Polyend/Dreadbox's Medusa + Delusional Internet Criticism

[@blackwatchbandstudio]

Genuinely confused by the "reviewer" saying dimly lit displays would be hard to see in a dim club environment, last I checked when there's less ambient light it becomes easier to see dim lights?

[@shayneoneill1506]

I strongly suspect that guy isn't actually doing any club gigs. One thing playing live gigs taught me is everything you think will be a problem, probably wont, and everything that is a problem wasn't what you expected.

[@robinr22]

Pretty clear to me that he meant the panel labelling rather than anything illuminated.

[@neonblack211]

Dude should probably stick to a laptop

[@IHaveTheSause]

@@shayneoneill1506yo this is a great way to approach any false conception or pre-assumption in life!

[@Fabian_drop02]

I think he was talking about the tiny, 1" display.

[@mylarmelodies]

You ARE doing the Lord's work. Ace.

[@Genshi]

:)

[@Z33803]

Nah, the devils work,Ass, even better 👿

[@liox105]

right!

[@GrassHopa]

Dude, my Sweetwater's sales rep is also named Matt. My friend's sales rep is also a Matt but he's a different Matt than mine. There is something very dark happening at Sweetwater.

[@deerfieldself256]

My rep’s name is also Matt. Benn, can you get to the bottom of this, please?

[@doppelganger8659]

My reps name is Wayne Wildman.

[@federicosanchez9840]

And on top of that, they support Trump campaign...

[@timothyharrison]

At some level I think we could give a lot of slack to Sweetwater reps. Their primary market is probably folks who are not Benn. They’re trying to sell by building relationship. Fine. I actually like them because I can order via an email to my Matt. He gives me a small discount and places my order with just an email from me. He’s stopped calling me too.

[@hasan7786]

My sweetwater rep is Ian. My girlfriends rep is Matt. She bought me a guitar once, now Matt calls her the day after Ian calls me to check in. It’s funny.

[@SimonTheMagpie]

I really want to make a “review of Benns review of reviews” now! Should I do that?

[@MrBasic]

I feel like doing that every time I see one of his videos... this one does beg a review

[@DerAykac]

Go for it, i´d watch it.

[@kinnectar820]

Would watch, especially now.

[@kotanecrosis96]

Yeeesss

[@syrupcore]

In case you do want to change an LFO target during a live show... hold the LFO button and turn the parameter you want to target. Done. Same for envelopes.

[@HoxtonGuitarist]

Sweetwater techs are nice. A little overbearing, but c'mon they're trying harder then a lot of outsourced corps out there.

[@gordonryan7866]

Seriously. Tell them once you don't want calls and that's it. I've never experienced better customer service from a large retailer.

[@AdamsBrew78]

I do think they go a little heavy on the sales pitch .. the new customer signup form should include an opt-out option on the excessive followup calls.

[@graviton9282]

I get it. It’s still really dumb. Just say your trying to sell something else. NOONE needs help working a pedal like that. So it’s obvious they don’t need to call about that. They don’t need to call at all. Send an e-mail and leave it alone. It’s harassing...

[@ZigbertD]

I used to shop with Sweetwater a lot, and their customer service was really good. At some point they apparently gave my account to a different sales rep, and the guy was doing all the usual, calling and emailing "Hey, if you need anything just let me know, I'll help you out, I'm your best buddy, yada yada." Then earlier this year I bought a couple of higher end guitar pedals, and less than two weeks afterwards they went on sale for 15% off. So I emailed my buddy to see if they had any kind of price match in that situation (a lot of retailers, including some online music merchants, will match a sale price on recently purchased products and refund the difference if it's within some short period, a couple of weeks or 30 days usually). So Sweetwater doesn't, but instead of just saying, "No, we don't offer that", my bestie responded with this whole song and dance making it sound like I was making some crazy inquiry, misrepresenting how long it had been since I'd placed the order, and then quoting incorrect info about the original price and the sale price, and generally talking down to me like I was an idiot. I replied correcting all the wrong things he'd said in the email and noted that 12 days (the time between my order and the sale) was not really "nearly three weeks" as he chose to characterize it (I didn't point out the thousands of dollars I've spent at Sweetwater over the last 18 months, because that's kind of a dick move). He responded "Glad I could help!" which I'm still not sure wasn't just a veiled FU to me. Anyway, never shopped there again (and have spent more thousands of dollars at a different online music merchant instead), but now there's some new rep trying to be my friend and emailing and calling me all the time.

[@AdamsBrew78]

@@ZigbertD that’s lame. their return policy is pretty good though - Anything but software or used items can be returned within 30 days of purchase. I just did that with an MPC Live after noticing MPC Force dropped from $1500 to $999. If he was rude like that, I would have been tempted to return it for a refund and then re-purchased at the sale price ;) You do have to pay for their shipping though (Cost me $20 for the MPC that weighed 9lb)

[@BoBeats]

Glad to see someone else enjoys this synth. And that you took the time to adress the weird criticism of it (even tho I think Christo might have gotten a bit too much attention for simply stating his opinion) I will try to point people to this video when I make mine about the Medusa.

[@spybloodjr]

can't wait to see/hear your review!

[@christoroppolo8742]

BoBeats and do you also appreciate Ben bashing people who paid for pre ordered Medusa’s and “did “ own one and chose not to do a negative video revue themselves but instead respond to other revues which is why the comments exist...? although I personally never bashed anyone nor did I create a video to destroy the rep of a much loved documentary on Netflix this was actually the entire point of this video not to discuss or disagree but to wine about reviews /publications. And who made the assumption that I didn’t own one? This guy did . Wrong! I paid for it and sent it back. Oh and spell checker sometimes makes guys like this do weird things with their voice ....lol love it obviously you (Ben ) know how to sound like a mutant when reading a spell checker typo too! No wonder you made this. And you wouldn’t know a plane from a ufo if you were riding in it...Peace Christo 👽

[@BoBeats]

@@christoroppolo8742 No, I don't like it when people ridicule others. I am a soft hearted dude as you know Christo. But at the same time I can get behind what Benn is trying to do, even tho I don't fully agree with the method here. I wasn't particularly into him throwing you under the bus. What I did appreciate however was him taking on what seems to be a prevailing negative attitude towards the Medusa which I don't see holding up when I play with it.

[@laurastaff1047]

@@BoBeats on the fence. The bashing of Christo was so unprofessional and a direct hit at him. This is a PRODUCT REVIEW. Why should names come in? Christo Roppolo is brilliant and doing things that scare people out of ignorance. I AM PRO- CHRISTO. You haters can SOD OFF

[@josephwright5921]

There was a lot of trolling on KZbin, Gearslutz and other sites regarding Behringer after they released the Deepmind. I engaged in lengthy “discussions”. with one individual over about two weeks on Gearslutz. He would write lengthy posts and one point, I accused him of being a Moog employee. That enflamed his ire and his posts got even longer, more condescending and political, probably taking hours to write . After a week of this, he actually mentioned in his post that had indeed done some work for Moog in the past and was currently not working due to some type of injury or sickness. Hmmmmm . . . And then someone was posting nearly the same rants on other sites. Same person with lots of free time on his his hands? Maybe. I find it amusing that one of the negative reviews you quoted even mentioned Moog. The Medusa looks and sounds great. Keep up the great demos and calling out the trolls!

[@RobLocksley]

As a owner of the Medusa and one of the first adopters I can understand some having trouble with it and finding the sound wanting, but if you are feeling the affinity with the unit and willing to hunt for the right settings it is an intriguing and fine sounding synth. I am happy with my purchase and can recommend this to anyone who is wanting a synth that is different, you want bread and butter or maybe just don't have the time learning (although the time spent learning a new workflow in this case might very well advance you as a composer/musician) you might want to try it out first; preferable together with someone who knows this piece of hardware. And the speed the company Polyend is pushing out Betas for the firmware is showing the support this company is giving to their products, also they are involved and happy to listen to reasonable suggestions. As for Christo, he didn't like the 'sound' of it at all apparently "sounding like a Casio", and sure it can sound like a cheap Casio from the 80's but it sure does a whole lot more. Is it the best sounding synth I have? No, but it has its sound and is very versatile with the amazing amount of modulation control you can have, and also as a controller it is great! R.

[@rittikwystup9343]

... and with the new FM update, this machine went from already outstanding to insane! 6 voice polyphony with sweet-sounding FM algorithms, all going through the infamous Dreadbox analogue filter.

[@TheMagickMan]

Man the sound and melody around 14:12 has me sold so beautiful melodic but funky . Well done sir WELL DONE INDEED 🤙🏽🙏🏽🖖🏽🙏🏽

[@5amJones69]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnimmYqhZ52EiqM Here's the track that came from that patch.

[@MrCtrlt]

medusa is simply one of the best synth I have. i buy synthesizer since 1999. I agree with you. Im enjoin it since day one. :-D

[@2.7petabytes]

I have the Polyend Tracker and I must agree with you Benn! They are very well built, thought out and have amazing sounds! The ability to get lost and enamored in many of the pieces of hardware they produce should make people excited that there’s a company that is trying new stuff and succeeding!

[@jaKthemighty]

Hey Benn, can't thank you enough for this video. I was so excited by the medusa's concept and I feel stupid now to have let those bad vibes throw me off. Nearly bought a grandmother instead but glad I didn't. I wanna use stuff that is pushing the technology forward and support innovators like Polyend. Thanks

[@mudsh4rk]

I'm been getting the monthly Sweetwater calls and emails to this day. I bought a passive MIDI splitter in 2017.

[@-l5905]

I'm very happy with the Medusa, The grid's low profile pads allow you to apply a unique sliding technique. When set with the right amount of glide you can get some crazy expression out of it.

[@RusticRaver]

flashbulb is epic, glad I found your channel!

[@moonscore]

Benn you sold me on this, and I must say, you were right. This is my new favorite piece of kit and the centerpiece of my set up. It is best to pair it with a good fx pedal to finish the sound (I’m using Empress verb which you also sold me on), but as workflow tool and compisitional aid alone, it sends me in directions I wouldn’t otherwise go.

[@antfactor]

Tha's the kind of thing that makes me want one... Fantastic to hear this...!

[@JuanAMatos-zx4ub]

Damn.... where can we listen to the whole track?

[@omfgmyg0t]

Yes plz

[@hexial]

Dude. For reals. I'd love to hear it! Was it ever released/bounced?

[@ipatchphd]

Here you go! theflashbulb.bandcamp.com/track/fbox

[@ziggdog116]

Very cool song. Great product, and NOT over priced at all. Sweetwater now lists Medusa for 899👍

[@ebull666]

I have this theory that fake reviews seem to have these fake spelling grammar mistakes to make them look more authentic. The mistakes just dont seem to be plausible. For example the first Sweetwater review you discuss where they say the display “Where tough to read”. I mean who gets this confused ?

[@silverXnoise]

They’re hired spammers in Kyrgyzstan. I’m pretty convinced most online user reviews are universally hosed by spammers, whether pushing ratings up or down. I always seek out professional reviews if/when I need them.

[@rars0n]

@@silverXnoise I find that like 80% of the time, when someone buys and reviews a piece of audio gear poorly, especially if it's a synthesizer under $1000, either they don't bother to spend enough time with it to figure out how it works, or they're just too dumb to figure out how it works, or they bought the wrong product for their application and then can't understand why the thing they bought that wasn't designed to do what they wanted it to do won't do what they want it to do. So even if they aren't just spam reviews, they're still largely not worth reading. I'd much rather trust a competent musician like Benn to give me his thoughts on something as opposed to a random person on the internet who happened to buy a thing without doing any research first anyway.

[@machinedrum]

Benn you are truly doing the lords work. I need that tune at 11:35 plz

[@InfiniteRhombus]

i wonder if its just a possibility they were mistaking ground loop hum for circuit noise because they tried to plug it into an amplifier

[@dannypqliar8763]

So weird to see the negative reviews. I might have a theory: it's from people who aren't used to fat analogue sounds because until recently a vintage sound was out of most people's price range. So when they hear something that doesn't sound plasticky, they think it's terrible. Just sad...

[@harambo88]

very possible, if your goal is a soup with shitflavor, a good broth can be hard to neutralize. making soup that tastes like broth instead of shit would be a valid option, but each to their own:D

[@professortrog7742]

To be fair, the specular tempus does contain fairy dust or unicorn semen or something like that, it can make a fart sound angelic.

[@FunkTree]

Ellert van Koperen , you just made my day...wait week with this profound statement

[@Stadsjaap]

**watches Medusa review** **rushes out to buy Tempus**

[@johncaccioppo1142]

Everything is better with reverb.

[@jeremjerem]

Thank you so much for the new Preset in the V 2.0 of the Medusa and thank you Polyend to bring us new Firmware and feature ! update = love for us ^^

[@D.Z.A.-kp8lf]

I wish I could afford one.. I played with it for ten minutes and fell in love with it

[@prasannanag6195]

This thing sounds god awful to me, really cheap, gritty, thin sounding synth. This is the best demo I’ve heard of it though. You made it sound amazing. I think it’s something you’re unusually good at using, rather than it being a good product.

[@teebeedahbow]

Great video. And important work. Dreadbox are marvellous synth makers. They make real instruments and not just reiterations, sound modules disguised as synths or clones. That is challenging for the user but it is also demands true creativity - and that is a bit of work, no doubt. Same goes for Polyend with their amazing sequencers. if someone buys a Nyx or a Medusa and wants to plug in and get an instant 'phat lead', they are going to be disappointed. If someone wants a musical way to reach into the implications of synth architecture that is as intuitive as it is challenging, then they will love Dreadbox products.

[@robertdonatiello870]

Awesome demo! I’m waiting for my FedEx delivery of the Medusa right now… I betcha it will end up delayed to my dismay..

[@ruffiankick]

That patch at 10:34, sheeeeessssh I swear I keep coming back for that little snippet lol. 🔥🔥💯. Yeaa people should definitely not sleep on this synth. Lol

[@bengalinsky4300]

My Medusa has become my main instrument at this point, such a hugely overlooked synth

[@djleadone]

You shouldn’t take the reviews so personal and take into account that maybe they were just trying to justify a refund... 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@WxkR]

I won’t be buying Polyend products in the foreseeable future not because of the products they make, which seem to be of a good quality, and genuine attempts at innovating, but because of the way they (at least one of them) have dealt with my criticism of the Medusa. I do not know if I count within the Medusa “trolls” you are trying to contradict here, but they have been angrily responding to my KZbin comments on their synth. There are two main points I tried to make in a reasonable manner. Since the beginning I stated that I love the sound of the Medusa. That is the first one. I love it so much - here comes the second point - that I was very tempted to buy it despite the pitfalls in physical design I saw (and still see). To summarize, the two small screens and the strip of blank metal in between the two sections of the synth point towards bad design decisions. I suggested that the grid only adds bulk because it does not provide anything than a regular 16 pads sequencer section and an external controller could not provide (btw, a well regarded reviewer suggested something similar). I also suggested that if the grid had to be there, it’d been better to also give it a display function (like a Circuit’s or a Deluge’s) so that they could do away with a second tiny screen in the middle so that the flow between both sections is smoother and the box is more compact. Instead of some reasoning on why they took the design decisions they did, I receive personal insults. At some point, other commenters started to criticize the disproportionate belligerence of their responses after which Yannis (Dreadbox) presented apologies on behalf of both companies. Never anyone from Polyend intervened in a measured, conciliatory manner. I have to say that in this little world of independent synth makers and highly specialized consumer, personal affinities in between both groups are very important (as you suggest), even as important as the devices that mediate between them. So, I don’t know if the Medusa’s sound is as good as to cleanse the antipathy produced by whoever was representing Polyend during our exchanges. Your superb demo makes a great sonic case for the Medusa. Visually and tactually, the grid is completely abandoned (as I have always suspected it will). Emotionally, it retains the nastiness. Of course, that is a personal matter but, what good are sweet sounds when they come in sour vibrations?

[@Neuri]

A rival company did that. Years ago I reviewed Mooer ge200 and every single thing I uploaded after got bot dislikes and fake comments.

[@allegro_manontroppo]

Hi Benn, can you jam with Medusa and Polyrend Play? ps. I bought a limited edition Medusa from Reveber a few days ago, waiting for it to arrive. pps. PLAY will be my next purchase.

[@messer21]

Thanks for the video. You have a new subscriber. I was also really excited about the Medusa until I read the reviews and watched some KZbin videos. Your video and demonstration changed that. Guess what I just bought myself for Christmas? 🤘

[@robertsyrett1992]

If this type of content is easy to make, I wouldn't mind a meta-review series where you sum up the early reviews and give them a reality check. Great video:) edit: My favorite demo starts around 14:00.

[@HzofArt]

Robert Syrett that demo said add to cart

[@robertsyrett1992]

@@HzofArt For both the Medusa and the Specular Tempest XD

[@PaulVonZeppelin]

It’s a really simple but cool use of paraphony. It just evolves in the neatest way.

[@Bboytechreport]

Really dope review my man!!

[@jdavis.fw303]

Holy shit! Sweetwater killed all those junk reviews!!!! There is one 5 star review now.

[@Renzsu]

Medusa is 599 Euro now over at Thomann, seems like an absolute bargain.

[@Hussmannog]

Loving this amazing drone improvisation, and I think this demo says it all really. There's isn't often rubbish kit.....there are musicians who lack the skill to utilise it, that's all. Nice work fella.

[@conradkeely]

Are there ways to share patches and sequences with other Medusa users? If so, would be great to get your patch bank!

[@domingoleija3436]

Someday ran off with my Legowits Polyend 😢but it’s ok . It made me feel very powerful before it ran away. Try not to fall in luv with synth o sizerz. 😤

[@danselmix]

well...another video review that failed to makes me like the sound of this synth...is this comment from a troll? nope, I just wanted to like it because I like the other dreadbox synths and the concept of this one is great, but all the demos just sounds terrible to me...and believe me, I saw all videos and spend more than 1 hour with one just to confirm this...sorry man, this has nothing to do with trolling, I just think it´s sounds really bad

[@cellardoreproductions]

Two years or so later, do you still use it?

[@No.0.o.0]

Gorgeous sounding synth will definitely get one. Sweetwater is the most annoying company though, also they're run by people that support racists but that's most companies right?

[@doddicci]

Funny story: I watched this video 3 days ago and today I own a Medusa. Weird coincidence huh EDIT: But I didn't buy it from Sweetwater :(

[@BennJordan]

Now you won't get help from MEEEYAATTT!!!

[@doddicci]

@@BennJordan if MEEEYAATTT called me from the US to here in Italy at god knows what hour I would have some choice words for him ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@paulburkhart2619]

Thank you for dispelling some of the inappropriate negativity around this synth. Great sounds!

[@jumpingman8160]

according to Nick Batt from SonicLab it's not a "perfect" product. He himself had some problems with it in his review. I'll wait for updates and further reviews and demos before considering to buy it. There's many good things about it, but some annoyances as well.

[@haydnr1631]

Would love an update now V4.0 firmware available!

[@sawyerthereal]

Some gear is bad. But sometimes is just the people using the gear that suck balls! Medusa is pretty damn good!

[@Neurotypique]

I had to take quite some time to adjust, learn and take a full grasp at all the possibilities of this synth, it has since became my favorite standalone synth, it's hard because every use of it is pretty personnal and there is nothing quite like it. Some people see it as a synth with a pad controller, whereas the instrument would not be complete with the Grid that is really half (if not more) of the total interest of Medusa. Before having one I tried it at two ocasions and couldn't even make a patch with it, you need to get used to the UI and workflow but as usual, RTFM and everything will be fine. Thank you Benn with showing great applications and debunking trolls or people who just never played one.

[@RubenDari]

you sir, are an intelligent, creative honest person.grateful for the work you do (expanding my musical knowledge)

[@JamesTindall]

Came to hear about the medusa, stayed for the scathing assessment of one’s fellow man.

[@humanbeing_]

Just wanted to say the patch that became a whole track is phenomenal. So, so, dope. _Love your videos Ben._ And I've been subbed and stay subbed to your channel specifically because you forego the formalities and PC bullshit in favor of speaking your mind, bluntly. I'm the same way. *Add to that you ACTUALLY know WTF you're talking about;* means your content has a positive impact on the Synth community and musicians in general. Just saying. Big 👍 Keep doing what you're doing man. Great stuff. Great video. Great music. Cheers! *Edited for spelling & format corrections*

[@domingoleija3436]

Si mi gusta porqe yo doy perfecto loco come usted pero day not loco yet like us 〰️➰〰️

[@raysubject]

Great video ... Medusa is amazing synth and hope i'll be lucky wnough to get my hands on it one day.. definitely in top 5 of my future purchase dream list !

[@collectoremitter]

I just got mine in the mail today and spent a few hours figuring it out. I've noticed one "bug" which I would barely call that, and I'm not yet on the 1.1.9 beta firmware. This has already been a super inspiring synth in getting me out of my comfort zone, so I'm really happy I went with it despite having seen some of these negative comments Anyway, lots of inspiring patches in this video. Now I gotta work on getting some similar results!

[@GothProfessor]

Thank you for calling out those ridiculous negative reviews and naming names. I read them all a few months ago, and it ruined the curiosity I had about this unique piece of gear. I'm glad to hear and see that those people were just being biased and/or ignorant.

[@MattiasHolmgren]

That synth does indeed sound lovely! Superb synth jam at 13:30! Great video!

[@whendoesthisend]

This mF> is so AWESOME! to play with and that's all I'll say.

[@benjaminbruker308]

Is there any way to hear the full track from 11:40? Holy shit so good

[@travistouchdown1812]

What state do you live? The view in the fedex anticipation shot was really nice!

[@tjs6025]

You know what other synth people tore apart, and for years? That would be the monomachine. Which this synth tone-wise and fun-wise reminds me a ton of.

[@MathHammer]

The Medusa is sort of a "Franken-synth" in my opinion. It appears to have suffered from scope and feature creep during the design process. It is not the architecture I would have chosen for a joint venture between Polyend and Dreadbox. However it bursts with opportunity to become creative with sound design in new ways. I vacillate back and forth between wanting one like crazy and feeling "meh" about it. Price-wise I would compare it to something like the (now discontinued) DSI Mono-Evolver keyboard (MEK) with a pad input device rather than the keyboard of the MEK so it is okay there in my opinion. Due to lack of independent voices it is not up to the capabilities of an Elektron A4 even though it has a great sequencer and lots of oscillators and modulation options. The device just occupies an odd niche.

[@domingoleija3436]

Jur totally sytherbating Jordan 🇯🇴

[@sebastiennesp1978]

Power to you sir! I'm a huuuge Dreadbox fan - to the detriment of my bank account, and hate to think ill informed nitwits can potentially damage small companies run by ENTHUSIASTS. Too much democracy, bah!

[@Antonio229]

What were those reviewers talking about. This synth sounds awesome. Damn, now I want one.

[@vecchiarelli7928]

Your assessment of the Medusa is spot on and I dig your reviewing style. Liked and subbed!

[@kiickinballistics]

Spot on! Making those ‘one star reviewers’ walk the talk outs them for what they are...PHONEY! That’s why I never take note of them, I simply watch trusted KZbinrs with professional sound who know how to handle the equipment and make coherent arguments as to the Pro’s and Con’s. 👏 I particularly liked the sounds starting 13:43 ...⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ from me!

[@XanderEwald]

Haha, the stories behind the reviews are hilarious.

[@curcapsicum]

10:33 Hey, Fbox! I ended up here again after watching your latest video about the Polyend Tracker and challenge. The reward for the song/remix challenge was one of these (if chosen) so I went back to this video to remember what it's all about. It's fun to see that something from this video ended up on your latest album and I think that speaks pretty well for this piece of tech!

[@dscapes1]

Finally someone ran the sequencer so I can hear what it sounds like while tweaking parameters! Thanks for the entertaining demo.

[@mbrombert]

Wow WOw WOW!! That arp/sound at 10:33 resonated with my entire being... I knew I wanted this but now I am certain I need it. Only discovered it recently. Great review.

[@gigo20]

This has hands down made my night. The people who bemoan price when the company has made a sturdy unit are usually unaware of how money works. As for trolls I’m gonna put my money on Uri B. That guy totally spends his free time tearing others down online.

[@digitaldiezel5870]

I LOVE THIS POST!! Thank you!! Great job handling the haters, and great job demonstrating this instrument!

[@marcocelis2104]

Subscribed to your channel !!! and just got one of those bad boys. I usually look for a sonic palette demo that reviewers do when exploring the gear , and yours is just amazing. Please keep humiliating the bullshitters with facts !

[@cyprn6600]

Can you sequence external gear with it? Not sure if you addressed it in the video and can't find info :(

[@JayaLove]

I have this question also

[@soerenraudonis]

I repeat: the most promising synth I ever had my hands on

[@livtaylor666]

This is no rant ! I use the medusa daily for production together with many other synths. 6 OSCs & 10 LFOs are great for sound design. OSC calibration tone bleed when using headphones : Polyend could add a simple software function to pause or stop this permanent background calibration tone manually when one needs to use headphones as a workaround. Yes, there are people using headphones, because medusa has a dedicated HP output ! But Polyend "tend" to look into this when going back to the firmware "some day"... holy shit... their newer unfinished products have more priority. These devices are broken in a way. No wonder why the price drops from 1000€>699€>400€. This issue is well known and worldwide all over the forums. Display reaction / snappiness : Values are shown & updated slow, feeling like a 80s calculator. This should also be no problem to finetune menu reaction speed as it could be done on most cheap 3D-Printers offering the same displays and running on a very comparable platform enviroment ( - 10ms, please ). A little code optimization to the firmware could come in very handy when running resources at max on such units ;) Pad sensitiveness : This is an instrument and should be well playable at all. Tried to play these great pads with some light fingers having some soft expression ? Hard to do that, right ? I need a hammer to do that. Having a better/bigger/wider range of XYZ touch velocity curves would solve this. Software tool : Ahhh... I forgot that Medusa software tool. Damn, Polyend are you serious ?? What's this in 2020 ? Ever tried to manage your presets ? Give them names ? Have a 8x8 graphical matrix on your screen, drag and drop a preset where you want it ? No ? We could save both Banks A & B and reload them, cool huhhh ? My oldskool Yamaha AN1x editor from 1999 got better options, to be honest nothing will compare to a bad JoMoX SysEx utilitie, but now there is your tool... Really not famous quality to look at a bad drawn JPG, which was an addition with the new soundbanks, when selecting a preset. The Manual : The hole manual should be revised, there are things shown on some screens, these are not documented anywhere. The first 1/3 part of the manulal reads something linke an explanation/pretext/excuse for using such concept, why ? I love the concept and the sound. Sound is, like so often, a main reason to buy such gear, but that's not all here, because of the grid. We are just given something with quirks and have to do our best with it, but it could be sweeter with some more serious product care.

[@JeveMCD]

Picked it up last week, and it's definitely not what I initially thought it was going to be, but I think this is familiar feeling for synth fans. Spent better part of a week noodling with patch and sequence creation, and I don't understand a lot of the criticism the Medusa has received over the past two years. Hope to keep loving this synth for years to come. Cheers.

[@77advanced]

Ha ha). What i actually tryed to say, that the vco's sound not the same as in erebus or nyx wich i own, not that i dont believe there are vcos). To me medusas vco's and filter havent that warmth like in previous dreadbox products and sound a bit plastic. I really hope i'm wrong, becourse i am a dreadbox fan, but considering all youtube demos i have a strange feeling about its sound. If erebus and nyx demos drives me to buy that products, medusa demos just dont. Btw your demo doing much more in showing sound wich is more pleasant to me. (Sorry for my broken english)

[@AshBashVids]

Backpedalling so hard that you've stripped the chain

[@77advanced]

@@AshBashVids where did you saw backpedaling? I am still dont like sound of medusa comparing to my nyx and erebus, my point is clear and sustainable

[@FunkTree]

Mister Shledge I own Medusa and 77advamced brings valid points

[@surenoblack2658]

Iv been curious about this, I want to buy this synth but concerned the tonic quality of the VCOs aren’t the same as the Erebus and general dreadbox sound? Is this correct?

[@Gluttonforpeace]

Me+Benn's channel=$0.00

[@jeansebtremblay]

Thanks alot for that ! Finally a proper demo :)

[@Raumweiter]

Benn, i really like your videos! One of the few youtubers who are calmly providing good info. Thanks!

[@djleadone]

It kind of sounds SH-101 like

[@2disbetter]

You would be surprised at just how much trolling of products there are. Some of the best things I've seen come out in the synth world are trashed so much, that it is hard to not believe the industry is intentionally trying to trash competition. Thank you for defending things based on the reality of the product, and not your lazy pre-assumptions and annoyance at having to learn a synth to get the most out of it as intended.

[@444levels9]

how can you talk that way about Nick Batt, he's not lazy and he knows what he's talking about.

[@harambo88]

i love it, when ppl write stuff that i cant even understand when i use all my empathic skills, visit their channel and find stuff that gives me the "100%weirdo, no room for doubt in the slightest" verification.

[@kabood777]

how the hell did I miss this video, I always thought why nobody says anything about these absolute BS reviews!

[@smkh2890]

Cheers, you have made me even more wary of 'opinions' also not to patronise Behringer!

[@espionhyperoctave]

Just saw that you are the man behind the Flashbulb! Love your music!

[@Sey_Les]

Sold I'm getting one

[@BonasBuden]

I like it being so badly reviewed ( Sorry for Polyend and Dreadbox though..). I got mine very cheap. It will be one of those sought after future classics which have limited press. This is truly uniq synth which sounds nice and it have its own very distinct character which I like. Layout and functionality is also very nice. For sequencer side there could be some improvements but synth controls are very easy and intuitive to use. I will definetly keep this one no matter what gear I will have in the future.

[@EaselCat]

My sweet water rep is Ben irl

[@MarshalArnold]

Nice, we were just discussing this synth on my 2018 year end review and I was curious why the Medusa had been getting a bad rep? One of my guests referred me to this video, and I'm extremely pleased to see (and hear) it's very capable and well worth the asking price. I hope others interested in getting one will find this vid and not be persuaded by Aliens and Trolls :)

[@HzofArt]

You just convinced me to buy one thanks

[@StormBurnX]

Ah man, you can't just slam them all for typos and then put 'here' instead of 'hear' at 9:28 !!!11!11 /s Good to see a proper review. Went and checked out the sweetwater video, and I can't help but wonder if that guy was just really out of it when he made the demo.

[@robertsyrett1992]

The guy in the sweetwater video with the Buchla shirt on is actually a guy whose whole career is based around synth demos. Honestly I didn't think it was that bad. Benn here just also happens to be a musical genius, which gives him a natural advantage.

[@BennJordan]

I'm no genius, just a jazzer. And yep, wrecked on that typo. lol As for the Sweetwater review, that guy does loads of demos. I imagine he was just handed this thing and given a night to play with it, and just took it for face value. It's a very, very deep synth with lots of unique functionality. It took me a week or so to feel confident enough to share an opinion of it. So I'm not ragging on him at all, he was just in their studio doing his job and went to town at face value.

[@SingularityMedia]

I mean.... Dreadbox always make lovely sounding analog oscillators and filters. Always rich and deep. This was never going to sound bad. Unfortunately there are a lot of muppets out there who have access to the internet 🤷

[@tjs6025]

Fuck this is amazing!! The Cristo part has me rolling; some point in my synth KZbin adventures I’ve come across that guy’s “stuff” no idea he had a Netflix film lol

[@aethervagrant244]

That Sweetwater burn was fire!