Yeah, weird, so many love the S6’s but it never got me. The DMNO on the other hand… instant likealot
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You may have just needed a bit more time with it. It’s all in there. Honestly, it took me a little bit to get used to the interface. It LOOKS like a Jupiter, CS-80, Juno, whatever, but it’s just different enough to require a bit of extra thought until you get used to it. I was actually a bit surprised by that when I first started playing with it. It’s a bit more complex than it looks at first glance. 
The more i hear it the more it reminds me of the Nonlinear C-15 synth from an audio perspective.
Developers are definitely of two minds on this too.
I suppose it has to do with how it’s presented – Elektron has the long-standing thing with super early stuff being shown silent in its glass box temple.
You can’t really know for sure where you are when you’re in the middle, let alone predicting the future from a moment in time. The DMNO may end up in different territory, after all the changes that are going to happen – as well as taking the feedback from shows like this.
I wonder if the FPGA part is even done yet (?), and that could make a major diversion. Is the analog design even completely complete now ?
This is just an opinion, so don’t start bothering me with the facts. ( Seems a useful defense. ) 
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I would guess that the analog portion is done, as it’s required for it to function (give or take an odd trace issue, component value issue, etc.) If the analog part isn’t working, you’re not going to get much (or at least proper) sound out of it.
Since the oscillators work, I would guess the FPGA code is usable, though maybe not complete.
I’m guessing what needs the most work is the main OS/Firmware which will handle all of the various routings, ranges, limits, etc.
As someone that makes hardware, I like seeing even boards laying on the table. Loved the video about the new OSCar for example. The synth being open, partially functional, and ebay-purchased Z80 CPU inserted. 
I didn’t used to have a lot of patience, so waiting for things to materialize was typically slow and agonizing. But now, I just like to watch things form (either something I’m working on, or something someone else is working on) and see how it all comes together. It could be nearly ready, or years off. IMO a trade show is the perfect place to put some of this on display. Shows people what you’re up to, shows other builders some interesting things, gives you some time for feedback, etc.
I suppose it can also generate insane, frothing comments sections, forum threads, and other things speculating on just what’s actually happening, but there always has to be some kind of byproduct.
Show it too late, and people will complain that nobody’s feedback was taken into account, or that it was released in a vaccum. (which IMO is also perfectly valid, as people should build what they want to build) I think too many people THINK they’re part of a design committee just because they said something on a forum or comments section. Sometimes it’s valuable, sometimes it’s noise.
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Did hardware too and managed projects, and have made the dangerous call to radically change analog hardware late in development, as well as faked a design for a show in a month, part-time.
One big issue of early reveals, is the “no second chance for first impressions”. Lots of people will just swipe left and never look again.
Must say though that the DMNO is to a place where it did give quite a good impression. Hopefully any improvements going forward are additions to, rather than sustitutions.
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The key difference there is everyone already knows what an OSCar can do and what one should sound like.
This seems riskier with a new device, and this is a pretty new device.
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Okay, I might be in minority here, but from all the new stuff that happened this year, including recent TR-1000 reveal, I am most excited with DMNO. Different strokes for different folks, as they say…
Cheers!
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I think it looks incredible! For a big poly sort of thing though, I like five octaves, and I’m now completely spoiled by the keybed on the Super Gemini, so I won’t be jumping to this. The synth itself seems absolutely amazing though from what I can tell so far. Aside from the keybed though, what’s really keeping me from frothing, is that my current internal dilemma is bouncing back and forth as to which synth would actually do more for me between the Gemini and the 3rd Wave. The DMNO is kind of off to the side. I can’t have more than one synth of this magnitude in my studio for various reasons. If George makes a desktop version, it could potentially fit in somehwere, but even that would be a stretch. Still, very cool synth, and probably the most interesting subtractive I’ve seen in some time.
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Good point, but I would look at it more as George is a fairly known quantity in synth development at this point. I wouldn’t think he’d bother with anything that wasn’t pretty interesting. UDO isn’t perfect, but they make nice things IMO. I wouldn’t expect an absolute flop I guess is my point. Plenty of different takes on what is show-worthy though. It really depends on a lot of factors, and why one pays attention to trade shows in the first place.
Funny that you mention Gemini, because this one, excluding architecture and voice count, gives me some of that vibe. Due to both timbres being represented simultaneously on the panel. That was my biggest draw toward Gemini.
Regarding your dilemma. I redacted my post, but there was a thought: I could consider selling my Modal 002 for this one. I would still have some of that sound from Modal 001, but with DMNO I would have what I am missing from my Modal 008 here (which is in other place), but… better?
I remember showing Modal 008 to one known youtuber, who played it for a minute and commented (paraphrasing) “the oscillators sound like Nord Lead 3”. And he was so damn right! They are the most precise VCOs that I ever had! Why am I telling this? I think that digital oscillators from DMNO can be no less organic than the 008 that I miss here. With that, and with same amount of voices, plus stereo filters per voice - I could have more than 008 gives me. Minus few features, that Modal provides (like powerful animator and sequencer lanes).
Also: that filter sounds juicy and like electricity - which is my greatest prize for a filter flavour.
Regarding the keyboard. I agree that more octaves would be better (perfectly 5, but… not always!). The spot that my Modal 002 occupies has like three centimeters of free space then BiG SiX and it’s the end of shelf. So for me: it’s 4 octaves maximum, when instrument has controls on the side and from that… 3,5 octaves isn’t that much different. I will probably use external sequencing for playing, while internal keyboard - for programming only. I repeat: I would LOVE to see 5 octaves in it.
Cordially! 
P.S. I suspect, due to both - DMNO and TR-1000 - that this year will be bad time for many people participating in “No New Gear Year” thread… I will pray for the group to survive this shock.
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I don’t think it’s a matter of making a bad synth, but (1) people make first impressions based on what they experience first and (2) after that, people project the synth they want onto an as yet unfinished product.
You don’t have to look far to find examples of perfectly good synths that people lost their minds over because it wasn’t the synth they imagined it might have should have maybe been. E.g. the Moog Muse.
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This will happen no matter what.
Agreed though.
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A decent quality recording of the interview done by Divkid with George at Machina Bristronica where he talks about the DMNO:
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The more i hear this more i dont want it. The sounds are jarring and i cant see where they will fit in a mix.
Good question! Super 6 here, not bad, not good (in my opinion). The core functionality works, but there’s lots of little bugs or inconsistencies with the manual that I occasionally stumble upon, which gives it a “half-baked” feel.
My first reaction upon seeing the announcement of the new UDO synth was disappointment, because that means my Super 6 won’t be getting any love soon, and it hasn’t in some time (the last firmware update added support for their new touch strip, and that’s pretty much it).
I understand that they’re a hardware company and they need to push out new stuff to make money, but I would expect more support for existing stuff.
Maybe I’m spoiled by Elektron and Novation in that regard, but I have an expectation that a synth of this level would get at least occasional bug fixes, if not new features.
In general, the situation with firmware has been not very good with UDO. When I first got the Super 6 in 2024, the latest firmware was 0.6 or something, which had plenty more minor but annoying bugs, and that’s a couple of years after the release. If I had bought it new and upon launch, I would be pretty upset.
I suppose it’s because there’s only one guy, George, working on the firmware, and there’s only so much he can do, but still.
If you are interested in the particulars, here are some things off the top of my head that I can remember:
- “previewing” a patch resets the mod matrix
- sometimes it’s impossible to turn off Binaural mode no matter what you do, and you have to power cycle
- midi sync is kind of drifty but I don’t use it so whatever
- not really a bug, but there’s still no “pickup mode” for parameters, so when you load a patch and move any of the knobs, they jump in value (horrible for live use). only way around is to start with init patch
- changing sequencer record modes with the SEQ REQ button doesn’t wrap around - meaning, it doesn’t go to the beginning once you hit the last page, it just stops the sequencer (not sure if a bug or if it’s the manual that doesn’t say anything about this) - in general I find the sequencer pretty confusing in operation
But the most annoying thing about the synth! It just sounds so damn beautiful that even if it crashed every 10 minutes I would still love it. I’m held hostage by the sound 
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Totally agree about the sequencer. I dreamed of something as fast and fun as the SH-101 but this ain’t it, although it could be with a bit of TLC. Still love mine and luckily it’s never crashed.
You don’t think it’s just a TOUCH early to make that call? It’s a synthesizer. Its sounds are as jarring as you make them.
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You are wrong obviously. Everyone knows you use moog synthesizer for fat bass and dave smith synthesizer for warm pad. This synthesizer is for make jarring sound.
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I’m going from the initial UDO upload onwards. It started off good but every upload since then hasn’t exactly enthused me. I know its not a Super 6. But you have to like the intial raw sound and its not pleasing at all to me. You can only go so far with crazy wow sounds. They have to be of use eventually after the novelty wears off.