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Category:  Products / synthesisers / analog synthesisers

Product:  Technosaurus - Microcon II
Name: akirapill
Email: Email supplied but hidden
Activity: part-timer
Date: 23-Aug-06

Hell yeah! I love my technosaurus! This thing packs HUGE analog bass in a tiny package, so small I used to duct tape it to the front of a strap-on keyboard controller ala moog liberator back when I played rock. Not only that, but it's also secretly a midi'd out 303 clone (but no 18 db filter). The main oscillator is switchable between square and saw, both of which are quite solid, and the sub oscillator is always square. For big-ass square bass, you can put the oscillator mix all the way on the sub oscillator. For some reason, this is a lot louder overall than when the oscillator mix is set in the middle. One problem though, is that even with the main mix set all the way to the main oscillator, a little bit of the sub still leaks through, so you can never really get 100% saw. The most fun feature in the oscillator section is the +2 octave switch, which I rocked so hard so often that now it's a little sketchy, but it owns for building up for those big drops. The lfo goes well into the audio range, and can give you some cool fm/am effects. The filter is nice, with a really bright 12 db mode, and the 24 db mode sounds great for smoothing out downtempo jungle and house basslines. Supposedly, you can run external sources through the filer, but I've tried that and never gotten it to work (you have to input to the ring conductor on the 1/4" output jack, and output to the tip of the same cable, so if you ask me, why bother with such a sketchy setup?) Btw, the AR envelop sucks balls and can't even be set to modulate the pitch (I have to use a midi envelope on the pitch bend to do jungle!), but for filter mod it does the job.

OK, midi. This is where the technosaurus really shines. Midi specs are super sparse, and there isn't even ing volume cc! But looking at the rest of the midi implementation reveals that the technosaurus is totally acided out. Noteon velocity over 100 counts as an accent, which boosts the filter as well as the amplifier. Pitch bend is hardwired to +/- 6 semitones, so you get an octave to play around with in terms of realtime frequency mod. The only two ccs implemented are for the filter cutoff (hardwired to the mod wheel), and cc 64, which is PORTAMENTO ON/OFF(!!!) Not only that, but the envelope is legato, so it doesn't get re-triggered with a held note. This way, using held notes and cc 64 on your sequencer (I use Five12 Numerology and Cycling74 Max/MSP), you can get wicked, wicked analog acid lines with authentic sounding glide, and you can use velocity for the accents. Just for fun, I often run it through my Marshall on the crunch channel. Very nice!

All around a monster synth for any kind of bass or lead that doesn't call for detuned fatness. Really fun to program, plus the acid features are a huge plus, and it's real swiss-made analog for chrissake all in a byte sized package about the size of a VHS. I ebayed mine about 4 years ago for <$200, so you can't really go wrong with this one. Technosaurus!

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