new Malekko Grooveboxes!

Panason · Post by **Panason** » Sun Apr 01, 2018 12:51 pm

Hopefully these guys know better than the likes of Roland and these boxes will have proper MIDI sync and MIDI control of the sequencer patterns...

CF3 · Post by **CF3** » Sun Apr 01, 2018 12:56 pm

Panason wrote:Hopefully these guys know better than the likes of Roland and these boxes will have proper MIDI sync and MIDI control of the sequencer patterns...

I’m with you on this, but very skeptical. We’re in the MIDI Dark Ages. And it’s not just the manufacturers, it’s definitely the user base too. It’s shocking how little is understood about MIDI and the piss poor specs we get in 2018

On the bright side... these will sound incredible. I no doubts about that.

Panason · Post by **Panason** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:04 am

The ability to trigger the sequencer patterns using MIDI notes, and being able to jump from one pattern to the other before the pattern plays through to the end, while staying in sync to incoming MIDI clock would allow improvising and creating new sequences on the fly... which would be awesome.

Numanoid92 · Post by **Numanoid92** » Fri Apr 06, 2018 1:43 pm

Who will distribute the Manther in Europe? i saw that only Gear4Music has them in Pre-order

Panason · Post by **Panason** » Fri Apr 06, 2018 6:17 pm

Malekko have a list of distributors on their site last time I checked, and when I looked at one of them in the UK their prices for Malekko gear were pretty much on par with the exchange rate, which is nice.

Benj · Post by **Benj** » Mon Apr 09, 2018 9:15 am

Glad to see they added an external input on the Manther .I hope they do the same with the bff.

Panason · Post by **Panason** » Tue Apr 10, 2018 4:22 pm

Malekko, if you're reading this and it's not too late or too difficult: Use the audio input for clock sync!

edit: nvm , there is a clock input.

Panason · Post by **Panason** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 10:34 am

They are taking pre-orders for the Manther ("shipping end of April") but have still not published the manual for it.

I had another look at the front panel and there are simple mechanical switches for envelope shape and oscillator pitch. . . it doesn't look like those things are digitally controlled, so the presets may be just for storing the sequencer data and not the patches themselves?? wtf.

gringostar · Post by **gringostar** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 6:53 pm

Any word on either the Mr D or BFF like are they still planning on making them and if so approximate release dates?

Sammus · Post by **Sammus** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 7:49 pm

Panason wrote:They are taking pre-orders for the Manther ("shipping end of April") but have still not published the manual for it.

I had another look at the front panel and there are simple mechanical switches for envelope shape and oscillator pitch. . . it doesn't look like those things are digitally controlled, so the presets may be just for storing the sequencer data and not the patches themselves?? wtf.

Why does a mechanical switch mean that whatever value it's controlling cannot be stored? The switch could easily be controlling a digital signal. Just like all products which store data from sliders or pots, the patch recall won't move the sliders and pots for you, rather once you do move them it will take precedent over recalled data.

Sammus · Post by **Sammus** » Fri Apr 20, 2018 7:51 pm

gringostar wrote:Any word on either the Mr D or BFF like are they still planning on making them and if so approximate release dates?

Yeah I think it was at TFOM. More coming but development takes more time that most people appreciate. They have to prioritise... Mr D is a way off yet. I picked up a rytm ii while waiting

Panason · Post by **Panason** » Sat Apr 21, 2018 6:00 am

The BBF is the most interesting one for me but at this rate it's probably at least 6 months away.

Why does a mechanical switch mean that whatever value it's controlling cannot be stored? The switch could easily be controlling a digital signal. Just like all products which store data from sliders or pots, the patch recall won't move the sliders and pots for you, rather once you do move them it will take precedent over recalled data.

Yeah I really hope that is the case. There is no button labelled "save" or "write" on any of the machines! I'm wondering because patch storage has somehow become uncool and people actively look down on it. It wouldn't surprise me at this point - I've seen digital devices without patch storage released recently.... the boutique synth market is a strange one.

jefferymac · Post by **jefferymac** » Sun Apr 22, 2018 11:40 am

Panason wrote:The BBF is the most interesting one for me but at this rate it's probably at least 6 months away.

Why does a mechanical switch mean that whatever value it's controlling cannot be stored? The switch could easily be controlling a digital signal. Just like all products which store data from sliders or pots, the patch recall won't move the sliders and pots for you, rather once you do move them it will take precedent over recalled data.
Yeah I really hope that is the case. There is no button labelled "save" or "write" on any of the machines! I'm wondering because patch storage has somehow become uncool and people actively look down on it. It wouldn't surprise me at this point - I've seen digital devices without patch storage released recently.... the boutique synth market is a strange one.

Manther has "save" and "recall" buttons to the right of the bar selectors. Given that this thing has p-locks for every parameter (at least according to the NAMM demos), it's highly unlikely that it wouldn't save patch data. I took a risk and pre-ordered, so I guess I'll find out pretty soon...

Panason · Post by **Panason** » Sun Apr 22, 2018 1:27 pm

Oh OK, I was looking at the prototype photo on the first page of this thread...

icosa · Post by **icosa** » Tue Apr 24, 2018 5:45 pm

Jumped in and preordered about a month ago as well. It looks like most of the parameters are scanned. Not totally sure about the switches but I don’t see why they wouldn’t be as well. Seriously looking forward to it.

icosa · Post by **icosa** » Tue May 08, 2018 10:00 pm

Looks like these finally shipped! The manual is up for those that are interested. Looks like pretty much everything but some octave range, menu and midi settings are saved to presets. Automation can be recorded with most of the parameters.

https://malekkoheavyindustry.com/conten ... UAL-V1.pdf

Panason · Post by **Panason** » Wed May 09, 2018 12:13 pm

OK, someone buy it and post some sounds!

There isn't a lot to hear on youtube so far, and what's there doesn't sound too exciting I must say.

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Fri May 11, 2018 10:38 pm

Does anyone know the actual physical dimensions of these?
They are not in the manual.

14 x 9.5 x 5" is listed on some sites, but that sounds more like box dimensions, as they don’t seem proportionate (aspect ratio is nearly 2:1) and 5" is one hell of a depth, even with knob height.

The Manther sounds real good! Would definitely kick my Monologue out of bed.

retoid · Post by **retoid** » Sat May 12, 2018 8:36 am

Panason wrote:OK, someone buy it and post some sounds!

There isn't a lot to hear on youtube so far, and what's there doesn't sound too exciting I must say.

Got one on pre-order, PCA has yet to receive them it seems. Will try to post up some sound when it arrives.

jefferymac · Post by **jefferymac** » Sat May 12, 2018 3:28 pm

I got mine this week. Haven't had a whole lot of time to spend with it, but first impressions are positive.

It's a little smaller than I expected. Actual dims are 12 wide x 6 deep. The case has a slight angle to it; about 1.5 high in the front, 2.5 high in the back. Despite the small size, it doesn't feel cramped.

Not sure if I will gig with it for a few reasons: the sliders feel like they might break easily and the display text is very tiny. It would be a bitch to read the display in a live situation.

The p-lock system is intuitive and well done. Hold record, move slider, that's it. Hold clear, move a slider again to clear the parameter locks.

Sound-wise it seems almost optimized for creating harsh, aggressive, noisy sounds -- no surprise given the various demos. However, I was able to get some clean bleepy techno vibes going in no time as well.

enlovoz · Post by **enlovoz** » Mon May 14, 2018 10:20 am

If I remember correctly, the drum machine should be the next one to see the light right ?
I really want to hear what they come up with for this one ! The world need a nasty drum machine from Malekko.

Panason · Post by **Panason** » Mon May 14, 2018 10:46 am

Damn. I read the (too brief) manual and am underwhelmed. The sequencing capability doesn't seem up to elektron standards. There is no mention of MIDI control whatsoever in the manual other than that you can set the MIDI channel, so I guess you cannot trigger pattern changes over MIDI... There is no MIDI implementation chart...

CC messages are planned for a software future release

OK, see you in the future!

Can you do per-step automation, by selecting a step and adjusting knobs/sliders? It doesn't seem to be the case, which is perplexing and disappointing.

By default, automation records on all steps. Under
MENU > RECORD > UPDATE > ALL you can change ALL to NOTE specifically. This will switch automation recording from every step to just steps with active notes.
Hold the RECORD button while moving the controls for the features you wish to automate. Each step will then retain those automated control movements.

Not sure how this is useful and really don't get why they didn't take the elektron method and improve on it : select a step with a long press, step remains selected and starts flashing, adjust parameters, press the step again to deselect the step and write those parameter edits in the sequence for that step only.
Maybe it's just badly worded in the manual?

icosa · Post by **icosa** » Mon May 14, 2018 7:04 pm

Long press on notes and tweaking parameters works great. That part of the manual is more for notes that are active vs. not. This thing sounds very unique, has a raw tone that’s sort of like a sh-101 but a bit more rough around the edges in parts.

You can p-lock almost everything, lfo speed, wave folder, delay feedback and the oscillator mixer levels to get that per step wavtype rotation thing going on.Shit gets wild quickly. Very happy with it so far. I just wish the display was bigger and they had an option to remove the scope for bigger text but you really don’t use the screen much anyways.

Panason · Post by **Panason** » Tue May 15, 2018 4:38 am

So when you select a step for editing how does the display work? Is there a way to see what parameters have been tweaked on that step?

icosa · Post by **icosa** » Tue May 15, 2018 8:38 am

The bar graph at the bottom of the screen will show all fader positions. The last parameter changed will show a clear outlined bar I think. Any fader that has automation across the whole pattern will light up red. There really isn’t any way to see the automation just applied to one step. What would be cool is that if you long press a step they just light up the faders that are automated by that one step and highlight the graph bars that are changed. Honestly though you tend to use your ears more with this box vs. staring at the screen. It seems to be designed around exploration and happy accidents.

If you’ve had or have played a DSI Pro 2 before it’s very similar except you don’t have to assign destinations to the automation slots. You just start tweaking what you want and roll with it.

MUFF WIGGLER

MUFF WIGGLER

new Malekko Grooveboxes!