Octa Companion: Blofeld or Ipad?

after listening to those Blofeld patches some of them sound very much like the synths they used in the 60’s movie “Clockwork Orange”. Is it a bit Moogesque

…as said…aslong you keep the basic concept decision clean…

and for sure…the ot sequencer really deserves to handle a multitimbral synth…
if u go for only one voice…then not for one of these single dsp charmers…

and the blofeld is the biggest bang for the buck if it comes to dsp hardware with more voices and channels to adress at once…

in size quality and soundoptions…it’s a waldorf!..hey…another endless terretorry to explore…but be gentle with these endless encoders from day one…

Totally!

Grrrrr, now I have to but buy this expansion, thanks Adam[/quote]
actually that video is one of the things that made me think about the blofeld initially… those patches are amazing!
I’ll give it a second thought… allthough it seems like a relative is in Europe right now, so he might be able to bring me a P6 - those is impossible to get over here, so I’ll take the chance…worst case scenario, I can always sell it.
There’s blofelds around from time to time, and at good prices, so I might consider it for later?
thanks to everyone for replying, this ended up beeing up an awesome thread! I hope it serves other people too :slight_smile:

I’ll toss in another vote for the Shruthi. It is very flexible, very fun to tweak, and I don’t find it difficult to use at all.

What I find great about the Shruthi is that it is always full of surprises. Most competent virtual analogs will provide you facilities to create the sound you already have in mind: they are obedient servants. You can treat the Shruthi that way, but it really excels when you let it guide you to new places. The coarseness of its parameters doesn’t suggest it, but it’s rife with strange nooks and crannies to discover within its domain, and compared to other synths I’ve used, they are easy to stumble on.

If there’s any real downside to it, it’s that it always has a flagrantly digital sound. I get the impression that you don’t like that sterile, cold digital sound common to VAs - well, this is -not- that digital sound. This ranges from raw SID textures to hazy Ensoniq flavors. The Shruthi flaunts the inherent character of 8 bit audio, both in tone and in parameter modulation. It makes a mean bass synth, it can make tender pads and leads, and it can even do some decent drums, depending on what you’re looking for.

I would also add that it’s monophonic but I don’t really consider this a downside, especially when used with a sampler as flexible as the Octatrack. This just changes the type of tool it is - it’s deep where a polysynth is wide; it’s a knife rather than an egg slicer.

It’s the cutest, most poetic, most alive synth I’ve used, and you can really feel the love Olivier put into it. It doesn’t feel like a flavorless tool designed by committee; it feels like a beautiful thing that one person put a lot of work and emotion into.

2 Likes

And that’s the great thing about the Octatrack. You can get a single poly V/A with no multi-mode and just lay down parts and sample them in for arrangement.

Fortunately for the OP the P6 has a sub-osc for bass work, and just got a big update with more filter modes, osc types, and other goodies. I also think the P6 interface is much better than the Shruthi.
Also, this thing has come a long way in a short period of time. It will be interesting to see what features the dev adds. Sadly, he has stated publicly that multi-timbrality will never come to this device.

wow, great review - I’m absolutely fond of surprises and unexpected sounds… like already said (I think more than once - sorry :stuck_out_tongue: ) I come from many years of noise/drone improvisation (wich I still love!) so I welcome the unforeseen (one of my guilty pleasures when performing live: recording, for example, a voice loop with the output turned all the way down, modify lots of parameters on a string of pedal effects (with an intention, not randomly), then turn the volume up to see what’s the result… I’ve laughed out loud several times from the joy of those discoveries

1 Like

…at your point, i was falling in love with the p6 or shruti way also…
when thinking bout a live companion for my ot stage set up…became an a4 end of the day, i must admit…

but get over that fling…'cause that’s what it is…just a fling…a cool one…no doubt…lots’s of potential to surprise urself, which is worth gold…and hell yeah, for some dsp on plastik they really sound dope…but end of the day you’ll bang the wall, no matter how much u catch up in the ot buffers…

blofeld can give u complete layout options for each song u got in mind with total recall from bumm to tschak to hum to breathe to crrackle to whistle…you name it…if u only can…

and ask urself seriously…ever had a diy box before…?

i got one…never give it away again…an lxr drumbox by sonic potions…what a beast…what a boost…what an instrument…

and what a hussel to make it go…

if u can order something like that right from somebody you can pay doing the job for u til it’s done and readymade in your hands…fine…
if ur a pro in doing so yourself…fine…

anything else…d o n ’ t…at least…if u wann spent ur time on making music…

If I understood correctly, you’re talking about having an assembled version… yes, that’s my idea - I do have some soldering skills, but the idea of finishing it and something not working… I just prefer to pay more

…if you’re aware of the advantage to pay somebody to do it for you, then you’ll be fine…

i ordered my sonic potions lxr and gave it straight to xox in berlin to get it done for me…

anything else would have made me go nuts…just some soildering skills are not near enough if you don’t wanna end up in test rows and headscratching…no matter what those
mad scientists trying to sell/tell u…
they all lost signal with average musician minds long time ago…that’s why they’re able to design such nice freaky dsp bollocks…

so it’s going to be the p6?

with the face lift, it is a perfect ot matching beauty…that’s for sure…

have fun and report…

Hi,
I like the combination OT and Virus TI-Polar (in multimode or only single performance). You can control a lot from the OT on the virus.

1 Like

On my end the Ambika is making an absolutely incredible partner for the Octatrack. 6 voices with a very easy and nice way to set up multitimbral and a great sound very well complimented by the Octa’s sequencer and effects. I’m waiting for Waldorf to come out with MIDI sync for Attack Drums and I will be using that as well. I haven’t seen anyone mention Nave in here, which is an absolutely amazing synth for the iPad.

I’ve just upgraded my iPad after realising it’s actually a really powerful digital synth, with the right apps.
I’ve just been using the minijack, but aware there are specialised iOS interfaces.
I looked up the Behringer, how would you interface that with the ipad? I thought the USB from the Behringer would go to the computer… Can you USB to the iPad and then RCA to your soundcard?

You guys made me get a Blofeld.
:slight_smile:

I do believe it’s gonna be the perfect lover for my OT.

Oh, it will be.
A sudden twist in financial situation made me back out from an almost settled Monomachine deal. And looking back, I feel I’m glad it turned out this way.

I just ordered a Mute Synth 2 to be friends with my OT. It doesn’t have any midi capability, but I plan to record long stretches of sound and isolate the best parts. Then I’ll put them on the OT to use as loops or sample chains. Destination: Glitch City. :alien:

And if you need a couple of extra tracks to play samples don’t forget that you can load custom samples on blofeld (after a payed upgrade)

I’ve just upgraded my iPad after realising it’s actually a really powerful digital synth, with the right apps.
I’ve just been using the minijack, but aware there are specialised iOS interfaces.
I looked up the Behringer, how would you interface that with the ipad? I thought the USB from the Behringer would go to the computer… Can you USB to the iPad and then RCA to your soundcard?
[/quote]
Camera connection kit gives your iPad USB. So i use a UCA202 via CCK into iPad.

Aside from improved analog output, the great thing is the UCA202 has optical digital output, so if you are using an iPad in conjunction with a mac that has optical digital input, like a mac pro or older macbook pro, you can get digital audio from your iPad to your Macintosh without it ever leaving the digital domain.

1 Like

There are also 2 apps that let you do that by simply plugging in a USB cable (with Windows too), and it will be built in to iOS 9 (but Mac only).

haha great! let us know how that goes
I think I’m going for the P6 / Shruthi approach. every time I hear the preset videos on youtube I’m more convinced - I love how both sounds…

also, I also play with other grear, setups, or musical styles sometimes… so beeing able to pick only one is great - and with the USB host + a nanoKontrol, I could use both linked via midi and make my own custom layout if I wanted to :slight_smile: