OTO Biscuit

I emailed again recently but didn’t get a response . I expect Covid has slowed it up some more too. I’ve got cash set aside for the preorder on this in anticipation .

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How much did the biscuit originally sell for? Do people still use these? They seem so revered and sought after but I barely ever see them in peoples videos or workflows.

The Softube plugin is currently on sale for $100.

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Am I understanding correctly that it requires iLok?

415€, yes, there probably weren’t too many made!

Just under 2,000 as per Denis’ comment on this thread.

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Highly recommended as a partner for a digital drum machine like the Machinedrum.

There is also the Der Oto OS which turns the Biscuit into an 8-Bit monosynth. Developed with Émilie / Mutable Instruments. (You can pick between Biscuit or Der Oto modes when powering on)

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Not sure, I don’t own it.

I had no idea! Is there info about the collab?

Probably more “with assistance / input” then full collab? I don’t know. You would have to check with Denis and/or Émilie.

Matrix Synth: MATRIXSYNTH: An Interview with Denis Cazajeux of OTO Machines

I was in touch with Olivier Gillet, creator of the Shruthi-1 monosynth (http://mutable-instruments.net/). I listened to the Shruthi demos and found that the sound was very impressive for a simple 8-bit monosynth. It was, like Biscuit, 8-bit processing, conversion to analog and an analog filter. Olivier helped me to include band-limited waveforms (Saw and Square) with octave crossfading, FM synthesis and pitch modulation into Biscuit’s hardware. He’s a brilliant guy, and has a strong knowledge of synthesis and microcontroller programming. It’s funny anyway because in the end I added the first raw waveforms to the band-limited ones, to give the choice between a full spectrum playability and a bassy and dirty sound. Dirtiness is useful sometimes!"

Comment from Émilie about the Der Oto Review in Sound on Sound

Hey people, it’s not like I wrote the firmware for this thing. I walked Denis through the Shruthi-1 codebase explaining him exactly (at the line of code scope) how certain things were done; and wrote data + pseudo code for the wave generation aspect. The “Der Oto” firmware code is still Denis’ work, not mine. It was more like a teacher-student relationship… I’ve learnt very valuable things in return, too… Like where to have the magic black boxes done

And aforementioned Der Oto review in Sound on Sound

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/oto-machines-biscuit-2

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I bought it for 519,- € at thomann in 2012.
That was really a lot of money back then for “just” a bit crusher.

I was really tempted to sell it when prices went up.
but I love that little thing, must be one of the most used gear I own.
It never gets boring. And even when it gets boring you
can switch to “der OTO” mode. I nearlly bought a second one to
to have both at the same time.

The main reason I like the biscuit so much is that you can
use it like a little mixer. It´s super convenient to get in and out
levels right.
I wouldn´t miss the bitcrushing that much, but all the rest, so
I´ll never sell it.

The most ridiculous offer I´ve seen btw was 2900,- €
on ebay/japan.

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I got mine used before prices went insane. I love tweaking it hands on and finally left in a permenant slot as my “loop effect” on OT. Love it!

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I pair the Biscuit with my Tempest, almost exclusively. It gives me hands on performance of textures as well as automated texture movement. I love it!

In this video, the Biscuit comes in at 1:30, but I really start hand tweaking it around 4:30.

In this video, the Biscuit comes in around 1:00 and provides an automated texture.

And, in this video I get a very pitchy/ringy kind of tone out of the Biscuit as it is automated and moving around as it adds a layer to the Tempest.

A while back I got inspired to break out Der OTO again. It sounds pretty intense and I quite like it, but I have other synths that cover this territory plenty fine and the piece is much more valuable for me as the original Biscuit.

Here’s a short jam featuring Der OTO on bass duties with the internal synth on the Deluge providing the chords.

Here’s a super extended exploration of many of the sound modes and wave shapes on Der OTO.

Now that I listen to that “SoundCheck” video again, I forgot just how nice Der OTO sounds. I really like the way that some of the modes throw one OSC all the way left and and the other hard right. Thick. Wide. Fantastic, especially with a little reverb! :ok_hand:t2:

Thanks! Not so worried about the degree of her involvement with the project, I just like the stories of cross-pollination from those smaller companies that I respect :slight_smile:

…it’s THE timeless bitcrushing device with truu analog flavour…

AND with full firmware updated, it can also become a supernerdish analog mono synth DER OTO with onboard stepsequencing…
and the unique gimmick that left out hosts osc1 signal only, while right out hosts osc2 only…hardwired.

before i heard heats analog filters, bisquits analog filter was the most creamy i’ve ever heard…even old moog ladders could not catch up…

it’s french tradition to all their products, to produce only exclusively limited batches…
bisquit was their first sonic baby…mine is nr. 1088…

it started around 500 bux…and is now selling 2nd hand between 700 and even 900!!! bux…
evil little sonic tank destroyer…

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The plugin is 80 euro’s now at pluginboutique. Anyone experience with it? worthwile? can you also send the 100% dry/naked signal through the filter? that alone might be nice?

I would be interested to hear about plugin too … prices for the box are crazy.

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yes there must be someone that has experience with the plugin here?