So I just pulled the trigger on a DSI tetr4.. can't wait for it to arrive!

I'm planning on using it as 4 mono synth lines for twisted bass and percussion-ish kinda sounds... although I am also tempted to get a mopho keyboard when they're out so that I can have a 5-voice analog polysynth to play.. that would be dope (mainly for the full front up control surface, but i hear the keys are nice on DSI stuff too)!

Anyone else here using one and care to share how they're usin it?
Got any tricks you can teach me?

mopho users too since its basically 4 mophos in a box.

hi man
i saw the price of it and is not cheap here, how didyou pay for it? any idea of the sound (is really like the mopho?)?

yes in terms of the actual synth sound generating architecture it is exactly like 4 mophos in a box..

it was $950 australian.. which is pretty cheap for a 4 voice/4 part analog synth.. sure you can get digital synths for cheaper (blofeld, 2nd hand virus/nord lead/novation/korg), but anything else that is analog and less than AU$1000 is single part monophonic and doesn't usually have as good a sequencer as the DSI stuff.

I tossed up the idea of getting 2 mophos instead of 1 tetra - but having 4 voices means I should be able to make my music live using only the 1 synth..
if i had only 2 voices id need to use sampled synths as well or buy a 2nd synth.

I paid for it with some money that my old (ex) university owed me.. and still have money left over to get a drum machine next week too (probly a 2nd hand machinedrum)

very cool for you cartesia!


(...but 950$ australian=680€ ...i payed my roland jv1080 just 130€...the tx81z 70€...they're not very very portable but...)

how're you liking the 1080? I had a proteus 2000 for a while which is kinda similar.. digital romplers are great for doing sharp crispy pads and such...

nice! you reckon 4 mono synth-voices will do though? you focusing on percussive styles?

yes and yes

the jv 1080 is cool, the presets too, is a kind of "all in one" synth in therms of sounds and its sound quality is very "pro".
but i'm waiting to buy the "vintage synth" card + the "session" card; the first one got many old synths and the second got acoustic sounds.
jv1080 fx are cool too, lfo, filters etc too etc and is not that difficult to program...

Congrats on your Tetra purchase...you're gonna love it! I got mine about a month ago and I'm having a blast with it. I don't really have any tricks or tips for you though, I'm still learning. Lately I've been spending hours making fucked up noises and drones, experimental type stuff. With the 4 modulation slots, 4 lfo's and a 3rd envelope (all per voice), it's real easy to do that kind of thing.

Make sure you download the free editor. This thing is a BITCH to program without it! Editing from the front panel is fine for leads and basses, but if you want to do combos and crazy sequences you might as well forget it.

Cartesia, shoot me a PM if you have any questions.

Thanks man yeah the editor looks helpful - I am gonna grab a midi controller for it though as well.

pics or it didn't happen jk jk

congrats on your new gear man, you should post picture of your set-up. How you liking the Tetr4 (it's spelled with "4" instead of "a", correct?)

I'm thinking about getting a new synth too, dont know if I should get the Tetr4 or the Blofeld + Mopho combo

^ Pics when it arrives.. which will hopefully be tomorrow!

As for what you should get.. it depends what you want to do and what sounds you like -

If you are going to be sampling the synth sounds then arranging, then the blofeld + mopho makes more sense. . if you are going to be playing stuff live then you need to ask..
which sound do you prefer? how many simultaneous synth parts do you need?

for me its either minimal blippy techno, or deep housey prog sounds. the DSI sound just draws me to it.. that's not to say that the blofeld doesn't sound great.. it's just a different character.

thanks for your answer cartesia,

I think I will get the Tetr4 first, then get the blofeld in a couple months if I find it necessary later. I make hip-hop, trip-hop, drum-n-bass so I'm really urged to hear those analog sounds coming out of the DSI

good luck and have fun with your new piece

it arrived today

Freakin sweet.. despite the weirdness of the control system, it actually works really well because you can effectively have 4 'page markers' - which I keep at like oscs, filter env, LFOs/other envs, sequencer.. for quick editing.

Been making up some basic combos for techy prog house type stuff.. I'm glad I have the mbase coming - resonant sweeps of the filter on tetra basslines are drowning out my poor bass-aliasing es-1's kicks hehe.

ALso makes me wanna learn keyboard a bit better.. would like to be able to play some thom yorke-ish stuff

Here it is: (sorry dunno why the picture is all pixelated.. weird.. its reversed cos of my laptop's cam)

As you can see I am officially out of mixer channels, and my MBase hasn't even arrived yet!

^ that's obscene

want sound samples!!