Dreadbox Medusa monosynth

[Licudi]

I thought it was in the current firmware (2.02) but perhaps not.

There's a v2.04 beta out there, which I haven't tried yet. Don’t think there's any wavetable smoothing, but Polyend says it allows 'the Medusa MPE pads to play another instrument and play the internal synth engine with an external controller at the same time.' More 2.04 details in my post upthread.

[Licudi]

v3.0 is out. Haven't updated mine yet as I want someone else to be the test subject …

Updates
- Added LFO random wave (the last position).
- Added MIDI Local Off (as a MIDI config option), you can now use the Medusa MPE pads to play another instrument and play the internal synth engine with an external controller at the same time. 
- Both LFOs and envelopes are now able to send out their native values out as CC (set it up from the MIDI config menu).
- Each synth parameter is now displayed with the assigned CC number.

Latest production run also has a tidied-up paintjob.

[anselmi]

new "black limited edition"...so much nicer...
honestly, the original logo is hideous, they should keep this look for the rest of the production time ... it goes better with the whole Polyend vibe
I know it's a collaborative work but Dreadbox products´aesthetics leave a lot to be desired IMHO

Polyend-Medusa-SB-1400x1050-1.jpg

[Voltcontrol]

new "black limited edition"...so much nicer...
honestly, the original logo is hideous, they should keep this look for the rest of the production time ... it goes better with the whole Polyend vibe
I know it's a collaborative work but Dreadbox products´aesthetics leave a lot to be desired IMHO

Polyend-Medusa-SB-1400x1050-1.jpg

Also not a fan of the Dreadbox look, it sure is distinctive and I guess preferential to some.
Polyends easthetic though I find very tasty indeed. Looks nearly made me buy a Tracker while features are limited compared to the upcoming NerdSeq Portable.

[Licudi]

Well, I wish Polyend had put the silver prototype into production.

[Fentune]

new "black limited edition"...so much nicer...
honestly, the original logo is hideous,

Maybe it's you that's hideous? You just think shitting all over the original design is respectful somehow, you twat?

[Voltcontrol]

new "black limited edition"...so much nicer...
honestly, the original logo is hideous,

Maybe it's you that's hideous? You just think shitting all over the original design is respectful somehow, you twat?

I find name-calling something for Bumfunglers, it does not suit a Muffwiggler.

[onthebandwagon]

Damn, things are getting heated.

[anselmi]

anti_troll_spray_by_krilin86_d300klz-fullview.jpg

[mrhooks]

Damn, now this is making me want to buy the Medusa sooner rather than later, even though I need a poly first. This looks way better than the standard version with Dreadbox's signature unnecessarily large synth logo.

[anselmi]

Damn, now this is making me want to buy the Medusa sooner rather than later, even though I need a poly first. This looks way better than the standard version with Dreadbox's signature unnecessarily large synth logo.

Also, they kept the discount price anounced some months ago...after this I also started to want one, but the revisited the old videos and also new ones to remember me that I really don´t like the harsh sound that even its analog oscillators have.

[Kent]

new "black limited edition"...so much nicer...
honestly, the original logo is hideous,

Maybe it's you that's hideous? You just think shitting all over the original design is respectful somehow, you twat?

Although we allow and encourage people to portray themselves in the manner that they see fit, posting without much in the way of context and resorting to the childish tactic of name-calling will also serve to ensure that your stay here won't be a long one.

Proceed as you wish.

[Roy72]

I have had one for about a week now. It's a lot of fun for what you can get them for now, and the v.2 and 3 firmware seems to address a lot of criticisms and the sounds are great. Hopefully they add a clock divider for the sequencer.

Does anyone know how to do ties?

[target_destroyed]

new "black limited edition"...so much nicer...
honestly, the original logo is hideous, they should keep this look for the rest of the production time ... it goes better with the whole Polyend vibe
I know it's a collaborative work but Dreadbox products´aesthetics leave a lot to be desired IMHO

Eh, I like some of their aesthetic. The Hades looked really cool, and I like the Nyx, but yeah some of his color choices are... not my fav. That said, the newer Medusa looks a bit too clean for my tastes - almost like a prototype. I think I prefer the original. To each their own though.

[anselmi]

new "black limited edition"...so much nicer...
honestly, the original logo is hideous, they should keep this look for the rest of the production time ... it goes better with the whole Polyend vibe
I know it's a collaborative work but Dreadbox products´aesthetics leave a lot to be desired IMHO

Eh, I like some of their aesthetic. The Hades looked really cool, and I like the Nyx, but yeah some of his color choices are... not my fav. That said, the newer Medusa looks a bit too clean for my tastes - almost like a prototype. I think I prefer the original. To each their own though.

yeah...of course it´s a matter of personal taste...just for this I think any oppinion is valid and they can´t be taken as something absolut

[The Junglechrist]

Hey there everyone ! For the curious who don't own the beast, here is a 10 patches demo I did with my friend at Wired Brain !

[unclebastard]

I have had a Medusa ( Dreadbox logo which, for the record, I like, say no more ) for a couple of weeks. I am exploring it, and I find the combination of sequencer and hybrid synthesiser powerful and expressive. The resonance is easy to overdo, so I generally keep it lowered. Triggering the Abyss is so much fun- I can automate the parameter changes on the Medusa leaving two hands free to tweak the Abyss, and passing it through the Abyss FX adds depth to a sound which needs a bit of spice.

[The Junglechrist]

I have had a Medusa ( Dreadbox logo which, for the record, I like, say no more ) for a couple of weeks. I am exploring it, and I find the combination of sequencer and hybrid synthesiser powerful and expressive. The resonance is easy to overdo, so I generally keep it lowered. Triggering the Abyss is so much fun- I can automate the parameter changes on the Medusa leaving two hands free to tweak the Abyss, and passing it through the Abyss FX adds depth to a sound which needs a bit of spice.

I bet the combo with the Abyss must be awesome. I tried it recently and really fell in love with the sound. Hopefully I’ll manage to sneak one second hand when I’ll have some funds again.

[unclebastard]

I love the Abyss; it makes sounds like no other synth. It's really easy to go overboard with the FX, but if I restrain myself I can make it produce some more conventional sounds. You definitely need both hands free for tweaking it- manual PWM can be had, and the delay is lush.

[skkatter]

I borrowed one of these from a work colleague last week, firmware V3. The whole concept is appealing but during actual use I found the interface to be very unintuitive and I kept thinking "there's got to be a better shortcut for this" for multiple options. Deleting a note from the grid should be a simple keypress, not a convoluted multi-button and sometimes knob turning also action. (Hopefully I wasn't missing anything obvious, the manual was quite brief)

I naturally compare any grid / button per note synth to the Genoqs Octopus sequencer which has a much better interface than the Medusa despite having no screen.

[blipson]

Can the pads be triggered via external controller? In other words, can I set up pads with their own parameters, then trigger each pad individually via external controller and have each pad's set of parameters sound? Looking through the v1 and v2 manuals, I can't find any MIDI assignment to the pads, so it looks like an external controller can only be set up to play one of the six oscillators, depending on channel assignment.

[everydaycurry]

Gaz Williams had a brilliant idea for it if they ever did a V2 - stereo and individual oscillator pan. Combine that with drone mode and some weed...

[Tajnost]

.

[Tajnost]

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[Tajnost]

Gaz Williams had a brilliant idea for it if they ever did a V2 - stereo and individual oscillator pan. Combine that with drone mode and some weed...

Nice idea. Also effects and a bit less brutal sounding filter in v2 could make it a much better instrument.
But I'd better see firmware update for existing Medusa. So many things are still missing (like pattern changing, clock divider etc... )

Also, I can't figure out is there a way to apply negative ENV to filter? At the moment I think it's only positive 0 - 127 with amount pot...