It’s still in another category. I very much doubt that many of the prospective buyers will chose the Svensson because of the looper. I’m sure most of them are looking for a nice, high quality, good sounding instrument to play on the keyboard and that the looper is at most the icing on the cake.
I do think the idea of embracing limitations has been gaining a lot of traction around here. But probably some of the time its people trying to talk themselves into getting the pretty new thing
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If I were to purchase it, it would definitely be because of the looper and the simplicity of its operation. And I am considering it because of its simplicity but…
It’s a financial struggle right now. Isn’t it for everyone?? lol
My next purchase was going to be a DT2 and a simple poly synth with a simple onboard sequencer/looper to feed it. I’m willing to pay around $900us for the DT2 because of all its functionality. To spend more than that on the Svennson is a tough one. If it were $600 or $700 that would be more tempting.
Also, it’s an even more difficult to justify because I’d also like an arp and pitchbend since it’ll be my only sound source.
My next purchase was going to be a DT2 and a simple poly synth with a simple onboard sequencer/looper to feed it… If it were $600 or $700 that would be more tempting.
Ableton Move and a used 49 key midi controller for under $150 and you can do so much more. Load or sample your own samples, create your own VA patches, FX per track, export to live, audio tracks. Buy some Cuckoo sample packs to go with it if you want.
But again, beautifully designed device, I hope they do well and I don’t mean any disrespect. Cuckoo is awesome and the patches sound great. It looks fun to play and I’m sure it’s an inspiring instrument. At the end of the day if you’re a pro and you get even one usable song idea out of it, $1000 is nothing.
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Strangely enough, I’m moving away from sampling altogether. I’ll be using DT2 strictly as a multitrack recorder and arranger. It’s also appealing that the Svensson is not a standalone module. I’ve always preferred more workstation-y keys. This is staying at home.
Simplicity is key for me at this point. Just need a pitch bend and arp on the Svensson for me to commit. And buy used. Though, I’m not sure if they’ll even want to add those things.
Maybe a few presets could have polyphonic glide built-in rather than pitch bend.
I suppose it’s safe to assume that we can turn the volume all the way down per part? I’d like to build the whole loop using all parts, then record one part at a time into the DT2.
I don’t quite remember but I think Cuckoo shows that you can mute parts by pressing shift and the part button.
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The harpsichord for 2026. I like it. It seems streamlined, personal and looks very fun to play. It’ll live or die on the breadth and quality of its sound though so I hope it ships with more than the current 100 presets and ideally an app based sound editor.
A killer feature might be a Nord-like easy multisample maker, or a simple Fors-like synth. Multichannel class compliant audio is a nice touch.
So, I’m interested, it seems a wonderfully personal way to make music… final specs matter though given the price. A playful and ephemeral instrument
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I would say 100 sounds is plenty enough, provided the sounds are really good and varied. More sounds than that is a distraction. You spend too much time selecting sound instead of playing. Also, it takes longer to scroll to your favourite sounds, when there are a lot of them.
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100 or even fewer if they are of my own curation, agreed. Even better if I can import/export those 100 sounds to match my style or mood at the time… sonic preference is unlikely to match exactly. Cuckoo’s sounds often tend to the bright and playful, sometimes I might want darker, for example.
However it’s certainly unique as an all in one machine and I’m watching intently. Congrats to the design team, I hope it does well!
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A very good overview with Nick, Cuckoo, and Henrik at the end.
The speaker is larger ( and lighter i guess ) than i expected.
Sounds like it is almost complete with the hardware design, they may still make adjustments to the knobs, though the next gen on the main PCB, may be their last.
Given the way this thread has gone this is almost guarenteed to generate more complants.
This video leaves me very much at peace with the whole design, and approach, and price though.
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I remembered right. Cuckoo shows it in the video from Superbooth. So you definitely can mute parts by holding shift and pressing the part button in question.
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Plus you can change voices on the fly and thereby change the mix.
I realize that Cuckoo is a really good keyboardist, “think it – play it” .
But the interface ( from the video ) really does look fluid and natural. My impression all along is that Svensson would develop a players “think it – play it” response.
I think so even more now.
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Fantastic!
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So Svensson is changing my whole setup/workflow. It has brought forth something I think I’ve kept suppressed for over a decade-- I don’t really like step sequencers! lol
I’m a bit of a groovebox head yet I’ve only ever really enjoyed the ones that had unquantized recording, go figure. I mean, they’re fun, and offer great control, but option overload is a super real thing for me.
Also, I really do have the most fun building tracks via playing/looping. Nothing is more fun than getting into the groove and creating your own swing! This being the case, the DT2 is out as my recorder/arranger. I’m sticking with my trusty 404mkii for that, since I know it by heart and its pattern chaining is more than adequate for me to build songs, especially since I was seriously considering those new multitrack tape recording apps, or recording to a real tape multitrack.
So how simple is this → Svensson → hardware fx → 404mkii → sandwiches
So strange how all of sudden I’ve lost all interest in all the cool shit coming out this year! Plus, with not spending money on the DT2 (not to mention being able to sell a few things), I can afford the Svensson right away, and goddammit is it September yet??
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The only thing I can see adding to this, and it’s only because it fits so perfectly into the ethos of simplicity, and it’s affordable, is the new Rnd Synth, and it will really broaden the sound palette of the Svensson.
Spec-wise it seems perfect for the Svensson! Workflow-wise, since I’m not MIDI’ing up the Svensson to the 404 (recording/arranging only), I can have two-way MIDI communication between Svensson and Rnd via USB-C, with each of their main audio outs into my mixer before it hits the fx 
https://www.cymaforma.com/rnd-synth
Also, I don’t think it’s a horrible idea to have a randomise patch function on the Svensson itself. 
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Conceptually, this would be fun.
Having a part, the RND, that could :
a) Randomly generate four voices from eight different engines with various settings, and characteristics.
b) Randomly generate short musical ( rhythmically and harmonically coherent ) four part riffs, that you could then play in substitute single replacement parts, or add to the already laid down parts. with a keyboard system that functions like the Svensson, making longer parts from repeating shorter parts. You could play those new parts, reacting to randomly generated sequences.
c) Replace with the touch of a button, only the voices of the four playing parts, with randomly generated new voices, from the eight possible synth engines, to the riff sequences that may have been generated at random, or by your playing.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
I say conceptually because, as i understand things with these two not fully defined systems, there are a variety of technical issues, that stand in the way for this combination of the RND and the Svensson from working smoothly in this way.
But maybe those technical problems can be resolved, or maybe this is just an idea for some other product that could seamlessly integrate these two functional parts.
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That sounds like such a great setup. My digitakt isn’t going anywhere but ive got a metal fetishist on the way and im thinking a lot about loosening the death grip I tend to have on all the parts of making music and opening up space for the unexpected.
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I went to the Auxy table early this morning (it took some finding, it is not where the online map says it is) when the room was empty and quiet, and I had a nice talk with a developer and tried it out for a while. Some of my skepticism has abated. The speaker is nice, not fantastic, but definitely usable at home. It’s fun to play with and there are some good design choices. I still am not quite sure who it is for, but if someone is willing to spend money on it, I think they will enjoy it.
My skepticism for Cyma Forma RND has not abated. But I didn’t push the button myself. I just watched other people press it and listened to the result. Maybe if I had pressed it…
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