"The RSF Blackbox is a small 18 keys mini synthesizer that can turn your Analog Monophonic Synthesizers into Polyphonic by the use of CV/Gate with both type of Voltage Source as CV Volt/Oct. And/Or Hertz Volts and Both Gate Types as Positive Gate (V-Trigger) or Negative Gate (S-Trigger)"
This one is in via an anoymous reader. Apparently the new Sequential Prophet-5 and Prophet-10 lack the higher frequencies found in the original, as can be heard in the comparison video above. An interesting side note is something similar happened with the original Minimoog Voyager as well. It lacked the bite of the original
Minimoog. There was a modification for it that came later. I actually have a
signature edition Voyager, and opted to keep it as is, as I wanted to keep it true to Bob Moog's initial design. Different synth and different history though...
The following is a from Carson Day of Sequential:
"First off, thank you all for your patience as we get to the bottom of the issue. After our group audio analysis yesterday, I forwarded the info to Dave. We worked last night and most of today determining the cause of the fault and means to fix it. I've pasted a public note from Dave below.
'As some users have noticed, there is a drop in high frequencies on the current units in the field. I checked into it yesterday, and I’m highly embarrassed to say that we screwed up. Short story is there are some capacitors that were not meant to be installed, but did in fact get installed, causing the frequency drop.
A fair question would be “how did we not notice this?” This turns out to be due to my ears lacking any high end; too many Yardbirds, Who, Cream etc. concerts in the ‘60s. I picked up serial #1 on October 1st, and it sounded great to me! Since then, we’ve shipped every unit we’ve made because we have a huge backlog. And, with everyone working at home due to the pandemic, no one else played a production unit except me.
Those are just excuses; the real issue is that units in the field need to be corrected. Fortunately, it’s a fairly easy mod if you have access to a soldering iron, or a service center nearby. Two capacitors need to be removed; that’s it. We will happily swap boards if that is preferred, or swap entire units. We will do whatever is required to make things right.
This affects serial numbers 1 to 195 on Prophet 5s, and 1 to 159 on Prophet 10s. I owe everyone a deep apology for this; it’s not how we normally work, and I’m really sorry this fell through the cracks. Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely, Dave Smith'
I would like to also apologize for any inconvenience and frustration this has caused any of you. While yesterday was stressful, hectic, and overwhelming, I'm glad that we could all work together to better qualify the described problem.
Rest assured that we will make sure to make this right at no cost to owners whom purchased any units within the noted serial ranges.
Carson Day Sequential LLC"
And a note on the capacitors in question:
"We'll have documentation available to those who feel comfortable removing the caps themselves. It's really quite easy and takes less than a minute to perform with a SMT hot air gun.
To get into the synth, unscrew the wood ends, unscrew the 3 screws in each end which connect to the top panel metal work, and lift the top panel up. It is hinged at the rear with a lanyard so it will stay open on its own.
Images of the capacitors to remove from the main board are attached."
"Some days you are lucky enough to just be noodling around when you hit something nice. I thought I would line up the camera and record before the moment was lost. While the feel has more than a little nod to a famous chap from Greece I still feel it has enough of my own flavour to share. I hope you enjoy.
My New Release : LANDER is out and available from lander2.bandcamp.com :D"
"I thought we would take a further look at the OB-Mx today. As I mention in the video when this synth was released the reviews on the whole were so bad I almost never bothered to play one. The OB-Mx is a very unique sounding synth and with its unusual feature set (at least at the time) makes for an amazing box of ambient exploration :D"
"In this Novation Peak Tutorial you'll learn how to fake Karplus Strong Synthesis with Novation Peak and Summit.
Unfortunately, there's a glide created by the delay when switching between different delay times. But nonetheless it's still a fantastic source for more experimental physical modelling patches."
"A somewhat spooky, sinister, and heavy Novation Circuit electro meets darksynth jam, made with the pack 'A Force Truly Evil' by Yves Big City and A Force Truly Evil."
"Life has changed. I didn't play for a long time, and this is what I feel to express.
I sequenced piano lead, arp, etc on Teenage Engineering OP-Z, then addes some "chaos" with KORG minilogue xd. Wish you'll appreciate it."
"Moulding conceptual sampling and synthesis into rich thematic instruments, embracing Sci-Fi Noir, Lovecraftian Horror and Steampunk. With its unique sonic lusters and synesthetic character, Acousmatic Engine offers an imaginative and inspiring pallet of color, tone and texture across music and film genres."
"Introducing Acousmatic Engine from the creator of Kinetic Metal and Kinetic Toys.
Probing the uncharted realms of Sci-Fi Noir, Lovecraftian Horror and Steampunk sound worlds with 500 surreal and thematic Kontakt Instruments. Acousmatic Engine is a distinct library of sample instruments with unique sonic lusters, articulations and textures that shape concept and sound design into playable instruments and soundscapes across music and film genres.
Within the 3 stylistic themes (Sci-Fi Noir, Lovecraftian Horror and Steampunk), Acousmatic Engine offers 5 instrument types:
Aerophones: Wind instruments and anything that vibrates with air pressure. Friction: Anything that acts as resistance of one object or instrument moving over another to produce sound. Bowing, scraping, even pad-like sounds, etc. Struck: Instruments that are percussive such as bells, pianos or anything that is struck to produce sound or noise. Soundscapes: Sounds that may or may not be tonal and give a sense of environment or mood. Machines/Movements: Arpeggiator and sequenced driven patterns or other movements.
Expert Mode:
Explore deeper into the interface to manipulate sounds and create your own imaginative presets. Each instrument offers 8 channels of unconventionally sourced, dynamically layered samples plus 8 channels of multi-dimensional sampled synthesis. There are 3 pages of effects including Shape, Color and Ambience. Quickly and easily sweep through combined effects such as Spectral Filters, Distortion, Modulation and Spatial parameters using the visual XY Effector display.
Interface:
6 Macros allow you to assign any parameter for individual preference for finely tuned performance control. The Warp Wheel (the heart of Acousmatic Engine), allows you to store 3 variations of each instrument and record automation of movements transitioning effortlessly into new sonic dimensions. These variations greatly expanding the sonic depths of each sound, allowing them to breathe and come alive."
