Quote:
Originally Posted by dubathonic
I am pretty much an Elektron head, and when I decided to get a synth, it was a hard choice between the Virus Snow and the Monomachine. I borrowed a Mono for a few months before deciding, and in contrast with the Snow the Mono proved a tough instrument to love at the outset ... Elektron presets are notoriously bad at demonstrating what their instruments can do. I found that while the Mono has many sound design possibilities, it took a lot of effort to wrap my head around them. So I went for the Virus.
Sadly, I haven't gotten nearly as much use out of the Snow as I'd hoped, mostly because I travel a lot and I find it easier to compose by whipping out a single piece of self-contained hardware that has an integrated sequencer. And Elektron's built-in sequencers are quite flexible and inspiring. In fact I'd say that's one of the best reasons to go for an Elektron device: the sounds can be phenomenal, but they require digging, and good results are tightly dependent on complex sequencer interactions.
If I were more of a DAW kind of guy, I'd probably be giving the Snow more attention. If I could tweak and sequence the Snow with an iOS app, I would *definitely* enjoy it more. But these are my personal issues. If you're a happy Virus user, I doubt the Mono would give you much you don't possess already in terms of broad synth power.
Its sequencers, on the other hand, will likely blow you away. Integrating Elektron devices with DAWs can definitely be done, but that's not the direction the company is focusing on -- they're more about getting away from the computer than wrapped up in it.
If you're curious about what the Monomachine can do, I highly recommend searching for Cutoph on Soundcloud (he has several pages), plus check out this: http://soundcloud.com/lemnic/mnm-dem...-bank-from-lem |
Thanks and thank you for the shared link to music. I will be using a DAW mainly for recording audio as I learn more on utilization of midi automation. However, you are correct in that the Monomachine is quite deep and has a different work flow but as you said, those sequencers (external midi and internal) coupled with Parameter Locks, seems to be a nice match on paper with my Virus KC or KB. I provided examples in earlier posts where the Virus is used integrated with Monomachine. I got such a great deal on Monomachine MK1 that I am sure would make a small profit if I decided to sell it in future.
No question on fact Virus synth engine is deeper and more immediately tweakable to get great sounds BUT in my limited experimenting with Monomachine, doing some deep diving, can also get great sounds but as you stated correctly, the extremely versatile and utilitarian sequencers on Elektron are their strong point and notwithstanding, their superb customer service and constant updates. Also, all OS updates to newer Monomachine also applicable to my first version and the user manual is same way--very smart.