Hm.. I might go with the Super Manetron App, but what do YOU think? You have the most experience with all of them. I’m very curious to know. 😬

Very useful demo: IMO the Mini has less dynamics, but it is available, and could be corrected by pushing up some trebble and even an Dynamics Expander (inverse of a Compressor) !

Love my M4000D...and sound cards 02-03-04-05-06. I can tweek my Mellotron M4000D to sound just like the M300, M400, Mark I, Mark II, Mark IV, Mark V, Mark VII, and M4000. I bought mine from Marcus in 2017 and haven't even made a dent in all the possibilities this gem can produce. From what I understand, there is a sound card 07 that is loops of the band sounds. I'll have to wait before I get that one. I'm too busy experimenting with what I have so far. 10 stars to Marcus and the Mellotron.

The levels aren't quite matched, but... I hear a few things. There seem to be more overtones and a higher noise floor on the original Mellotron. I wonder if part of this comes from filtering on the digital Mellotron. But I also wonder if some of it comes from the digital Mellotron going through fewer analog stages, including fewer generations, leading to less saturation. And yet, there are some sounds where the M400 sounds cleaner and purer. The company could have taken more care to capture the character of the original instrument. Even if the original instrument had a lot of variation from unit to unit, I'd be kind of surprised if there were this much less character on an instrument that the company used as a reference. I think a lot of the digital samples probably came from earlier generation tapes, although with the couple that sounded duller, I wonder.

The M400 was a premier and unique instrument in it's day. Thankfully technology doesn't go backwards. Interestingly, the M4000D can be tweaked to "sound" like it's predecessors. The older model Mellotron tapes age and tear, tape heads need to be constantly cleaned, springs lose their recoil ability, and switching out racks must have been a time consuming pain. Robert Fripp of King Crimson called their Mellotron the "black bitch" due to it's unreliability playing live and the constant breakdowns when on the road. Jump on the grenade and get the M4000D. I did. You won't be sorry. Regarding the sound cards........in order of preference.......sound card 02 and 05 are must haves. Sound cards 03-04-06 have their moments priority wise but a lot of the sounds are dull, ancient, and are not keyboard note responsive and unusable for a performance. Just my 2¢.

SHE GOT ME UP ALL NIGHT

Haha hallo Tillmann haha Dorian hier hatte mal Klavierunterricht bei dir. Sehr witziger Zufall dass ich auf das Video von dir stoße sitze gerade im Studio und musste kurz dem Producer zeigen was ich meine der kannte den Mellotron nicht

They both sound great…but do sound somewhat different. The M4000D seems to have more uniformity between keys, which is not quite as realistic as the M400,…but in the studio, you might appreciate it’s sound being a little “tighter”, if that makes sense. The new M4000’s are brilliant, being vastly more stable and roadworthy. They may lack a tiny bit of the M400’s instability and output differences between keys. Who knows…being digital, it might be possible to add that feature to the M4000 line, just as Dave Smith added “vintage” to the DSI/Seqential reissues to make them sound a little more vintage with a variable pot on the panel.

Can this sound be duplicated on such early to mid 1980s workstations like the E-mu Emulator, Fairlight Mark II(x) and Kurzweil K250?

i love mk2, but the real thing is the best！

El Mellotron M4000 suena más aguado su sonido que el M400.

Para mi, el sonido del M400 es único entre los otros 3; sin embargo, a mi me encantaría tener 1 M400 y 1 M4000Dmini encima para lograr más cintas pero, sin perder el sonido original de la flauta y los 3 violines del M400..el 4000Dmini puede tener muchos sonidos más que vienen del MKII y el Chamberlin MI...de cualquier modo, felicitaciones por tus teclados. Eres bendecido al tenerlos... Saludos cordiales desde Santiago CHILE, en Sudamérica...🙋🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️🙋🏻‍♂️ I AM A MELLOTRON LOVER ❤

Might as well just use the Arturia vst. The original M400 sounds the best warts and all.

when you tweak the MELLOTRON MINI 4000D in the "sound settings" (press the select A and select B knobs down at the same time, you can access the menus) , you can infact make the TRON sound old and warbly/woody, just like the original MELLOTRON 400 did, after bands would take it on the road for a while, when the tapes began to warble a bit, after the tron had been in heated areas onstage etc.... lovely old sound ofcourse. So it does make the MINI sound closer to the original 400.

The one in the bottom seems to have brighter tone

You've got your M4000D set to "8 voice choir" and "boys choir" but it doesn't sound right. Not at all.

Mini sounds less good

The 400's "voice or sound" is much more authentic.. like a person singing that smokes..real guteral.. The 4000 sound too polished, perfect.. and not as much character..as has been mentioned.. The 400 all the way!!!

I may be totally wrong, but the tape hiss is what is adding more character to the real Mellotron in my opinion. Are the digital Mellotrons not sampled from the original source and not from a Mellotron tape head ?

memotron creo suena mejor

Hi, I like your comparison vids a lot, but..... I think, looking at the Mini, You compare the "M400 flutes" with the "M400 Bass Flutes" from the Mini. the "Mellotron MK2 Flute" sound from the Mini, comes much closer to your "M400 flutes" you have on tape. Listen to the highest playable D notes on both instruments and you'll find exact the same caracteristics there. All the best, Aad

The 3 violins sound, used famously at the end of the Apocalypse in 9/8 section of Suppers Ready by Genesis.

The M 400 is so imperfect that it is perfect.

2:05

I discovered Paul McCartneys "Rupert Song" and thought that he used a mellotron for the strings. Seems like I was right.

I really would like to know what you think about the mellowsound app and how does it compare with the other mellotron apps of this video....

The original for me. the mini sounds like a sample player

I guess i preffer the new one, cause the sound is lower, warm, and still sounds vintage, i think that works better to play with band.

This was exactly what I was looking for, thanks a lot and you deserve way more subscribers. Lesson: if you cant get a vintage mellotron or if it weighs too much, get the streetlytron....

''In The Beginning'' sounds like Tony Banks and Wagner getting drunk on absinthe in a Berlin cafe in 1972. Very cool!

How do you play the iphone app with the midi keyboard?

The mechanical flywheel in the original gives it almost a kind of Leslie quality

Analog or digital, the unmistakable sound of the Mellotron (And Chamberlin) is one we absolutely love and use as much as we can!

Awesome comparison. Thanks! Whether you like your Mellotron samples played back analog or digital, you can never have too much Mellotron. We call it a 5 way tie for 1st as each has their own advantages and disadvantages. We use M400, M4000D (Full size) and 2 Mellotron Micro's as much as we can. And we also have and use Super Manetron, Streetlytron, Mellotron XL, and a couple more Mellotron Apps.

the mellotron 400 sounds like an electro -mechanichal key with all his flues and charms , (like any old hammond with phoniques rolls are differents than electronicals keys) others machines sounds like electronicals keys , less flues and less charms , my ears still capture the differences ... I do own a mk2 , n°220double lead and black , and by chance my ears were educated to find differences between mk2 and 400 or mk5 since 1976 ....and toô there is à tiny différence between mellotrons and chamberlins more Electronic sounds..yours

Excellent!

Very nice! Bravo!

We use a Mellotron M400 on our 2 albums. Our newest album, Current, Volts & Ohms has M400 Mellotron on songs 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11 and 12. I think every song has some form of Mellotron, analog, digital and App or two. We also use a digital M4000D, and two Mellotron Micro's, they sound amazing as well. Hard to tell the analog from the digital in a mix.

arturia..!!

I previously owned one of the early versions of the M4000D, and have since purchased the German Memotron, which in my opinion has superior, string, flute and choir samples, and also some great analogue organ sounds. For the purists, who have been lucky enough to own a MK2 or an M400, then I suspect that the digital versions would not a viable substitute.

They actually sound really nice together!

it’s frustrating how expensive this is.

More m400 songs please:) Flute?

Why no choir comparison?

Which one - if money is no object 1) Mellotron 4000D mini 2) Memotron or 3) M Tron Pro ? The argument for the first - has great connectivity and pedal ( expression 1, 2 , volume , and sustain ) But other forums say that the Mellotron is modeled Directly from the Master tapes - so there is NO sound of a Mellotron ( it is just the sound of a brand new Mellotron working without any wow, flutter etc ) - so in other words. Whats the point ?Argument for second - Memotron is modeling acutally Mellotrons - so sonically got the warts and all of that - hence more authentic. Can be expanded - two discs, Connectivity wise poorer than Mellotron 3) Well M Tron Pro also modeled from actual machines - their tape library is insane. Other options left out - Arturia Mellotron.

That shot of tapes moving.....dear friend ...you proved you are an artist. That’s worthy of Kubrick....great cinema. And you proved what a wonderful thing it is to be a human. Great composition.

Do you know which tapes are loaded in your M400?

M4000d, if you need many sounds. M400, if you need better sound.

The M4000D Mellotron is the perfect instrument for exploring the wonderful original recordings made by Harry Chamberlin in the late 1940's and 1950's (with members of the Lawrence Welk Orchestra), and Mellotron's Bradley Brothers in the 1960's, 70's and 80's. With additional Sound Cards you even get selected custom Mellotron recordings made for Yes, Tangerine Dream, Black Sabbath, Roxy Music, Wilco, and Rami Jaffee (Foo Fighters). If you get Sound Card 04 you get recordings from the Optigan, Orchestron, and Chilton Talentmaker tape libraries! So much audio greatness! We love it!