You can find the full take here.
"The moog freqbox, a versatile fx pedal unit that can be used as an oscillator in a modular synth setup. When I first plugged them in, I noticed how huge they sounded. How alive. They reminded me of the older moog stuff, like tarus pedals and model d minimoog. With two, the oscillators would beat and sound pretty vintage. These things are FAT. The biggest. The sync sounds were so mean and huge, it would make my whole house shake. I ran these into my doepfer custom eurorack filled with rare boutique modules. I loves how the moog oscillators sounded through the polivoks filter the most. I prefered these oscillators for BASS duties. There is this warm beef that you get in the 60 to 200hz range on the low end of the frequency spectrum. No other synths and oscillators can pump this style of sound out. These pedals really did sound more vintage to me than the little phatty and the new minimoog voyagers. They had plenty of high end frequencies which I think are lacking a tad on the newer moog synths."
Doesn't the manual for these things point out that the oscillator in the freqbox lacks temperature stability circuitry as found in the voyager/phatty? are you able to keep it on tune over two or three hours of useage? .....just curious, I'm too lazy to test my own.
ReplyDeleteSome would call comparing this pedal to modules you've never owned and probably never heard (with the exception of those terribly unstable modules that plan b inexplicably can't seem to make enough of) misleading and perhaps even retarded. I however, would call it a bold new step towards a future where all products are judged in a process largely based on the reviewers alternating the doses of their medications and then randomly assigning blame for their creative impotence on on various equipment manufacturers.
ReplyDeleteLast year this guy didn't know the first thing about modular synths. Now he's reviewing products and interviewing manufacturers?
ReplyDeleteok i read it again. that is the stupidest review i have ever read.
ReplyDeleteI love all these smart comments here.
ReplyDeleteVery usefull!
'Twas I who turned Hex on to the Moog Freqbox as an OSC. No it does not stay in tune over three octaves but makes a hell of a bass and has more inputs than many modular oscs. Not to mention the hell that breaks loose when you engage the processing and distortion parts of it in addition to the oscillator output.
ReplyDeleteI just want to clear something up about my last post (now that I am sober). I did not mean it as a slam towards Bryan's music. Music is art and art is subjective and therefore inscrutable. I really believe that. Besides I even kind of like some of the VAC tunes that I've heard. They remind me of the smell of fog machines and of gawking at hot raver and goth girls in dark little clubs with huge sound systems.
ReplyDeleteWhat I do take issue with is these uninformed reviews and interviews and the unrealistic expectations that Bryan seems to have of modern analogue gear.
Model Ds and Jupiter 8s are still out there and not too unreasonably priced. There are still techs who will repair and maintain them AND a huge community of helpful souls willing to help you fix them yourself if you are so inclined. So if you have to have THAT sound, get it from the source and enjoy your modular for all of the things it does that the vintage stuff can't do.
I have had my eurorack setup for about two years now and I am constantly inspired, surprised and perplexed by what can be done with a handful of modules. I often turn it on and start patching with a specific goal in mind only to come up with something that I had no intention of doing. This can beautiful or frustrating. When I am experimenting, I probably come up with patches that I find useful about 15-20% of the time but I still enjoy the process almost 100% of the time. It's like doing brain teasers and making music at the same time.
If you don't experience any of this joy when patching and playing your modular, please spare the community your self-important rants and buy the equipment that does what you want it to do. OR pay attention to the underlying theme showing up after only two interviews on your site: Person wants module that does (blank) but finds themselves unsatisfied with the available options. Person then decides to fill that niche by building the module themselves. Person then gets slagged online for not building the modules fast enough, not implementing (blank) function and for the modules inability to sound like (blank) from 30 years ago.
Have fun!
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ReplyDeleteHey, Appliancide. Fuck right off! Who are you, anyway? Hex has a whole community of readers and synth enthusiasts that find his reviews extremely useful. I don't know who you are, and I don't much care for your opinions when you direct pathetic sodden insults at his knowledge and creativity. Twelve successful albums is not what I'd personally class as 'creative impotence', though I have no doubt you're well experienced in this impotentness, having no recognisable identity yourself. Nor would I class over a decade of extensive professional use of analogue gear as "uninformed". Stick to what your best at, banging on the shell of your intoxicated mind.
ReplyDeleteHey, I love my modular now. This cwejman vco-6 is the bomb. I will post a review about this next week. In fact I plan on getting another midi to cv box, because my modular can easily do dual mono. All I need is a 2nd vca and I'm ready to go.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I fixed my review a tad. I should not of compared it to product names. my bad.
As far as how well the pedals hold their tune? I didnt test em for more than an hour. and yeah after it warmed up, the temp in my room was stable, so the osc was stable...
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ReplyDeleteHi Magenticka! My lack of fame in the booming world of EBM aside, I stand by what I said 100%. Bryan's schizophrenic rants all over the synth community have left a bitter taste in more than one mouth I am sure. Look for his trail of deleted posts as evidence of his childish self-importance. But don't take my word for it, just search the archives of Matrixsynth and other sites and I'm sure you will be able to make a solid arguement against Bryan's latest claims using his own words (at least the ones he hasn't gone back and deleted) since he seems to change his mind about the value of his gear based on his mood. Especially entertaining was the thread on one site where he was crying about not getting special deals because he was a big famous guy using their gear. Hillarious!
ReplyDeleteI love my "custom rare boutique" modular as much as the next guy but I also know that if you are after ballsy bass sounds you are better off with the big format guys since that's kind of what they are known for. Anyways, for as long as I find it entertaining, I will be a thorn in the side of Bryan and anyone else who decides to post reviews based on personal bias and mood swings.
Wow, trolling is awesome. I gave up on that. To bad others cannot.
ReplyDeleteTo each their own.
I'm not perfect, never said I was. Yeah sometimes i lost my temper online and spoke what I thought, and yeah, in the end it gets me trolls. Now I try only to be positive about the things I like and ignore what I don't. Including these trolls. I won't argue with them, or fight them, or respond to them. I'll let them just obsess over me and put a whole bunch of energy into my posts, negative, or positive. Good for them. I guess they've got nothing better to do than to go after someone who is trying to promote the things he likes. Good for you. Thanks for the negative energy guys. Keep it coming. I seem to to well with it. Glad to know I matter enough to not be ignored. Glad to know these guys really have so much emotion for me and what I do that they have to post and respond to ever review I write to show how much my opinion matters to them.
Peace to all of you. long live analog.