DSI TETR4 (part 1)

[tamosfan]

What's that red thing with the white buttons? Very interesting looking...

[Theotim92]

@tamosfan

I think it's a drum machine MFB

[tamosfan]

@Theotim92 I see, thanks.

[Dogboy73]

@tamosfan It's an MFB-522 analogue drum machine. A sort of poor mans 808 ;-)

[tamosfan]

@Dogboy73 That works out, I am a poor man.

[Dogboy73]

@tamosfan Price wise it's a poor man's 808. But sound wise definitely not. It's a great sounding little machine. Check out some of the demos on YouTube. Very nice sound & an absolute bargain in my books. Build quality isn't up to much but it's fine for home use.

[cazmo222]

patch at 1:50 is gorgeous - are there a lot of pretty presets like this?

[Dogboy73]

@cazmo222 The factory banks are quite varied in style but I'm sure there are other sounds of this style in there. If not you can just program your own ;-) A good starting point, if your new to synthesis, is a patch you like. Then just tweak this to change the timbre etc. Save the results & you've as good as created your own new patch :-)

[smackyjack]

I like it. There's nothing wrong with this little thing.

[maccagrabme]

What does it take to get an analogue synth that has a sound that is superior to that of a Jupiter 8 at a realistic price? I wouldn't even care if it didn't have all the controllers on board but the sound is what I'm after.

[Dogboy73]

@maccagrabme What does it take to get a Jupiter 8 like synth & sound at a realistic price?1 I'd say a miracle!

[bjcsupertortoise]

@Dogboy73 Hi, thanks for the demos, but if you don't mind, could you tell me how the sound of the Tetra compares to that of the Jupiter 8? Thanks :)

[Dogboy73]

@bjcsupertortoise Can't say because I've never had the pleasure of using a Jupiter 8. I'd say the sound & capabilities of each are probably poles apart though, not to mention the price these days. You could probably buy about x25 TETR4's for what you would pay for a Jupiter 8 today!

[bjcsupertortoise]

@Dogboy73 Ah yes, I know about the price :)

So when you say their sound are poles apart, do you mean the Jupiter 8 is massively better than the Tetra? Also, if you don't mind, how do you think the Tetra compares to the Roland Juno 6/ 60/ 106? I am looking for a good analog synth and I've been considering the Tetra for ages now, it's just I somehow have this feeling that the tone is just not that good - it seems kind of different to 80s analog, and some say new analog is bad... GAAHH!!!

Thanks :)

[Dogboy73]

@bjcsupertortoise Well if you think the 'tone' of the TETR4 is not that good you probably shouldn't buy one. If you like the sound of the Juno 6/60/106 then I'd definitely look at one of these as you can pick them up for a decent price. They are prone to voice chip failure though so be prepared to spend money getting one refurbed or to do a bit of soldering yourself. As for the Jupiter 8 - I'd say it would eat the TETR4 for breakfast & then ask for seconds ;-)

[bjcsupertortoise]

@Dogboy73 Oh right, I take it the Jupiter 8's quite good then.

Sorry, what I think I really meant about the sound is, do you think it's the same good vintage 80s analog sound or are modern ones different. I haven't actually used an analog synth before so I can't really judge but from the millions of demos I have (sadly) watched, I just think old analog synths sound kind of different. Maybe it's due to better parts these days? Sorry for being so annoying and thank you very much for the advice :]

[Dogboy73]

@bjcsupertortoise Modern analogue synths are probably tighter & more precise, which some might say detracts from what makes the vintage stuff more interesting. On the TETR4 there is an 'osc slop' control for adding subtle tuning drift that's common in vintage oscillators. This is useful for adding that 'vintage' quality to the sounds but it's still not quite like the old stuff. But at the end of the day every synth is different so you really have to make up your own mind about what is important.

[bjcsupertortoise]

@Dogboy73 I see. Thanks for helping out a noob :-)

[M3sslah]

@bjcsupertortoise There is no better or worse except if you talk about the same sounds on a VST or a hardware, the hardware will beat the VST. But it all comes down to taste and what kind of music you want to do, yes a jupiter 8 has very raw strong oscillators and sounds raw but it cost like 6000$. And still it might not have what you want since there is no one synth that do it all. Tetra 4 has USB, software editor and also, if you like the sound then that is the synth for you.

[M3sslah]

@bjcsupertortoise Also remember alot of people talk alot of shit, of course most would say something different, maybe they make cheesy popmusic and hate a certain synth but if you do Acid you are kinda doomed without a TB303 and so on. Just find a synth that seem to be in the line with what you want to do, but I can also say I have heard lots of demos on youtube on the Tetra but I know it can sound rawer than this and different, check prophet 08 demos, it's the same synth but tetra is 4 voices.

[bjcsupertortoise]

@M3sslah Thanks for the help. :] I've since bought a really cheap broken Juno-6 (with Kenton MIDI :D) that I still need to get fixed. It's not exactly very powerful but it's a start... :) I've even been thinking that in the future if I get enough money I might just build a Doepfer modular synth or something.

[VJFranzK]

I've got to say, I really like this machine - it sounds great, great build quality and connectivity. will probably buy one for my personal use soon. In the meanwhile, check out my demos of the stock unit at NoiseBug!

[MichaelBlue72]

Thanks for these! One of the best demo series I've watched here. More people need to make videos of just noodling with the presets and various settings.

[kurryg1]

a dco is still a vco but only kept in tune at a very high lookup rate by the cpu

but i think its the software modulators and software enveloppes wich gives all these

modern analogs a to hard digital sounding edge over the originals

[cartesiaLive]

agghhh I want my tetra to arrive already :( .. hopefully only 4 more days

[dio333]

i have a question: i have a midi keyboard that doesnt have midi output, only usb (m-audio keyrig 49) - is there a way to connect it to tetra and send midi?

[empirix]

i don't believe this is good enough for a pro sound, poly evolver is his best synth and most useable!

[Dogboy73]

@empirix Technology wise they are very similar - same DCO's, same Curtis filter, same amount of envelopes, same amount of LFO's, same x4 16 step sequence etc. The TETR4 doesn't have the additional digital wavetable oscillators like the poly evolver or the x3 digital delay effects but apart from that it's almost the same thing inside.

[HyperSonic707]

@empirix depends on what youre trying to do. yes its his flagship synth, but it costs so much more than the tetra, and isnt very good for trance-ey sounds in my opinion

[simon12332]

could you use an something like this or the mopho, which are digital, to expand a digital synth?

[Dogboy73]

@simon12332 Both the Mopho & Tetra are analogue synths. They use DCO's & chips, which some purists would say makes them less analogue but they are analogue none the less.

[simon12332]

@Dogboy73 oh wow, i'm really sorry, i meant analog on the first one. what i'm really trying to ask is if you can somehow hook one of these up to a digital synth and have them work together.i would guess you would just have to put it through a mixer, no?

[Roelandvinken]

Nowhere demos of pads and strings. too bad

[Dogboy73]

@Roelandvinken There are plenty of string/pad sounds mixed up in the 5 videos I've uploaded. Have you checked out the other vids?

[mastertrev]

i'm thinking of getting one as well. a great deal when looking at the polyphony, hella deep modulation, and of course analogue analogue anologue. how do you rate this vs. the moog lp (or can you compare the two?!)? i am actually debating on this or a radias (limited options unfortunately)

[Dogboy73]

@mastertrev Different kettle of fish to the Moog LP really. Obviously the LP is monophonic & many people would say that if you want the Moog sound then you need to buy a Moog. I'd say that the TETR4 would have a much broader sound pallette than the LP because of the generous modulation possibilites, 3rd envelope, sequencer & obviously the fact that it's 4 voice polyphonic. If i was going to buy a Moog it would be a Voyager Old School .... but that's way to expensive for me ;-)

[auidofoxx]

this make me dame happy......I've got a tetra on the way, hooking it up to a novation 25SL - so I'm happy to see you run a similar set up. Have you chained them directly or are you running to a midi interface?

[Dogboy73]

The MPK49 is hooked up to the computer via USB. The TETR4 is also USB, so need for any MIDI cables if your using it as part of a computer based set-up.

[Biopharmer]

finally, some raw demos of the Tetra on Youtube. What do you think of it?

[Dogboy73]

I'm loving it so far & I've not even scratched the surface! The presets are vrey good & very inspiring. But I'm looking forward to creating my own patches with the software editor.