Sujet Commentaires sur le test : Deep Impact

Au passage si je puis me permettre, le Juno-106 est précisément un exemple de synthé d'une part qui sonne moins épais que le 6/60, lesquels ne sonnent spécialement pas très gras du tout sans le chorus et le sub. En revanche ils ont un grain charmant et c'est plutôt cela qui est prisé que leur fatness.

pardon d'être sourd à la propagande de la "coolitude"...

Allow me to share some thoughts around the DeepMind12.

It has now become the world’s bestselling synthesizer and it is considered innovative.

However we haven’t really invented anything. We certainly didn’t invent synthesizers, nor resistors, semiconductors or PCB’s and we also didn’t invent power supplies and keybeds etc. We didn’t invent DSPs, microprocessors and we didn’t invent software. We didn’t invent anything here that could lead to a patent.

The concept of subtractive synthesis and combining VCO’s, VCF’s and VCA’s is as exciting as vacuum tubes. In fact there is practically no more new technology in the synthesizer space and all patents from the 60’s and 70’s have long expired.

In short, we simply used standard parts and technology that is available to everyone.

However we believe that we are the first company to design a synthesizer which includes 4 high-end FX processors that can be fully modulated, a modulation matrix with 140 destinations, built-in Wifi that allows full wireless remote control through App's and last but not least a user interface that can be controlled through virtual reality glasses.

On the hardware side we managed to pack around 4,000 components into an extreme compact space which resulted in highly dense and complex 6-layer PCB’s, we overcame challenging thermal and EMC issues and applied clever DFM (design for manufacturing) technology to enable automation and keep manufacturing cost low.
We also designed our own keybed and used our buying power to purchase first class components from Analog Devices, Xmos, etc. in high volume to keep cost down and guarantee high reliability.
We decided to use a rigid metal chassis and an internal power supply because we wanted to create a solid and professional instrument for our customers.

Sounds easy?

The real creativity lies in the user interface and the software that runs this instrument. It took our best Midas engineers more than 2 years to write huge amount of code to create a highly complex 12-voice analog synthesizer that sounds great, combines the best of analog and digital technology and has an architecture that can manage the challenging thermal drift of thousands of analog components. With it came a highly complex and precise calibration procedure.

We invested very serious money into the development and while we could have decided to sell the synth at a much higher price, it was our goal to make it affordable so people could own it which is in line with our belief to empower musicians.

We knew that we wouldn’t be making money for a considerable amount of time and also only if we could sell ten-thousands of units.
Frankly, we took a risky decision by offering the DeepMind12 at US$ 1,000 but we believed in the success of the synthesizer and luckily it has paid off and also way better than we ever dreamed of.
We now have so much technology and experience on hand that we can spin it off into the large range of 20 synths we’re working on.

We pride ourselves that we always carefully listen to our customers and while people request flagship products like the DeepMind12, for many US$ 1,000 is still too much money and that's understandable.

Hence we are also focusing on much simpler and cost effective products. We have set ourselves the goal to offer a US$ 49 fully analog synth that kids can have fun with and learn from.
Unlike the DeepMind12, the challenge here is not the technology but the design to cost process.
How do you make a fun and great sounding little analog synth for US$ 49? While very different, we also love these challenges. This is a very exciting project and we have some cool ideas

With the DeepMind12 we once again didn’t invent anything that cannot be replicated. Anyone can reverse engineer our product and make a clone which would be perfectly fine.

Provided people don’t use our protected trademarks and software, everyone is free to use whatever they can find in the DeepMind12. And a competitor has already opened one and posted pictures.

Uli