Mathieu is pretty personable, I forgot for a few minutes that I was mad at him
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Oh my, I know he barely scratched the surface in this video (e.g. he didnāt mention all the sequencer features) and itās already so muchā¦ It reminded me how deep this synth is. I really need to get to grips with the new FW.
Question to all actual owners of the Monoā¦ how do you feel about (hardware) build quality? Does it appear to be solid, durable, long-term-reliable to you? Anything youāre not so happy with?
Reason Iām asking: Considering an Mk1 with recent price drops due to MK2 being close to be releasedā¦
Just saw that sonicstate video, the guy seems very enthusiastic and cool, quite nice to see, I think the mk1 looks a bit nicer with the buttons, squishy buttons donāt look as nice but as they are pressure sensitive it seems like a good tradeoff. Good that mk1 is not abandoned, I think they both seem to be very interesting synths, hope to try either some day.
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Well, that can be quite subjective. It looks pretty solid to me. The first time I laid my hands on it, I remember being slightly disappointed that it was not heavier, though ^^
But that doesnāt mean much in terms of robustness.
What Iāve been struggling with a bit, is āplayingā melodies or what not on the click-buttons. In this respect, the MKII might be better. But you can always use an external keyboard if you feel like going Glenn Gould on the Mono.
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Iāve been happy with the build quality. There are a couple of complaints on the Norand community forum about the plastic, but itās always felt fairly solid to me. I havenāt actually touched the mk2, but from my experience with Morphos and the QuNexus Red (which has similar keys), I prefer the mk1 keys. Iām not trying to play live on them, though.
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Soā¦ Seems like I should have paid more attention to the back of the machine 
- Next to the on/off button, we have an extension port which will connect to future products, like a Eurorack module or similarā¦
- The port labeled ādeviceā is a all-in-one power+midi USB port, if youāre on the go
- The āhostā port will be more than just a MIDI host port. One goal is to make it possible to transfer large messages between Norand products. Per example MPE messages
- SD card slot to save projects
- MIDI DYN ports have been replaced by mini-jacks (adapters included)
Thank you very much to Knarf of Les Sondiers for having included this info in his video 
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Had the mki pretty close to launch, no concerns with build quality.
I swapped out the knobs for mkii-style a bit ago, but the originals were fine.
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Prefer the new knobs; the v1 build quality is fine. Itās just a plastic body.
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did I get this synth wrong or is it some sort of supermodulation-system in a small boxā¦ every parameter has a LFO and an ENV and a sequencer with parameter-locks and parameter/pattern-morphing?
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Nope
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Thereās a lot more to say about the sequencer
Some owners report that the synth overheats and the body bends. If I were buying it now, I would go for the mk2. It can do everything mk1 can do and more, and includes a special usb-c port specifically for data communication with pother future Norand gear. I def prefer the aesthetic of mk1 (I think the mk2 is ugly af) but I might get the mk2 for that port. The sound engine, modulation system, and sequencer is amazing. Never understood why it didnāt get more hype.
I was amazed to see that neither Nick Batt nor the Sound on Sound guy in the SB videos had any knowledge of Norand or that there was a Mono mk1.
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Was surprised by this as well!
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None of these are common issues or reasons to avoid mki, especially when the mkii hasnāt been released to the public.
same
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Well, itās been reported in the Norand forums. My factors for suggesting the mk2 is the aluminum body (to use Norands language: āwe listened!ā), the more expressive interface (morph through multiple presets, not just two), the new data communication protocol for the Norand ecosystem, and the output analog drive.
I own a Mk1, and definitely prefer its aesthetic. But apart from that, it does get hot and I donāt like the plastic base.
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The Norand forums have almost no one on them. The reports are from one or two people. That doesnāt mean itās not a problem. It just means there is very little data.
I agree that an aluminum base would be better. Iāve used the morph strip on Morphos and it was forgettable. The increased resolution for motion recording is an attraction. CV outputs are gone in mk2. As for the new data protocol and the future Norand ecosystem, with this company, Iām not banking on anything until it is delivered and I see some third-party reviews and experience reports. I jumped on Morphos, preordering the day it was released, figuring it would be like Mono mk1, and that was a mistake.
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