Muff's Modules & More

matttech

looks interesting.......anyone had a play with one, or got one?

would love to get some opinions....

matttech · Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 9:32 am Post subject:

nobody??

Cat-A-Tonic · Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:23 am Post subject:

TokyoCat just got one,
and I've used it a bit for processing percussion from the modular.
It is very hands on, and playable.
Is there anything specific that you would like to know?

Ranxerox · Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 3:12 am Post subject:

I tried one once at the Rough Trade Schneider's booth. It was fun and sounded very good, although mono output only IIRC. I liked that it was so compact but had a lot of knobs, for a spring reverb. Not too expensive either, you can't go wrong I suspect.

tIB · Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 4:12 am Post subject:

I assume you found those demo's I mentioned, if not they are here:

http://www.vermona.com/index.php/en_retrolancet.html

I like what I heard, Id like to pair one up with the ekdahl one day...

taniel · Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:30 am Post subject:

tIB · Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2012 10:25 am Post subject:

^ theres a lot more CV I/O to play with on the moisterizer, though based soley on those demos the verb sounds a little sweeter on the vermona... I find it pretty dark on the knas. I love the moisterizer though, and of the two Id go for that purely for the filter and amp section- sounds great. Always mean to try a different tank on it to see what effect that had.

causticlogic · Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2012 12:12 am Post subject:

Odd, I talked a guy who had one of these today. The conversation drifted elsewhere and didn't come back to it but from what I gathered, he valued it highly.

tokyocat · Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2012 11:14 am Post subject:

Hi Matttech,

I just made a demo of the Vermona Retroverb Lancet. It's a great unit. Hope you enjoy!

[s]http://soundcloud.com/decay-generator/vermona-retroverb-filter[/s]

This track shows all the filters: band pass, low pass, high pass. I also used the self oscillation of the filter to add an extra layer of feedback.

matttech · Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2012 5:06 pm Post subject:

Klaus · Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2012 1:29 pm Post subject:

Just got one. I'm pretty disappointed I must say. There seems to be no way to control the dry/filtered mix when you add the reverb. Which kinda defeats the purpose I was intending to use it for (a combined filter/reverb for drum machine) I'm no pro but the layout is pretty simple and the fact that the mix knob is multi functional seem to underline that it in fact is limited. Very weird flaw for a unit of that price/caliber

Cat-A-Tonic · Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2012 9:16 pm Post subject:

Klaus · Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:47 am Post subject:

I plan to take it gigging, and by gigging I mean dragging a flightcase from bunker to bunker playing industrial noise in third world countries. So an extra mixer is kinda of a issue.

My problem is that's once I've found the perfect blend of clean signal and filtered and add the post reverb, the mix knob serves as a mixer of the totally reverbed signal and the totally filtered signal meaning all the clean non-effected signal gets lost. Basically if I want to use it as intended I have to use only the filter section and throw a external reverb after. Which seems kinda dump given the unit has a great spring reverb and undermines the idea of having two effects in one box, Ie. less to carry. Why the folks at Vermona didn't make two mix knobs, one for reverb and one for filter is simply beyond me, this degrades the unit from being allout brilliant to being "just" another awesome filter or spring reverb

matttech · Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 7:22 am Post subject:

i really liked it when i tried it at schneiders, and the only real drawback for me was the fact that when the reverb was set to be POST the filter, if you cranked up the tone control on the reverb (to make it brighter) it brought out some bleed from the original signal

so...if you had the cutoff way down (in Lowpass mode) and used it in this way, you would hear some high frequency bleed from the original source material. you can get round this by turning the tone know down to make it duller (which you might do if you had the filter down low anyway i guess)

it was annoying enough to make me think twice about it, as it's not super cheap.

that being said, the envelopes were really snappy, the filter sounded excellent, and the reverb sounded great .....as did the various saturation stages. i reckon it'd be a lot of fun, and am really tempted by it. would probably pick one up 2nd hand if one turned up

matttech · Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:01 am Post subject:

matttech · Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 3:11 pm Post subject:

well.....a year on and i just bought one.

first impressions: this is a GREAT piece of kit

the filter is probably the nicest i’ve used yet, and along with the BALLS (high/low boost) and various GAIN and DRIVE settings, can sound anything from luscious and liquidy to thick, warm and overdriven (a la a108). the low end oomph that this LPF applies to even the most thin and weedy soft synth sound is VERY impressive

the highpass is a thing of beauty - so precise sounding. the filter beats the ones in my Cwejman S1 easily, and I’d say I’d even prefer it to the Pittsburgh Filter in “normal” (filter) mode. lovely

the overdrive you can get out of the GAIN and DRIVE is excellent, giving an almost valve-like drive to proceedings - and the two different stages sound quite different. the drive achieved by the GAIN is punchy, whereas the DRIVE is more fuzzy, and produces no increase in level when applied. they both produce a wider range of tones from the filter section when applied, especially in conjunction with the aforementioned filter BALLS feature

the envelope is SUPER-snappy, and the triggering from external sources is awesome. it can make sloppy drumloops sound really fast and tight when applied to the VCA.

while we’re on triggering, the LFO reliably retriggers from the audio input signal that triggers the envelopes, and it’s a piece of cake to get reliable rhythmic patterns going on that can be applied to the VCA and filter. it FMs really nicely in HIGH setting too

another neat feature is the ability to create your own LFO shape from the attack/ release of the envelope (set the LFO to “eg”), in the same way you would in Maths

although the retroverb does crazy stuff if pushed, its hidden strengths can be found in more subtle usage. the various routing options of the reverb (which also sounds excellent) are useful - for example, you can tailor the reverb far more than you can on conventional spring reverbs: set it to PRE, and then use the VCA and Filter to control the length and damping of the reverb. obviously this is possible using modules and a reverb like the Doepfer a199....but you’d need about 5 modules to replicate it.

the build quality is easily in the Cwejman bracket, with a lovely feel to the pots in particular.

i can see me using this unit a lot (i was starting to ask myself why i’d actually bought it, until i played with it today....but those doubts have quickly evaporated). it’s a different way of working when you use the audio input to trigger the env and LFO, and interesting patterns emerge as it triggers on certain notes/ drum hits and not others, adding extra rhythmic/ textural interest to bland synth and drum parts.

highly recommended - is making me seriously consider getting the FOURmulator quad LFO now, if this is anything to go by.

gets a big thumbs up

from me!

can’t wait to try it out with the Cwejman S1

pelican · Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 3:56 pm Post subject:

Yeah, they are nice. The original is nice too. Not as many filter options, but bigger better reverb tank

lutoslawski · Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2013 6:22 pm Post subject:

damn it!! I am trying controlling my retroverb GAS

I wouldn´t read this.....

matttech · Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 7:25 am Post subject:

matttech · Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 7:45 am Post subject:

just for the GAS - here's a quick demo of the various drive options available

[s]http://snd.sc/ZivuBA[/s]

from soundcloud:

hi there

just a quick demo of the lovely drive you can get out of the Vermona Retroverb Lancet

this uses the GAIN drive, the DRIVE drive, and the BALLS feature (essentially and low and high boost that can be applied even when the filter is bypassed)

there is no filtering, reverb or VCA used - just the three controls described above

i had to juggle the output control a little, as the drive applied by the input GAIN increases the overall level quite a bit. the DRIVE control doesn't

the synth is the cwejman S1 mk2 with no filtering.

see timed comments for details

cheers
matt

matttech · Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 8:22 am Post subject:

moved all the demos to a new thread in the correct forum:

http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1139069#1139069