Hi! Here is a M4L controller for the PRO3:
https://maxforlive.com/library/device.php?id=7705
Hope you will like it! Let me know you feedback.
If you want to support, buy my music (KafkaCtrl on Bandcamp).
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Essential advice, thanks! I urge everyone to do a little experiment:
- VCO 1 at 60, AMP env amount at 60, open up main volume
- set some distortion
- crank VCO level and AMP env up, main volume down
- compareā¦
Now do the same with grunge.
At 127, both the distortion and grunge sound awfulā¦ At 60 with a single VCO you can barely hear the grunge effect. So that grunge surely has a sweet spot for a certain range of input gainsā¦
I was also surprised how hot the headphone output is, you really have to be careful with the volume. Lower stages might solve that as well.
The main question is: why on earth is the VCA and env amount at max setting for the init patch if proper gain staging is so crucial?
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I noticed the headphone amp is easier to overload than the main outs too. Probably has turned off some prospective buyers who didnāt understand.
I think the excessive gain is mostly a good thing though. The Pro3 is capable of a pretty wide range of sounds.
The extra gain is welcome for thinner HP or BP sounds where you would have to add gain externally. It also allows you to drive things into the distortions or grunge with those types of sounds. Perfect for overdriven acid squelch type sounds.
I do believe itās well thought out, it just requires thoughtfulness to make sure it always sounds good IMO.
On the init patch though, your guess is as good as mine. Maybe they intended for you to start by adjusting the OSC types and levels. They still could keep something much lower though.
Or, maybe itās intentional, like this synth isnāt for casual whiners 
Put in the work and you shall be rewarded 
Haha, no clue š¤·š»
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I agree with you and @Airyck that letting a professional tech do the swap is the way to go.
If you want to play with DIY, you need:
- A reasonable quality soldering station. I have an older Hakko 888, there is a Weller unit (WES51?) that is also good and affordable. No-name brands are probably not worth the trouble.
- Big tweezers, ideally with wood or plastic insulation for your fingers. If you are sloppy, you can heat these up and burn yourself!
- Solder paste - you will be dabbing a tiny amount of paste with a pin or toothpick. Donāt use wire solder!
- Something to practice on, like this proto board, or one with 0603 pads
- Some 0603s to play with
Solder braid and a solder sucker can be helpful, but with 0603 you can usually just warm up the whole thing with the side of your iron and pick the device with your tweezers, if it doesnāt just glom on to your iron on itās own.
One more thing: never use a sponge with water to clean your iron. Instead, use the brass springy stuff. Water is a fairly harsh solvent, doubly so when you heat it up and itās full of the random ions that come with tap water.
@Airyck is much more experienced than I am at this, but my first SMD project was a MidiPal, and it was much easier than I expected. I 100% prefer SMD over thru-hole now.
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Iāve only ever done through-hole mods. Iām certainly not going to make my Pro-3 a device to learn on.
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I love the gain staging on the pro3. The more points of adjustment/ larger range the better. You can dramatically change a patch by adjusting gain at any number of points. Simple and effective. The evolver had some of this vibe too though I think itās better implemented in the pro3.
Itās capable of some beautifully disgusting sounds when driven hard.
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I really do! And I am the first to be a bit disgusted by the clickbaity future YouTube is leading us towards, but unfortunately seems the only way, as an incredibly small channel, to get my video to the people like you.
Thank you for looking past the title 
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Itās a fair question, and yes is a fair answer to anyone with about 6u of straight-ahead Euro. It is probably reassuring to anyone who isnāt looking forward to plowing used car amounts of money into synth gear that they can get a lot of sound design out of the Pro 3.
I love the barefoot Lyra-8 jam:
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Couldnāt agree more.
Recently I looked up the price for an intermediate (I donāt want to use the word ādecentā) sized eurorack system, and ffs everything is incredibly, Iād dare say stupidly, expensive.
I guess I wonāt get that lovely Strymon Starlab then 
Thank you so much: jams like that are sooo much fun!
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Sorry for using the ācā word.
Your video did inspire me to consider a Pro 3, although my financial situation changed quite a bit since then.
Love the Lyra-8 vid too!
Welcome to Elektronauts!
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Totally off topic, but that Solar 50 video you did is the shit.
I listen to it almost every day.
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Thank you a lot!
Seems like a fun place 
I am sorry to hear about your situation with the Pro3.
In the meantime the prices should only go down for the used market, so you could be able to catch a deal sooner than you think! But yeah, life gets in the middle of many things
Thank you so much! I am so glad 
Do you prefer the first one with the internal FX or the most recent one with the OTO pedals?
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Thanks!
Iām sure I can get one in a couple of years.
The unexpected expenses include replacement of the roof. Pro 3 plus Prophet 5 and bass guitar or new roofā¦ ok, roof wins. 
I know the feeling.
This what $8000 looks like last summer.
Thatās the small A/C unit. Waiting for the big one to die in the next few years.
When itās 110+ degrees all summer every summer, itās kind of essential.
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The first one.
Iād love to see an example of this.
Anyone with a poly and a Pro 3 able to try this? 4 note chord, set notch to about 10āclock, and then wiggle the filter cutoff slowly? Also, could this be done with and without the chorus?
Added a video on making simple bass patches on the PRO3
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Iām pretty set on getting a Pro 3 as my āSwiss army knifeā mono and midi controller once I have the space available to me, but since that might be a while off yet Iām wondering what sort of mono might pair well with it to cover other ground.
Iāve not heard much in the way of more laid back or liquid Roland-y tones from it, for instance. Maybe something with that sort of sound might complement it well? And Iām not sure how well it can do that super crusty, wheezy variety of analogue - maybe something like a Dreadbox Nyx might have a character the Pro 3 struggles to emulate?
I know thereās been a fair amount of debate about getting āvintageā sounds out of the Pro 3 since it came out so hopefully Iām not inflaming that here. Having dug through loads of demos itās clear it can get into at least some of those territories with gain dialled back etc. Iām just curious about where it struggles to reach the most, I guess.
Pro 3 can cover A LOT of ground. Itās pretty complex (not hard to get around though). Sometimes itās nice to have something simpler as well.
Out of my collection of Mono Synths there are a couple that I feel are really different enough to say they compliment the Pro 3
- Korg MS20 FS
- B2600 Blue Meanie
- Moog Matriarch (Iām sure Grandma counts too).
Those 3 just have their own kind of sound.
If you learn the Pro 3 well enough, I think you can coax most mono synth styles out of it.
I highly recommend the MS20. Nothing sounds like it.
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