Genuinely confused by the "reviewer" saying dimly lit displays would be hard to see in a dim club environment, last I checked when there's less ambient light it becomes easier to see dim lights?
I strongly suspect that guy isn't actually doing any club gigs. One thing playing live gigs taught me is everything you think will be a problem, probably wont, and everything that is a problem wasn't what you expected.
Dude, my Sweetwater's sales rep is also named Matt. My friend's sales rep is also a Matt but he's a different Matt than mine. There is something very dark happening at Sweetwater.
At some level I think we could give a lot of slack to Sweetwater reps. Their primary market is probably folks who are not Benn. They’re trying to sell by building relationship. Fine. I actually like them because I can order via an email to my Matt. He gives me a small discount and places my order with just an email from me. He’s stopped calling me too.
My sweetwater rep is Ian. My girlfriends rep is Matt. She bought me a guitar once, now Matt calls her the day after Ian calls me to check in. It’s funny.
In case you do want to change an LFO target during a live show... hold the LFO button and turn the parameter you want to target. Done. Same for envelopes.
Glad to see someone else enjoys this synth. And that you took the time to adress the weird criticism of it (even tho I think Christo might have gotten a bit too much attention for simply stating his opinion) I will try to point people to this video when I make mine about the Medusa.
BoBeats and do you also appreciate Ben bashing people who paid for pre ordered Medusa’s and “did “ own one and chose not to do a negative video revue themselves but instead respond to other revues which is why the comments exist...? although I personally never bashed anyone nor did I create a video to destroy the rep of a much loved documentary on Netflix this was actually the entire point of this video not to discuss or disagree but to wine about reviews /publications. And who made the assumption that I didn’t own one? This guy did . Wrong! I paid for it and sent it back. Oh and spell checker sometimes makes guys like this do weird things with their voice ....lol love it obviously you (Ben ) know how to sound like a mutant when reading a spell checker typo too! No wonder you made this. And you wouldn’t know a plane from a ufo if you were riding in it...Peace Christo 👽
@@christoroppolo8742 No, I don't like it when people ridicule others. I am a soft hearted dude as you know Christo. But at the same time I can get behind what Benn is trying to do, even tho I don't fully agree with the method here. I wasn't particularly into him throwing you under the bus. What I did appreciate however was him taking on what seems to be a prevailing negative attitude towards the Medusa which I don't see holding up when I play with it.
@@BoBeats on the fence. The bashing of Christo was so unprofessional and a direct hit at him. This is a PRODUCT REVIEW. Why should names come in? Christo Roppolo is brilliant and doing things that scare people out of ignorance. I AM PRO- CHRISTO. You haters can SOD OFF
... and with the new FM update, this machine went from already outstanding to insane! 6 voice polyphony with sweet-sounding FM algorithms, all going through the infamous Dreadbox analogue filter.
As a owner of the Medusa and one of the first adopters I can understand some having trouble with it and finding the sound wanting, but if you are feeling the affinity with the unit and willing to hunt for the right settings it is an intriguing and fine sounding synth. I am happy with my purchase and can recommend this to anyone who is wanting a synth that is different, you want bread and butter or maybe just don't have the time learning (although the time spent learning a new workflow in this case might very well advance you as a composer/musician) you might want to try it out first; preferable together with someone who knows this piece of hardware. And the speed the company Polyend is pushing out Betas for the firmware is showing the support this company is giving to their products, also they are involved and happy to listen to reasonable suggestions. As for Christo, he didn't like the 'sound' of it at all apparently "sounding like a Casio", and sure it can sound like a cheap Casio from the 80's but it sure does a whole lot more. Is it the best sounding synth I have? No, but it has its sound and is very versatile with the amazing amount of modulation control you can have, and also as a controller it is great! R.
I get it. It’s still really dumb. Just say your trying to sell something else. NOONE needs help working a pedal like that. So it’s obvious they don’t need to call about that. They don’t need to call at all. Send an e-mail and leave it alone. It’s harassing...
I used to shop with Sweetwater a lot, and their customer service was really good. At some point they apparently gave my account to a different sales rep, and the guy was doing all the usual, calling and emailing "Hey, if you need anything just let me know, I'll help you out, I'm your best buddy, yada yada." Then earlier this year I bought a couple of higher end guitar pedals, and less than two weeks afterwards they went on sale for 15% off. So I emailed my buddy to see if they had any kind of price match in that situation (a lot of retailers, including some online music merchants, will match a sale price on recently purchased products and refund the difference if it's within some short period, a couple of weeks or 30 days usually). So Sweetwater doesn't, but instead of just saying, "No, we don't offer that", my bestie responded with this whole song and dance making it sound like I was making some crazy inquiry, misrepresenting how long it had been since I'd placed the order, and then quoting incorrect info about the original price and the sale price, and generally talking down to me like I was an idiot. I replied correcting all the wrong things he'd said in the email and noted that 12 days (the time between my order and the sale) was not really "nearly three weeks" as he chose to characterize it (I didn't point out the thousands of dollars I've spent at Sweetwater over the last 18 months, because that's kind of a dick move). He responded "Glad I could help!" which I'm still not sure wasn't just a veiled FU to me. Anyway, never shopped there again (and have spent more thousands of dollars at a different online music merchant instead), but now there's some new rep trying to be my friend and emailing and calling me all the time.
@@ZigbertD that’s lame. their return policy is pretty good though - Anything but software or used items can be returned within 30 days of purchase. I just did that with an MPC Live after noticing MPC Force dropped from $1500 to $999. If he was rude like that, I would have been tempted to return it for a refund and then re-purchased at the sale price ;) You do have to pay for their shipping though (Cost me $20 for the MPC that weighed 9lb)
I'm very happy with the Medusa, The grid's low profile pads allow you to apply a unique sliding technique. When set with the right amount of glide you can get some crazy expression out of it.
I have the Polyend Tracker and I must agree with you Benn! They are very well built, thought out and have amazing sounds! The ability to get lost and enamored in many of the pieces of hardware they produce should make people excited that there’s a company that is trying new stuff and succeeding!
There was a lot of trolling on TH-cam, Gearslutz and other sites regarding Behringer after they released the Deepmind. I engaged in lengthy “discussions”. with one individual over about two weeks on Gearslutz. He would write lengthy posts and one point, I accused him of being a Moog employee. That enflamed his ire and his posts got even longer, more condescending and political, probably taking hours to write . After a week of this, he actually mentioned in his post that had indeed done some work for Moog in the past and was currently not working due to some type of injury or sickness. Hmmmmm . . . And then someone was posting nearly the same rants on other sites. Same person with lots of free time on his his hands? Maybe. I find it amusing that one of the negative reviews you quoted even mentioned Moog. The Medusa looks and sounds great. Keep up the great demos and calling out the trolls!
Hey Benn, can't thank you enough for this video. I was so excited by the medusa's concept and I feel stupid now to have let those bad vibes throw me off. Nearly bought a grandmother instead but glad I didn't. I wanna use stuff that is pushing the technology forward and support innovators like Polyend. Thanks
Benn you sold me on this, and I must say, you were right. This is my new favorite piece of kit and the centerpiece of my set up. It is best to pair it with a good fx pedal to finish the sound (I’m using Empress verb which you also sold me on), but as workflow tool and compisitional aid alone, it sends me in directions I wouldn’t otherwise go.
I had to take quite some time to adjust, learn and take a full grasp at all the possibilities of this synth, it has since became my favorite standalone synth, it's hard because every use of it is pretty personnal and there is nothing quite like it. Some people see it as a synth with a pad controller, whereas the instrument would not be complete with the Grid that is really half (if not more) of the total interest of Medusa. Before having one I tried it at two ocasions and couldn't even make a patch with it, you need to get used to the UI and workflow but as usual, RTFM and everything will be fine. Thank you Benn with showing great applications and debunking trolls or people who just never played one.
10:33 Hey, Fbox! I ended up here again after watching your latest video about the Polyend Tracker and challenge. The reward for the song/remix challenge was one of these (if chosen) so I went back to this video to remember what it's all about. It's fun to see that something from this video ended up on your latest album and I think that speaks pretty well for this piece of tech!
This is no rant ! I use the medusa daily for production together with many other synths. 6 OSCs & 10 LFOs are great for sound design. OSC calibration tone bleed when using headphones : Polyend could add a simple software function to pause or stop this permanent background calibration tone manually when one needs to use headphones as a workaround. Yes, there are people using headphones, because medusa has a dedicated HP output ! But Polyend "tend" to look into this when going back to the firmware "some day"... holy shit... their newer unfinished products have more priority. These devices are broken in a way. No wonder why the price drops from 1000€>699€>400€. This issue is well known and worldwide all over the forums. Display reaction / snappiness : Values are shown & updated slow, feeling like a 80s calculator. This should also be no problem to finetune menu reaction speed as it could be done on most cheap 3D-Printers offering the same displays and running on a very comparable platform enviroment ( - 10ms, please ). A little code optimization to the firmware could come in very handy when running resources at max on such units ;) Pad sensitiveness : This is an instrument and should be well playable at all. Tried to play these great pads with some light fingers having some soft expression ? Hard to do that, right ? I need a hammer to do that. Having a better/bigger/wider range of XYZ touch velocity curves would solve this. Software tool : Ahhh... I forgot that Medusa software tool. Damn, Polyend are you serious ?? What's this in 2020 ? Ever tried to manage your presets ? Give them names ? Have a 8x8 graphical matrix on your screen, drag and drop a preset where you want it ? No ? We could save both Banks A & B and reload them, cool huhhh ? My oldskool Yamaha AN1x editor from 1999 got better options, to be honest nothing will compare to a bad JoMoX SysEx utilitie, but now there is your tool... Really not famous quality to look at a bad drawn JPG, which was an addition with the new soundbanks, when selecting a preset. The Manual : The hole manual should be revised, there are things shown on some screens, these are not documented anywhere. The first 1/3 part of the manulal reads something linke an explanation/pretext/excuse for using such concept, why ? I love the concept and the sound. Sound is, like so often, a main reason to buy such gear, but that's not all here, because of the grid. We are just given something with quirks and have to do our best with it, but it could be sweeter with some more serious product care.
If this type of content is easy to make, I wouldn't mind a meta-review series where you sum up the early reviews and give them a reality check. Great video:) edit: My favorite demo starts around 14:00.
Dude. Great video. That patch at 11:36 was really special. Heck yes, track inspiration! I think I need to watch your channel more to get your humor and vibe.
Chris Dillon agreed, that clip is awesome! I’d like to know how the ‘glitch’ effect is achieved in that clip. From the Medusa or some other processing?
I just got mine in the mail today and spent a few hours figuring it out. I've noticed one "bug" which I would barely call that, and I'm not yet on the 1.1.9 beta firmware. This has already been a super inspiring synth in getting me out of my comfort zone, so I'm really happy I went with it despite having seen some of these negative comments Anyway, lots of inspiring patches in this video. Now I gotta work on getting some similar results!
Picked it up last week, and it's definitely not what I initially thought it was going to be, but I think this is familiar feeling for synth fans. Spent better part of a week noodling with patch and sequence creation, and I don't understand a lot of the criticism the Medusa has received over the past two years. Hope to keep loving this synth for years to come. Cheers.
I won’t be buying Polyend products in the foreseeable future not because of the products they make, which seem to be of a good quality, and genuine attempts at innovating, but because of the way they (at least one of them) have dealt with my criticism of the Medusa. I do not know if I count within the Medusa “trolls” you are trying to contradict here, but they have been angrily responding to my TH-cam comments on their synth. There are two main points I tried to make in a reasonable manner. Since the beginning I stated that I love the sound of the Medusa. That is the first one. I love it so much - here comes the second point - that I was very tempted to buy it despite the pitfalls in physical design I saw (and still see). To summarize, the two small screens and the strip of blank metal in between the two sections of the synth point towards bad design decisions. I suggested that the grid only adds bulk because it does not provide anything than a regular 16 pads sequencer section and an external controller could not provide (btw, a well regarded reviewer suggested something similar). I also suggested that if the grid had to be there, it’d been better to also give it a display function (like a Circuit’s or a Deluge’s) so that they could do away with a second tiny screen in the middle so that the flow between both sections is smoother and the box is more compact. Instead of some reasoning on why they took the design decisions they did, I receive personal insults. At some point, other commenters started to criticize the disproportionate belligerence of their responses after which Yannis (Dreadbox) presented apologies on behalf of both companies. Never anyone from Polyend intervened in a measured, conciliatory manner. I have to say that in this little world of independent synth makers and highly specialized consumer, personal affinities in between both groups are very important (as you suggest), even as important as the devices that mediate between them. So, I don’t know if the Medusa’s sound is as good as to cleanse the antipathy produced by whoever was representing Polyend during our exchanges. Your superb demo makes a great sonic case for the Medusa. Visually and tactually, the grid is completely abandoned (as I have always suspected it will). Emotionally, it retains the nastiness. Of course, that is a personal matter but, what good are sweet sounds when they come in sour vibrations?
So weird to see the negative reviews. I might have a theory: it's from people who aren't used to fat analogue sounds because until recently a vintage sound was out of most people's price range. So when they hear something that doesn't sound plasticky, they think it's terrible. Just sad...
very possible, if your goal is a soup with shitflavor, a good broth can be hard to neutralize. making soup that tastes like broth instead of shit would be a valid option, but each to their own:D
Wow WOw WOW!! That arp/sound at 10:33 resonated with my entire being... I knew I wanted this but now I am certain I need it. Only discovered it recently. Great review.
Loving this amazing drone improvisation, and I think this demo says it all really. There's isn't often rubbish kit.....there are musicians who lack the skill to utilise it, that's all. Nice work fella.
Thank you for calling out those ridiculous negative reviews and naming names. I read them all a few months ago, and it ruined the curiosity I had about this unique piece of gear. I'm glad to hear and see that those people were just being biased and/or ignorant.
That patch at 10:34, sheeeeessssh I swear I keep coming back for that little snippet lol. 🔥🔥💯. Yeaa people should definitely not sleep on this synth. Lol
Nice, we were just discussing this synth on my 2018 year end review and I was curious why the Medusa had been getting a bad rep? One of my guests referred me to this video, and I'm extremely pleased to see (and hear) it's very capable and well worth the asking price. I hope others interested in getting one will find this vid and not be persuaded by Aliens and Trolls :)
Just wanted to say the patch that became a whole track is phenomenal. So, so, dope. _Love your videos Ben._ And I've been subbed and stay subbed to your channel specifically because you forego the formalities and PC bullshit in favor of speaking your mind, bluntly. I'm the same way. *Add to that you ACTUALLY know WTF you're talking about;* means your content has a positive impact on the Synth community and musicians in general. Just saying. Big 👍 Keep doing what you're doing man. Great stuff. Great video. Great music. Cheers! *Edited for spelling & format corrections*
Fuck this is amazing!! The Cristo part has me rolling; some point in my synth TH-cam adventures I’ve come across that guy’s “stuff” no idea he had a Netflix film lol
i kinda knew the criticism were mostly BS given i've actually tried this thing out myself. nowhere near bad as the negative reviews make it out to be. its a solid hardware synth.
You know what other synth people tore apart, and for years? That would be the monomachine. Which this synth tone-wise and fun-wise reminds me a ton of.
My friend has the Medusa and the Dreadbox Typhon and he loves them both. I'm very tempted by the Typhon myself. I personally have the Polyend Tracker and I can't fault the build quality. It's very solid and feels great to use. It's a fantastic piece of kit and I'd happily purchase more of their products.
Thanks for the video. You have a new subscriber. I was also really excited about the Medusa until I read the reviews and watched some TH-cam videos. Your video and demonstration changed that. Guess what I just bought myself for Christmas? 🤘
The Medusa is sort of a "Franken-synth" in my opinion. It appears to have suffered from scope and feature creep during the design process. It is not the architecture I would have chosen for a joint venture between Polyend and Dreadbox. However it bursts with opportunity to become creative with sound design in new ways. I vacillate back and forth between wanting one like crazy and feeling "meh" about it. Price-wise I would compare it to something like the (now discontinued) DSI Mono-Evolver keyboard (MEK) with a pad input device rather than the keyboard of the MEK so it is okay there in my opinion. Due to lack of independent voices it is not up to the capabilities of an Elektron A4 even though it has a great sequencer and lots of oscillators and modulation options. The device just occupies an odd niche.
Great video. And important work. Dreadbox are marvellous synth makers. They make real instruments and not just reiterations, sound modules disguised as synths or clones. That is challenging for the user but it is also demands true creativity - and that is a bit of work, no doubt. Same goes for Polyend with their amazing sequencers. if someone buys a Nyx or a Medusa and wants to plug in and get an instant 'phat lead', they are going to be disappointed. If someone wants a musical way to reach into the implications of synth architecture that is as intuitive as it is challenging, then they will love Dreadbox products.
Great video and love the performance! I got Medusa about two weeks ago and love it. If you’re a conservative musician, probably best to go for a more conventional synth. Medusa is meant to push boundaries and works as a tool to help open up new ideas in the user. If you want to sound like everyone else, that’s easy. If you want to start developing your own sound then keep implementing pieces like Medusa into your flow. I have a Digitone as my other main synth and feel like Medusa is it’s Analog/hybrid brother. I’d love to try SEQ but it’s a little outside my sequencer price range. I took a long break from making music but getting back into it with pieces like this is making it a lot of fun again!
Hi Benn, can you jam with Medusa and Polyrend Play? ps. I bought a limited edition Medusa from Reveber a few days ago, waiting for it to arrive. pps. PLAY will be my next purchase.
This has hands down made my night. The people who bemoan price when the company has made a sturdy unit are usually unaware of how money works. As for trolls I’m gonna put my money on Uri B. That guy totally spends his free time tearing others down online.
This is exactly the kind of review I’ve been waiting for. Seems like very few people have taken the time to get the sonic capabilities of Medusa under their thumb.
I’m watching this review on Feb 2023 and am surprised I do not hear more about this synth. Great video and the sound/seq demoes are excellent as always
Benn! What's up Flashbulb? Dude, haven't seen you in ages. I think the last time was when Ash was still living in Chicago. I have been really interested in the Medusa lately. Your review is by far the best video I've seen on it. Trying to get more information explained on the difference in v1, v2 and v3 firmware updates. I have an opportunity to buy a used one and was indecisive at the moment until I understood more. I know they've released an updated hardware unit but, nnot sure if that was just a facelift or it has been tweaked. Thanks homie. Long time no see. Hope all is well.
had my Medusa on Ebay yesterday but i had to pull it out. I just don't think there will be another synth like it and it will always be this interesting device that sounds and looks amazing
Hi Benn, Few things, and this is the most theme-appropriate video for me to do so. 1 - Can't describe realizing that Benn and Gear & Flashbulb = 1 (yes, I'm slow). 2 - I went into a little more depth into your writings and music and videos and whatnot : you ARE helping me getting back into music making in a serious manner For that you get a huge THANK YOU. I wonder if you've considered covering the synthstrom deluge, as you talk about it in this video and it is a very original piece of gear... I bought it as it was a very promising sketch pad, but am skeptical of the result : when I oppose digitakt/octarack and deluge videos on TH-cam, elektron products win despite my convinction of the deluge having a better workflow. It'd be awesome to have someone juice the thing out for what it's worth like you've done with the medusa !
I am exploring synths and modular, was wondering about the Seq, haven't seen that much on youtube. Looks very cool, and I am wondering if you can contrast the Medusa's ability to sequence external synths vs the Seq. I am looking at the Seq as well as the Squarp Hermod and Pyramid. It looks like the Seq is more approachable from a new user, but I am wondering if you sense any limitations in terms of song building with multiple sequences, if you aren't beat oriented but more focused on melody?
Spot on! Making those ‘one star reviewers’ walk the talk outs them for what they are...PHONEY! That’s why I never take note of them, I simply watch trusted TH-camrs with professional sound who know how to handle the equipment and make coherent arguments as to the Pro’s and Con’s. 👏 I particularly liked the sounds starting 13:43 ...⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ from me!
You would be surprised at just how much trolling of products there are. Some of the best things I've seen come out in the synth world are trashed so much, that it is hard to not believe the industry is intentionally trying to trash competition. Thank you for defending things based on the reality of the product, and not your lazy pre-assumptions and annoyance at having to learn a synth to get the most out of it as intended.
Hey Ben! Thanks for the good work. Arguably one of the best musictech/synthnerdy channels. Very intelligent, musical and entertaining indeed. Just right my alley. Cheers fom Berlin, home of the superbooth where you oughta come to in 2019!!!!
Your calm and fact based rebuttals on this video had me friendlusting. I've been watching videos on this thing and I'm almost sold. Thanks for the demo at the end! I was digging the jam at 11:37. Well done.
I've been looking at one of these for a while and really not understood any of the negative feedback, it looks bloody perfect, analogue + Wavetable + sequencing and pads (plus tons of Adsr/LFOs) I really don't know what's not to like! Amazing demo of it it's nice to see you took the time to do it properly! Does anyone know what new features are in more recent firmware updates?
I like it being so badly reviewed ( Sorry for Polyend and Dreadbox though..). I got mine very cheap. It will be one of those sought after future classics which have limited press. This is truly uniq synth which sounds nice and it have its own very distinct character which I like. Layout and functionality is also very nice. For sequencer side there could be some improvements but synth controls are very easy and intuitive to use. I will definetly keep this one no matter what gear I will have in the future.
according to Nick Batt from SonicLab it's not a "perfect" product. He himself had some problems with it in his review. I'll wait for updates and further reviews and demos before considering to buy it. There's many good things about it, but some annoyances as well.
Subscribed to your channel !!! and just got one of those bad boys. I usually look for a sonic palette demo that reviewers do when exploring the gear , and yours is just amazing. Please keep humiliating the bullshitters with facts !
For anyone wondering. The track that Benn made with this (he mentions it at 11:35 ) is called 'FBox' and it's on his album 'Our Simulacra' and it's FUCKING EXCELLENT AS ALWAYS.
Well done video, and honorable of you to defend a worthy product/company. But I don't know what I want to buy more--the Medusa, the Specular Tempus, or your next album that hopefully will include some of that incredible, ethereal music you whipped up there
I hate to pester, but your additive synthesis video was absolutely fantastic and the snippets from your music were incredible. You mentioned that you would be making a part two; will that still happen when the “Popular Company” you mentioned in the Q+A releases their new additive synth? And will you ever demo how you made that cello sound in Starlight? You mentioned that it was made by randomizing 512 different partials, but I have looked at every forum and additive synth I could find via google-fu and none I found had this capability.
Hilarious video. I learned long ago to take reviews of musical instruments with a grain of salt. We can't all get the same feeling from all musical instruments and it would kinda suck if we did. Great video, extremely informative. I'll be giving this a strong look in the future.
Thanks for doing this, Benn. Polyend builds great innovative stuff, it looks well, it's top quality and it's made for the 21st century. I mean, presets for the modular. What's not to love. And pretty honest pricing too.
Hey Cross Debunker, I watched the Christo movie you gave a plug for. I found your critique of him callous. I don't ever remember seeing planes or helicopters, without indicator lights, that can stay motionless in the sky with 30 knot cross winds. If you were sincere in your critique you would have known that he checks all the flight info in and around Monterey. So basically you give him a shout out with a nod and a wink?
It was good to hear more sounds coming out of this, especially when more time has been into them and with the understanding of how it all works. For me what put me off was that the actual sound of it didn't sound very distinctive; I had some bias wanting to hear that 'Dreadbox' sound, whatever that is. I'm more open-minded now that it doesn't have a particular sound, though I'm still just kinda shrugging my shoulders. I do like the responsiveness with the envelopes though; hearing the attack and decay between the filter and envelope. Anyway, since you've tried to make your own stuff, by chance did you ever buy from Adafruit? They have these 4x4 boards along with leds and rubber pads and you can put together up to 32 of them to make your own matrixed button controller. That Sweetwater bit had me in tears! Once someone shows interest in them you get those heartwarming calls-- "♥♥♥I'm hear for you♥♥♥" That's killer CSR bruh :p
THANK YOU BEN!!! Honestly this is the first demo on the youtubes that properly demos the sounds of this synth. The stuff from the floor of NAMM wasn't illustrative at all, and honestly I haven't had time to trawl through the whole internet looking for a good demo. You are doing the 'lords' work. :)
Genuinely confused by the "reviewer" saying dimly lit displays would be hard to see in a dim club environment, last I checked when there's less ambient light it becomes easier to see dim lights?
I strongly suspect that guy isn't actually doing any club gigs. One thing playing live gigs taught me is everything you think will be a problem, probably wont, and everything that is a problem wasn't what you expected.
Pretty clear to me that he meant the panel labelling rather than anything illuminated.
Dude should probably stick to a laptop
@@shayneoneill1506yo this is a great way to approach any false conception or pre-assumption in life!
I think he was talking about the tiny, 1" display.
Dude, my Sweetwater's sales rep is also named Matt. My friend's sales rep is also a Matt but he's a different Matt than mine. There is something very dark happening at Sweetwater.
My rep’s name is also Matt. Benn, can you get to the bottom of this, please?
My reps name is Wayne Wildman.
And on top of that, they support Trump campaign...
At some level I think we could give a lot of slack to Sweetwater reps. Their primary market is probably folks who are not Benn. They’re trying to sell by building relationship. Fine. I actually like them because I can order via an email to my Matt. He gives me a small discount and places my order with just an email from me. He’s stopped calling me too.
My sweetwater rep is Ian. My girlfriends rep is Matt. She bought me a guitar once, now Matt calls her the day after Ian calls me to check in. It’s funny.
I really want to make a “review of Benns review of reviews” now! Should I do that?
I feel like doing that every time I see one of his videos... this one does beg a review
Go for it, i´d watch it.
Would watch, especially now.
Yeeesss
You ARE doing the Lord's work. Ace.
:)
Nah, the devils work,Ass, even better 👿
right!
In case you do want to change an LFO target during a live show... hold the LFO button and turn the parameter you want to target. Done. Same for envelopes.
Glad to see someone else enjoys this synth. And that you took the time to adress the weird criticism of it (even tho I think Christo might have gotten a bit too much attention for simply stating his opinion) I will try to point people to this video when I make mine about the Medusa.
can't wait to see/hear your review!
BoBeats and do you also appreciate Ben bashing people who paid for pre ordered Medusa’s and “did “ own one and chose not to do a negative video revue themselves but instead respond to other revues which is why the comments exist...? although I personally never bashed anyone nor did I create a video to destroy the rep of a much loved documentary on Netflix this was actually the entire point of this video not to discuss or disagree but to wine about reviews /publications. And who made the assumption that I didn’t own one? This guy did . Wrong! I paid for it and sent it back. Oh and spell checker sometimes makes guys like this do weird things with their voice ....lol love it obviously you (Ben ) know how to sound like a mutant when reading a spell checker typo too! No wonder you made this. And you wouldn’t know a plane from a ufo if you were riding in it...Peace Christo 👽
@@christoroppolo8742 No, I don't like it when people ridicule others. I am a soft hearted dude as you know Christo. But at the same time I can get behind what Benn is trying to do, even tho I don't fully agree with the method here. I wasn't particularly into him throwing you under the bus. What I did appreciate however was him taking on what seems to be a prevailing negative attitude towards the Medusa which I don't see holding up when I play with it.
@@BoBeats on the fence. The bashing of Christo was so unprofessional and a direct hit at him. This is a PRODUCT REVIEW. Why should names come in? Christo Roppolo is brilliant and doing things that scare people out of ignorance. I AM PRO- CHRISTO. You haters can SOD OFF
... and with the new FM update, this machine went from already outstanding to insane! 6 voice polyphony with sweet-sounding FM algorithms, all going through the infamous Dreadbox analogue filter.
As a owner of the Medusa and one of the first adopters I can understand some having trouble with it and finding the sound wanting, but if you are feeling the affinity with the unit and willing to hunt for the right settings it is an intriguing and fine sounding synth.
I am happy with my purchase and can recommend this to anyone who is wanting a synth that is different, you want bread and butter or maybe just don't have the time learning (although the time spent learning a new workflow in this case might very well advance you as a composer/musician) you might want to try it out first; preferable together with someone who knows this piece of hardware.
And the speed the company Polyend is pushing out Betas for the firmware is showing the support this company is giving to their products, also they are involved and happy to listen to reasonable suggestions.
As for Christo, he didn't like the 'sound' of it at all apparently "sounding like a Casio", and sure it can sound like a cheap Casio from the 80's but it sure does a whole lot more. Is it the best sounding synth I have? No, but it has its sound and is very versatile with the amazing amount of modulation control you can have, and also as a controller it is great!
R.
Sweetwater techs are nice. A little overbearing, but c'mon they're trying harder then a lot of outsourced corps out there.
Seriously. Tell them once you don't want calls and that's it. I've never experienced better customer service from a large retailer.
I do think they go a little heavy on the sales pitch .. the new customer signup form should include an opt-out option on the excessive followup calls.
I get it. It’s still really dumb. Just say your trying to sell something else. NOONE needs help working a pedal like that. So it’s obvious they don’t need to call about that. They don’t need to call at all. Send an e-mail and leave it alone. It’s harassing...
I used to shop with Sweetwater a lot, and their customer service was really good. At some point they apparently gave my account to a different sales rep, and the guy was doing all the usual, calling and emailing "Hey, if you need anything just let me know, I'll help you out, I'm your best buddy, yada yada." Then earlier this year I bought a couple of higher end guitar pedals, and less than two weeks afterwards they went on sale for 15% off. So I emailed my buddy to see if they had any kind of price match in that situation (a lot of retailers, including some online music merchants, will match a sale price on recently purchased products and refund the difference if it's within some short period, a couple of weeks or 30 days usually). So Sweetwater doesn't, but instead of just saying, "No, we don't offer that", my bestie responded with this whole song and dance making it sound like I was making some crazy inquiry, misrepresenting how long it had been since I'd placed the order, and then quoting incorrect info about the original price and the sale price, and generally talking down to me like I was an idiot. I replied correcting all the wrong things he'd said in the email and noted that 12 days (the time between my order and the sale) was not really "nearly three weeks" as he chose to characterize it (I didn't point out the thousands of dollars I've spent at Sweetwater over the last 18 months, because that's kind of a dick move). He responded "Glad I could help!" which I'm still not sure wasn't just a veiled FU to me. Anyway, never shopped there again (and have spent more thousands of dollars at a different online music merchant instead), but now there's some new rep trying to be my friend and emailing and calling me all the time.
@@ZigbertD that’s lame. their return policy is pretty good though - Anything but software or used items can be returned within 30 days of purchase. I just did that with an MPC Live after noticing MPC Force dropped from $1500 to $999.
If he was rude like that, I would have been tempted to return it for a refund and then re-purchased at the sale price ;)
You do have to pay for their shipping though (Cost me $20 for the MPC that weighed 9lb)
I'm very happy with the Medusa,
The grid's low profile pads allow you to apply a unique sliding technique. When set with the right amount of glide you can get some crazy expression out of it.
I have the Polyend Tracker and I must agree with you Benn! They are very well built, thought out and have amazing sounds! The ability to get lost and enamored in many of the pieces of hardware they produce should make people excited that there’s a company that is trying new stuff and succeeding!
medusa is simply one of the best synth I have. i buy synthesizer since 1999. I agree with you. Im enjoin it since day one. :-D
There was a lot of trolling on TH-cam, Gearslutz and other sites regarding Behringer after they released the Deepmind. I engaged in lengthy “discussions”. with one individual over about two weeks on Gearslutz. He would write lengthy posts and one point, I accused him of being a Moog employee. That enflamed his ire and his posts got even longer, more condescending and political, probably taking hours to write . After a week of this, he actually mentioned in his post that had indeed done some work for Moog in the past and was currently not working due to some type of injury or sickness. Hmmmmm . . . And then someone was posting nearly the same rants on other sites. Same person with lots of free time on his his hands? Maybe. I find it amusing that one of the negative reviews you quoted even mentioned Moog.
The Medusa looks and sounds great. Keep up the great demos and calling out the trolls!
Hey Benn, can't thank you enough for this video. I was so excited by the medusa's concept and I feel stupid now to have let those bad vibes throw me off. Nearly bought a grandmother instead but glad I didn't. I wanna use stuff that is pushing the technology forward and support innovators like Polyend. Thanks
Benn you sold me on this, and I must say, you were right. This is my new favorite piece of kit and the centerpiece of my set up. It is best to pair it with a good fx pedal to finish the sound (I’m using Empress verb which you also sold me on), but as workflow tool and compisitional aid alone, it sends me in directions I wouldn’t otherwise go.
Tha's the kind of thing that makes me want one... Fantastic to hear this...!
Thank you so much for the new Preset in the V 2.0 of the Medusa and thank you Polyend to bring us new Firmware and feature !
update = love for us ^^
I'm been getting the monthly Sweetwater calls and emails to this day.
I bought a passive MIDI splitter in 2017.
Man the sound and melody around 14:12 has me sold so beautiful melodic but funky . Well done sir WELL DONE INDEED 🤙🏽🙏🏽🖖🏽🙏🏽
th-cam.com/video/HGChWk28QTA/w-d-xo.html Here's the track that came from that patch.
I had to take quite some time to adjust, learn and take a full grasp at all the possibilities of this synth, it has since became my favorite standalone synth, it's hard because every use of it is pretty personnal and there is nothing quite like it. Some people see it as a synth with a pad controller, whereas the instrument would not be complete with the Grid that is really half (if not more) of the total interest of Medusa.
Before having one I tried it at two ocasions and couldn't even make a patch with it, you need to get used to the UI and workflow but as usual, RTFM and everything will be fine.
Thank you Benn with showing great applications and debunking trolls or people who just never played one.
10:33 Hey, Fbox!
I ended up here again after watching your latest video about the Polyend Tracker and challenge. The reward for the song/remix challenge was one of these (if chosen) so I went back to this video to remember what it's all about. It's fun to see that something from this video ended up on your latest album and I think that speaks pretty well for this piece of tech!
This is no rant ! I use the medusa daily for production together with many
other synths. 6 OSCs & 10 LFOs are great for sound design.
OSC calibration tone bleed when using headphones :
Polyend could add a simple software function to pause or stop this
permanent background calibration tone manually when one needs to use
headphones as a workaround. Yes, there are people using headphones,
because medusa has a dedicated HP output ! But Polyend "tend" to look into
this when going back to the firmware "some day"... holy shit... their newer
unfinished products have more priority. These devices are broken in a way.
No wonder why the price drops from 1000€>699€>400€.
This issue is well known and worldwide all over the forums.
Display reaction / snappiness :
Values are shown & updated slow, feeling like a 80s calculator.
This should also be no problem to finetune menu reaction speed as
it could be done on most cheap 3D-Printers offering the same displays
and running on a very comparable platform enviroment ( - 10ms, please ).
A little code optimization to the firmware could come in very handy when
running resources at max on such units ;)
Pad sensitiveness :
This is an instrument and should be well playable at all.
Tried to play these great pads with some light fingers having some soft
expression ? Hard to do that, right ? I need a hammer to do that. Having a
better/bigger/wider range of XYZ touch velocity curves would solve this.
Software tool :
Ahhh... I forgot that Medusa software tool. Damn, Polyend are you serious ??
What's this in 2020 ? Ever tried to manage your presets ? Give them names ?
Have a 8x8 graphical matrix on your screen, drag and drop a preset where you
want it ? No ? We could save both Banks A & B and reload them, cool huhhh ?
My oldskool Yamaha AN1x editor from 1999 got better options, to be honest
nothing will compare to a bad JoMoX SysEx utilitie, but now there is your tool...
Really not famous quality to look at a bad drawn JPG, which was an addition
with the new soundbanks, when selecting a preset.
The Manual :
The hole manual should be revised, there are things shown on some screens,
these are not documented anywhere. The first 1/3 part of the manulal reads
something linke an explanation/pretext/excuse for using such concept, why ?
I love the concept and the sound. Sound is, like so often, a main reason
to buy such gear, but that's not all here, because of the grid. We are just given
something with quirks and have to do our best with it, but it could be sweeter
with some more serious product care.
If this type of content is easy to make, I wouldn't mind a meta-review series where you sum up the early reviews and give them a reality check. Great video:)
edit: My favorite demo starts around 14:00.
Robert Syrett that demo said add to cart
@@HzofArt For both the Medusa and the Specular Tempest XD
It’s a really simple but cool use of paraphony. It just evolves in the neatest way.
Finally someone ran the sequencer so I can hear what it sounds like while tweaking parameters!
Thanks for the entertaining demo.
Dude. Great video. That patch at 11:36 was really special. Heck yes, track inspiration! I think I need to watch your channel more to get your humor and vibe.
Chris Dillon agreed, that clip is awesome! I’d like to know how the ‘glitch’ effect is achieved in that clip. From the Medusa or some other processing?
My Medusa has become my main instrument at this point, such a hugely overlooked synth
I just got mine in the mail today and spent a few hours figuring it out. I've noticed one "bug" which I would barely call that, and I'm not yet on the 1.1.9 beta firmware. This has already been a super inspiring synth in getting me out of my comfort zone, so I'm really happy I went with it despite having seen some of these negative comments
Anyway, lots of inspiring patches in this video. Now I gotta work on getting some similar results!
I wish I could afford one.. I played with it for ten minutes and fell in love with it
Medusa is 599 Euro now over at Thomann, seems like an absolute bargain.
Picked it up last week, and it's definitely not what I initially thought it was going to be, but I think this is familiar feeling for synth fans.
Spent better part of a week noodling with patch and sequence creation, and I don't understand a lot of the criticism the Medusa has received over the past two years.
Hope to keep loving this synth for years to come.
Cheers.
I won’t be buying Polyend products in the foreseeable future not because of the products they make, which seem to be of a good quality, and genuine attempts at innovating, but because of the way they (at least one of them) have dealt with my criticism of the Medusa. I do not know if I count within the Medusa “trolls” you are trying to contradict here, but they have been angrily responding to my TH-cam comments on their synth. There are two main points I tried to make in a reasonable manner. Since the beginning I stated that I love the sound of the Medusa. That is the first one. I love it so much - here comes the second point - that I was very tempted to buy it despite the pitfalls in physical design I saw (and still see). To summarize, the two small screens and the strip of blank metal in between the two sections of the synth point towards bad design decisions. I suggested that the grid only adds bulk because it does not provide anything than a regular 16 pads sequencer section and an external controller could not provide (btw, a well regarded reviewer suggested something similar). I also suggested that if the grid had to be there, it’d been better to also give it a display function (like a Circuit’s or a Deluge’s) so that they could do away with a second tiny screen in the middle so that the flow between both sections is smoother and the box is more compact. Instead of some reasoning on why they took the design decisions they did, I receive personal insults. At some point, other commenters started to criticize the disproportionate belligerence of their responses after which Yannis (Dreadbox) presented apologies on behalf of both companies. Never anyone from Polyend intervened in a measured, conciliatory manner. I have to say that in this little world of independent synth makers and highly specialized consumer, personal affinities in between both groups are very important (as you suggest), even as important as the devices that mediate between them. So, I don’t know if the Medusa’s sound is as good as to cleanse the antipathy produced by whoever was representing Polyend during our exchanges. Your superb demo makes a great sonic case for the Medusa. Visually and tactually, the grid is completely abandoned (as I have always suspected it will). Emotionally, it retains the nastiness. Of course, that is a personal matter but, what good are sweet sounds when they come in sour vibrations?
So weird to see the negative reviews. I might have a theory: it's from people who aren't used to fat analogue sounds because until recently a vintage sound was out of most people's price range. So when they hear something that doesn't sound plasticky, they think it's terrible. Just sad...
very possible, if your goal is a soup with shitflavor, a good broth can be hard to neutralize. making soup that tastes like broth instead of shit would be a valid option, but each to their own:D
Wow WOw WOW!! That arp/sound at 10:33 resonated with my entire being... I knew I wanted this but now I am certain I need it. Only discovered it recently. Great review.
Benn you are truly doing the lords work. I need that tune at 11:35 plz
Best demo I have seen yet. The other demos have been so limited in their exploration of its capabilities. This is amazing.
flashbulb is epic, glad I found your channel!
Loving this amazing drone improvisation, and I think this demo says it all really. There's isn't often rubbish kit.....there are musicians who lack the skill to utilise it, that's all. Nice work fella.
Thank you for calling out those ridiculous negative reviews and naming names. I read them all a few months ago, and it ruined the curiosity I had about this unique piece of gear. I'm glad to hear and see that those people were just being biased and/or ignorant.
That synth does indeed sound lovely! Superb synth jam at 13:30! Great video!
That patch at 10:34, sheeeeessssh I swear I keep coming back for that little snippet lol. 🔥🔥💯. Yeaa people should definitely not sleep on this synth. Lol
To be fair, the specular tempus does contain fairy dust or unicorn semen or something like that, it can make a fart sound angelic.
Ellert van Koperen , you just made my day...wait week with this profound statement
**watches Medusa review**
**rushes out to buy Tempus**
Everything is better with reverb.
Nice, we were just discussing this synth on my 2018 year end review and I was curious why the Medusa had been getting a bad rep? One of my guests referred me to this video, and I'm extremely pleased to see (and hear) it's very capable and well worth the asking price. I hope others interested in getting one will find this vid and not be persuaded by Aliens and Trolls :)
Just wanted to say the patch that became a whole track is phenomenal. So, so, dope.
_Love your videos Ben._ And I've been subbed and stay subbed to your channel specifically because you forego the formalities and PC bullshit in favor of speaking your mind, bluntly. I'm the same way. *Add to that you ACTUALLY know WTF you're talking about;* means your content has a positive impact on the Synth community and musicians in general. Just saying. Big 👍
Keep doing what you're doing man. Great stuff. Great video. Great music.
Cheers!
*Edited for spelling & format corrections*
you sir, are an intelligent, creative honest person.grateful for the work you do (expanding my musical knowledge)
i wonder if its just a possibility they were mistaking ground loop hum for circuit noise because they tried to plug it into an amplifier
Fuck this is amazing!! The Cristo part has me rolling; some point in my synth TH-cam adventures I’ve come across that guy’s “stuff” no idea he had a Netflix film lol
Your assessment of the Medusa is spot on and I dig your reviewing style. Liked and subbed!
What were those reviewers talking about. This synth sounds awesome. Damn, now I want one.
i kinda knew the criticism were mostly BS given i've actually tried this thing out myself. nowhere near bad as the negative reviews make it out to be. its a solid hardware synth.
You know what other synth people tore apart, and for years? That would be the monomachine. Which this synth tone-wise and fun-wise reminds me a ton of.
My friend has the Medusa and the Dreadbox Typhon and he loves them both. I'm very tempted by the Typhon myself. I personally have the Polyend Tracker and I can't fault the build quality. It's very solid and feels great to use. It's a fantastic piece of kit and I'd happily purchase more of their products.
Thanks for the video. You have a new subscriber. I was also really excited about the Medusa until I read the reviews and watched some TH-cam videos. Your video and demonstration changed that. Guess what I just bought myself for Christmas? 🤘
The Medusa is sort of a "Franken-synth" in my opinion. It appears to have suffered from scope and feature creep during the design process. It is not the architecture I would have chosen for a joint venture between Polyend and Dreadbox. However it bursts with opportunity to become creative with sound design in new ways. I vacillate back and forth between wanting one like crazy and feeling "meh" about it. Price-wise I would compare it to something like the (now discontinued) DSI Mono-Evolver keyboard (MEK) with a pad input device rather than the keyboard of the MEK so it is okay there in my opinion. Due to lack of independent voices it is not up to the capabilities of an Elektron A4 even though it has a great sequencer and lots of oscillators and modulation options. The device just occupies an odd niche.
Benn, i really like your videos! One of the few youtubers who are calmly providing good info. Thanks!
Great video. And important work. Dreadbox are marvellous synth makers. They make real instruments and not just reiterations, sound modules disguised as synths or clones. That is challenging for the user but it is also demands true creativity - and that is a bit of work, no doubt. Same goes for Polyend with their amazing sequencers. if someone buys a Nyx or a Medusa and wants to plug in and get an instant 'phat lead', they are going to be disappointed. If someone wants a musical way to reach into the implications of synth architecture that is as intuitive as it is challenging, then they will love Dreadbox products.
Damn.... where can we listen to the whole track?
Yes plz
Dude. For reals. I'd love to hear it! Was it ever released/bounced?
Here you go! theflashbulb.bandcamp.com/track/fbox
Very cool song. Great product, and NOT over priced at all. Sweetwater now lists Medusa for 899👍
Great video and love the performance! I got Medusa about two weeks ago and love it. If you’re a conservative musician, probably best to go for a more conventional synth. Medusa is meant to push boundaries and works as a tool to help open up new ideas in the user. If you want to sound like everyone else, that’s easy. If you want to start developing your own sound then keep implementing pieces like Medusa into your flow. I have a Digitone as my other main synth and feel like Medusa is it’s Analog/hybrid brother. I’d love to try SEQ but it’s a little outside my sequencer price range. I took a long break from making music but getting back into it with pieces like this is making it a lot of fun again!
Thank you for dispelling some of the inappropriate negativity around this synth. Great sounds!
Hi Benn, can you jam with Medusa and Polyrend Play?
ps. I bought a limited edition Medusa from Reveber a few days ago, waiting for it to arrive.
pps. PLAY will be my next purchase.
Awesome demo! I’m waiting for my FedEx delivery of the Medusa right now… I betcha it will end up delayed to my dismay..
The only problem with Medusa is that the grid sequencer should be on the right side.
toitoitoy Use a mirror or turn it upside down
This has hands down made my night. The people who bemoan price when the company has made a sturdy unit are usually unaware of how money works. As for trolls I’m gonna put my money on Uri B. That guy totally spends his free time tearing others down online.
This is exactly the kind of review I’ve been waiting for. Seems like very few people have taken the time to get the sonic capabilities of Medusa under their thumb.
I LOVE THIS POST!! Thank you!! Great job handling the haters, and great job demonstrating this instrument!
I’m watching this review on Feb 2023 and am surprised I do not hear more about this synth. Great video and the sound/seq demoes are excellent as always
Benn! What's up Flashbulb? Dude, haven't seen you in ages. I think the last time was when Ash was still living in Chicago. I have been really interested in the Medusa lately. Your review is by far the best video I've seen on it. Trying to get more information explained on the difference in v1, v2 and v3 firmware updates. I have an opportunity to buy a used one and was indecisive at the moment until I understood more. I know they've released an updated hardware unit but, nnot sure if that was just a facelift or it has been tweaked. Thanks homie. Long time no see. Hope all is well.
had my Medusa on Ebay yesterday but i had to pull it out. I just don't think there will be another synth like it and it will always be this interesting device that sounds and looks amazing
Just saw that you are the man behind the Flashbulb! Love your music!
That pattern and sound at about 11 minutes is absolutely killer! Well done. :)
Hi Benn,
Few things, and this is the most theme-appropriate video for me to do so.
1 - Can't describe realizing that Benn and Gear & Flashbulb = 1 (yes, I'm slow).
2 - I went into a little more depth into your writings and music and videos and whatnot : you ARE helping me getting back into music making in a serious manner
For that you get a huge THANK YOU.
I wonder if you've considered covering the synthstrom deluge, as you talk about it in this video and it is a very original piece of gear...
I bought it as it was a very promising sketch pad, but am skeptical of the result : when I oppose digitakt/octarack and deluge videos on TH-cam, elektron products win despite my convinction of the deluge having a better workflow.
It'd be awesome to have someone juice the thing out for what it's worth like you've done with the medusa !
Well it gets 5 ⭐️ from me, for the Medusa and your review. Loved the improvised droning!
I am exploring synths and modular, was wondering about the Seq, haven't seen that much on youtube. Looks very cool, and I am wondering if you can contrast the Medusa's ability to sequence external synths vs the Seq. I am looking at the Seq as well as the Squarp Hermod and Pyramid. It looks like the Seq is more approachable from a new user, but I am wondering if you sense any limitations in terms of song building with multiple sequences, if you aren't beat oriented but more focused on melody?
Spot on! Making those ‘one star reviewers’ walk the talk outs them for what they are...PHONEY! That’s why I never take note of them, I simply watch trusted TH-camrs with professional sound who know how to handle the equipment and make coherent arguments as to the Pro’s and Con’s. 👏
I particularly liked the sounds starting 13:43 ...⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ from me!
You would be surprised at just how much trolling of products there are. Some of the best things I've seen come out in the synth world are trashed so much, that it is hard to not believe the industry is intentionally trying to trash competition. Thank you for defending things based on the reality of the product, and not your lazy pre-assumptions and annoyance at having to learn a synth to get the most out of it as intended.
how can you talk that way about Nick Batt, he's not lazy and he knows what he's talking about.
Hey Ben! Thanks for the good work. Arguably one of the best musictech/synthnerdy channels. Very intelligent, musical and entertaining indeed. Just right my alley. Cheers fom Berlin, home of the superbooth where you oughta come to in 2019!!!!
Came to hear about the medusa, stayed for the scathing assessment of one’s fellow man.
Your calm and fact based rebuttals on this video had me friendlusting. I've been watching videos on this thing and I'm almost sold. Thanks for the demo at the end! I was digging the jam at 11:37. Well done.
I've been looking at one of these for a while and really not understood any of the negative feedback, it looks bloody perfect, analogue + Wavetable + sequencing and pads (plus tons of Adsr/LFOs) I really don't know what's not to like!
Amazing demo of it it's nice to see you took the time to do it properly! Does anyone know what new features are in more recent firmware updates?
Thanks for this vid. Does the medusa always send out monophinic MIDI data on one channel or is there other possibillities?
Is there any way to hear the full track from 11:40? Holy shit so good
I like it being so badly reviewed ( Sorry for Polyend and Dreadbox though..). I got mine very cheap. It will be one of those sought after future classics which have limited press. This is truly uniq synth which sounds nice and it have its own very distinct character which I like. Layout and functionality is also very nice. For sequencer side there could be some improvements but synth controls are very easy and intuitive to use. I will definetly keep this one no matter what gear I will have in the future.
according to Nick Batt from SonicLab it's not a "perfect" product. He himself had some problems with it in his review. I'll wait for updates and further reviews and demos before considering to buy it. There's many good things about it, but some annoyances as well.
I love it. Great work. Could listen to it all day over and over and over and over....
For anyone wondering what song that bit around 11:20 became, it's Fbox on the album Our Simulacra.
Subscribed to your channel !!! and just got one of those bad boys. I usually look for a sonic palette demo that reviewers do when exploring the gear , and yours is just amazing.
Please keep humiliating the bullshitters with facts !
Funny story: I watched this video 3 days ago and today I own a Medusa. Weird coincidence huh
EDIT: But I didn't buy it from Sweetwater :(
Now you won't get help from MEEEYAATTT!!!
@@BennJordan if MEEEYAATTT called me from the US to here in Italy at god knows what hour I would have some choice words for him ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
For anyone wondering. The track that Benn made with this (he mentions it at 11:35 ) is called 'FBox' and it's on his album 'Our Simulacra' and it's FUCKING EXCELLENT AS ALWAYS.
That Sweetwater burn was fire!
What state do you live? The view in the fedex anticipation shot was really nice!
I repeat: the most promising synth I ever had my hands on
Well done video, and honorable of you to defend a worthy product/company. But I don't know what I want to buy more--the Medusa, the Specular Tempus, or your next album that hopefully will include some of that incredible, ethereal music you whipped up there
Thanks alot for that ! Finally a proper demo :)
I hate to pester, but your additive synthesis video was absolutely fantastic and the snippets from your music were incredible. You mentioned that you would be making a part two; will that still happen when the “Popular Company” you mentioned in the Q+A releases their new additive synth? And will you ever demo how you made that cello sound in Starlight? You mentioned that it was made by randomizing 512 different partials, but I have looked at every forum and additive synth I could find via google-fu and none I found had this capability.
Are there ways to share patches and sequences with other Medusa users? If so, would be great to get your patch bank!
Hilarious video. I learned long ago to take reviews of musical instruments with a grain of salt. We can't all get the same feeling from all musical instruments and it would kinda suck if we did. Great video, extremely informative. I'll be giving this a strong look in the future.
hey Benn ! any links to the DIY projects you talked about near the end ? they look fantastic. as does this synth :)
Thanks for doing this, Benn. Polyend builds great innovative stuff, it looks well, it's top quality and it's made for the 21st century. I mean, presets for the modular. What's not to love. And pretty honest pricing too.
Thank you for reminding me to save for this synth
Hey Cross Debunker, I watched the Christo movie you gave a plug for. I found your critique of him callous. I don't ever remember seeing planes or helicopters, without indicator lights, that can stay motionless in the sky with 30 knot cross winds. If you were sincere in your critique you would have known that he checks all the flight info in and around Monterey. So basically you give him a shout out with a nod and a wink?
It was good to hear more sounds coming out of this, especially when more time has been into them and with the understanding of how it all works. For me what put me off was that the actual sound of it didn't sound very distinctive; I had some bias wanting to hear that 'Dreadbox' sound, whatever that is. I'm more open-minded now that it doesn't have a particular sound, though I'm still just kinda shrugging my shoulders. I do like the responsiveness with the envelopes though; hearing the attack and decay between the filter and envelope.
Anyway, since you've tried to make your own stuff, by chance did you ever buy from Adafruit? They have these 4x4 boards along with leds and rubber pads and you can put together up to 32 of them to make your own matrixed button controller.
That Sweetwater bit had me in tears! Once someone shows interest in them you get those heartwarming calls--
"♥♥♥I'm hear for you♥♥♥" That's killer CSR bruh :p
Jsn Sdx great suggestions thanks for sharing
THANK YOU BEN!!! Honestly this is the first demo on the youtubes that properly demos the sounds of this synth. The stuff from the floor of NAMM wasn't illustrative at all, and honestly I haven't had time to trawl through the whole internet looking for a good demo. You are doing the 'lords' work. :)
audiblevideo hmmm