy filtering but this can be reduced if deemed necessary.”

I let him know all the four different clocks I’ve sync’d it from, so hopefully that helps them narrow it down on their end. And hopefully it isn’t, indeed a “compromise”.
I’m pretty used to lack of latency and bpm stability on all my other gear, and have been for quite some time.

Let’s see what happens next.
For now, it’s external sequencing with the improved latency, and I’ll lay off the BPM sync’d internal modulation and FX (and just use Octatrack control when those are necessary)

2 Likes
#656

That’s really sad for a device that I’d obviously designed to be used together with other gear if not sequenced from outside :frowning: everything I do is quite clock synced and I hate to eyeball it with tuning in numbers. Everything else fit so perfectly. Hope they get that fixed.

#657

Aaah MIDI Sync, that crazy futuristic technology bold tech designers are struggling to put into our machines…

3 Likes
#658

Same here.

My ideal use case, and what I had in mind when I read about it on paper before it was released was killer mono synth portable groove box with funky sequencer and wild fx that I could just MIDI slave the clock to another drum machine (OT, MS, Roland Boutique) and just jam on live with the knobs and sliders, from sofa-made sequences.

Not quite there yet.

1 Like
#659

Yeah! The size, the sound, the fx and its midi cc possibilities is what got me.

1 Like
#660

For those interested:

This shows manual (internal) bpm drift at 110 bpm with a very plucky, percussive (metronome-like) sound. Firmware 2.0.

It’s subtle, but at 29 seconds I give an old “DJ nudge” to the internal sequencer bpm to get it back to being locked as tight as it was in the beginning of the video.

Where as this shows external (MIDI sync) bpm drift, on the same two patterns. I restart the sequence toward the end to demonstrate how far off the drift got.

5 Likes
Roland SE-02
#661

One thing that I find a little weird is that they know the features we are asking for. I would have gladly traded one of the new effects for a functional midi sync.

#662

Pls excuse my ignorance but I need to know if my proposed usage will now work before buying one… I want to use my Model cycles to sequence the typhon. Will this now run in sync? Thanks

#664

Agreed, but with my communications with the dev (Alexandros) today, I am beginning to think they were unaware of the inherent drift that occurred even before this update, though it was mentioned in some threads on the FB page but not explicitly to THEM.

And that drift may have to do with some internal frequencies being updated in or out of time. MIDI clock sync was placed on top of that, and is not a fix for that, but just more fully demonstrates the underlying issue.

The real issue here is testing.
They should expand their beta group to include users that aren’t paid by the company.

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#665

If the MIDI notes are coming from the MC and not from the Typhon’s internal sequencer. You won’t have issues.
They updated MIDI note latency to make this perform better.

If you want to use clock sync’d functions inside the Typhon (LFO timing, Fx timing), issues exist until a patch is released. External MIDI synchronization (not receiving external MIDI sequencing) is flawed in Firmware 2.0, released today.

1 Like
Roland SE-02
#666

Thanks, that helps. Think I will be getting one.

#667

Good to know about that forthcoming patch for the sync!

Of course this update had to drop on the one day of the week that I have to be in the office for a full day. :frowning:

Now I’ll be watching the clock all day. :smiley:

#668

I can understand the issue, that mapping internal calculations based on time to something different. I don‘t get how you can build an external synth without having midi clocks in mind.

2 Likes
#669

To be fair, only the Typhon and Hypnosis run any code that I’m aware of. Dreadbox has mostly been analog-only synths and effects until those. (If I’m not mistaken.) So this aspect is probably a bit newer to them as a team/company/etc. They’re bound to have a few bugs to work out here or there, and maybe miss a feature or two.

The MIDI portion of the Medusa was done by Polyend, so I don’t think that one counts either.

I know that I personally have zero talent for code, and have never been able to get myself to do it. (while I’m perfectly happy designing analog circuits) So I can see this being an issue until they get more up to speed with this sort of thing.

IMO it’s forgivable. It’s nice to know that they’ve responded quickly, and are going to patch it up.

2 Likes
#670

Not giving excuses, but one explanation could be that this is a very new venture for them. So perhaps some growing pains.

The sequencer side one the Medusa was on Polyend’s side of the work.
The rest of the gear is all analog CV stuff except for some FX.

edit: @J3RK beat me to it.

That said, it was exactly this confluence of great Dreadbox analog sound, combined with Sinevibes FX, and a quite funky internal sequencer with loads of modulation that attracted me to it in the first place. I hope they can pull it all together.
For now I can at least sequence it with my OT and run it into the OT.
Before I had to run both into Ableton separately and adjust the note latency the Typhon was doing.

3 Likes
#671

Cloud reverb + those higher tempo MIDI drift issues have made this my new ambient machine. 40bpm 4 lyf :snail:

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#672

I’ve also been doing a lot of 40bpm scapes with it. :smiley:

3 Likes
#673

I am currently building my own midi lfo that can modulate (currently) up to 16 CC values via MIDI, but that won’t fix drifting delays ,)

Damn, I really hoped they fix that device before my birthday so I can buy me one as a present.

1 Like
#674

haven’t messed with it much yet, but the interface changes look nice. as soon as this meeting is over, i’ll get to listen to the new effects. the midi stuff is a little disappointing, but considering how affordable this thing is, i can’t be too sad about it. they seem committed to fixing things, which is encouraging. oh, and exporting/importing seemed to work fine. will confirm in a bit.

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#675

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I think my “In the meantime”workflow is going to still include sofa jams for pattern creation.

And then do some midi sync’d low bpm (like 60) playback of the internal midi sequencer, recorded into the OT’s midi sequencer (or Live). For stability’s sake.

That way I can still do initial creation on the box itself, standalone, but actually get work done without drift headaches. And once the issues are sorted, the original internal sequences will be in tact, waiting.

7 Likes