Dreadbox Medusa monosynth

Space Captain · Post by **Space Captain** » Wed Jan 16, 2019 5:40 pm

Sureno wrote:I found myself running into a few quirks that took my attention away from laying the track down and trying to figure out work aroumds or switching on/off type issues etc. On a whole I need more time and possibly a couple more updates to really squeeze the most out of it in a real session. Must stress, this is just my experience

Curious as to what you mean. What quirks?

soundinett · Post by **soundinett** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 2:11 pm

Hek wrote:OS update 1.11 looks great, and velocity is in the making.

Yes. But does Medusa sync to external Midi clock? The updated Manual (V1.1) does´nt make it clear.

hermbot · Post by **hermbot** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 8:37 am

Now that I've seen the 1.1 update that allows you to operate the VCAs as drones, I'm really, really interested in this. Might be time to move the OP-1 and make way for a Medusa.

Xmit · Post by **Xmit** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 10:51 am

actually 1.2 firmware has just come out...

hermbot · Post by **hermbot** » Fri Feb 22, 2019 11:21 am

even better! And Juno has them at less than $1K...

Sounds From The Shed · Post by **Sounds From The Shed** » Sat May 18, 2019 7:15 pm

[video][/video]

I've had the Medusa a couple of weeks but this was my first time using it.

I sequenced it from the Toraiz Squid using the Transpose, Trig Probabilites, Direction Change etc

I then just tweaked away at the Medusa to get familiar with it.

soundinett · Post by **soundinett** » Sun May 19, 2019 2:05 am

Would be more interested in a comparation of the Squid and the Grid.
I think the Medusa sequencer is a mighty contender to the Toraiz Squid.

Sounds From The Shed · Post by **Sounds From The Shed** » Sun May 19, 2019 2:33 am

[video][/video]

Here's one then with the Medusa run from it's internal sequencer along with the MS-101 run from it's sequencer. I think you're right the Polyend is a powerful sequencer. I've only started using it but you can record various modulation live over the sequence etc. Sounds good

In this one I stuck to the Analogue voices on the Medusa

I just hit record and made stuff up!

soundinett · Post by **soundinett** » Sun May 19, 2019 2:44 am

Well, take you time with the Medusa Grid. Ist a powerful tool.
Would love to hear about the pros and cons, the functional overlaps of the Squid sequencer versus the Medusa Grid sequencer.

Sounds From The Shed · Post by **Sounds From The Shed** » Sun May 19, 2019 2:48 am

soundinett wrote:Well, take you time with the Medusa Grid. Ist a powerful tool.
Would love to hear about the pros and cons, the functional overlaps of the Squid sequencer versus the Medusa Grid sequencer.

I'll try and do something video wise with that when I get more familiar with the Polyend, I'm still pretty much a noob with it at the moment though, that was only my second time using it

Sounds From The Shed · Post by **Sounds From The Shed** » Thu Jun 06, 2019 6:48 am

[video][/video]

In this video I use the Polyend sequencer for modulation purposes only.

The main sequence which is providing additional cc modulation is from the Squarp Pyramid.

I like the Medusa!!!

WilDFire · Post by **WilDFire** » Fri Jun 07, 2019 6:56 pm

I think I know the answer but it would be impossible
To change the led colors without a hardware upgrade, right? Spoiled on the deluge and can’t understand why polyend wouldn’t do that to give more information...

deltaphoenix · Post by **deltaphoenix** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 8:48 pm

What does everyone that has one think of the 2.0 update? Seems like this synth/sequencer is moving in the right direction.

deltaphoenix · Post by **deltaphoenix** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 2:16 pm

Looks like Polyend just price dropped the Medusa by $300...the new price is $899 moving forward.

I am surprised a bit because despite the lukewarm initial reception, I think the sales have been okay. Of course this is anecdotally my perception due to interest, discussion and eventual ownership among my nerdy friends and I.

Gribs · Post by **Gribs** » Wed Oct 02, 2019 12:36 am

deltaphoenix wrote:Looks like Polyend just price dropped the Medusa by $300...the new price is $899 moving forward.

I am surprised a bit because despite the lukewarm initial reception, I think the sales have been okay. Of course this is anecdotally my perception due to interest, discussion and eventual ownership among my nerdy friends and I.

Yeah they sent me an email (I bought a poly module from them directly) and I saw that Robotspeak put up a blurb on their FB page, too. I wonder if they are making a V2 hardware and not just a V2 firmware? Remember they gave away poly 1 modules with SEQ purchase right before the Poly 2 came out. I think the $899 price point makes the Medusa an attractive buy.

anselmi · Post by **anselmi** » Wed Oct 02, 2019 11:06 am

Gribs wrote:I think the $899 price point makes the Medusa an attractive buy.

yep...so I gave it a second listening...but (as in my first try) I didn´t gel with the sound

this is sad (and strange) since I love the sound of all other Dreadbox synths, but this one seems to be very different (sonically speaking)

I´d love to love it...the concept is great and the features are top notch...I even love the form factor, but the sound...

grimleyj · Post by **grimleyj** » Wed Oct 02, 2019 10:56 pm

The Medusa sure is polarizing! Just to offer another opinion: as an owner of Medusa, Erebus v3 and Nyx v1, the Medusa is actually my favorite Dreadbox synth. Unlike the other 2, it needs external FX to really shine imho, and I wish they had added a delay or reverb to make this the ultimate “lounge on the couch and chill” machine. Otherwise, I find it really inspirational.

Fentune · Post by **Fentune** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 7:30 am

grimleyj wrote: I wish they had added a delay or reverb to make this the ultimate “lounge on the couch and chill” machine. Otherwise, I find it really inspirational.

Totally agree. The price drop could be an indication that Medusa 2 is coming- with effects and colored MPE pads- with tape saturation and with stereo analog filters...

-and then I woke up

Fentune · Post by **Fentune** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 7:34 am

anselmi wrote:
Gribs wrote:I think the $899 price point makes the Medusa an attractive buy.
yep...so I gave it a second listening...but (as in my first try) I didn´t gel with the sound

this is sad (and strange) since I love the sound of all other Dreadbox synths, but this one seems to be very different (sonically speaking)

I´d love to love it...the concept is great and the features are top notch...I even love the form factor, but the sound...

The thing with Medusa is that as ugly as it can sound (thanks to half-baked patches designed by 'so-called' professionals), it can also sound beautiful...but it needs a little help from effects and compression to really make you appreciate it. One thing needs to be said though- is that if you know what your doing and understand the signal paths and modulations available, you can really make some cool sounds-without any effects whatsoever.

anselmi · Post by **anselmi** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 12:40 pm

Fentune wrote:
anselmi wrote:
Gribs wrote:I think the $899 price point makes the Medusa an attractive buy.
yep...so I gave it a second listening...but (as in my first try) I didn´t gel with the sound

this is sad (and strange) since I love the sound of all other Dreadbox synths, but this one seems to be very different (sonically speaking)

I´d love to love it...the concept is great and the features are top notch...I even love the form factor, but the sound...
The thing with Medusa is that as ugly as it can sound (thanks to half-baked patches designed by 'so-called' professionals), it can also sound beautiful...but it needs a little help from effects and compression to really make you appreciate it. One thing needs to be said though- is that if you know what your doing and understand the signal paths and modulations available, you can really make some cool sounds-without any effects whatsoever.

yeah, the synthesis features are great...in paper
I never heard a single demo that sold it to me...all of them sounds harsh, even the ones that starts with single oscillator waveforms

Needles · Post by **Needles** » Sat Oct 12, 2019 9:51 pm

Have to agree.
I moved mine on as well.

Won't ever let go of the murmux or nyx, however!

Estes · Post by **Estes** » Sun Oct 13, 2019 1:11 pm

Isn't the Novation Mono Station quite similar to the Medusa in a way?

Licudi · Post by **Licudi** » Mon Dec 02, 2019 5:33 pm

Medusa is listed as discontinued by a couple of retailers now.

Has development ceased? I thought it had a second wind with V2, though the so-called albino facelift never entered production.

anselmi · Post by **anselmi** » Mon Dec 02, 2019 6:41 pm

Estes wrote:Isn't the Novation Mono Station quite similar to the Medusa in a way?

much more limited in features but yes, similar concept of a synth voice driven by a grid of pads where you can select/play presets, enter sequences, notes, modulation lanes, etc

for me the Novation sounds more sweet and round than the medusa, and at the recent sale price I finally ordered one

Licudi wrote:Medusa is listed as discontinued by a couple of retailers now.

Has development ceased? I thought it had a second wind with V2, though the so-called albino facelift never entered production.

I think that after the initial hype some people ended not buying it because of the sound...sadly it´s the first Dreadbox synth that don´t have the creamy tone that one expect from them, like in the Erebus or Nyx

Licudi · Post by **Licudi** » Tue Dec 03, 2019 2:55 pm

anselmi wrote: it´s the first Dreadbox synth that don´t have the creamy tone that one expect from them, like in the Erebus or Nyx

Dreadbox finds itself in the same situation as Moog, where it cannot deviate from the sound it has become best-known for. Possibly one of the reasons Polyend has increasingly taken the lead on marketing Medusa.

I'd be interested in getting one if only UK retailers were more competitive. Medusa is available for anything between £500-600 on the European continent, yet in Britain it's being offered at between £700-1000.

MUFF WIGGLER

MUFF WIGGLER

Dreadbox Medusa monosynth