Dreadbox gives the Typhon analog mono synth, made in collaboration with Sinevibes, in firmware 4.0 a massive I/O boost with both audio & MIDI via USB
The Typhon is probably one of the most exciting mono analog synthesizers in recent years. Not only because it’s not a clone, but mainly because it’s made by two young, innovative music tech companies in a remarkable collaboration.
The Greek experts from Dreadbox were responsible for the analog area. For the effects area is Sinevibes from Ukraine responsible who presented us high-end, affordable effects plugins and extensions for Korg synthesizers like on an assembly line in recent years. Two companies have found each other in Typhon and if the rumors are to be believed, they will extend their relationship in polyphonic. Today Typhon got another update which makes it even more interesting.
Firmware 4.0
The new firmware 4.0 for the Dreadbox Typhon does not bring any new sound design features but gives the I / O a huge boost. First, it adds MIDI over USB. So the Typhon synth becomes a MIDI/USB device and can now send and receive MIDI messages from a Computer. This feature can work in parallel to the DIN5 MIDI and the user can select the port configurations from the global settings. Thus, you can now build editors for it.
Also new is audio over USB. This is a very big step in my opinion. A functionality that only very few synths offer (Roland …). In this case, Typhon will act as an audio/USB device. This feature enables Typhon to act as an audio input and be recorded from a computer directly without the use of a sound card. This feature was added to prevent ground loops between the audio interface and the synth. Clever addition.
Further, they fixed a bug that occurred on unit startup under certain circumstances. All in all a very welcoming update for the Typhon. It’s great to see that a company invests so much power in an already released product. Thanks, Dreadbox and Sinevibes.
The new Dreadbox Typhon firmware 4.0 is available now in a beta version.
More information here: Dreadbox
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Roland synths are not class compliant with audio/midi, so they require a driver. For a PC that is not a problem. But for Linux and iOS it is. So class compliant audio/midi over usb is the holy grail. Many Elektron products offer it.
Hey, all Zen-Core instruments are class compliant for example and route out audio and MIDI over USB
W00t1!! Class compliant ftw.
What else is there?
ive been tempted on the typhoon for a while now, but the idea of a synth with presets not having endless rotary controls is kinda lame, obviously i havent used it so i cant comment how annoying it is or perhaps it isnt, just a weird thing i have 😀
but audio & midi via usb is wicked. i do it with the model samples and its damn awesome for quick ideas and just doing things without having to plug in tons of extra stuff.
mocostroika, the potentiometers (pots) are controlling analog circuitry, they are not encoders. So I’m not sure what your reservation is based upon? They follow the full range of that particular feature in absolute measure, and they will pickup when you have a jump in value from one preset to the next. Where else would you plan to go with them? midi assignments? It’s a pretty odd controller, don’t you think? The internal values are also on a scale. Some of those parameters are bi-polar, controlling the direction of an oscillator on that value, for example, or dampening upper frequencies or lower frequencies, in another example. There’s no need for endless encoders, and frankly any that you chose to install would be of cheaper quality.
It would be nice if Dreadbox implemented a custom set of user destinations in the Modulation pages. For now they default to the same three options, but I can already think of more fundamental ones.
I’m on PC & Typhon has just arrived. Firmware 4 seems to be removed from Dreadbox site.
Is it coming back ? Anyone know if there is an issue with it ?