I just got the Manatee and I must say it is really a very good 4 part sounding music device.
Of sure, it has a leaning curve and invites you to experiment incl. Happy Incidents.
F.e. using the Manatee only together with a drum machine lets make you a good track.
3 Likes
I bought Espenās sound bank, itās a solid set of bread and butter patches. Wouldnāt say theyāre must-have, especially as for the price thereās only 32 patches.
In general, Iām still awaiting the manual! I enjoy experimenting but learn better with a manual. the Manatee has enough obscure and unique elements that some black and white text would really help me move beyond the tinkering stage 
Iām planning to pair the Manatee with the Octatrack for a nice, 2-piece set.
Are there any demos of the layer functionality in action? With the multis storing their patches separately and the (as I understand it) straightforward multimbrality workflow, I feel like there would be many possibilities for cool stuff there.
Things like a sound with a plucked attack, a sound where the sub or generator bypasses the filter, multiple instances of both sub and generator doing different things/different LFOs etc.
New preset packs are now available on the Manatee web page (scroll to the bottom and select the āPreset packsā tab), and they sound pretty awesome.
2 Likes
Yes!
Some of these sound really excellent and take the Manatee in all sorts of directions I wouldnāt have immediately thought of.
From one of the beta tester, great sound design examples.
5 Likes
3 Likes
EDIT:
An updated firmware V1.07 for this nice synth!
Words from Fred.
This version gives the Manatee more power to render the voices and is easier to improvise with, thanks to softer saturation and more headroom to avoid audio clipping. Most audio bricks have been reworked and some optimization was done to the UI for faster navigation.
Here is the full changelog:
V1.07 24.01.2026 - Bugs fixing + performance + compressors
- Moving delay modules and DCBs on primary core to free
- Fixing interpolation clicks in delays
- Introducing limit on EQs usage depending on core 1 load
- Dropping the primary voice concept
- Parts now have their own master env-f & lfo-f
- Dropping system configuration auto-save feature
- Fixing envelopes sources on part matrix
- Fixing modwheel expressors
- Fixing extended MPE expressors for part modulations
- Fixing freeze with high pitch and square sub
- Adding part compressor in eqs section
- Adding voice compressor in drive section
- Basic drive āpureā boost and progressively soft-clip
- Hall reverb no longer overflows internally
- Complete overhaul of gain staging and headroom in audio engine
- Adding animated graphics for delays
- Fixing initialization of MPE mode from multi page
- Multi page now displays total resource used on both cores
- New āStay On Pageā option to keep the page while swapping parts
- New āPitchā option allowing the redefine the use of the pitch pot
- New āVersionā page in tools
- New āInitā page in tools
- Various optimizations in DSP code
3 Likes
Worth pointing out some bugs were found post-release. FrƩdƩric is on top of fixing them, but says:
Until the revisions are released, please do not use version 1.07 for live gigs .
For stage, I still strongly recommend using version 1.06d, known to be stable .
You can safely switch back and forth between versions at any time.
Awesome support as always for this synth 
4 Likes
Hey guys! Where can I find the user manual? Thnks!
I saw the online one, just need download form.
Also, can I preview sounds without external keyboard?
I can t hear anymore the 1st Partā¦
How to do a factory reset? ā¦hoping it will solve the issue.
Interesting fact is that the midi led blinks, but no sound.
I changed midi to channel 2 and remapped the parts 3, 4, 5, to avoid this issue of channel 1 not responding. Not on latest firmwareā¦
Nice tutorials i have missed, by Fred himself!
3 Likes