MATRIXSYNTH: d16 Nepheton


Wednesday, March 21, 2007

d16 Nepheton

Remember this post? d16 had to take down the images of their VSTis. Here's the new look for the Nepheton. Title link takes you to more info. Via JB.

33 comments:

  1. I understand why they had to change it and all....but why did they have to make it look like a crappy Behringer mixer?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Funny, Matrix was saying it looked like a mackie, i does take a lot of the cool factor out of it. which i guess validate Roland's alleged complaint. Why doesn't Roland just come out with a vsti series themselves, kind of like korg with the legacy series.

    ReplyDelete
  3. looks sweet. too bad its a vst :(

    ReplyDelete
  4. Roland should. They did come out with the VariOS which had the TB-303 and Jupiter 6/8, but it required the hardware. Who knows how difficult it would be to port and if it would sound as good. Arturia also received rights to do the Jupiter. Obviously there is money to be made with the brands and they are keeping their options open.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Because Roland has no idea what their doing anymore. A real shame.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Have Yamaha, Roland, or Korg EVER had an idea about what they're doing? Those companies have been market followers since their inception. Junos, Jupiters, and MS-20's were seen as cheap Japanese knock-offs in the 1980's. It wasnt until the resurgance of analog in the mid-late nineties that they attained a cult status.

    Also, dont forget that the 808 and 303 were market failures.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mr array, do have even a clue what you're talking about?
    I cannot find even a shred of truth in anything you just said.

    All three are still in business and put Arp, Moog and Oberheim out of business. Just who were they following in the 80's?

    ReplyDelete
  8. They eventually found a niche for themselves in selling knob-less preset boxes, which they still do to this very day.

    Just because they are a commercial success doesnt mean that they have a good product.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Eventually found a niche???
    Are you daft? Living in a hole?

    The latest offerings from Roland, Korg and Yamaha ALL have knobs or sliders.
    You'd be hard pressed to find any years they didn't.

    All manufacturers had groundbreaking instruments using new technology and all have been used on hit records.

    You must be a troll.

    ReplyDelete
  10. should have copied ssl konbs, not mackie knobs.

    ReplyDelete
  11. "You must be a troll."

    So says the person leveling personal attacks from behind an anonymous post. Those knobs that you mentioned were added after companies like Clavia started coming out with knobby synths. Japanese synths from the 80's to the mid 90's were, for the most part, were characterized by their spartan interfaces. I fail to see what was so "groundbreaking" about any of them. They were just pieces of equipment devised and marketed for the lowest common denominator consumer.

    And yes, they found a niche. They could not compete with American manufacturers in terms of innovation and sound quality, so they sacrificed build quality and interfaces in order to undercut their competition. Just becuase they outsold the American companies does not mean that they had superior products. Anyone who says they would have opted to used a Roland JX-8p in lieu of a MemoryMoog is a bald faced liar.

    And again, just because something has been used on an album, or has sold X amount more units than the competition, does not mean that said object is in any way superior. In implying this, you are using the logical falacy known as the bandwagon argument.

    ReplyDelete
  12. the DX7 was quite a large niche.

    ReplyDelete
  13. "the DX7 was quite a large niche."

    So is the McDonald's cheese burger. Doesn't mean its better than filet mignon.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is silly.
    Roland patented several technologies that no one else did right or at all.
    Variphrase, good guitar synth tracking, SAS, LA.. I can't even remember them all.
    All Jupiters had tons of sliders and knobs.
    Juno 6, 60, 106 too.
    JD800 also. So many models I can't count.
    Clavia influenced Roland?
    Gimme a f'n break!
    They came out in 1995!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well, the sound waves might be very similar but you can't emulate the experience of a human interacting with a physical machine like a 909.

    unless they release a physical, 909 like controller to interact with the software (much like korg's ms20 style controller) then this is just another shitty vsti that I wouldn't touch in a million years.

    by the way, have you listened to the audio demo of the 909 emulation?

    that's the sort of music they hope to enable with their software. Gee, thanks guys! 200bpm distorted 909 hardcore rubbish!

    the 303 and jupiter in varios were crap too. Any 303 owner will tell you that.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Mr. Array said...
    "the DX7 was quite a large niche."
    "So is the McDonald's cheese burger. Doesn't mean its better than filet mignon."


    Um, OK -- didn't you just point out that the 808 and 303 were "market failures"? So it goes like this: an instrument that defines the sound of whole genres of music, like the 808 and hip-hop, is dismissed as a "market failure", evidence of Roland's crappiness; meanwhile, the DX7 is purchased by more or less every working keyboardist in the world and used on nearly every pop/dance/electronic recording of the early to mid/late 1980's, but despite its success in the marketplace, is the equivalent of a shitty hamburger and evidence of Yamaha's crappiness.

    My mistake trying to find logical coherence in blanket statements about companies that have released hundreds of products of differing quality. But I'm still trying to figure out the original masterpieces Yamaha, Roland, and Korg were "knocking off" with instruments like the CS-80, the 808/909, the PS-31/32/3300, etc. etc. etc.

    ReplyDelete
  17. It would've been nice, a real 808-like vst gui, but to be honest... I only care if I can understand it. I control all knobs in the real world and hardly ever keep vst's open for long.

    ReplyDelete
  18. "So says the person leveling personal attacks from behind an anonymous post."

    The name "mr array" is just as anonymous.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Awakened Yeti, the anonymous tag won't help you when we can smell your writing style from a mile away.

    ReplyDelete
  20. "The name "mr array" is just as anonymous."

    Not quite, considering that all of my posts can be attributed to myself, as opposed to one or more anonymous posters.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Why doesn't Roland release a new 808? Not like the sample-based MC-303 crap, but a real 808 style drum machine. It could be "virtual analog", so long as it was doing real subtractive synthesis and not playing back samples. Add midi and patch memory, and more memory for patterns... and like everyone and their mama would buy it. Korg essentially did the same thing with the electribe er-1 and made a mint. I agree with Mr. Array... Roland has the suck knob turned up pretty high nowadays.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I guess I was a bald faced liar because instead of buying the terribly finicky memorymoog, I bought a JX8p... and mine still works.

    But Mr Array, as Michael asked, who were the big three jap companies copying back then?
    Name some products.

    ReplyDelete
  23. You cant honestly say that the JP-XP is a better synth than a MemoryMoog or OB-8. More economical? Maybe.

    And everything the big 3 did was a knock off of an American product, at least until they began capitalizing on their ability to undercut American competition by selling keyboards with spartan interfaces. The MS-20 was seen as a MiniMoog ripoff, JP6 and JP8 as the poor man's OB-8, etc. For that matter, EVERYTHING made in Japan in the 1980's was seen as being cheap and poorly manufactured. That was just the social climate of the day. Cars, electronics, synths, you name it, "Made In Japan" was an insult to a product's integrity at the time.

    Like it or not, the business strategy of the 'Big 3' remains that of 'follow the market'. If you dont believe me, watch this interview:

    http://www.sweetwater.com/feature/jkkorg/

    Again, just because some products outsold others does not make them better, which is what we're talking about here, right? Moog was legendary as a business failure, but also made some of the most sought after synths ever.

    ReplyDelete
  24. The Jp8 as a poor man's OB-8???

    The JP8 came out years before the OB-8 and cost the same or more.

    I await your backpedal.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Made in Japan was a bad word in the 60s and 70s. Not the 80s.
    Honda was outselling US automakers then and still does.

    No TV studios used US made video equipment in the 80s.
    It was all Sony, JVC and Panasonic.

    You're really quite clueless, aren't you?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Yes, way to nitpick: OB-X, OB-Xa, or whatever. The point remains true, the Japanese manufacturers were following the American market.

    ReplyDelete
  27. You're honestly using the DX as an example of a GOOD Japanese synth? The algorithms for that were developed in the USA, and then implemented in what is probably known as the worst synthesizer interface ever by Yamaha, which in turn set the trend for other horrible interfaces. What's so great about them? Would you prefer to have a DX-7 over any American poly-synth?

    ReplyDelete
  28. Look, you can't argue with Mr array.
    He knows success. He himself is highly successful and knows every aspect about success.

    Just sit back and believe the japs copied everything, made nothing themselves and the poor american companies went out business for reasons other than sales.
    Whatever.

    All you have to do is visit the jap sites to see their historic, original developments.
    They have patents up the wazoo.
    How they got those us copied products past the patent office, I'll never know.

    ReplyDelete
  29. yeah. i'd rather have a DX-1 than an Arp Omni or SCI six-trak.
    Go figure.

    I bet all those successful DX7 artists are kicking themselves now realizing they could have used a Moog Opus 3 instead. Damn!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Again, anonymous posters using personal attacks and other logical fallacies (bandwagon argument, anyone?) to argue their positions. Bravo. Keep fighting the good fight, brave internet warriors!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hey Mr Array, i agree overall. The Japanese were not COPYING products, more like following the American lead market (at the time) and being competitive, great innovations came out of that. Battling which synths are better is pointless. As for the anonymous posters, why don't you get a blogger name, so at least we get to know you a little through the various posts, like i know mr array, doctor future etc. Its not like we're going to come to your house to beat you over a bad comment or anything!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Jb's profile:

    Profile Not Available

    The Blogger Profile you requested cannot be displayed. Many Blogger users have not yet elected to publicly share their Profile.

    If you're a Blogger user, we encourage you to enable access to your Pro

    ReplyDelete
  33. if you read some of the history of Roland you'll find most of their big successes were shots in the dark. Not really what they were aiming for but the product became successful in spite of the original design.

    ReplyDelete

To reduce spam, comments for posts older than one week are not displayed until approved, usually same day. Do not insult people. For items for sale, do not ask if it is still available. Check the auction link and search for the item. Auctions are from various sellers and expire over time. Posts remain for the pics and historical purposes. This site is meant to be a daily snapshot of some of what was out there in the world of synths.

PREVIOUS PAGE NEXT PAGE HOME


Patch n Tweak
Switched On Make Synthesizer Evolution Vintage Synthesizers Creating Sound Fundlementals of Synthesizer Programming Kraftwerk

© Matrixsynth - All posts are presented here for informative, historical and educative purposes as applicable within fair use.
MATRIXSYNTH is supported by affiliate links that use cookies to track clickthroughs and sales. See the privacy policy for details.
MATRIXSYNTH - EVERYTHING SYNTH