Ikaron II?

Joxer the Mighty · Post by **Joxer the Mighty** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 1:50 pm

http://www.ikaron.ch/main_e.htm

Anyone have experience with it? The demo sounds pretty good. Sounds like a good deal at the sellout price.

snoopy4ever · Post by **snoopy4ever** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 3:41 pm

Never had or been close to one.., but I've heard of it several years ago.., the concept is interesting although it has no digital interface I/O.

I wonder what this switzerland guys will focus next..

DJ Mosley · Post by **DJ Mosley** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 6:58 pm

It also looks like only 4 DSP's (a whole card for only one synth). Not worth the PCI slot.

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 7:40 pm

the hardware (4 Motorolas) is the same as the original Nord Modular (if memory serves me right)

and the sellout is close to the price of a 2nd hand MicroModular, which has only one DSP.
From that point it's not too bad, but as mentioned, missing IO and the need of an additional card to integrate it into recording/sequencer.
Anyone got an idea how long it took them to arrange that screenshot of their supa-ergonomic software ?

cheers, Tom - btw looking for a MicroModular to complete his Casio sax

[ This Message was edited by: astroman on 2004-08-12 20:42 ]

Joxer the Mighty · Post by **Joxer the Mighty** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 11:07 pm

Yep, they are Motorola DSP chips not SHARC. They claim 32-64 notes of polyphony. No way in hell could you ever get that out of a 4 DSP CW card. And you're not limited to just one synth, you can have four running at a time, each on their own midi channel. The lack of digital outputs is a bit of an issue, but then again my G2 doesn't have digital outs either. I just think it might be a good solution for someone needing polyphony without spending a lot of cash, not to mention the fact that the synths on the demo sound pretty sweet.

[ This Message was edited by: Joxer the Mighty on 2004-08-13 00:09 ]

valis · Post by **valis** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 5:17 am

If I had the spare cash I would probably get one.

I've eyed that card before...sometimes gear is interesting because its gear that is interesting and not because it has the 'right specs' or the 'right price' or the 'right name' etc. If it doesn't interest everyone that's not really a big deal to me either, my only concern is that it interests me while making sounds with it.

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 9:00 am

On 2004-08-13 00:07, Joxer the Mighty wrote:
... They claim 32-64 notes of polyphony. No way in hell could you ever get that out of a 4 DSP CW card. ...

but you can on Motorola

I have a Midiman Lagoon card with the same DSP (a single one). There's a couple of synths included capable of 32 voices.
But those are not Sharc voices - they are much 'thinner'

I've also loaded the demo, but honestly - for occasional use it sounds good, but the character is VERY limited.
Note that the demo is not plain sound, but chorused and delayed (reverbed) in many parts.

cheers, Tom

[ This Message was edited by: astroman on 2004-08-13 10:02 ]

Joxer the Mighty · Post by **Joxer the Mighty** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 10:44 am

Very good point Astroman, the true test of any synth is hearing how good it sounds dry.