Dreadbox Nymphes - 6 Voice analog Sonic LAB Review
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- čas přidán 15. 07. 2024
- Dreadbox Nymphes was unveiled at Superbooth in September and is now heading out to customers and retailers, which is no mean feat given the difficulty in the component supply chain. The Nymphes is a synth built to be available and to a budget. Even so, a 6 voice (VCO) analog poly at £500 is a pretty impressive achievement.
We've posted some multi-sampled instruments from Nymphes on our Patreon:
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We have posted a few samples in Decent Sampler format on our patreon:
/ sonicstate
00:00 Intro and overview
02:08 Oscillators
03:58 Filter
05:40 Voice modes and chord mode
11:55 Modulation
16:10 Presets and sounds
20:36 Conclusions
#soniclab #dreadbox #nymphes
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I had to rewind and hear it again, I didn't expect the mention! Cheers to you Nick, Sonicstate is an OG, paves the way for people like me to talk gear on CZcams.
Appreciate the acknowledgement, here's the video on Juno vs Nymphes : czcams.com/video/sOjDo6SrhH0/video.html
stoked to hear the Jorb shoutout as well. Came to the comments looking for ya! Good job bud! -Proxy Merchants
@@proxymerchant 🙏🙏🙏
You deserve it, you did a great video on it.
Got that proper British nod
Found out about sonic state from Jorb’s comparison actually. I was floored that you got credited!
Not sure why everyone is complaining about the UI. In the Superbooth vids, Yannis explains that sacrifices had to be made in order to make this low cost for the consumer. You are getting a great sounding, space saving, 6 voice poly for £500! The UI doesn’t seem overly complicated and parameters can be accessed via CC if you have a midi controller.
Yiannis himself was getting confused by all the modes during Superbooth :P But yeah, of course they were targeting a low price here.. and sounds great. I was planning on waiting for Abyss V2 but may have to nab one of these in the interim
@@Wagoo that’s true 🤣. Waiting on the Abyss V2 as well, that should be a monster.
@@patrizio7 on year later and sadly I thing this is not happening and they scraped it.
Sounds lovely, I wasn't expecting such a diverse range of sounds from something like that!
highly creative approach w/ a powerful endresult to a very affordableprice. as to be expected from Dreadbox. they really advance to be my fav synthdesigners. goodjob well done again!
Incredible piece of kit, going to buy one. Brilliant review Nick .
I wish they'd have done this at full 19" rack width so we could have less confusing controls. I'd love a "Nymphes Pro" or such to come out. It does sound lovely though.. and some monstrous unison modes
Agreed wagoo. Really nice tone. Thou a little to little for my hands in some respects.
Yeah, a slider-per-function larger module would be nice.
This sits on your desktop powered over USB taking up barely any room - a worthy trade off for the interface IMO. Eventually there will be a software editor to let you check the second level settings.
Yeh I mean the ui obviously has had alot of thought put into it. Its just one of those things I guess, like your new car , it eventually becomes second nature. Still kudos to dreadbox for doing things different and uniquely.
Me too. Wait for the Abyss 2. Should fix the UI issues.
Just passing by to listen to Nick's closing demos. They always hit the mark!
Lovely sounding. It can go from harsh to sweet easily, marrying the Dreadbox character with the Juno-esque vibes. It does indeed benefit from external effects. Try a chorus /phaser combo and you'll soon be in "the place". Its UI is no worse than any boutique pedal with a combo of buttons and sliders.
Thanks for this in-depth review, Nick & team!
I really appreciated the creative approach to this. Rather than just presenting the basic features, you went above and beyond to explore what else is possible. In particular that chord modulation trick was really smart. I really think they did something special given global constraints.
It does sound fantastic. Looks great, too!
coole retro sound and more! thx Sonic state for the content!
Everyone I've ever met with a 106: *points to the corner of the room* Yeah, the 106 is over there, I've been meaning to get it sorted for ages
yeah. i can feel his pain. mine was in various stages of disarray for a while. luckily once you get them back to snuff, and actually fix everything, they should be good for another 30 or so years.
Mine is in a closet---> over there. It's literally taken apart, and needs new voice chips.
@@Michael_Smith-Red_No.5 Sad times. Juno voice chips are like little sperms that didn't make it. Anyway, I have an SH-2, a Voyager and a Polysix that all need to go to the docs, so I feel ya pain
@@sixxdb Haha! Yeah, that's a good way of putting it.
@@sixxdb luckily there are aftermarket chips now that are supposed to sound identical to the originals, and it's really driving down the price of used OEM returned chips. It might not be a good time to try and buy a Juno right now, but it's a good time to own one.
For the last 6 months YT has not been notifying me about sonicstate posts... I don't know why, since these synth reviews are some of my favorite content.
great review and some serious tones comin outta that puppy!
Fantastic presentation and great flexible instrument. It shows a little but hides a lot. Very nice and unique.
Beautiful mini monster!) lovely synth. Bravo Dreadbox
Really great demo
Sounds wonderful
Totally worth it. Dreadbox always impresses.
Sounds lovely
Great presentation, thank you! Of course, you are right pointing out that some of the functions seem a bit convoluted and not very intuitive. But I have to say that it does have my deepest respect how much the packed into this little box and how, nevertheless, they managed to make the functions accessible with what they had in terms of controls on this tiny unit. I think it is not too much to ask one memorize these few moves or grab the card every now and then, because you are rewarded with this fantastic form factor at the end of the day ...
I also have a sick 106, which is sadly beyond repair. I've been looking for ideally a rackmountable replacement like a deepmind. I've even considered a boutique, but nothing has really grabbed me. The dreadbox is DEFINITELY on my shopping list! Love it. Thanks for the demo.
I have never seen a 106 that was beyond repair, unless it’s mostly missing.
OOH! Thanks 🙏 Nick!
i have a real Juno 106 (properly setup and serviced), a jx3p, and a deepmind12, and I'm STILL thinking about buying this thing.
I just ordered a Cobalt 8x and the reason I bought it is because of all these modules that keep coming out with that space to the right it just fits perfect to use that as a controller sense plus as a killer synth anyway so you have the best of both worlds depending on what you got or use.
That sounds like an amazing idea😌
I believe dreadbox themselves commented elsewhere that they are planning to add both poly AT and mpe in future firmware updates, which should make it massively more appealing. It will actually be the only affordable mpe analogue poly on the market if that happens. I've got the MFB, which also does that, but it was more than twice the price and they seem to have stopped making any gear since Manfred's sad passing last year...
Added
Pretty sure the modal has mpe in their stuff. Very friendly price also
Not analog though
Great presentation! Yeah, the UI does have an initial learning curve, but it's not hard to get over with a bit of effort. It really does become more intuitive the more you work with it. Minus a few deeper functions, the muscle memory isn't so hard to build.
seems solid
It sounds pretty epic.
I played a bit with it on the superbooth and was surprised how good it sounded. very close to my Juno 106 I thought.
Nick mentions pulse width at
2:59
3:17
The Nymphes manual mentions Nick on page 11. You'll never guess the section.
Great sounding synth...just wish it had few more controls/screen so wasn’t so awkward to navigate. Telling that you used a BCR to facilitate the demo! Btw like your IKEA stand 😁 use them myself..great budget way to support little desktop synths.
Sonic state is like the attack of the show for music enthusiasts!
Personally, I can't wait to get one. Exactly what I've wanted for years. You'll see these in tons of studios and especially being used live due to the size. I think the controls are fine and am surprised by all the grumbles. Set up a program on any decent midi keyboard, save it, and you'll be cranking away at patches all day. Any analog poly requires a day making patches before a day spent recording... Weird how many seem to want to do a bunch of on the fly tweaking. Thats not really the point of poly synths imo.
Yeah that's a great point. Like take your hands off the controls and play the keys. It's a poly.
Why would you be happy to limit on the fly tweakbility?! . It depends what kind of music you wish to make but surely that's limiting creativity. You could sense a little frustration from nick in the video
@@annother3350 I think the point is that polyphonic is generally more about more fingers on keys and less on the fly tweaking. Always trade offs.
@@annother3350 You can tweak the oscillators, filter, reverb and envelopes from the front panel in a live setting. Also, as many other settings as you have knobs for on your midi controller/keyboard. For me personally, that's plenty for something I will have already made patches for at home in the studio. I'm into serge/buchla synths, so I know all about tweaking. This thing is pad machine not a 303. If I want to tweak out a bass line, I would do it on a more suitable synth and let this one stay where it shines. I just feel like people have unreasonable expectations when it comes to poly synths. Nick did a great job showing that just like all of them, you will have to learn it and plan ahead for the best results. If you are an improv only head, pay the big bucks for a knob per function monster.
But its not inherently so fuck off
Very nice thank you very much. I have the Typhon. I know it's mono so don't worry about that. But I have noticed some crossover in sounds. Would you agree with me sir? Because I really need another polyphonic synthesizer even if it's 4 notes, whatever. Do you think this versatile enough to be used as your main polysynth or do you think you would go elsewhere? Any Insights would be great. Sorry guys one more thing , have you ever made a video on looking after your gear, like I chronically test my power suppliers and cables almost every time I use them? Thanking you guys for helping keep us company. I wonder why the considering moving to Germany?🤔 Namaste 🙏
Your first Friday Funday should be a banger for 2022… I’m just sayin!
Hi, Nick! In 20:40 - you've mentioned about "high pitched whine". If it's a "USB whine" then it can be removed by separating the USB control voltages and 5v power. Arturia puts a little white box with KeyStep 37 (maybe with other controllers too, IDK). You insert a controlling cable to "PC" and a power cable to "Power". Important that the power cable _must_ be going to a separate AC-DC USB adapter. Thus you get that separation.
I suspect that my radio mouse gives this unpleasant whining but once you do this separation the whine is gone! I've didn't checked with more synths though. Not every synth gives that whine. Don't know the reason. Behringer Model D, Keystep 37 and MicroFreak gives this "effect" as I've found. Neutron, Volca Modular doesn't. But need to re-check.
P.S. this separation is very simple and I've seen a video where guy does the trick with just some borrowed USB wires. He just literally separates the red wire from others and connects it to the 5v power separately. I can find this if interested.
I could hear that whine throughout the whole video…
This has MPE I believe, and may become a common friend of the coming Osmose....
The only thing about Dreadbox devices bad is the damn paint that falls off and wears off quickly!!! Please do something about it! Everything else is great.
How is it compared to the mfb Synth Pro? The pro is 8 voice and more expensive, but I'd really like to see some kind of comparison
It sounds incredible! Hopefully someone will create a 3rd party programmer for it to reduce the confusing interface :)
The Typhon is a beast of a mono, to me they sound related :-)
@@New_Zealand_Music amazing sounding synths. I've pulled the trigger on this one!
@@mrgsfc Nice. Is it true what Sonic State say. Can they be reminiscent of an old Juno? Just wondering does it have the split delay function like the Typhon please? Would really love to see a teardown on your new machine, heh. See if I recognise any chip codes, eccetera. Oops I already said that oh well. Apart from some of the fancy new functions. I'm quite happy with my original keystep. I'm planning to buy another one. Do you use one those? lol Cheers :-)
@@mrgsfc and if this has similar effects to my machine. Also hope they introduce effects editing like they do in the Korgs. Synthvibes, yeah, that's the one. Oh, and sorry for bugging you. Heh
Someone just did create one. :)
Great presentation. Is there noise coming from the USB connection?
Interesting that everyone is comparing the sounds with the Juno 106. The oscillator and filter chips are the same ones as are in the new Prophets I believe, and to my ears, mine sounds very Prophet-y, albeit with just one oscillator, rather than two.
I also wonder if there is any discernible difference in the tri and duo voice modes, considering each oscillator will have its own filter, rather than two or three oscillators going through one filter? I do know that some filters react differently depending on the level of audio going through them, so maybe there would be a difference in sound?
Of course, maybe it doesn't matter.
Good point, It does sound a little "hotter"
There's a pretty constant audible high pitch sound present. Is it something unavoidable or is it perhaps due to USB power supply? Does it draw current from an adapter or a computer in this video?
That might be the most psychedelic review of ever seen!
Zoom pedal doing a lot of work here. Really conflicted about this thing. Nick did a great job as usual.
TBF, that Zoom model does a lot of work, in a lot of videos, on a lot of channels, for a lot of synths. I should probably get one.
@ghost mall yeah I'm actually in the market for a poly don't really require it to be analog so stuff like the hydrasynth explorer or modal synths really jump out in a similar price range. The main appeal of this thing is really the form factor, but I would have loved for it to have UI and modulation possibilities similar to the Typhon (which is fantastic IMO).
Is there any static noise coming from the Nymphes? I hear some high frequencies, i remember there was some high bgn going on with the Typhon aswell. In this video i also hear some high frequency noise but i don't know if that's the mic. It's not a huge deal, but i remember the bgn getting pushed up alot when adding some compression to the typhon, and dealing with it than is not a whole lot of fun
[edit] it got covered later in the video
Not from mine. Good USB PSU and no issues.
Seems they're keeping the old skool thing going even when they go to poly. Like how the Minimoog was full of controls and the polymoog wasn't.
How do you map the parameter faders to the behringer knob thingy ? I have a launchkey 37, can I map the knobs to the paramater faders ?
The assignments of the nymphes are fixed, so you need something you can assign specific midi controllers with. Not sure if the launch key does that? There will probably be an editor if so
I wish they had incorporated the Typhon effects.
Also the typhon small screen is helpful.
Sounds nice. Terribly convoluted interface.
For those w/ interface complaints - you are wanting the goodness of digital AND the goodness of analog. At the price of chinese, but with german quality. Stop it! And enjoy whats on the truck.
@@MrStupidHead you’ve earned your name. Don’t tell us what we want and why. Scroll on instead of crying about different opinions on the internet.
@@e-conrecords4665 you're not making a very splendid figure ⛰
17:00 and 19:26 Which presets were you using ? I love it
I'm so confused. Nicks deserved a tip jar during the making of this one
seems they listened to you nick with firmware v2
closer to £400 actually this, plenty of places with it at 420 atm
Man, I'm missing the little screen like on the Typhon. Being able to see what you're doing ups the UX by like 1000%.
This seems a pretty niche synth. Which means the target market is your basic gearhead with a bunch of synths. Which, in turn, means less time invested in any particular synth - including this one. Chances are the UI limitation will be such a buzzkill to some, they'll end up keeping it in a cupboard "because it has some nice sounds" until they eventually sell it off "because they just weren't using it enough".
Had that with my MFB Tanzmaus. Sweet drum machine, but the interface is hellish and arcane. It really can spoil an otherwise excellent machine.
cheers to the guy who did exactly that and sold it to me a few days ago then; because this is a gem; and honestly with a few added CC controls the UI is barely an issue. (also you can have midi feedback so get all the fader positions if that's an issue). The limitations of the architecture are not a big deal when there's already so much life in a raw saw. Provided I take some notes on the presets I make I see this thing as one of the main tool of my studio; and the size is exactly what I needed. I'll stay on the lookout for a "Abyss 2" but I feel like this project has been buried because there's less demand for hardware synths so they refocused on pedals.
The Dreadbox Nymphes and Waldorf Pulse 2 are very similar in price (less than $50 USD difference). Do you have any thoughts regarding the relative strengths and weaknesses of each?
Pulse is paraphonic
GAS ALERT! LOL. So when are you moving to Berlin Nick lol. I'd love to live in Germany but I'm stuck at the bottom of the world in New Zealand
You say it has junoesque vibes so I wonder how it world compare to the ju 06a ?
Nothing too groundbreaking here, but what a nice price for essentialy a juno on steroids in a module! Neat.
Hard to say no, with that price and size.
If you just ad a June-60 chorus peda let me tell you, Wow!
I'm curious to hear the Nymphes paired up with the Hypnosis (which has a nice analog chorus).
@@ninjakbly I forgat to mention that the June 60 v2 not the first model, because it doesn't sound as good like the v2
1. you can get it for 500€ (not 600) in the EU, e.g. Thomann is selling it for 499€
2. I don't care about Juno, but 1 VCO plus Sub: has anybody compared it to a 101? Would love to get rid of my MS-1
Stimming said he was getting rid of his SH01A and relacing it with this. Jorb shows that the saw/pulse mix is not the same as on the Rolands though (due to how the wave align) and my feel is that it is one step removed from 'that' sound. I tried a 101 patch I know well and couldn't quite get there.
So … Nick discovers there is a high-pitched noise. To my ears it was quite severe - i had already stopped the video a few times to check my system.
“Maybe it’s the dirty USB power.” How about taking five minutes to find the cause and share with your viewers? As far as we know, maybe it’s nothing to do with the power. Maybe it is inherent in the reverb. Maybe it’s something else. To my ears it is a showstopper if it can’t be fixed.
Doing some testing on mine, it is very sensitive to the power supply and other connections. When using a very clean USB PSU and an isolator for the audio, this synth sounds way way better. Also, there is some feedback of the noise in the reverb, so that if you have USB noise, it can resonate in the reverb making a horrible sound. It looks like they have some sub-par PSU filtering and circuit design. Maybe due to cost reductions. For low noise, you typically need to reserve at least one layer of the PCB (and maybe 2 ) for power, which can add a bit to the cost. But, to be honest, this thing is so sensitive to noise that I am curious how they managed it. On a clean PSU, however, it's amazing.
@@bsan354 thank you. Maybe I should be supporting YOUR Patreon.
What is the terrible high pitch whine or ringing?
The dreaded USB whine can be heard from USB power. Will this go away, if not passing audio through USB? Great synth, but I’m not interested if that noise is unavoidable.
It is but you need to make sure the power is from an isolated USB power source, rather than a power hub where you may also have other USB devices connected
there is no usb audio
very nice sounding synth for people looking for an a good price analog poly but not for me I got Juno’s deepminds and prophets
The thing I don't get with these non-infinite interface elements with shift function:
As I see it, either the knob/slider doesn't represent the value of at least one of the two settings (and one and of the spectrum can be unaccessable), or the two sttings can't be fully independent.
For example with sub and detune. Let's say I have the slider 50%, so the SUB level is corresponding to 50%. I go into shift mode, and push the slider to 80%, so DTN amount is corresponding to 80%. Then I exit shift mode. What value will the SUB level correspond to? Will it stay at 50%, so the slider's visual indication is off, or will it suddenly jump to 80%? What of I move it up by 5%? Will it trigger the SUB to move, so it will be just above 80% when I start moving, ending at 85%, or will it move relatively, ending at 55%? If the latter, then how can I go above 70%, if the slider caps (without going back to shift mode, and lowering the slider changing the DTN amount)?
I assume it’s a catch mode but this is my question too
for those wondering you can choose either jump/catch and they added scale in a recent update. The only way to have feedback is to hookup a software editor and the synth will feedback CC through USB.
Seems like you can get the same sound from the DeepMind and have an easier time of it.
With that logic you could make the sounds on a computer.
@@galifettetv1238 How so?
VCOs vs DCOs, also, tho’ …
Tonally, it sounds like an ARP 2600 to me.
19:45
how does this compare to the deepmind? redundant or a good compliment?
VCOs vs DCOs, for one thing …
@@kierenmoore3236
not what I asked, really.
Very cool but no effects? Damn. The Typhon is just outstanding BECAUSE of the superb fx.
BUT you can connect the nymphes to the typhon fx...
it sounds great, but this menu.... enough to stop me from getting one, im afraid. or, id simply not use much of those features.
Hi Nick - I bought this unit and I really love the sound but I'm getting a ton of ground noise that's impossible to deal with. Do you mind explaining how you're able to power this and not have any ground noise in your demo? Perhaps my unit is a little busted?
Make sure it has its own usb power source. Eg: not using a hub with other devices
How are you not hearing the usb whine in this video? It’s very prominent and is an instant dealbreaker for me.
What is the meaning of making always new small analog synth make new adventures like Soma do
soma don't do yet digitally controlled analog
@@mim9556 You can control the Pulsar 23 via midi clock and channel 1-4
@@DayflightTrok but it's much less "digitally controlled", and no presets. this one have almost 80 cc's and can modulate most parameters. they are both great
@@mim9556 yes that is correct
Why does it say "HPF" above the low-pass filter?
The shift functions are above, shift in that fader is the high pass cutoff.
This would be killer without all the annoying shift menu nonsense.
Plenty of wasted space on that panel.
sorry but this aint my taste in synthesizers, i like more sophisticated synths, and if i want something "simple" i take the Arturia products or something a little more featured, curently own the Korg Minilogue (1), happy with it i must say, it is great value for price only that i would pay a little more for 8 voices instead of 4
Sounds rich and great! But that clumsy, and to quite Nick "complex and convoluted", UI is awful. Why is 25% of the front panel taken up with the name/logo and space?! When its so compact every space should be utilised efficiently, much like the Volcas are. Typhon looks better for less.
Nick plz sell me your Radikal Technologies CEP :)
No way
Hmm. Sounds a bit harsh for analog.
Sounds like a lot of analog synth for the money. Shame about the UI.
Such an odd little thing. It sounds good, and the features seem okay, but the interface is one of the least intuitive I've ever seen.
How long have you had it? Nick seems to have it mastered in a short time.
@@marike1100 Nick felt the need to hook up an external controller to configure it. It was easier to assign midi CCs from other devices than it was to edit parameters natively. He had to keep the documentation nearby to look things up during use, and cut out a bunch of parts where he was editing sounds. He also mentioned repeatedly that the UI was obscure or compromised. Loopop wasn't able to operate it reliably either, even with the reference cards handy. It's not a good sign when experienced reviewers have difficulty.
@@ToyKeeper so you didn't seen much
@@mim9556 ... says the person whose account was born yesterday, to the embedded device interface designer and firmware engineer.
Even the founder of Dreadbox had difficulties with the Nymphes interface. He was tripping over it when he demoed his own product at trade shows.
It's a nice synth, but there are reasons why so many people have expressed concerns about the interface. The main point of using hardware synths is because they can provide a good interface with lots of hands-on controls. The point is that it's a tactile, playable instrument. Hardware is typically less powerful than software, and less convenient and more expensive, but that's okay because it has a much better interface. So it's very unusual when hardware makes interface sacrifices.
@@ToyKeeper first, i'm flattered you checked the age of my channel, yes, i just opened it, so? your point is that i'm one day old?
second, your "work" will never make you right. it's called authority biased and will only makes other think your point is not strong enough to defend.
third, yiannis said he was stressed in front of the camera at the show. have you ever been to this shows? you can barely hear yourself talk.
clearly it's a compromised programing and something new you need to learn, but i understand you didn't use it and got to know it in person. if you did you may learn it's a short learning curve, you get use to it after a couple of days.
anyway, my point was there are dozens of well known machines with a much stiffer learning curve and things you need to remember but people still use them just fine. if pressing a button and moving a knob twice is not intuitive enough, good luck programing any modern machines without a screen or any classic tr.
Awful interface. Hope they won't drop the ball on Abyss 2.
i think its cool but no where near as cool and weird as the Abyss.
not weird at all they don’t even try 😕
too expensive for too much compromises
under priced!
I think those high frequencies are from the Zoom processor. I returned mine because of this.