You could 3D print a button grid mold, and then cast it with your favorite low adhesive 3M silicon sealant. A jig for suspending the electrical contacts in the setting goo is probably necessary. The end result won’t be as nice as a commercially made grid, but should be good enough to prove that replacements can be made indefinitely. Then go try to source the material that is used commercially, and flow that into your molds.
At least in the Push 2 the buttons sheet and the resistive sheet are two separate pieces and parts. Getting them made in small quantities isn’t too hard, it is getting them made well that is more challenging. I suppose you could make a mold off the old part, but the CAD for it would be better.
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I know I could replace them. I could even design a mold if I really needed to (I have calipers and CAD skills). It’s more that I don’t want to have to do that.
Who knows? I might change my mind eventually but it’s a little off putting for now, even if a bit irrational.
So I’m thinking of maybe getting one of these, but I’m really not sure about the sound. I swear every demo I can find of it sounds… well it sounds like Pigments. It’s probably a combination of the presets being made by some of the same people, and the FX sharing a lot of the same code.
Anyone have any original patches that don’t just sound like the same old saw swells? I’m really keen on the interface and all the crazy modulation options on this thing, but it just sounds so overproduced in all these presets. I have a feeling its due to overuse of the FX but not sure.
Edit: found a few demos more to my liking, especially the videos by @jayhosking . I don’t even dislike synth swells but I just felt like all the demo videos were these big Vangelis pads and it was really hard to get an idea of what the core sound of the synth was. I took a chance on one and I’ll let you guys know how I feel about it real soon!
It’s one of my favourites for just sitting down, initializing, and seeing where your explorations lead you. I really like it. Best of luck!
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I’m wondering if there is a way to manually pan the synth. The manual describes ‘voice pan’ as a hidden matrix destination. Would this allow you to set the whole thing hard left or right?
If so you could create a ‘Super 3’, by layering side A and side B. I feel like it’s probably just a standard ‘pan spread’ type control, which would be a shame. I’ll probably send them a feature request if that’s the case.
Edit 2: Nevermind, I thought this through a bit more. You can send both oscs to filter 1 on A and filter 2 on B. You can change lfo 1s phase on B and get the exact same binaural effect as on the UDO Super 6.
You could also use this for a split mode where the accompaniment is more panned to the left and the melody to the right, somewhat like a piano.
The filters will sound somewhat different but that’s the main downside. I’d still like an actual pan, but you can get pretty far with what’s on offer.
If I didn’t get a hold of the Moog Sub Phatty and wasn’t a total 80’s kid as my second musical memory was jump. I would want this synth for it’s raw and pure synth quality as I was ecstatic after owning the Minibrute to imagine what they would do with a poly version.
But I will be getting that OB-6 instead if I spend that kind of money on a poly. But this synth kills your doubts and expectations from everything I’ve heard. Would love to play it as I was surprised at how much I enjoyed just the playing of a good synth and I was hooked on the sub phatty and OB-6 when I played them for the first time at sweetwater.
Totally valid. I think at this price point a lot of people stop caring about list of features, and just go for whatever thing sounds special to them. I’m more of a sound explorer. The Polybrute excites me cause you can do crazy stuff with it like this
Same channel has some lovely patches up too:
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Ben Jordan creates some nice sounds. He’s a legit virtuoso and loves the polybrute.
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That video is actually what put me off the Polybrute, and I say that as someone who’s a fan of a lot of Benns work. All of it is so drenched in reverb. I much prefer a dryer sound myself.
It’s a thing Nick actually notes in one of the sonic state podcast episodes. The Polybrute design kind of steers you towards using lots of reverb and delay, but he says it kind of muffles the core sound of the synth and I’d agree with him based on what I’ve heard.
This thing is MASSIVE. The grid of buttons is much firmer than I anticipated (I was fearing squishy and wobbly), the knobs have a nice feel to them and the touchstrip and morphee feel really responsive. The keys are alright, though I wish they were slightly heavier action like on the Matriarch.
The sound then. I immediately noticed when skimming the presets how well it does bass sounds. It honestly does bass better than many analog monos I’ve had over the years. It’s overall tone is bright and it’s a pretty full sound unless you start trimming it with the filters. It’s very pleasing standalone but I do wonder how well it’ll sit in a mix.
Then there’s the FX I wasn’t keen on in demos. I think they’re very high quality but they certainly take away from the character. For my taste you gotta keep it dialed in below 10 'o clock, especially the reverbs.
Here’s the first sound I made, no FX
Here it is with reverb and delay send at 12 'o clock.
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This might very well be my favourite synthesizer I’ve owned. Where it really shines is in the interaction between its various components. I feel like unexpected things keep happening while I program it. The raw sound isn’t quite as magical as a Matriarch or OB-6, but programming it certainly feels magical. Weird things just fall out of this synth. Just playing with the filters leads to all sorts of strange rhythmic effects or ghost notes. Here’s some cool sounds I got so far.
Some negativity to balance things out:
- The combination of settings + knob wiggle, A/B layer and patch memory make it so that your knobs are out of position more often than on other synths I’ve used.
- Keybed is ‘okay’, but okay feels pretty cheap in this price bracket. It’s a little strange that a synth with so many control surfaces has a pretty mediocre keybed of all things. It’s also got relatively big gaps between the white and black keys so it’s easy for dust and dirt to get inside.
- I had it randomly revert to Firmware 0.2, which made it unable to boot. Hooking it up to a computer with Polybrute connect allows you to install the latest firmware. No clue how something like that can happen.
- Polybrute Connect isn’t worth the hassle.
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PB V2
SonicState does a discussion with Seb about the Version 2 PolyBrute Firmware, and then Nick does a short Friday Fun using the new features afterwards.
The chord entry gets explained, as well as the duophonic aftertouch, the new LFO, the new effects, and analogue accuracy. ADDED : Oh yeah, not to forget the improvements to the parameter displays.
27 minutes long
ADDED : The Ensemble Effect, is nice.
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I got the Polybrute on Friday and so far really really like it… actually, the presets are really hyped and 99% over complicated, but stripping back to basics and building from inits, I love it.
Question- is it possible to dim the bright white panel lights?? Is it just me? Or are they blinding?? I was trying to use it in low mood lighting last night and found it nearly impossible to tell which LFO wave shape I had selected.
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Pretty sure there’s a dim setting for the OLED, not sure about the LEDs.
I’ve just scrolled the manual and didn’t see anything about this.
Ah well, I might have to get some tape to dull down the main offenders.
Hopefully they can address it in a future fw update…
Happened upon this nifty little Polybrute drum jam… is anyone else interested in attempting some kind of experimental percussive sequence as a mini challenge? Polybrute doin her thing ð - YouTube
I’m currently in honeymoon mode with my PB.
I’ve just tried to recreate a Bass patch that I use a lot on my Moog Sub37, it’s a square wave octave with pwm loosely based on Roygbiv by BoC.
I feel like I’ve got the PB sounding quite close.
If anyone would care to hear/try my Sub37-esque PB preset for themselves and give me feedback, or just if you want to use it, that would be cool.
You need to load it in via the PolyBrute Connect app;
PolyBrute Connect_Preset_CC SUB37 SqBass_20220221_17h22.pbx (25.2 KB)
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I don’t suppose you have an audio file? I don’t have a polybrute, but I would be interested to hear how it stacks up against the Sub’s.
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