future retro r2

[rodge]

FUTURE RETRO Revolution Synthesizer

anybody played with this thing yet? looks like something straight of the death star.

audio demo's sound pretty fat

yumm analog overdrive

[ignatius]

it's the same as the 'revolution' which came out long ago except this one's not white. i suspect that's because they want it to match the XS

[Blitzkrieg105]

Same as the White One, except for the battery life, the original only lasted around a year, the new one will last you around 8 w/o replacement. Excellent piece of kit, the sequencer is a snap once you get used to it.

[ignatius]

Originally Posted by Blitzkrieg105

Same as the White One, except for the battery life, the original only lasted around a year, the new one will last you around 8 w/o replacement. Excellent piece of kit, the sequencer is a snap once you get used to it.

hmm.. my battery is still going strong. so a year is probably average or best guess or something. good they upped the battery life though. dead batteries are one of those annoying things to deal with.

[rachel]

I want something Future retro....



rachel

[rodge]

then is the white one any good?

[lean]

yeah it's wicked like a turbo charged 303

Originally Posted by rodge

then is the white one any good?

[GrantB]

Originally Posted by lean

yeah it's wicked like a turbo charged 303

+1000

It sounds great and the Revo sequencer is the tits. You can get some things from the remix function that would not happen with other sequencers, even Mobius. By twisting the remix knobs while playing, you can "solo" on the sequencer always on time and in key. This will take you to outer space but you can return to orbit with one button. Also you can change last step and turn steps on and off without losing pitch/accent/glide. Incredible for live sequencer jamming.

If/when I get a real 303 or x0xb0x I will be keeping Revo for the sequencer and smooth liquid sound.

[ignatius]

Originally Posted by rodge

then is the white one any good?

it's exactly the same except for the battery. i have a white one and never had any battery related issues.

[rodge]

ahh good stuff! thats what i wanted to hear.

so does anybody have any tracks they wanna share with this mother on it?

[ignatius]

Originally Posted by rodge

ahh good stuff! thats what i wanted to hear.

so does anybody have any tracks they wanna share with this mother on it?

a friend and i did a really long jam.. like 3 hours w/a revolution, 606, 909 + live for some dsp. sadly we only recorded the last 15 minutes or so. if we had multitracked it all it would be an album or two.

anyway- the bit we did record was straight to 2 track. so, the levels are off here and there and it's a little sloppy but the spirit is there and the revolution is all over it. oh, sorry for the overly loud toms in the beginning. stick w/it and it gets pretty groovy.

edit: i should add that my friend was on the revolution i was doing all the drums but once in a while we'd trade places. anyway- he'd never seen a revolution before but obviously got his head around it pretty quickly.

http://www.ignatiusmusic.com/dudebounce.mp3

[Lessli]

When I got my Rev 2nd hand the battery was long dead and i haven't got around to replace it yet. It's really a PITA to do since I haven't got any tools to do that soldering thang.

But yeah, the sequencer is definitely cool to jam with. I put the Rev through a Chandler Comp and the sound is so fat that u can hear the juice dripping~

Been thinking about getting the v.2 as well. Not that I particularly need another 303 clone, but to have that sequencer at hand just rocks.

[rodge]

nice jam ignatius

im gonna have to try and get my hands on one of these

[crufty]

The FR Revo is not a replacement for a 303 in my book.

But it is mighty fine anyway.

[ignatius]

Originally Posted by crufty

The FR Revo is not a replacement for a 303 in my book.

But it is mighty fine anyway.

it can be pretty close but the interface is completely different which good or bad is gonna effect what you come up with.

the 303 has 'that sound' and though lot's of things are almost dead on there's just that roland filter thing that's all it's own and sometimes pretty hard to emulate.

everything has it's own character including the revolution. great bass synth in general.

[isham]

+1000

It sounds great and the Revo sequencer is the tits. You can get some things from the remix function that would not happen with other sequencers, even Mobius. By twisting the remix knobs while playing, you can "solo" on the sequencer always on time and in key. This will take you to outer space but you can return to orbit with one button. Also you can change last step and turn steps on and off without losing pitch/accent/glide. Incredible for live sequencer jamming.

If/when I get a real 303 or x0xb0x I will be keeping Revo for the sequencer and smooth liquid sound.

very interesting thumbsup I wonder if someone as ever compared future retro revolution sequencer to the mobius ? is the revolution sequencer as easy to manage as the mobius ?

[crufty]

Originally Posted by isham

is the revolution sequencer as easy to manage as the mobius ?

Yes and no. It's circular, but other then that its not much different.

[isham]

thanks Crufty for your feedback, so quite the same except the layout , to be considered then cause for 400 $ more one can have a mono synth + some effects

[crufty]

I think mobius has more CV/gate options too.

Revo also has, as stated, the remix feature, which can be fun, but you better experiment with that before trying it live for the first time

I wouldn't really even count the revo fx...they are there, so i suppose the serve a purpose, but some of them are pretty weak. The sooner one can get them outboard, the better!

I wouldn't buy either a mobius or a revo for midi sequencing. A cheap groovebox can do the same and offer a whole lot more.

i would, and did, buy the revo for its sound. its not a 303--but if you lose focus on that, like I did, you can really enjoy its buttery goodness for what its worth. yum yum. then slap it on a decent fx box, even a delay stomp, over a set of pounding drums, add in an fr 777 and you have ULTIMATE ACID ENERGY

[isham]

ok thanks for the precisions and your experience, but does a cheap groovebox control glide and accent via midi ? (midi CC message I assume then)....will check... but keeping the real time user experience (without going to sub menus...)

[crufty]

all depends on who is getting the accent/glide! fair enough, accent/slides are easier on the mobius/revo. accent, again, is typically measured by velocity of a midi note. slides vary in implementation--most synths interpret overlapping notes as slides. all depends on what you are controlling!

for the most 303 like control, sans synth, mobius without a doubt. However, a groovebox can often be had for the fraction of the cost and as they are multi-channel (usually), and when paired with a midi splitter box can control more then one synth at a time.

check out electribes, like the mxi. slide isn't so easy, but accent is. Also, you can store more then one bar in a pattern--up to 8. I'm not a fan of the tribe as a sequencer, the limitation of 8 bars messes up my mojo, though it has awesome realtime controls. its a solid synth, as are the other emu / yamaha / roland boxes.

There are a whole host of other grooveboxes. It really boils down to what is being controlled and what levels of control you need. For example, the mc-808, which I really hated at first, is not a good 'live' device at all, in the same way the analog x0x or korgs are. however, when viewed as a pattern playback device, it took on a whole new dimension for me and I actually really like it now, two plus years later. funny huh?

anyway, hope this helps. In general, i would say a revo and a groovebox complement each other perfectly. the groovebox can provide the drums, backing tracks, and the revo can sit front (or back, really) and provide the butter.

[vixapphire]

Originally Posted by crufty

Yes and no. It's circular, but other then that its not much different.

so, if you could control Reason from a Revolution, would that be considered "circular Reasoning"?

[teletraan]

nice file ignatius, it gets nasty around the mid way mark, i'd definately dig a whole album of this.

now i have to find this synth

[rids]

The R2 is a bargain. Cool sequencer. I like the circular design and it really makes sense to make it like that. It looks sweet and is a much better deal than shelling out for a 777. The Sequencer also has a cool Remix function, so you can keep getting new patterns just by using the remix function.

[ignatius]

Originally Posted by teletraan

nice file ignatius, it gets nasty around the mid way mark, i'd definately dig a whole album of this.

thanks man. that album will come but it will be a while in the making.