MFB and the £218 Minimoog...

Module Records blog the MFB-VJ Player, a little video sampler, which holds 28 four-second video clips, with a crossfader and some effects. MFB seem to be little known outside Germany, but they have an long history going back to producing early drum machines in the '70s. They also make the can-it-really-be-true MFB Synth II, a tiny, all analog, knob-covered, Minimoog-inspired synth with three oscillators, two envelopes, MIDI, CV-Gate in, sync, PWM, a built-in mini keyboard, patch memories and a built in sequencer which sells for €413 (£218)! They also do the PolyLite, a four-voice poly synth with digital oscillators (3 per voice) and analog filters, for €299. More on MFB from Sequencer.de, and the MFB homepage is here.

Posted by Tom Whitwell.

Comments:

the MFB Synth II does sound great, but, to be accurate, it has DCOs, not VCOs - so it isn't completely analog.

# posted by

Anonymous : 2:32 am

A DCO is analog, it's simply locked to a digital clock. The signal is analog though - there is no D/A converter involved in the audio signal path.

DCOs do sound thinner, because the waveform is more uniform than a VCO. A prime example is the difference between the VCO based Xpander and the DCO Matrix6.

# posted by

Anonymous : 5:06 am

Hi there!

Actually the MFB Synths has analog Oscillator, but the MFB synths lite has Digital Oscillator.

I own a MFB synth lite (DCO and VCF) and it sounds really amazingly punchy an moogy for its size.

For me no matter DCO or VCO, if you have a good filter section.

# posted by

Dr Stanley Borde : 10:18 am

i have an mfb synth lite 2 (the really small one), digital oscillators, analogue filter. it sounds good, except one of the oscillators comes and goes as it pleases. also has some annoying operational quirks (which the manufacturer describes as features!) and often convoluted operation (well there are limited buttons, so not surprising.) a mixed bag, but at least it's tiny.

# posted by

Anonymous : 2:59 pm

where can you buy these things?

# posted by

Anonymous : 9:11 pm

one of my last roomates expended much time and effort just finding someone in the u.s. who could sell him the mfb-502 drum machine. very disappointing. it was pretty crappity sounding. cheap build, cheap sounds, no redeeming character really. im pretty skeptical of them myself. if it seems too good to be true it probably is.

# posted by

Anonymous : 2:03 pm

thats killed that, stone dead.

# posted by

Anonymous : 8:45 pm

i've owned a mfb-502 and an mfb synth ii. they're both amazing instruments for the price. the mfb-502's internal sequencer is a little wonky, but it has an amazingly big kick drum. i really like the hand claps too. the synth is awesome; it has _vco's_, not dco's (only the lites have dcos). you can get a lot of the classic kraftwerk sounds out of it with little effort.

# posted by

Anonymous : 8:20 pm

Hmm. DCO's are in my Juno 60, and it certainly can't be said to sound thin. It's very warm, plump, and creamy.

# posted by

Doktor Future : 3:03 am

DCOs are NOT analog.
The ICs in Junos (for example) are digital in and digital out.
Look at the spec sheet from the makers.
Just because a digital signal is treated as analog doesn't make IT analog itself.
If that was so, all digital synths and CD players would be considered analog because they end up moving a speaker.

# posted by

Anonymous : 5:26 pm

Numerically-controlled/ oscillor/Digitally-Controlled Oscillator/DCO = either a Voltage-Controlled Oscillator, locked to a Digital-to-Analog Convertor OR
a Digital Waveform Generator.

Thus, DCO can mean two entirely different things.

Also it was the Juno 106 that has DCO's. It's publicly agreed upon that the DCO's in this synth are VCO's controlled by a DAC. If that is untrue, however, than, so be it. Honestly I've never had a pre-90's japanese synth break down on me; so I've never worried about the insides. Wish I could say the same about the arps.

Taking a look at the pictures of the MFB lite's circuit board, it would appear that it uses DCO's...the Digital Waveform Generator kind.

Anybody pop open the hood of the 502?

# posted by

Anonymous : 8:16 pm