Cool, thanks for tip… maybe worth getting only because of this.
Still prefer Ableton Push do same…
Yes, the Behringer Pro-1 and Moog Matriarch have drone switches. No comment on whether you ought to get either one or not.
Yeah sure, almost all analog synths have kind of hold / latch mode, and almost all midi synths understand sustain pedal command, but here we got something particular: ability to visualize latched notes on Medusas grid pads and turn them on and off, also with 2x paraphonic modes we’ve got very interesting voice allocation system and you can play with in a very creative way, while assigning different sound to each voice…
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Neither the Pro-1 nor the Matriarch have lights or anything that turn on to show you what note is playing - that much is true.
I’ve always thought Medusa is a fine product, with features unique to it.
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It is without doubts quite interesting, but I can imagine a kind of Medusa «PRO» or mkII
First fix a few annoying things of mkI:
- Free assignable mode for ENV 4 and 5
- Negative values on ENV
- Modulation Matrix
- More Mod Destinations ( i.e. ability to modulate ENV parameters )
- Oscillators as Modulation sources
- Ability to set the step duration for each step (like mixed sequences of 16th, 32th, 1/12, 1/1 steps etc… )
- Ability to set seq start point the same way as we set end point now
- Maybe wavetable select knob on the face panel and custom user wavetables support
After this done, real fun starts:
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4 independent parts / 4 Medusa synths in one box, all can be played in sync or completely independent.
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2x digital EFX per part, better with performance knobs on the face (distortions and bit crushers, some spectral resonators, weird delays like old tape machines, EQ an Valhalla type of reverbs )
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2-3 more analog filter types to choose from! Like Original + Ladder + Polyvox. Original filter is special but far from being ideal : )
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And finally 4 voice poly mode
This could be really something powerful enough to say “yeah, now it is a serious tool and completely out of this world”, “massive drone station”, “nothing like this ever existed”. Without doubts I would get one even if the price will be over 2K. After some communication with Polyend I doubt they’re brave enough to make it. They seems only care about selling more, keep the business more simple and don’t get into risks, it’s understandable, but…
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have you given Piotr a gander at your list I would love to know what his response was?
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Not yet, but I will. Also interested in what they/he say with all their background and experience in synth manufacturing. Probably a thing for private only communication. And I wonder how far is this concept from “reality of today market”.
Based on my communication in the past I think even Medusa were too strange for this world, and not the biggest success / love for both Polyend and Dreadbox. And that’s a shame, since it is quite really unique and promising as a concept. I’ve sent some requests and ideas to Polyend since last 2 years, never got a honest reply, but what I learned is that they’re trying to make things now as small and portable, as cheap, as “toyish” as possible, as more “standard” and “targeted” since it’s easier to sell more of such a things and move forward to the “same but slightly different concept they will release, sell, forget”.
Can’t blame them, but it kills the pioneering spirit.
In my opinion they’ve been pretty innovative on all of their outings , I think when medusa was first released that everyone thought it would sound creamy like the Erebus and be controlled in unique ways via polyend so it came out sounding a little more original then folks expected but it’s still being used by professionals on professional recordings, and the Polyend tracker is too… I was critical of the medusa in it’s early days so I know Polyend isn’t perfect but man am I glad to have them out there developing instruments and unlike some of these devs wasting the covid downtime polyend has been putting in work… I appreciate that.
Some Medusa fun from me for you today 
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Nice sounds!
Quick question for you-- can the velocity on the pads be mapped to anything other than volume? I’m looking for filter cutoff or even something fancy like LFO depth control.
I’ve been scouring the internet for an answer but am coming up short! The official manual has nothing on modulation sources other than LFOs and ENVs.
Thanks!
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The Hydrasynth has a really great, straightforward Latch mode that can either function as a sustain (where you manually toggle notes on and off) or a drone mode where incoming notes automatically turn off previously held notes. No visual feedback like the Medusa apparently has though, which is why I prefer the latter function.
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Not internally, no. Of course, externally, velocity can be set to control many things inside a DAW or well-featured synth. But velocity is tied to note velocity on Medusa – however, you can configure the Z plane (basically pad pressure like aftertouch) to things like the cutoff frequency and many others.
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Ah, so unfortunate… and kind of a head scratcher with all the modulation options on this thing.
Anyways, thanks for the quick reply!
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Like Craig said nothing exept volume can be affected to velocity but the pads have aftertouch / X / Y modulations possible so it’s pretty easy to come up with something similar I think. By the way I hate the velocity on this thing hahaha
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Yeah its kind of a deal breaker for me. Why do you hate the velocity? Bad sensitivity or…?
It has a very weird curve. But I LOVE all the other features of the grid tho !
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So I can’t record the velocity of a step in rec mode? Anyone thinks there will be more firmware goodness coming from Polyend ? Seems like it’s been a while!
There’re looking for beta testers on their Facebook page so i guess more updates are coming…
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Really! Where?? I want to beta test 
Check the Facebook users group of the medusa i’ve seen a post yestersay or the day before…