New Shit

Yeah, I think I can record some samples via the mic input of my laptop but it will sound rather shitty I'm afraid, I'll give it a try tonight though :)

I could send it back to thomann because of the buzzing stuff going on, but I've read about this somewhere else so I think it's a common quirk. Anyway, you're right it doesn't bother me too much.

I love the SD on this machine! You can make it sound really edgy and sharp, but you can just as well make those OOMPF snares with it (that probably doesn't make much sense, I'll post samples as soon as I can ;))

I have never used a real 808 either, but the programming of the MFB is pretty straightforward, pretty hands-on but not 100% You have to hold the 'Rec' button and then press the button of the instrument you want to step record, so if you hold 'Rec' and select 'SD / (or Step 3-4)' the LEDs of the SD line will light up (if there are no SD hits then they won't light up obviously :P)

To program it you simply press the buttons of the appropriate steps, it just has 8 buttons, so for step 2, 4, 6 etc. you will need to hold 'Shift', then press the step button.

I still have to give the manual a more thorough read though, couldn't wait to play with this machine :)

Okay, here are some samples, mind that I used shitty mic input :P

Some bits in the soundtest (mfb522sounds.ogg) are way too loud, sorry for that - couldn't really hear what I was doing, only afterwards.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2YG5DEMS

And the decay of the bassdrum in mfb522.ogg is probably cranked up too much in places, so watch your speakers :P

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=P7B6ALOV

Hope these samples are any good if not let me know and I'll do another take :P

ps: sorry for megaupload links: I'm not allowed to attach .ogg files on watmm..

thanks for posting! sounds good, pity you can't get a better sample - can't you record into your computer from the line in?

  BCM said:

thanks for posting! sounds good, pity you can't get a better sample - can't you record into your computer from the line in?

that's basically what I did! using the input of my laptop for external microphones and such, the one that's usually next to the headphones output

the onboard soundcard from my laptop is just really shitty (usually the case with onboard soundcards), the recording is actually not that bad though

sounds nice! the bass drum does clip though.

the clap is actually my least favorite, and the hats are much more 606 than 808. snare is really nice!

Those MFB drum samples sound good but aren't really that close to a real 808. Somebody posted up samples of their 808 here recently, that'd be a good comparison for the people who don't own one to use.

I think different sounding drum machines are a good thing anyway. The 808's great and all, but I don't want to hear it in every track I listen to (just every second one).

  kokoon said:

sounds nice! the bass drum does clip though.

the clap is actually my least favorite, and the hats are much more 606 than 808. snare is really nice!

yeah sorry about the bass drum, recorded way too loud ;)

I really like the snare as well

Yeah, the 808 does sound a bit different, but this machine can imo be used for 808 purposes, so to speak :angry:

btw kokoon if you're talking about that bass drum that starts at about 0:31, it's the tone that I cranked up, it's actually not clipping there I think. But it probably does clip in lots of other places!

yeah, i know, some of it is the "click" of the bass drum.

one thing about the 522 that really surprised me is how well the sequencer interface works. with just the 8 keys for the steps, having to press shift to access the odd (2,4,6,...) steps... but it totally works! usually, when you're sketching a drum pattern, you're using just the even (1,3,5,...) steps anyway! then if you want to refine the rhythm, you add in the "off-beat" steps. really nice! also, i liked it how you can just slide your finger across all the 8 step keys, and there you have it - all steps on!

i haven't used it in the studio, but from the 10 minutes i played with it, it looked pretty much ideal live/jam drummachine!

  kokoon said:

one thing about the 522 that really surprised me is how well the sequencer interface works. with just the 8 keys for the steps, having to press shift to access the odd (2,4,6,...) steps... but it totally works! usually, when you're sketching a drum pattern, you're using just the even (1,3,5,...) steps anyway! then if you want to refine the rhythm, you add in the "off-beat" steps. really nice! also, i liked it how you can just slide your finger across all the 8 step keys, and there you have it - all steps on!

i haven't used it in the studio, but from the 10 minutes i played with it, it looked pretty much ideal live/jam drummachine!

You're right, I hadn't looked at it like this before, thought the shift button made it somewhat less 'hands-on', but the way the sequencer works is actually very useful!

new MFB gear....i really like the look of the nanozwerg

Nanozwerg Monosynth

Urzwerg Sequencer

Megazwerg Semi Modular

I bought an MFB-522 a few months back. Some of the sounds are a bit thin, & I wish there were more than two distinct hihat sounds (because I've gotten used to having at least three or four in my homemade sound sample kits), but for the price I quite like it. I'll probably get one of their synths at some point (but at the moment I'm saving up for some of that old Soviet stuff).

That semi-modular looks wicked.

i sold my MFB-502. it was alright, but i got bored of it and figured i should get something else instead. and the knobs, like, require tweezers.

the sounds quite remind me of the coron DS7 and DS8's i've homebuilt:

http://m.bareille.free.fr/ds7clone/ds7.htm

no midi, no seq, but you can wire some points for CV into those, they'll take gates, etc. i find it a better option these days...

Use the MFB-Step64 a shitload, however.

*bump*

My MFB-Nanozwerg arrived today! When connected directly to a stereo amplifier it sounds really great, and it has some nice functions you won't find in other synths that much (at least not for about 200 euro's), like a multimode filter (lp, hp, bp and notch), lfo one-shot option, some nice modulation possibilities, cv in- and output, tiny sequencer (only with preset sequences but tempo and pitch are adjustable). Build quality is fine as well. There's one problem though: there's no master volume control. When I connect the output to the line input on my laptop there's a lot of clipping. Is there anything I can do about this?

as demonstrated with my recent MFB only tracks - the audio outs on MFB gear are generally not great (especially the cheaper stuff). i don't get a big problem with clipping from my SynthLite (although it does happen occasionally on deep basses) but there is a lot of noise and the signal is quite quiet...i also don't have a mixer currently and am just running it directly into my soundcard (edirol FA-101). i just have to try and get the best i can it of it using amplification plugins and EQ etc. it used to be that i could lose some of the more noticable sound defects using a hardware mixer, but running directly into a soundcard it all becomes more apparent.

Too bad you have those problems with the synth lite, seems like a great synth otherwise. At least the nanozwerg (the cheapest mfb synth :P) is not too quiet, and there's no apparent noise when it's switched on but not doing anything. The glide function is a bit glitchy though if you're sending note release through midi.

As for the loudness, if I just take an audio cable and put a rotary pot in the middle, it will be an adjustable volume control, right?

I have a nanozwerg. Feedbacking through the audio-in is highly recommended.

Unfortunately I don´t have a jack splitter lol. Is it also possible to feed the audio output to the CV or VCF in? And don't you have any trouble with the volume?

i have a mixer and other gear that can lower its volume that i run it into before my soundcard. yeah, you can run the audio out or LFO out into anything. if you run the audio out into the filter input you can get more fm range. the lfo out can also be run into the gate, audio-in, or filter i believe. an audio splitter and something to amplify the signal go a long way.

I wouldn't be surprised if the MFB gear runs at "modular level" which is quite a lot hotter than line level.

http://mfberlin.de/Produkte/Musikelektronik/DOMINION_1/DOMINION_1e/dominion_1e.html

New Dominion with built-in keys and 2 ribbon controllers. Extremely nice.

Edit: and an arpeggiator/sequencer, I wonder what that sequencer means in practice.

Looks nice!

Anybody else have problems with MFB-522 being out of synch with other gear when synching with MIDI?

Also if I use the mixed output there is leaking from drum sounds that shouldn't be even on. This disappears if I turn the volume from all unused drums to zero.

I had problems with my 522 being out of synch, yeah. It was always ahead of the other gear, but the mismatch was different each time I started the master clock.

Stunningly enough, it would even be ahead of the master clock, as seen in ths picture. The Monomachine on the bottom track was the master clock:

OK, so it's not just me doing something wrong.

Anyway I usually sample either individual hits or few bars of a beat and fuck with the samples so I can fix the synching problems in a sample editor but it's driving me nuts when I want to use MIDI/CV controlled effects with the drum hits. I think I need to get a proper drum machine.