That’s a much better and succinct summary than I could manage!!!
I always wondered why Time is a factor.
I guess it comes into play when you have say a couple of hours to work on something and one of those is taken up by endlessly tweaking something to get it sitting right, then it becomes less productive overall compared to something that is loaded with sweet spots and takes less than 15 mins to get sounding just right. It’s about moving on fast. My best stuff always happens quickly.
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The Cobalt fits this workflow really nicely. Couldn’t get my head around the UI completely, but good sounds just fell out of it really easy
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Moving back onto the topic at hand, I contacted Modal today to ask if the Cobalt8 and Argon8 would ever get musical scales such as placing the harmonic minor scale across the white keys, for example. The answer is a firm no.
Learning a new device takes time but after a while, you get much faster.
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HS has an incredibly flexible set of scaling parameters, kind of unbelievable, especially with the most recent firmware upgrade.
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Yes, it’s one of the big draws for me, especially with the desktop version. Another plus for the CraftSynth 2.0 too.
Fast but more limited: Cobalt.
Pretty darn fast for getting what you really want: HS.
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Octave mode on the HS desktop is keen.
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Fuck it. I’m going to get the Cobalt8. It just sounds so instantly meaty in the low end and fizzy in the high end from all the videos I’ve watched. I have plenty of madness (and much needed distortion) on tap with Octatrack.
Anyone with a Cobalt8 or Cobalt8X for sale, HMU 
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I need the keys, I think. This is to last me as my main synth for 2022, so I might as well have the option of not pressing Octatrack buttons.
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Just ordered the X. Found a price that I couldn’t pass up on a new one, and figured my Argon8m would be cool with it 
Had to sell an item for it, but I think it’s worth it. I don’t have any keys right now, so having a 61 key will be nice.
Not sure I’ll still need it when I get the Hydra Deluxe, but I’m not planning to het that for a few months anyway. Maybe the Cobalt will go to my daughter when that happens.
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Do the cobalt/argon have a sequencer?
Nice. You can put the M on top of the X if it isn’t too long for the shelf. I thought about an X with an Octatrack on the shelf but it sadly won’t quite fit.
Yes. 64 steps and up to 512 notes in total (up to 8 notes per step). And an arp sequencer too.
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Not sure if this matters to anyone outside the US, but I just noticed two days ago that Sweetwater had $100 off deal for all Cobalt8 and Argon8 synths.
I wanna be able to do this (not the music but the playing):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWEB_CEJyvA&list=PLmOglXEVSdRIprEYn1Y2qal60KcG4dU0A&index=7
That’s actually how I got my Argon8m.
However, I got the Carbon8x for $749 brand new elsewhere. I’ll have to look up where that was as it was a new from shop ebay listing.
I’ve had the Cobalt8M for a couple of weeks now and I’ve been using it daily (often for hours at a time), so here are some thoughts on what I think of the synth for those considering it:
I went for the desktop M version in the end after mentally flip-flopping between it and the regular 3-octave keyboard version for a few weeks. The main reason was simply to save space, and also the fact that I prefer to play basic things or program them in the Octatrack rather than play keys.
As you can see, it’s just slightly wider than an Octatrack. The knobs are spaced nicely on the smaller M version, and I like the use of clicky encoders to switch between the two oscillators, LFOs, FX, and envelopes, as well as Page and Preset/Edit confirmations. You can kinda see how much crisper the screen is from all angles compared to the older Elektrons, too. The brightness of the screen and LEDs are on their minimum settings, so I would like if it could go even duller than this, but I’m not expecting that to happen. However, I just love the look of the synth overall and the digital encoders (while offering next to no resistance) react well and are nice to use. The joystick is wobbly in its default position, but it is absolutely fine in use, with detents to keep it in line in both the X and Y directions.
Things I LOVE about this synth:
- The range of algorithms for the two oscillators (which each reproduce the sound of up to 8 oscillators per voice) is amazing. And without any patching or assigning this to this, it’s dead simple to switch between regular ‘analog’ waveforms and anything from bitcrushed variants, FM, RM, AM, PWM (not limited to square waveforms either), detuned, fractal, wavefolding, sync, window sync, noise, and something they call chaos, etc etc. Also, all of these types of synthesis can be called up instantly. No patching required. The only downside is that the algorithm knob cannot be modulated, but that would probably sound horrific anyway.
- Being able to flip through mono, poly, 2-, 4-, or 8-voice unison, and two stack modes that provide limited polyphonic unison sounds is very versatile.
- The drift function works well for some additional analog flavour (randomly detuning oscillators, but not the envelopes or filter Prophet-5-style as far as I can tell) – I tend to keep this in the lower to middle range. Plus, the width setting can provide a decent spread of all the voices randomly being placed across the stereo field from subtle to hard left and right.
- There’s a neat chord inversion algorithm that adds notes based on played notes, such as octaves, etc, but these are only added to upper octaves, not to lower ones for some reason.
- The 2 polyphonic LFOs and one monophonic LFO are excellent for giving movement to any given patch, and the polyphonic glide also produces some interesting results. More LFOs would be welcome, tho, with the same being true of mod slots overall!
- I haven’t explored the sequencer and arp too much but from what I did experience of them, they were surprisingly well-featured, though it would be nice to lock notes to a scale.
- The filter is tame (more on that below) but being able to modulate the cutoff, resonance, and morph parameters can create some constantly shifting timbres that are perfect for ambient music. The different modes are useful too, but I tend to only use the balanced phase (think double notch) mode the most, then use the Octatrack for more resonant high- and low-pass filtering duties.
- The amp, filter, and mod envelopes are basic bread and butter ADSR affairs but the ability to switch the algorithms to longer or snappier (or from exponential to linear) does add to the possibilities. I haven’t tried designing any drum sounds, yet tho, so can’t I comment there.
- Finally, I just love the overall sound of the synth. It really is close to analog in the more basic algorithms but it can do so much more than a traditional analog synth just because of the crazier almost wavetable-esque algorithms in there – an advantage of everything being digitally generated, I guess. It sounds fat, warm, fizzy in equal measure. It reminds me of a Nord Lead 2X that I used to have in many respects. So, I can see this synth being with me for a long time!
Things I DON’T LOVE (but also don’t hate either) about this synth:
- The filter doesn’t set the world on fire. It won’t self-oscillate or scream like other filters I’ve used. Therefore, I tend to use it for simply cutting frequencies I don’t want or to add movement with the balanced phase mode. I guess the filter is more utilitarian rather than dramatic.
- The output volume is very polite. It is near enough impossible to clip the Octatrack inputs (and I’ve tried). I have every patch on a gain setting of 200 (the max), the volume up full, and I use the saturate mode but still the signal going into the Octatrack is far from optimal gain-wise.
- Related to the overall low volume, there are some shifts in volume that could do with ironing out. For example, going from a basic sound to a spread version results in a volume drop. This makes sense as oscillators phase each other out , etc, but it would be nice to compensate for this.
- I’ve not explored them too much, but my first impression of the FX is not great. Engaging them also results in one of those annoying volume drops. The FX are serviceable for basic things, but like the filter, they never get into crazy territory. Also, it says something that I far prefer OT’s FX, which many people absolutely hate. But I guess, I love lo-fi grit over pristine algorithms.
So, that’s everything I wanted to mention. It’s a keeper one way or another seeing as I’m doing the No New Gear challenge in 2022. But I can see myself having so much to explore with the oscillator algorithms alone that I am really happy with my purchase – the algorithms are the main USP here!
Edit: I forgot to mention the Modal App. It’s great! Really useful for patch management, assigning modulation, and diving into midi settings, etc. One thing I learnt the hard way – don’t load the app after working on a patch stand-alone (at least without saving first) because all your hard work will instantly disappear!
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