Let’s say we are all pro’s playing in clubs every week.
Because this is who it’s marketed at: live electronic music professionals who play in clubs … in 2027… or so
Very very bad timing Martin … .
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yeah, very bad timing, indeed. but we were running out of money and patience…
so, should I read all of this and give my comments, or should I leave it as it is?
Are you guys interested in my point of view?
I believe my nerves are strong enough now…
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hey castor, with all respect but this simply isn’t true. From my experience PA’s are comparable to huge screens. Its really like the experience when a film set or makeup suddenly looks cheap once seen on a big screen. the bigger the screen the more important the overall details are.
speaker membranes of big PAs don’t like to go “all the way” back and forth - a compressed and thick signal helps translating pressure a lot better than an uncompressed one, even when the perceived loudness is measurably the same (which, in our case would be a louder system to compensate the peaking transients)
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Hello Stimming, thank you for engaging with this forum! What I find most puzzling are the following points:
(1) Your website/manual provides only scant technical information and only very few specs (edit: I just saw that the latest version of the manual provides more), and in my view also talks about the box very much as work in continuous development (eg. the intro of the manual referring to its “current state of development” and its “version” ref. 5.1.7), raising the question when the next iteration might come out.
(2) Inputs and outputs seem unbalanced, even though one of the reviews (Bonedo) states the contrary. Why this choice? (Edit: some tech explanation in the manual, but still not 100% clear)
(3) No metering on the device, whereas an earlier versions had a large display (as in your 2020? video). It seems somewhat contradictory to me that you emphasize the use case of a computerless setup, but in your videos systematically employ software-based meters for setting up and demonstrating the effect of your box.
(4) I was primarily interested in the compressor aspect, but you appear to mainly emphasize loudness gains in the final transformation stage, which raises for me the question how good the eq and the compressor are in comparison to other options (eg the small Elysia boxes).
All the best!
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I just want to know if it’s a success (whatever that means to you).
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hey ccr,
to (1): the device is what it is, and as such has an FCC and CE regulation pass statement (which alone costs 6400 EUR). the crude version number comes from the development - we built 12 prototypes to reach this circuit. we might do a revision2 to…
(2) include balanced connections. right now it is unbalanced. the reason is, one of the earlier prototypes (5.1.5) had a balanced connection. we weren’t using the transformers for balancing because we use them for saturation so Michael included a tiny diode-based circuit (if I remember right) which reduced the aggressiveness for about 1db of LUfs.
thats why I said no, we prefer loudness over balanced, thinking about elektron machines and the absolute practicability of their solution (unbalanced but accepting all possible connections).
(3) that exact same device (5.1.5) had a metering included, just the way all of us (including me) want: left/right LEDs with one orange strip in the opposite direction that shows gain reduction. we ran into two major problems with that: first, we experienced incredible noises in the audio circuit that cost us around half a year to solve (including Michael being very very close to cancel the whole project). we solved it! but second: as you see, the device is built as small as possible (IOSIS can tell how small it really is) which brought up the issue that the potis needed to be the smalles stereo potis available on the market. the problem with those potis is: the tolerance from the manufacturer in L/R differences is 20% which wasn’t acceptable for me. I saw me doing the last checkup for every device that goes to a customer and hearing a different device everytime.
but yeah, the metering topic is probably for me the one where I can understand criticism the most - in fact it is totally possible to hear what it does and control it by ear but therefore you need a controlled listening environment (that’s why I emphasize in-ears for live-play). the reason why I use external meters is to prove what it does and not faking around with different levels.
(4) the EQ is a “clone” of a trident circuit and it sounds very good (just as mijk van dijk in the bonedo test states) but because it has only two bands (the two that are important during soundcheck for quick adjustments to the PA) I won’t market it alone. I haven’t compared the pure compressor against the official one from SSL so I cannot say anything substantial about it. I wish someone else would do it and post a video as this would be more valuable in itself. what I can say: against my api 2500, our comp sounds much more clean and neutral, not as “expensive” or colouring. I don’t emphasize on the comp as such because the circuit in a whole does something extraordinary, bigger than the sum of its parts. but yeah, I should order the SSL for the 500 box and hear it myself.
all the best from Hamburg
(edited: fcc regulation test costs us 6400, not half of it, that was only my part)
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well, on superbooth last year the guys from 1010music had their “booth” just opposing to ours and Aaron told me, while I asked him the same question, he founds it “more and more difficult to measure success nowadays”
If you measure success by attention it was successful I suppose, given the amount of comments here. compare this to a new 3k compressor from a “classic” manufacturer 
(I could have skipped raising the negative ones though)
so, we sold a two digit-number of units worldwide, including to some very famous colleagues but we are still far away from reaching break-even. Its obviously a long-term project.
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Details on the EQ please.
Why no parametric mids?
Thanks.
Ps. Essentially the 2 band design isn’t adequate for my needs.
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I hope it works out financially in the long run.
I guess some unsollicited gear brand dropping from a few famous artists could boost the sales.
If people could go out again like in the good old days before the plague … . Yea, soon we hope. The best we can do is stay positive, our children need us in good spirit.
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Thank you for the detailed and helpful response!
By the way, I found that the bonedo.de video below provides the most interesting available demo so far.
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Thanks for the honest reply. Interesting.
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When I last played live, I used the 1010bluebox for EQ and gentle limiting:
The digital parametric EQ does a great job of precisely tackling problem frequencies specific to a venue. This not a simple case of using fixed frequency shelving EQs.
The compressor on the bluebox is ok, not amazing. Maybe that would be the big advantage of your device, I have no way of knowing.
In my case, (pay rent, feed kids, play live maybe once a year during the pandemic) the 525 CHF I invested in a bluebox are more easily justified than a box of unknowns at 3000 CHF.
I would instantly buy your device if it came with regular bookings, lol.
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Was it specifically your intention to market this particular piece of unobtainium quite so broadly?
I ask this because it’s quite rare that 3k compressors from “classic” manufacturers enter my radar, as I’m a long way from their target market, but I’ve been exposed to the marketing of your product on a number of occasions. Was this something you put a lot of thought into or just an inevitable consequence of your internet celebrity status?
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haha, I’m afraid I didn’t put too much thought into my marketing actions as my goal was to solve a problem I ran into. After we decided to sell it to others and after I realized that I would be the one selling it I use the channels that I have. I tend to forget that I have some kind of “internet celebrity status” because what I like to do, and what I do best, is making music in the studio or on stage. showing my face and talking about whatever is more like a side product for me, even when this gets more attention nowadays.
I mean, the name of the product is weird in the sense that there’s humor in it (something very dangerous? nowadays ;)), I don’t have a specific target group (or at least the product doesn’t fit perfectly to either of the two), BUT: the device sounds great (which it wouldnt, or at least wouldn’t meet my standards, when it would be cheaper) so I know it will stay and solve the same problem for others.
I mean, raising the awareness about “live-mastering” is one very constructive thing I already achieved, right?
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Is it right to say that this device is an amplifier digitally controlled by software (similar to FMR compressors). Or is the audio signal processed through ad/da to be then digitally processed?
The thing is analog. No ad/da and also no digital control of analog circuits. Afaik.
From the manual -
“The signal path is consistently analog. In the course of development, the operation was then digitized and the circuit itself continuously expanded and supplemented, based on Martin Stimming’s experience with the prototype devices in tough live use around the world.”
no, its completely analog! the version four (with a screen) was digitally controlled but the last version is a pure analog device.
what Michael means with “was then digitized” is the files you need for planning the manufacturing process - the assembling plant needs a digital file, for example
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I find the marketing information unclear. Where you could say that FMR RNC has a fully analog signal path but the compressor works with software code as the ‘brain’. Throw in transformers for saturation and some other analog components and you can say the signal path is fully analog. But the brains of the operation or ‘circuit’ is digitised to pack it it in to such a small portable device.
Not saying there’s anything wrong with that! The IMC sounds good in the demos.
But the marketing info doesn’t clarify anything and vague enough to be either.
(Edit, sorry didn’t see your reply 
)
I always thought the signal path on the FMR comps was analog, but there is no direct connection from front panel controls such as switches and knobs, instead a microprocessor receives the settings you dial in on the front panel and forwards it to control the audio path.
This solves problems like noise pickup from the knobs etc.
Everything audio related is analog.
The wording about “digitizing” in the manual for the IMC is indeed a bit unclear (maybe better rephrase that or simply leave it out? It might cause further confusion?), they include a signal flow chart which makes it very clear how everything works. Also the description of the signal flow clearly states how audio enters the device and passes through each stage.
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