This would be an enhanced experience because fiddling with the sliders to get what I want isn’t that funny
Can confirm. The Lyra-8 sounds incredible through the Typhon… clearer, crisper, way more far out…
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A matter of preference, but certainly agree, pretty much enhanced, and it would make the Typhon more complete, especially since it fully unlocks the integration into DAW-based environments for production.
Hallo, i recently got a typhon and i really like it. I Just have one problem and i dont know if there is a solution. I Am Playing with a MC 707 as a host and wanted to control the typhon via midi. i picked the typhon also because of the sequencer… sometimes i have to change the mc707 files during live performance and i wanted to use typhon also to play sequences while loading another file in the mc 707.
My Problem is that if i set the typhons midi clock to external it properly receives the midi clock and sync the sequencer. If the mc 707 is not playing i cant use the sequencer because it is waiting for external midi information. There is no auto midi clock function in the typhon… do you have an idea how i can solve this? Or is it just like this and i can do nothing? thx a lot
I’m not sure you can do that - the Typhon’s MIDI sequencer works by synching it’s transport to the transport of the host (master) device; in your case the MC707. When that stops, it sends a signal to stop down the MIDI chain to everything. I don’t have the manual in front of me but maybe you can change the Typhon receiving transport from the 707 and that might fix the problem. But if you can’t adjust the transport, then it isn’t possible. On most modern stuff transport is a different option than MIDI note receive.
OK this might seem like an odd comparison, but I’m close to finishing my search for a small monosynth by buying either a Typhon or AS-1. I currently have a pro-3. However, it takes up too much space, and it hurts my arms to use (because the knobs are too stiff and I’ve got perpetual arm issues).
On the Pro-3, I don’t use the sequencer or the ladder filter, and I rarely use the wavetable oscillator as an osc. I also rarely use the distortion because the music that I make just isn’t that dirty, and the filter can be too harsh/aggressive at times.
I do use the 3 LFOs, and I find the destinations and source button workflow to be amazing, but most things don’t have that. Paraphonic mode is cool for some weird stuff, but something I can live without. Patch memory is basically mandatory.
The Typhon looks extremely interesting and it sounds phenomenal. I’ve listened to quite a few demos as well as tracks posted here, and I have loved most of what I’ve heard. Given what I have noted above what annoyances might I run into with a Typhon? My only real concern offhand is that the AS-1 does better acid bass, but that’s by no means a dealbreaker.
Ha, I actually just sold a Typhon, and I’m saving the money I made from it to put toward a Pro 3.
I haven’t used a Pro 3, but in terms of both build quality and user experience, I imagine it’s going to feel somewhat like going from a Mercedes to a Subaru. Minor annoyances that I ran into with my Typhon:
- I think claims of Typhon being “menu divey” are overblown, the menus are not deep or complicated at all. But still not as direct as what I’ve seen from Pro 3 videos. For example, you have to repeatedly click a button to select the different modulators and effects.
- It’s a tad annoying to try to figure out what destinations your modulators are modulating, because you literally just have to scroll through all destinations for each modulator to see which are set to a nonzero value.
- I don’t love that it’s USB-powered. Yes, it makes the synth portable, but the noise is real, so you have to either get the adapter that eliminates the noise, or use a dedicated power supply. I used a rechargeable power bank.
- I use my synths in a relatively cool environment, and in the cooler temperature the Typhon body would bend just enough to cause it to wobble on a hard surface. I solved this by using it on a thin neoprene mouse pad. Note that it bent itself back to its original non-wobbling shape when I brought it back to room temperature.
- No power switch? Just feels a little cheap.
As you can see, all of my complaints are just about the user experience and the physical case. The Typhon has an incredible analogue sound, and the effects are fantastic, I loved the central dial that adjusts the shape of the two oscillators (kind of an unfamiliar design, but it works), and the knobs feel great to turn. My first synth was a Microfreak, but I later felt it should have been a Typhon, and I continue to recommend Typhon to anyone. As long as you don’t bring any Pro 3 assumptions with you, I think you’re going to love it.
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I still have my Typhon. It has some annoyances, but it sounds great and is very flexible. I have thought about selling it but I am keeping it for now. I think crash did a really good breakdown above.
The power switch thing annoys me all the more because Dreadbox lectures you in the manual about how you shouldn’t leave electronic devices on. None of my other device manuals lecture me like this. All of my other devices have power switches which make it easy to switch them off.
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Yeah, the diving doesn’t look too bad. Very few synths with a ton of controls will be as immediate as the Pro-3 though, so I’ve kinda made peace with that. Good to know about the having to scroll through the destinations. I don’t tend to make super complicated patches when I’m actually making music though, so that might not be too big an issue. Or I’m underestimating it, ha.
This might be my biggest concern. I was hoping to use my Arturia usb ground-loop adapter but people upthread said it doesn’t work properly with this.
Honestly my Elektron boxes and MPC do this too, so it’s not a huge concern, but I could see how it’d be annoying!
Thankfully I power most of my stuff with a power strip, so that’s not a huge issue, although it is annoying.
Thanks for the rundown! This was helpful and gave me more to think about.
Exactly, we’re comparing a synth with a handful of sliders and knobs with a big panel with dozens of inputs.
I don’t think it will be an issue. You use the menus to set up the patches, but you use knobs and/or external MIDI controller (for mod wheel etc) to perform the modulations live. It’s pretty configurable.
It’s probably not a very high-quality product, but I used this power bank with 4 USB-A outs for thirty bucks on Amazon. The ground loop adapter sounds like a better solution if it worked, but I never tried one.
One thing you will want to be careful to always do is turn down the volume on the Typhon, or always turn your mixer/speakers on after turning on the Typhon. I think the user manual even warns you about this: the Typhon has a pretty loud audible pop when it powers on (and possibly off). I forgot about this, just another minor annoyance for your list. Like all of these, it wouldn’t stop me from getting a Typhon, but they’re things that are good to keep in mind.
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I always turn gear on in leaf-to-root order, so I haven’t verified it myself, but it looks like the startup pop was fixed in the v4.1 update.
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Maybe. I vaguely remember hearing it once when I forgot to turn the volume down, and I’m pretty sure I was on the latest firmware. In any case, it’s easily worked-around. 
This is the way, always.
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Interesting: I have trouble tricking my mind that leaves are not the speakers.
I mean, sound flows from hardware (in my mind, the root of the sound) to speakers, I power on following the sound path…
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This is awesome.
Thank you a lot for your work!
Would you put your source code on GitHub?
For some reason, I’d love the sliders to be vertical ^^
just remember, the speakers are the flower because from there comes the beauty of sound - no offense to the also wonderful leaves however.
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Hey! Thank you for the kind words. Code and the site are all hosted on Github, just need to swap some things around in the URL. Maybe I should add a direct link to the repo too.
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Cool, thank you very much!
No idea what is MICI — should have been MIDI CC Out . . .
I thought this was already the case:
Firmware V4.1
2. MIDI over USB
– Typhon gets recognised as a MIDI/USB device and can now send and receive MIDI messages from a Computer. This feature can work in parallel to the DIN5 MIDI and the user can select the port configurations from the global settings.
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