And Denis who runs OTO is AMAZING. He always answers questions within a day and is super knowledgeable and very helpful (he even sent me a pack of US plugs that clip on to power supplies free of charge). Probably the best customer service I have ever had.
9 Likes
+1 on this. I tried (and failed) to register with the OTO forum, sent a message to support explaining why I was trying to register with the forum (question about midi program change on my BAM) and he replied, with trouble shooting help for the midi issue (probem was…me!) the following day.
3 Likes
I wish we could sneak out his next product(s)!
Both the Fairlight-ish one in development and the simpler pandemic supply chain-tolerant one he thought up in the meantime.
He was supposed to have new stuff in November of last year, but with supply chain problems he said it was all he could do just to find parts to keep the BIM BAM and BOUM in production :-(. Hopefully something at the end of this year maybe!
2 Likes
I just discovered a nice little glitch on the Boum. Sending random LFO on CC22 from the Octatrack to the distortion of the Boum produces some lovely little rythmic patterns for sampling. I think the value range has to cross over the thresholds for the different types of distortion. (There are 4 ‘types’ of distortion, but they are all on cc22, and switch over at the relevant cc values across the 0-127 range).
These can also be filtered with the high and low cut filters and the gate settings on the Boum. If you like that kind of thing, which I do.
9 Likes
I also discovered something more mundane but probably more useful to most people.
I couldn’t work out why the 100% dry signal in active mode was louder than the bypass mode.
It may be obvious to most people but it wasn’t to me so I’ll put it here in case it helps someone.
You really need to use balanced cables for the input to the Boum in order for the Boum dry signal output levels to match when in bypass vs active mode (with ‘mix’ at 100% dry). You can test this by having 100% dry signal mix in active mode and comparing to the bypass mode- it should be the same. With a TRS cable input it is the same, with a TS cable it is not.
9 Likes
Very nice!
Are these two recordings straight from the BOUM, or did you do some additional processing afterwards?
Can you get similar effects if you use a squarewave LFO? Could be nice to have some predictability (?) for these kinds of glitchy sounds.
Yes, I was just playing around now with different wave shapes etc for more standard rythmic movement. You could also P-lock trigless trigs/locks. The Boum produces a bit of it’s own noise anyway but pushing the distortion around adds another element.
The recordings were straight into the Octatrack on a thru machine, I am pretty sure the effects slots were both empty for glitch2. Glitches 1 sounds like it might have some hi-pass filter or even very short delay? (sorry, my memory and organisation skills are truly woeful) Then just uploaded the recorded files directly as they are from the OT.
1 Like
some years ago, I used to have BIM and BAM. my first OTO stuff was Biscuit. Using Biscuit with BIM was fantastic. After using those, I’ve got BAM. but I felt BAM was just alright and thought dry signal wasn’t gelling great with wet signal for my taste. I felt some separation between dry and wet. I maybe felt that because I had PCM70 at that time. anyway, peaking my gas over modular synth, I’ve sold Biscuit, BIM and BAM. 
what a horrible mistake. at least i should have kept Biscuit…
I thought there would be modules that can cover BIM and BAM. I came to conclusion that there will not. I’m confident about BIM but I’m still questioning regarding BAM because I’m also interested in CXM 1978. anyone having both BAM and CXM? most CXM demos i see with guitars not synths…
6 Likes
Wow, very cool ! So the sound source is just the background noise of Oto Boum ? There is no input ?
Glitch2 above is straight BOUM, no input or effects. The effect is more pronounced if you crank the drive and compression fully clockwise, you can get some nice ‘sweeps’ with hi pass filter. I assigned an OT CC to #22, set it 64 (if using a bipolar LFO), then modulate with an LFO set to Depth of 64 to cover the whole range. You can get a surprising amount of subtle timbral and rhythmic variations by adjusting these settings.
Glitches 1 did have some short delay effect from the OT thru machine but nothing input to the Boum.
4 Likes
Another cool thing about the BOUM is that you can go almost granul-esque with it. This Track is based upon this technique.
6 Likes
nice track! are BIM and BAM also in action too in this track?
Nice! Can you say something about ‘granul-esque’ in reference to your track? I’m not sure I understand what that means but am interested
It’s strange how few guitar videos there are. Do these not work with guitars?
They want line level, so you’d need a pre-amp.
1 Like
They work beautifully, in the mixer fx loop. Using the Boum with gate gives me some wondabar chugging in der Geist of Rammstein 
Actually, can’t spell in German.
3 Likes
The interactions between the Input Gain, the negative Ratios and the Mix knob are the keys. With specific settings, you can capture bits of the Source coming in the BOUM by turning the Mix knob. This is by memory (can’t test it right now). I’m waiting for my own BOUM cause the one I used was a loan.
3 Likes
Do any Boum owners know if it’s safe to keep a decksaver on a plugged-in unit? I believe it’s better to not constantly be plugging and in-plugging, correct? So I’d like to always leave it plugged in, I think.
But the unit seems to get pretty hot (heh) when I have the decksaver on it for even a few minutes
Most power supplies can handle the plugging and unplugging of the power adapter. My BIM gets warm too so I unplug after not using.
1 Like