#25

I have the Chord v2 and a Prism in my smaller case alongside Rings. Some random observations from not much use yet:

• Although the Chord v2 is capable of a wide array of timbres, it sure enjoys some filtering, especially for giving the sound some motion on top of modulating Bank and Wave. A filter just multiplies the amount of possible timbres greatly. I’ve had lovely results with both the Prism and an ALM MUM M8.
• I love the ability to pitch control and output the lead separately
• Unison is super fun to play with
• Haven’t found any bugs yet, except I think on some banks/waves the lead sounds just slightly off tune (higher)
• Haven’t really played with the free running mode yet
• Bank, wave, voicing and quality respond really nicely to a physical control such as a joystick or an Expressive E Touché
• I’ve found a lot of use for Rings as an alternative lead or accompanying voice for the Chord. The very different timbres you get out of Rings work very nicely with the wavetable sound aesthetics

2 Likes
#27

Chord v2 is indispensable. Auto harmonize is a such a stellar feature - apparently they will be adding the ability to customize it beyond major and minor modes in a firmware update. My module lives in that mode - which it remembers across power cycles! The customizable wave tables give it even more legs, though frankly the built in sounds are very good.

I second that it sounds great through a filter. Mine is always patched through Three Sisters along with BIA. (My Instagram has lots of examples, as I have had the module since release, and always use it.)

I appreciate that they made the module 14 HP, though it presents some minor UI drawbacks to v1. Firstly, I’ve found it easier than I like to bump the master pitch knob when I get handsy with the bank and wave knobs. The UI on v1 was very explicit about how it was configured via it’s face LED’s. Most of the UI is gone now, so you just have to listen to know what is happening when you adjust many of the settings. If your theory game is weak, like mine, that can be disappointing.

Overall my gripes are minor, and you’ll have major fun with it.

…I’ll see myself out.

4 Likes
#28

Have any of you Chord 2 users had any luck loading alternate wavetables?

#29

i actually picked one of these up on a whim to test this exact thing because i more or less wanted piston honda chords… and yes, i’ve had a great experience loading custom tables (via wavedit) — and actually, breaking it up into 8 banks is kinda tasty actually for someone like me who does a lot of, umm, spinning plates type pieces where things are built up from nothing…so if you plan the waves out, its kinda like having 8 oscillators in one and i can move from one to the next as needed (i haven’t tested mapping all waves to a single bank yet, as i have less of a use for that.)

i also asked andrew at qu-bit if they would be open to being able to disable the smooth morphing, which he said they’d consider in a future update…edit as well as being able to somehow modulate the voicing and the inversions separately, which was one of the things from the v1 that i actually enjoyed (and why i moved to try out a harmonaig) which would def make it more likely that i hang on to it in the end.

2 Likes
#30

I would love to hear an example of its 3rd, 5th, 7th going through a randomly addressed sequential switch w/ slow/fast arps, being fed through some filtering, then perhaps taking the root out and placing it every 1/4th or 1/8th for a bass backing. Magpie has an example with the v1 but this would be my primary use case for the v2 and haven’t seen an example of it yet.

#31

My thoughts on Prism:

  • The sound in general is pretty great.
  • Putting delay level and feedback on the same knob is kind of a bummer. Not for basic echo use, but what if I wanted a 100% delay but no feedback, to put inside a larger delay? Or to mess with phase cancellation or other sorts of things?
  • It doesn’t take delay time modulation very well. There’s a big slew on modulation delay time changes, and that seems to be true even in clocked mode. If you try to use it for Karplus purposes, it slurs all over. It doesn’t take audio rate modulation for phase modulation. It doesn’t even work very well with an LFO for chorus/flanger purposes.
  • A master wet/dry would also have been nice to have… dial in just a touch of that decimator behind everything. That’s not too much of a nitpick because mixers, but still :slight_smile:

So my thinking is… if it sounds good but basically is an end of chain effect, I have plugins for that.

(Edit: eh, I could still use it to flavor stuff inside of feedback loops, just keeping the delay subtle but still taking advantage of the filter/decimator…hmmm.)

3 Likes
#32

Really appreciate everyone’s comments on this today - I think I’ll probably pick one up and pair it with a small filter. Currently checking out the Happy Nerding VCF, WMD/SSF MMF, and the ALM Mum M8.

#34

I genuinely don’t mean this as a slight at Qu-Bit - and this is true for a lot of module makers, but it does seem like there are things that people could have told them if they’d sent out more test units?

I know the market isn’t huge and they have time against them, but there are little things like what you are citing that seem underconsidered for real world / long term use. Like, Prism seems like a great value. It does a lot, it’s small, it’s not that expensive. But taking more time to refine it’s uses could have made a module like that an essential classic vesus as quirky and decent stereo filter/effects option.

2 Likes
#35

yeah the decimator kicks in really quickly. I love using it to get some texture and what not, but you have to be reaaallly careful with it.

#36

Prism is one of my favorite modules in my case, Its very immediate and I find myself “Playing” this effect more than others. I think its elements on their own, delay, filter, bitcrush, comb, are all probably bettter implemented and controlled in other modules, but for the price and hp this unique combination of these effects is unbeatable. It replaced my rainmaker and I have no regrets.

1 Like
#38

Two things to note - the “may introduce distortion” is really only applicable with Q turned way up to self-oscillation. You can think of it as just being a unity mix of the three inputs; unlikely to clip but more likely with three 10vpp sine waves going simultaneously.

Secondly, if you do ever experience distortion, you can passively mix the three outputs and then attenuate separately…

Nice video!

1 Like
#40

Likely the mix is internally scaled down digitally to 10vpp; for instance on JF, the MIX jack is not an analog summation of the 6 channels, but rather they are scaled and summed in the dsp block before being sent to the codec. Same with the Chord most likely.

3 Likes
#41

(off topic but where did you take this video? :open_mouth: i’m really into it) also it sounds good :stuck_out_tongue: )

1 Like
#44

Chords individual outs to 2 optomix’s is my jam. Its the only way I patch them. I also run the mix out to three sisters. Justfriends modulates all of it. Pure Happiness every time!

1 Like
#45

Would anyone with any experience of the chord module recommend it for 80s flavoured explorations? (Both pop, and more cinematic feeling).

#46

Definitely! You can get some lovely 80s sounds running it into a filter and chorus.

1 Like
#47

That’s exactly what I was hoping to hear! @cosmicsoundexplorer

#48

I’m a bit obsessed with it. Especially when you add your own wavetables.
It’s pure joy sending the individual outs into pinged lpgs or a sequential switch and getting complimentary arpeggios!

4 Likes
#50

The ability to load custom wavetables will give a bit of control over that.

#51

I feel v. excited about the Bloom. Not much info out there yet, I guess, but it seems to me 2 semi-aleatoric sequencers in a mere 14 hp. Rad! I have been using an Arpitecht module for this type of thing recently but Bloom is actually built to do what I’ve been faking and there are two of them in the module.

Sadly, it might bump Just Friends from my excellent 208 hp drum rack. Alternatively, it might bump the Erbe-Verb. However, these musings concern none other than myself! Yet, if it bumps the Erbe-Verb I will have an empty 6 hp. Therefore, one must carefully think before one leaps!

1 Like