Hey, everyone, I’ll be curious to hear your opinions on the continuum mini.
I’m on the fence really.
The half size version would probably be the best choice but I’ll have to sell almost every piece of gear I have to fund it…
(Maybe I should have a talk with my wife about selling the kids this evening, I’ll keep that in mind…)
All in all, for those who own a mini, is it worth it ?
I’m a bit afraid of the 2 notes only control surface…
Do you find it easy to grasp despite the small playing area ?
Does any of you use it fully standalone ( ie: “Look mom”,no computer ) with other gear ?
I suppose I could hook up a bome box as usb to midi and midi to usb interface and go with a linnstrument 128 to get the whole 8 notes polyphony and control fully standalone ?
( All the video I watched until now involves a computer )
Does any of you have some exemples of full performances with it ?
I’ll be also interested in sounds from the Eagan Matrix that wouldn’t be “real instruments” sims, like big fm weirdness or Synthetic percs you would have programmed yourself because in all the videos I watched, only the “carefully programmed factory patches” are played…
FWIW a friend of mine tried the mini and the real thing. The former didn’t convince him at all…
The technology is not the same, so when you push in the middle the response is not really the same as on the sides, he told me.
Was in the same boat but only could afford a mini. I was after the sounds of the Eagan matrix and I am not a keys player so I think the mini is enough for me. I tend to play it with a sustain pedal controlling sostenuto. This way I can hold the root note and play on top. Often enough for my needs. The new slim ones look amazing though…
Pros :
Incredibly sensible instrument, really a joy to play multiples glissandi at the same time etc…
Chords are a permanent joy, the slightest modification of pressure in each finger makes each note taking the lead when you want. Gliss one finger half a tone and get really dramatic but seamless scale morphing…
Discovering “how to play” patches is almost as important as finding/building a good one ! Be ready to learn a new instrument with each patch !
Can really open and enhance your play even if you are, like me a mediocre player !
Non discrete pitches are awesome and lead to really interesting ever moving unstable notes.
Cons :
Workflow on the eagan matrix and constraints on the hardware are somewhat a bit outdated. Seems a bit like “devs for devs” !
( with the osmose coming I hope some fresh air in the engine )
Programming the eagan matrix is really tedious, absolutely not intuitive, you really need to learn a new way of thinking.
Fixed midi channels ! Fixed midi channels ! Fixed midi channels ! Fixed midi channels ! Fixed midi channels !
You can only handle, 16 custom presets at the same time. A split will eat two of them. Add a midi split on top and 3 are gone…( This will change soon apparently… ) Be ready to learn a new instrument with each patch !
The community is nice but you won’t get much help ( except from Lippold himself ) for complex programming. Most of them I suppose, are playing classical pieces using almost presets only…( No offense meant !)
All in all it’s really something unique and I do not regret going all in. I really expect that things will move with the upcoming osmose because it will bring in the community a flood of new younger users that will push things forward !
I’m not sure if the actual community is ready to handle facebook posts like :
“Eagan matrix is bugged, I cannot load it as a vst in my cracked ableton ?”
or
" How do you control Eagan matrix with Maschine ? "
Truth is, they will get those questions soon !
All this post is to be taken with a grain of salt because I’m learning my way around both the continuum and the Matrix, I may have not discovered yet how to achieve certain things and may be mistaking on others…
I used to think I knew a thing or two about synthesis. And then I fired up the Eagan Matrix and realized that I was woefully mistaken. After many years, I’m still just kinda poking around in the dark with that thing. On the other hand, it is lovely that it doesn’t follow the same old paths. But yeah, it is a bit of a brain boggler. Edmund Eagan has been quite helpful when I’ve gotten stuck, though.
Between the Eagan Matirx and Kyma, I have come to regret playing truant during all of those math and algebra classes as a kid…
Oh you want to know if there were updates to the firmware. I believe the update history is here - the latest being March 2021
This new firmware release is for all Continuums with DSP engines (both classic action and light action) and for all ContinuuMinis. There are many new System Presets for the Continuum and ContinuuMini since the last release for the Continuum, version 9. This brings the total number of Presets available to nearly 600.
The Editor has a new look and layout; learn about it in the new Continuum User Guide and EaganMatrix User Guide included in the download. Here are a few highlights:
The Editor has three Themes/Skins; the “Dark” theme is default; in Midi and Global Settings you can also select the “Light” or “Neon” theme.
The EaganMatrix and System Presets share the same area; click on the red text “System Presets” to toggle to “EaganMatrix” display.
Overcrowding of controls has been alleviated using Control 1, Control 2, and Control 3 displays, selectable by radio button at center left.
For 2x and 6x systems, there are now 128 User Preset Slots, 16 are shown in the Editor at a time.
New Tilt EQ controls.
New “Pre” and “Post” Level controls.
New BiqBank and SineBank properties and capabilities.
Jenny Oscillator is now a choice in the Osc/Filt portion of the Matrix.
This public beta series is paving the path to an eventual Version 10 release, which will coincide with the release of Expressive E’s Osmose keyboard, a keyboard that includes the Haken Audio EaganMatrix sound engine. This firmware version is stable for general use, however we plan to add new features along the path to Version 10.
The semiconductor shortage is continuing to make things difficult for us building ContinuuMinis - we are paying over 10 times original price for some of the parts. We will have to raise the price on Minis after the current run is sold out due to our substantial increased costs for chips; the cost of assembled Mini PCBs has more than doubled. Also, we have run into a neoprene shortage. ContinuuMinis are now shipping with black or red playing surface, whichever neoprene we can get.
That sucks. I bought mine like a year ago already worried they’d be sold out shortly or a price increase. Last I checked they still had some in stock on their website. I can’t say it’s worth it or not for someone else but I will say I didn’t really touch mine much since I bought it up until a few months ago, now I am finding it to be such a joy inducing, relaxing instrument despite a great deal of learning curve in regards to learning to play it and the comment about learning to play each patch as if it’s a new instrument is very much my experience. I also have resigned myself to not mess with the editor which is freeing in a way although I might reconsider that just in regards to toning down the ping pong delay that happens to be on many of the patches I currently spend time with.
Continuum is still one the most inspiring instruments I have ever touched. I am patiently awaiting the I/O board upgrade for the older models to become available, and hoping to get a Slim Continuum in the next year.
Is it possible to tinker with presets and make new patches in a somewhat straight forward manner, or does it really require quantum physics level understanding? I’m willing to deep dive, but only if it doesn’t take 10 hours to design a patch!
It might take ten hours to get your head around the synthesis at first, but once you understand it, you can make patches pretty easily. But it is, admittedly not a typical synthesizer, nor a typical patching interface. Entering a formula bears little resemblance to wiggling a slider. I’ve been patching synthesizers for over 40 years and this one still leaves me scratching my head at times. I’ve rewatched the videos here multiple times:
