Have there been any new semi-modulars this year released for under £1,000 that people have been wowed by? Just wondering about competitors for the O-Coast and Mother 32, if anything else has had big hype that I’m not aware of.
Pittsburgh Lifeforms, Dreadbox had a couple…
And then the other day I came across this while looking for digital semi modulars: http://nozoid.com/ocs-2/
Anyone comment on it?
I had a go at the 0coast yesterday (I want to add something to my M32 to give it some more sound variety…unsure if semimodular or small skiff). Seriously nice instrument.
Dreadbox have released a couple. Good synths but not nearly as versatile as the M32 or 0-Coast.
Tried the 0-coast some weeks ago for the first. Loved it.
Still think this semimodular desktop format is really great.
But I still try to decide between the 0-coast and the pittsburgh.
0-coast looks much more interesting on it’s own, but together with a small modular setup, the lifeforms should be extremely handy. Tons of patchpoints and little utilities.
The dreadbox synths look and sound all great, but as @123alastairj pointed out, less versatile and patchable.
not to my knowledge
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About the Nozoid OCS-2, it’s hard to find some proper demos but it’s a great synth in my opinion. Sounds very rich, it can be pretty ballsy/moogish analog sounding or very digital, due to the differents waveforms and the 2 VCOs. The filter has definitely some character, and the synth packed with modulation sources. There’s a very clever modulation matrix integrated; easy to use, and every single knob is controlable also via CC.
There are CV inputs as well, to integrate it with eurorack. I also have the MMO-3 from Nozoid, which is FM heaven with similar UI, the 2 synths are racked in a 6U case with a couple of effects / filters / modulation modules, the most powerful setup I ever got from eurorack actually.
Definitely worth a closer look.
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I forgot to mention this one. Not as hyped, but very feature rich.
https://www.planktonelectronics.com/ants/
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Good info, thanks.
I’m hoping to match something to my M32 to get a wider palette of sound. I’m not focusing on the analog side so much (but it’s certainly nice to have) as the possibilities in the digital domain: is there a lot on offer here?
You said you had it racked: can it pop out of the case like the M32?
I agree. I like the idea of extremely clever designers providing me - as opposed to myself - the creative limitations.
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The OCS-2 is pretty analog in its core logic, if you want a large digital palette I’d advise to take a closer look at the MMO-3.
3 oscillators, 3 Lfos, 1 Adsr; each OCS one has 3 assignable modulation sources that can act as FM, AM, PM or wave shaper, it’s pretty endless in its possibilities, sweet spots everywhere. But you have to really embrace digital as in icy and cutting tones. It’s quite an astonishing monosynth (although stereo output). Nozoid is a one person brand that doesn’t get as much publicity as others on the market, but those synths are super deep.
The OCS and MMO are totatlly eurorack compatible, the board has a socket for a power ribbon cable; you can just unscrew from the wooden bow and screw it back in your eurorack case.
But to stay on topic, I used to have 2 0-coasts to patch and make interact with each other, that’s how much I love them. A seriously clever design from Make Noise. Sold them as for now I don’t have time anymore for pure analog synths without patch memory; I’ll probably get back to them.
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Great info. Thank you very much.
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