Twisted Electrons MEGAfm

Ok, well it’s a hair trigger, especially on the envelope params…and I can’t quite seem to get reliable/reproducible results from the LFOs, but it really does sound special/different. Loads of character. I’m not sure how much sweetspot there is, but I do like it so far.

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Just got mine and getting pretty strange behaviour. I would reset all the sliders to zero, press the reset button twice - which should cause the synth to ‘read all the faders and knobs
as they are set on the control panel’, and the digits PA to light up (it does light up) - but for some reason it still produces sound and the panel values are still all over the place.

Is it just me? It’s incredibly annoying having to push all the faders up and down everytime I want to make a new patch

Edit: okay it’s not too bad. The synth itself is quirky and I love it.

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Aite just to follow-up about my experience so far

Basically what the other comments said. Sounds unique, tons of dirt (that can be tamed), sounds oddly organic even somehow. You can get some pretty nice brass or wind sounds with blowing air, and that’s just the standard sounds. It can go to weird places - nothiny new for FM but the interface really makes it.

But it has annoyances, mostly to do with the chip I assume. The faders work exponentially so it’s difficult to control long attacks and decays for pads. it feels like it scales slowly up to 100ms or so and then it’s just a steep slope upwards. and I wish we got a sine wave or a random sine as LFO options but again, I assume it’s a chip thing.

The CH3 modes doesnt work as I thought it would too. I thought we would have free reign to control the frequency of the three operators but it’s limited to the one or two fixed frequencies in the high ranges, like the stuff that’d drive a dog crazy.

No regrets getting this tho, it’s really a unique piece of gear

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I got a MEGAfm and and opened it up to see what was inside.
Here is a link: MEGAfm teardown for the curious.

It has some minor problems that I think could be improved in future firmware, which seem to be actively developed. Mr. Alex has hinted at implementing a multi-timbral mode on the Twisted Electrons Facebook page. Overall a really cool device and more fun than the PreenFM2.

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Yes, I believe the 2.0 firmware is in QA right now.

MEGAfm | Twisted-Electrons latest firmware just dropped!

Lol. WAT

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Clarified that i was speaking of the firmware…

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Hello, does anyone else have problem with updating firmware of MegaFM?
I send new firmware file by macOS SysexLibrarian and Motu Ultralite MK3 MIDI.
Sending process looks proper, LEDs are blinking and synth resets after but the firmware version on the screen remains 1.9. I’ve tried sending all versions above 1.9.

I’ve never researched FM synthesizers properly, I don’t know much about them. Heard some Digitone videos and was not impressed.

The sound of the MegaFM blew me away instantly. It has a really lovely interface.
Too bad about the build quality issues.

Are there any good alternatives for achieving the sound of the MegaFM?

Mine has no build quality issues.

You know…
People often write when something is bad, but not that much if everything is okay.
I guess if you actively search you can find about any thing bad comments.

Mine is solid like a tank. Normally I’m a magnet for lemons.

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Mine’s also solid.

Alternate uses or emulations of the chipset-

https://www.inphonik.com/products/rym2612-iconic-fm-synthesizer/

There’s not a ton using this and still in production and selling, so I’d say that if there were issues in production, I can outright guarantee things rarely but complaints noticeably dropped off from initial.

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I don’t know if this qualifies as “build issues”, but mine was missing 2 knobs when it arrived.

Contacted Twisted Electrons and they sent them right out to me.

I have a soft-spot for small operations trying to get going, so no big deal. The synth is really cool

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If I got it right, there’s a big chance that they’ll run out of Yamaha chips, so it could be no longer available soon?

I can’t afford one right now :cry:

I don’t think they’ll be running out too quickly, there’s an absolute shitload of old Mega Drives (Genesis’s) knocking about on eBay for next to nothing. The problem will come not when the chips run out, but when Mega Drives achieve a level of collectability and their value skyrockets, making the chips much more expensive, but I reckon that’s a while away.

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If you like software I recommend polgue’s chipsynth MD, its genesis emulation is actually too accurate for my tastes. It lets you choose the DAC that is emulated and I always choose the perfect clean one rather than any of the filthy genesis or nomad ones

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Yeah, there aren’t a lot of good hardware alternatives but Plogue makes great emus and I’d say that would be the best general alternative to the MegaFM.

Are you using sysex librarian? I just updated to version 2.2 with it no problems (have not been able to update my megafm in the past using C6).

After 6 months of ownership I still LOVE the megafm!!! It really has a beautiful velvety crunch sound.

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According to you, is it better to order from Twisted Electrons directly, or to order through Thomann?

About the interface: Those Tetris-block algoritms!