The Hardware Megathread

#3077

Neutron arrived. It’s a lot of fun. Some initial impressions…

The Bad: Lots going on under the hood, and there’s a bunch of key combos that are in the manual that aren’t anywhere on the interface (there are apparently overlays you can get that list them). Apparently a lot of it is configurable/editable through the app (see below).

There’s a hiss/hum thing I need to figure out that’s persistent even with the volume down. Analog bits may need calibration.

The USB class compliance is a fucking joke, apparently fairly common with Behringer hardware. This is what you get at bargain basement prices - the software side and little things suffer. Neither the firmware updater nor the Neutron app will recognize it because Windows loads the wrong driver for it. A bit of googling and some device manager massaging let me get it updated, still can’t get the app to work. I’ll figure it out eventually.

The Good: The thing sounds awesome - rich, textured, and deep. Can get some overwhelming bass going. Really solidly built and the knobs are the right size and have a good weight to them.

The Osc blend option is a lot of fun, so much interesting variety. The patch points are even more fun.

I haven’t played with any of the deeper features or MIDI (haven’t even hooked the Keystep up to it) because I can’t stop twiddling knobs. It’s easy to get lost in, and there’s always one more “I wonder what it sounds like if I do this…” thing to try.

#3078

Volca drum. STILL FUN! I modulated everything w max and it’s a chaos machine and also ran it through a rat pedal today and jammed on the internal capabilities. Sounded like MSTRKRFT

#3079

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CJ2FW1yFAo6/?igshid=fg63hk0pu7ig

Volca drum Ratt pedal compressor (fx courtesy of UAD Apollo)

#3080

if i were going to go that route i would get another guitar. i had to leave mine the last time i moved because it wouldn’t fit in my car and i had to pack up everything i could fit into my car and leave half my shit on the side of the road. but honestly that was so discouraging i don’t even care about music all that much anymore.

#3081

Speaking of Korg Drum I used it on this bit of electronic fodder 5 months back

#3082

I can’t praise the Polyend Tracker enough, I’ve just spent most of the day sprawled over the settee making music, something I’ve never done with any of my elektron devices without having to resort to manuals every 5 minutes. At the moment it’s great how it is but excited to see what other features appear with polyends frequent updates.

#3083

So… I went and got the MS2000R!!!

korg_ms2000r
korg_ms2000r.jpg4032x3024 1.33 MB

It is pretty beat up, there’s quite a bit of wear cosmetically, and the rack ears are kinda bent up. It’s definitely gonna need some work to get going, but I’m hoping to make it kind of a project. It did NOT come with an adaptor, but I have an extra one and I ordered another anyway. I was able to talk the guy down from $250 to $160!!! Partly because he found another issue with it, besides the screen cutting out until it gets smacked, the headphone output apparently cuts out as well unless you jiggle the power knob. I haven’t opened it up and checked it out yet. Also, the switch on the back that changes one of the inputs from line to mic level is loose, so I’ll check that out.

I’m pretty stoked to have gotten it so cheap, but it is going to need some work. Most of the MS2000r’s I was seeing have been going for $375-425, so if I can get this working, that could easily be a nice profit.

Pretty stoked on it, but still need to check it out.

#3084

I looked at those for a very long time. I’m a sucker for anything with its own step sequencer!

#3085

Absolutely. I hear it has a pretty cool mod sequencer to it. I prefer working with sequencers to keyboards, so this is really ideal.

#3086

So, so far I’m actually pretty pleased with this unit!! It powers on and I can play the presets, which are filling me 90’s/00’s rave happiness. I’m thinking that all this thing actually might need is just to get cleaned out.

I took it apart, and there is a bit of dust that’s built up around the components. The issue with the unit cutting out and need to be smacked seems to actually only effect the LED backlight, so you can actually still read it, tho I guess it could be troublesome in low light environments. As far as the headphone output, I feel like I am noticing it cutting out a little, but when I was troubleshooting it and trying to recreate the issues, I smacked it and suddenly there was just weird noise coming through and no response from key presses, tho the unit was still on. After taking it apart and simply blowing off a bit of the dust, it seems to be working pretty ok, and I even tried shaking it and the signal didn’t cut out. The LED does stil lose the backlight, but that’s not a huge deal.

So far, with a little bit of thorough cleaning of parts and pieces and things, it’s working pretty well for getting it for $160.

Now I just need to figure out how to program it.

#3087

These might help:



#3088

Nah, yeah, I’m gonna download the manual and go through it, in any case I’ve played many a synth, and I learn by fiddling, but thanks for the vids.

#3089

@RFJ what is that really great MS2000 tutorial video you sent me that was really cheesy but useful?

#3090

In the top one he goes into the manual a bit. I’m woeful when it comes to reading the manual. I still want to get one, but they rarely come up in my neck of the woods and if they do, I don’t have the readies at that time.

#3091

I’m glad it worked out for you! Sounds like none of it was too big a deal. I would stop smacking it, though :wink:

Were it me, I’d give it a thorough going thru - blow & vacuum everything out, contact cleaner on the knobs and jacks (tarnish, man, tarnish), check that everything is nice and tight as far as mechanical connections. Given the backlight problem, I’d check every point where something attaches to the chassis, because it’s likely a ground issue. There’s likely a ribbon cable of some kind from the screen to the PCB, that’d be another likely point of failure.

Anyway, congrats on your dance machine, sounds like a lot of fun.

#3092

Holy crap the amount of MS2000 videos on YouTube has increased a thousand fold since last I checked a couple of years ago. Anyway, that video was more of a performance than a tutorial. First hardware synth I ever owned was the MS2000r and it was this video that sold me on the unit.

#3093

Some noodling on the MS2000r (recorded over my laptop speaker):

Seems all the chips and major system components are working fine on the unit. The backlight still is cutting out, but also running onboard diagnostics the system finds a short. I’m working through schematics now trying to track down where the problem is occurring.

#3094

After a long working day like most i only have a few hours then its bed time and work again which i why i never seem to have any enthusiasm to set foot in the studio.
Since having the Polyend tracker with those few hours each night i’ve managed a track idea every night, amazing sketch pad.
Ive just formatted a 128GB SD card to FAT32 and dragged over the Native Instruments Battery 4 sound library so thats me sorted for the night, off to bed with my headphones and plug away… :sunglasses::heart_eyes::sunglasses:

#3095

And new oscillators made by Noise Engineering for the Microfreak together with unison mode!!!
Boom!

#3096

I totally understand this, with the Force and MicroFreak combo I can just noodle half hour and have something good to go on next time, no setup and no fuss.