Hartmann Music Neuron

Editing is intuitive on the Neuron. Once a model is assigned the Neron pick the logical paprameters for it, which you can then go in and go beyond as well. All controls respond well. The Neron is more a adventure into synthesis, where editing takes you places your not sure of where you will ned up.

This iss what its all about! see below.

Seems fine.

I have emailed Axel Hartmann and few times and he has usually responsed quite quickly and is a very friendly. Also the folka at audiomidi.com us distributor) have been very helpful.

The Hartmann Neuron has instantly become a favorite synth of mine. It has a special cinematic quality that is very inspirational, that is similiar in some way to the Fairlight /Synclavier. It is not perfect but what is? But if you looking to do ambient, film, sound textures/design or just something off the beaten path it will definetly prove itself. It is expensive, but it's uniqueness makes it a wise investment IMO. It comes with 300 different resynthesis models and when you get bored with those you can load your own into there modelmaker softare then into the Neuron through USB/FTP. The filters and effects are good.
Here our a few important links for info and sounds:
Neuron FAQ
http://www.hartmann-music.com/home/us/faq/neuron_faq.pdf
Small Neuron video from Moogulator
http://www.sequencer.de/movie/hartmann.mov
Sylvains Kepler's great Neuron wesite
http://sylvain.kepler.free.fr/
Sound samples:
http://www.aliens-project.de/t_200302_neuron.html

Using 1.2 (the most updated version) OS. Some of the prestes are quite usable, I guess. But I think you'll just have to find proper music for those other sounds to fit in, that's all.

Editing patches is rather easy. Neuron uses a rather different approach to synthesising, so it's new for both pros and novices. But the learning curve isn't steep at all: the only thing that's difficult is to make up your mind which way you wanna go with your sound!

The manual's alright. Not the most detailed one you can find, especially because Neuron is such a complicated machine. Having said that, it's more than adequate. Every ones in a while you get some German sense of humor thrown in for free (err, OK, it's not 'free'. I paid a fortune for the machine).

The thing that makes Neuron very different is that it uses as little synth jargons as possible. It's not good or bad, just different.

32 (or at least 8) poly, depending on the complexity of sounds/presets/models, with semi-weighted keyboard action plus channel after touch (unlike which found on Nord Lead 3 or other products).

Good built-in effects. The variety is not a lot, but the quality is good. At least it goes very well with Neiron's own sounds.

Expansion-wise, because it's got a 20G hard disk and 256MB RAM, I'd say it's pretty expandable. USB connection also makes it possible to update OS and load models you make (with ModelMaker, the program downloadable for owners, but currently only supports AIFF files).

MIDI functions are standard, I guess. I'm not a big MIDI kinda guy.

No onboard sequencer and no appregiators. However, because you can turn samples into models and use and twist them on Neuron, I suppose you can still get by with not having an appregiator. Thing is, if you're buying a Neuron, chances are you've got a lot of other equipments to do your stuff already, while I think Neuron is a nice addition to your stuff.

Because of the lack of these two things, I'll give it a 8 in this category. But for those who don't need it, well, it might be a ten?

Realistic, is a matter of opinion. I think the term 'surreal' should be used to describe the sounds of Neuron. Being all digital, I think it's still capable of generating some very organic sounds. Try the Nylon string presets, for example: it may not sound exactly like the real thing, but it sure as hell sounds accoustic.

In terms of what it's suitable for...well, I guess it suits pretty mucgh anything, depends on how you use it. But the creativity that comes with Neuron makes it leans towards more 'digitalised' side of the spectrum, instead of being used by Jazz/Country/Folk stuff, I guess.

But then again, why not?

The stick controllers feel a bit fragile. Other than that, it's built like a proper keyboard (no it's not built like a 'tank'. I wonder why people always say that? :-P)

Would I use it on a gig? Honestly, I think the HUGE power switch on the back panel looks very very nice, and it's one of the reasons I chose to buy the Neuron (OK, I'm joking. But it REALLY looks great).

In other words, as long as proper protection (like distance between me and the audience) is there, I'd love to show it off.

Can I afford a backup? No I don't think so. Anything else is just anything else, there's no replacement possibility other than aniother Neuron. Sure, you can always use another synth...but in my opinion, that sucks, not being able to use the sounds you wanna use and have to pretend like you're really enjoying playing it.

Good customer support so far. Wrote them in the morning (email) and got the reply by noon. Even though I didn't get the answers I wanted, Ithink they're very helpful.

If it's lost or stolen, I'm just gonna quit music :-P Well, seriously, I think it's gonna be hard to spit out another 3300 pounds for me, even though I like it very much.

As first I was thinking about the Alesis Andromeda and Wardolf Q plus, and I think they're both very very good for what they do. But in the end, I think i had to go for what I like most.

People here usually like to talk about all the gears they have, as if that'll guarantee how much they know about music technology. On some level, I think it's a fair way to judge how informed one's opinion is, but then again, all opinions are subjective, and that really knowing one gear is more important than knowing a thousand superficially.

No, I do not think I know a lot about synths. So if you are considering getting one of these, download the manual and read other reviews and finally, play it yourself to see if it talks to you. My feelings are that Neuron is by no means a perfect machine, but I like it. That's all that matters to me. And chances are, if you give it a chance, you might too...