Analogue session 1 : analogue solutions - Red Square V2

[TR929]

Sounds awesome... much better than the synth noodling around with the camera mics...

[ArkOdd]

it's not perfect ...but it's a good synth.

The VCA shit, the VCF too (resonance). The EG's aren't fast. There isn't sync on the second vco and on the LFO. BUT the first VCO is great (3 waves available simultanously). RM is great, S+H too. Now i have a Cwejman S1... RS is fatter but S1 a lot more versatile. Telemark is better build but not as fat !

[ArkOdd]

@ArkOdd And og course...all the input and output are great to emphase the system... A mooger 101 to help the VCF, A moog CP 10 for tools...

If you want a versatile and a great sounding modular. Please check Dotcom (if you live in USA) and Mos-Lab (Europe). Mos-lab sounds amazing... the VCO (FAT, FAT, FAT) the VCF sings (resonance is beautiful) and the VCA do his job.

[Knr911]

Hi

I'm in the porocess of purchasing a Red Square to someone but I definitely hesitate. I hear bad things here and there about it, about its filter having shitty resonance, its VCO being weak and poor, telemark being better, etc...

Would you recommend this synth?

Plz help

[coldhandmurr]

@Knr911 Oh but the filter is what makes it a special synth! If you want a Moog LPF or 12db SVF on every synth you have well... but, the Red Square's filter is unique. It makes it irreplaceable. One of the very few synths I want more than one of, so I can have double the patching. :o

[Queiroga707]

This is a monster!! i Want one NOW!

[superrobotmunkyman]

got that bounce!!

[Knr911]

WOW!!

Man, htis is the BEST Red square demo I've seen on YT. I've always been kind of attracted by this machine but all the demos on YT did not convince me at all. Now I want it!!!

Please, one question:

Did you record each track individually from the Red Square then mix them all in Logic, or is it the Red Square playing several oscillators at the same time, sequenced and mixed in Logic?

Thanks mate. :-)

[ArkOdd]

@Knr911

Hi,

THX,

I recorded several loops in trying my new gear.

After that i choose only a few and that: cut, copy, paste.

The red square is a very good synth...but some limitations. Resonance is useless andthere are no pulsewith on the two oscillos. But for the price, it's good stuff.

[Knr911]

@ArkOdd THX for your response.

You mean filter resonance are all useless? Well, that sucks... No ? Have you checked the Leipzig? It seemed quite convincing to me and since the filter is a moog emulation, well, it must be decent at least But if it's only a Moog-type synth, it must be smooth I need something punchy... I'm looking for my first real analog synth, what advice would you give me? Future Retro XS is expensive...

[FatSynthDude]

@Knr911 I have a Red Square and while I love it, I have to agree that the filter resonance blows. Basically, you won't get any audible resonance until the knob is up to about 95%, and then it rockets into self-oscillation from there, so it's impossible to fine-tune it.

The XS looks expensive, but keep in mind that in that case, you get what you pay for. Outside of the limited patchability, it can do a lot more than the Red Square and is generally more versatile.

[Knr911]

@FatSynthDude Many thx for your response.

As for the Red Square resonance, is there a posibility to insert another resonant filter, to use it with the VCO, the Red square being semi-modular it may be possible no? And by doing so you customize and personnalize tyour RS...

Yes I know that the XS rocks (A lOT!) but from what I heard he sounds quite trancey, acid, he has a hell lot of presence sure, but I don't find it quite original. And.... it's expensive :p

Do you own an XS?

[FatSynthDude]

@Knr911 Being semimodular, you can patch anything to anything else you want. But if you're just in it for the customization, might as well just cut out the middleman and get a full-on modular.

Whoever told you that about the XS needs to have it taken away from him. It CAN sound acid, but then again just about any synth patch with high-resonance can. Hell, an unpatched Red Square with the sub osc turned up and the res up on high can do a mean SH-101 impersonation. Yes, I own an XS.

[FatSynthDude]

@Knr911 The Leipzig is basically the Red Square but with a fixed architecture instead of being modular. If you just want a cheap analog synth, I can't recommend the Spectral Audio Neptune II enough. Great price and sounds monstrous. It doesn't 'punch' so to speak, but then again, most synths aren't that punchy out of the box. That's why mankind went a step beyond god and invented the compressor. ;-)

[Knr911]

@FatSynthDude "Leipzig is basically the Red Square but with a fixed architecture"

Huh? Really? Wow, What I heard from the Leipzig, the sound is not the same at all... Leipzig sounds moogy, fat and hot while the RS sounds more cold and electro.. And it's more versatile of course...

I've just checked the Neptune II - Wow, thx for the advice, it seems to have a great sound! But I'm not very fond of Racks...

Would you please accept a PM so we could have a chat? I need one advice or two...

[FatSynthDude]

@Knr911 Leipzig sounds Moogy because the architecture is the same as a Moog by default. If you patch the Red Square in the exact same fashion, you will get the same sound, the only difference being that the Leipzig addresses the resonance problem on the Red Square. Keep in mind that in what you're hearing above, the patch routings are not typical. There are a lot of modulations going on in this vid that can't be done with the Leipzig (namely VCO-Filter FM). The components are the same.

[FatSynthDude]

@Knr911 And if you're not a fan of racks, then why are you considering the Red Square?

[FatSynthDude]

@Knr911 Just to give some perspective, you're already familiar with the typical Moog sound, right? Now imagine the Moog Modular which the MiniMoog was based off of with the same sort of patches this guy is running. Filter character is only a small part of the equation.

BTW, feel free to PM me to your heart's content.

[ArkOdd]

@FatSynthDude

Hi,

based on net demo, my mind is that the leipzig doesn't sound like the Red square (it's true for the telemark too).

The new X station (in eurorack) sounds like the RS (Tom Carpenter say that).

A semi modular is great as a first gear to begin with analogue hardware. You can expand it later with eurorack (telemark) of dotcom, motm, Mos-lab,...(red square, future retro XS,...)

[ArkOdd]

@ArkOdd

I have to change my mind about the XS. I don't like the demo on the net but it's propably not representative. I like his versatility and more, the future retro have the coolest tool in the analogue gear world...his LFo can be Syncronised to the tempo.

[FatSynthDude]

@ArkOdd One thing to keep in mind with the XS's MIDI sync: at lower settings, it makes the LFO step REAL bad. I've yet to get an explanation as to why it does this, but it makes the sine LFO sound like it was ran through a sample and hold circuit with MIDI acting as the clock source.

[ArkOdd]

Hi

Thanks for that "bad" news...

[FatSynthDude]

@ArkOdd I think my comment got lost in YT's maint. yesterday. Anyway, it's not really "bad" news. It's kind of a neat effect if you just work with it. The really slow stepped sine sounds wicked as a pitch modulator on the Red Square.

[FatSynthDude]

Example of it in action: gearslutz[dot]com/board/attach­ments/electronic-music-instrum­ents-electronic-music-producti­on/131650d1250030454-future-re­tro-xs-lfo-stepping-frxslfotom­odular[dot]wav

Best possible explanation I've gotten: "One thing that occurred to me; if the LFO won't naturally oscillate slowly enough, as described, then it may be jumping phase for each MIDI clock input. Maybe you could try at faster clock input, and check for stepping? Just a thought anyway."

[ArkOdd]

@FatSynthDude

It's probably that....

[FatSynthDude]

@ArkOdd I talked to Tom to confirm before I ordered my Leipzig (I ended up getting an MV-8800 like a dumbass, so it'll be a couple months before I get the Leipzig) and in his words "it’s the same as the Red Square. But as it has a more traditional approach, it’s much easier to get sounds than a red square, since no patching required. And the choice of mod routings and features gives it great diversity".

[ASUKLTD]

wow, that impresses even me!

Good job!