Roger Linn Design

resistorman · Post by **resistorman** » Mon Jan 20, 2020 1:42 am

I received my desktop module and upgraded the firmware... the MPE works great. I found the presets to be wretched. I almost sent it back because it sounded so mediocre, but once I started making sounds from scratch the true sound of the synth appeared and it is fantastic. Just the initialized sound was better than the presets!

Russell Grand · Post by **Russell Grand** » Mon Jan 20, 2020 2:36 am

I'll laugh if the patch creator is Mr. Lynn himself, you'll deservedly feel like a right asshole.

resistorman · Post by **resistorman** » Tue Jan 21, 2020 12:08 am

If I'm an asshole for expressing my opinion about something on a forum, I'll have everyone else in the world to keep me company!

resistorman · Post by **resistorman** » Tue Jan 21, 2020 1:22 am

It's a common problem, though this seems to be particularly egregious. If there's efx built into a synth, the presets are usually so drowned in them that you have no idea what the synth actually sounds like. Why the hell would you put 5 seconds of reverb on a bass sound? And if you have macros set up to adjust efx levels, why would they not turn them off completely? As it turns out, this synth has lovely virtual oscillators and filters, but you wouldn't know that from a scroll through the presets.

John the Savage · Post by **John the Savage** » Tue Jan 21, 2020 3:04 am

The first thing I do when faced with new gear is hit "init" and never look back...

Cheers!

TigerBalm · Post by **TigerBalm** » Wed Jan 22, 2020 9:01 pm

Thanks for the report! I’m thinking about getting a Hydrasynth to be my Linnstrument companion. What setup did you use to connect the Linnstrument to the synth? Can you share a video of the sounds?

Tim Walters · Post by **Tim Walters** » Fri Jan 24, 2020 5:08 pm

It's worth noting that the Hydrasynth's MPE pitch bend is set to +/- 48 semitones, and cannot be adjusted (except maybe through RPN 0, which I haven't tried). I forgot about the Linnstrument's "hidden" ability to use this value, and so was a bit frustrated at first! Once I got that sorted, everything was fine.

I haven't got around to even trying the presets... the synth sounds great when programming from scratch, and just as importantly, they've done a great job of UI design. I'm not aware of any other synth with this much flexibility that's as easy to program.

BobDog · Post by **BobDog** » Fri Jan 24, 2020 7:19 pm

Tim Walters wrote: ↑Fri Jan 24, 2020 5:08 pm It's worth noting that the Hydrasynth's MPE pitch bend is set to +/- 48 semitones, and cannot be adjusted (except maybe through RPN 0, which I haven't tried). I forgot about the Linnstrument's "hidden" ability to use this value, and so was a bit frustrated at first! Once I got that sorted, everything was fine.

The problem here of course if you loose pitchbend resolution, 48 is half the resolution of 24. Lets hope they add a setting for this before my HydraSynth arrives...

Tim Walters · Post by **Tim Walters** » Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:20 pm

There's a hack to reduce it to +/- 24, which is to add two mod routes from MPE-X to Pitch that sum to -240.0. Not worth it for that extra bit of resolution IMO, especially as I am not hearing any audible stepping at +/- 48.

t-IB · Post by **t-IB** » Sat Jan 25, 2020 7:03 pm

I'd love to hear some of the stuff you're doing with it Tim if you get chance...

Tim Walters · Post by **Tim Walters** » Sun Jan 26, 2020 12:20 am

Well, my Linnstrument chops are extremely rudimentary, so I'm not necessarily the best guy to demo it. I bought it to do my experimental-for-lack-of-a-better-word music (where I connect it to Supercollider and use it as 256 joysticks, basically), and have yet to get around to developing more ordinary skills. I'm hoping the Hydrasynth will make it fun to just sit down and practice. But maybe when I get back to my house (currently displaced) I can whip a little something up.

Discovered today that AFAICT the Hydrasynth doesn't support MIDI Mode 3 [edit: 4], meaning no hammer-ons in channel-per-row mode. I have a question in about that and will pass on their response.

Tim Walters · Post by **Tim Walters** » Sun Jan 26, 2020 5:43 am

(Mode 4, I should have said.)

t-IB · Post by **t-IB** » Sun Jan 26, 2020 8:15 am

Tim Walters wrote: ↑Sun Jan 26, 2020 12:20 am Well, my Linnstrument chops are extremely rudimentary, so I'm not necessarily the best guy to demo it. I bought it to do my experimental-for-lack-of-a-better-word music (where I connect it to Supercollider and use it as 256 joysticks, basically), and have yet to get around to developing more ordinary skills. I'm hoping the Hydrasynth will make it fun to just sit down and practice. But maybe when I get back to my house (currently displaced) I can whip a little something up.

Well I want to hear it even more now!

You shouldn't worry about playing chops though - there are some amazing solo players here but not everything needs amazing solo players. I err on the side of experimental too and am interested in this side of the hydra, along with getting a picture of the overall sound. That said don't feel pressured to post anything on my behalf - just curious!

What I've heard so far kind of reminds me of the Kawai k5 I had - I could do these weird grainy low pitch pads on it as the low end wasn't pronounced. Not sure if the trebly sounds I've heard on demos are representative of its overall sound?

Tim Walters · Post by **Tim Walters** » Sun Jan 26, 2020 4:55 pm

Waveshaping naturally lends itself to treble detailing, so that is a strong suit of the Hydrasynth. But beefy low end is definitely possible. I literally have no means of recording in my current state of exile, but I'll put something together when I get back home, even if it's just a few simple licks.

t-IB · Post by **t-IB** » Sun Jan 26, 2020 5:09 pm

Thanks. I'm going to spend some time touring the manual - im sold on the interface so of the sound is there it's something I will check out at some point. Will look into the modulation options...