Malekko Manther, Mr. D, and BFF Grooveboxes

The Lounge Other Gear
#169

I’ve also contacted Malekko to request some features.
Here is some of the discussion :

Me : “I particularly like the wave folder but I found it’s unfortunate that it can’t be modulated by the LFO.
Do you plan to implement this behavior in a future update ?”
Paul : “OK, so I’ve made this idea a feature request.
We are planning the next update, so this will be considered. Thanks for the input!”

Me : “About feature request, will it be possible that the sub DCO follow the cv of the pitch ? This way we could sequence the Manther externally and have the OSC and the SUB at the same pitch. I know sometimes it’s nice to have them unsynced for paraphony duties, but as always : if we can choose it’s even better !”
Paul : “We also want the sub to be cv in selectable!”

3 Likes
#170

What is the general state of the Manther these days? Are the weird kinks ironed out? It is stable enough for performances?

#171

I had mine since 3 months but I find it pretty stable. I never had any reboot or frozen device, the sequencer works great and everything advertised is implemented.

I’ve found this little quirks :

  • While midi synced, the manther will start a bit too early. I add some delay on the sequencer’s steps and that solve the issue. Little workaround but it needs to be fixed.

  • If you change from a pattern playing forwad to a pattern playing backward, you can have some timing problem. No problem if you switch from a pattern playing forward to another.

  • Also, I’d like the SUB to follow the OSC’s pitch while sequenced by CV.

I’ve opened some tickets to warn Malekko about this and they’re apparently working on it. The discussion with them was always easy and Paul Barker is really nice.

I can totally live with this problems. The sound is here, the synth is full of sweetspot and the sequencer is pretty nice. This is a very characterful synth so if you need acid lines or aggressive sound, it’s a weapon of choice !

3 Likes
#172

Manther owners, have the bugs been ironed out since the arrival of OS Version 1.12? considering getting one of these, but a little hesitant since reading peoples complaints.

#173

did not realise 1.12 is out :slight_smile: Look, it is great synth, i have it for 6 months now , finishing album with it, so it more than usable for me. But i am not as picky as some other musicians on the internets.

#174

I answered this question on the muff thread but I’ll paste it here :

“I’ve got mine for 5 months now and still love it. There is some little problems with timing while playing pattern backward and it starts a bit earlier than my other midi machines but if I put some delay everything is fine.”

Also, I think if you use step delay, the accent will not be delayed.

I play gig with the machine and never have any problem.

#175

Sweet! Makes me feel more confident. With regards to solid timing, is there any difference between midi vs clock input? I’m not that fussy, but good sync is detrimental for me. I usually prefer to use clock inputs over midi.

#176

I never tried the clock input so I can’t say.

#177

I’ve just ordered one, can’t wait to dive deep. How are people using the wavefolder, is it permanently set to vcf?

#178

I just made the update to 1.12 and I feel that there’s a global improvement (although I was already very happy with this synth 1.11)

#179

I mostly use the wavefolder after the filter, like this you can beef up the sound in a very nice way. If you push it you’ll have a lot of distortion and a super loud volume but still a nice and usable sound.
This synth isn’t full of advanced features but every parts is right where it belongs and the all machine is a joy to use.

Did you receive yours ?

1 Like
#180

What do you mean when you say global improvement ?

#182

it may be just an impression, I installed it only two days ago but I find that the different waveforms are better balanced. before the saw + tri shape seemed to cover everything else a little too easily. I will continue to test things to see if this impression is confirmed

#183

Ok great, thank you. Did the firmware update overwrite your presets? Btw i have the same feeling too. I never go more than 40% on the mixer.

#184

I updated to the last firmware too but I didn’t notice any difference regarding the mixer. However, I don’t have problem no more with the tuning drifting after some time.

Also, no preset overwrited.

#185

Thanks :+1:

#186

Yes, I’ve been having lots of fun with it. I can see why this synth can be somewhat polarising! It’s gnarly as fuck and has a lot of sweet spots, very characterful, seems to excel at being itself! Some settings sound exactly like my old Juno 6 and the wave folding pushes it into syncussion territory, although harder on the ear imo, which I personally like. I don’t find it particularly versatile but that doesn’t bother me as I have other gear that can fill the gaps. Sync has been tight via clock in, yet to try midi. It’s a freaky synth for sure and the sequencer is dope.

The filter is a weirdly stepy I find.

1 Like
#187

@mess5 no overwrite neither

@loa , before buying mine, I tested one in a shop, and the “mixer” seemed different from the one I bought, there may have been some variations in production, more or less offset by updates. it’s just an hypothesis based on my feeling, without objective and rational basis, but this synth seems a little irrational sometimes, in a good way :))

#188

I recognize that the mixer is weird. Sometime when you blend a square with a saw, the two wave kinda cancel each other, but sometime, after a certain level, you discover a new sound that doesn’t sound like A+B. I guess it’s all the settings that play a huge role in the final result.

It could be interesting to compare with the mixer of real 101 to see where is the difference.

2 Likes
#189

My Manther has already started acting strange. When I power down, the OLED screen still retains the last screen image. I don’t recall it doing that before. Can Manther owners please confirm if yours is doing the same?