OT-Future Retro?

Voltor07 · Post by **Voltor07** » Tue May 12, 2009 11:41 am

I know a lot of you out there have FR gear, especially the XS, which looks really cool, and I've heard great things about it. What I HAVEN'T heard anything about is the FR Revolution. It's got a built-in sequencer and claims to be a TB-303 clone. Has anyone heard this beast? Is it any good? The price is right, and it looks super cool, but that's all I know. Thanks for any info.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » Tue May 12, 2009 2:01 pm

I have been waiting to see comments on the Revolution also..

Bryan B · Post by **Bryan B** » Tue May 12, 2009 7:23 pm

I had a FR Revolution for a few years. I reached a point where the difference between it and a real 303 was what I really wanted. So I sold it and bought a 303. I was instantly making the kind of lines I wanted with no hassle, even though the 303 sequencer is like painting blind, the sequencer is part of it's personality.

The revolution does have a great step sequencer as far as gates go. The CV is a bit too annoying to program as you have to select the step and push up/down to get to the note you want (which takes way too long to be creative).

It has Din Sync, Midi, CV and Gate Outs which kind of make it a missing link box for a studio full of gear. I missed the sequencer, so I bought a Mobius from a friend (which I still love).

The effects are pretty boring and not very useful for making quality tracks.

The remix feature is cool. It has 2 knobs that create different random variations of your pattern in many different possible combinations.

The reverse is well done. It skips a step to make it fluid when it switches.

I think it was more harsh sounding than a 303 and less silky with the filter. The 303 is very limited in range and the revolution has much more range. It is a fun box, but not a perfect 303 replacement. The XOX box sounds way closer where it counts IMO.

Voltor07 · Post by **Voltor07** » Tue May 12, 2009 9:23 pm

Bryan B wrote:I had a FR Revolution for a few years. I reached a point where the difference between it and a real 303 was what I really wanted. So I sold it and bought a 303. I was instantly making the kind of lines I wanted with no hassle, even though the 303 sequencer is like painting blind, the sequencer is part of it's personality.

The revolution does have a great step sequencer as far as gates go. The CV is a bit too annoying to program as you have to select the step and push up/down to get to the note you want (which takes way too long to be creative).

It has Din Sync, Midi, CV and Gate Outs which kind of make it a missing link box for a studio full of gear. I missed the sequencer, so I bought a Mobius from a friend (which I still love).

The effects are pretty boring and not very useful for making quality tracks.

The remix feature is cool. It has 2 knobs that create different random variations of your pattern in many different possible combinations.

The reverse is well done. It skips a step to make it fluid when it switches.

I think it was more harsh sounding than a 303 and less silky with the filter. The 303 is very limited in range and the revolution has much more range. It is a fun box, but not a perfect 303 replacement. The XOX box sounds way closer where it counts IMO.

Thanks for your input on this. How is it as a non-303 clone? Is it a good enough synth as a synth if you don't label it a 303 clone? I'll probably end up with an Orb and an XS if it's just not a good synth.

Bryan B · Post by **Bryan B** » Wed May 13, 2009 7:02 pm

If it was my money, the XS blows it away. I don't know anything about the Orb.

The Revolution isn't terrible as a synth or a 303 clone by any means, it wasn't worth keeping in my studio.

CTRLSHFT · Post by **CTRLSHFT** » Thu May 14, 2009 1:18 am

i had one for about 6 months. It was super fun to sequence other gear w/ it at the same time to get big bouncing basslines.

imo it is one of the best 303 emulators out there, you just have to know that some of the knob settings go way beyond what the original was capable of, as well as one of the knobs (acc decay) which never existed in the first place. using these features beyond the original's capabilities will naturally change the character past the 303 realm, but you can always hone it back in to where it's at.

the overdrive is fantastic (same as the XS' i believe,) the dsp effects are, well, honestly I think a mistake. They sound like cheap digital effects do, like how some "pro-sumer"-grade digi mixers have, and really are unattractive considering the crowd a device like this caters to, which is primarily interested in the desirable characteristics of analog, and not so much the quantity over quality aspects of cheap dsp fx. I think the revo should lose the fx, and a few more knobs should be added instead for additionally tweakery of some kind. .

long story short: i'd give the revo a 4/5. it's a fantastic 303 emulator, doubles as a analog seq with a unique and quite addicting format for programming.

In the end, timbreally-speaking, the revo was just a little too limiting for me to not justify the 700 bucks going elsewhere (got a prophet 08 with it, which in turn eventually went away for the XS when my pre-order FINALLY came through). 303s are hard to emulate right, but I'll stick with my XS and hope for FR's ORB to come down in price a little bit to resume analog sequencing bliss.

Happy decision making!

anaivemistake · Post by **anaivemistake** » Fri May 15, 2009 10:38 am

I have an XS and Revolution. Both work great together. The XS is super fun to use with the Moogerfoogers. I love using the CP 251 as a modulation source for the xs and the freq box oscillator out to the xs audio in is wonderful too using the xs envelopes. so many options and basically limited only by the imagination.

The revolution is a nice box. i bought it originally to use the sequencer with other synths. I still primarily use it for that. If the Orb had been out 2 years ago, i'd probably have bought the orb instead. The Orb does not have a synth or Din sync. Everything else on the orb is essentially identical to the revolution. The synth on the revolution is good and I like the built in overdrive that revolution has. Its also fun to run drum sounds into the revolution to get a gated lofi overdriven effect. All that said, its the sequencer I was looking for. I'll probably keep my revolution, but for 200 bucks less you get the same thing without the synth section. Any way, thats my 2 cents.

Voltor07 · Post by **Voltor07** » Fri May 15, 2009 11:55 am

Hmm...from what I'm reading here, the Revolution's a touch limited. Yeah, CTRLSHFT, digital effects aren't really my thing...obviously. Even the EHX #1 Echo doesn't sound terribly digital...it just costs terribly digital.

Well, it seems that the XS is a better buy, but then I'd still need to spend $550 after that for a sequencer.

I'll have to think it over, but it looks like the Revolution is the way to go for me. Or, I could just buy an Orb, and a different synth. Dot coms are nice. And a starter cabinet goes for about the same price as an XS. (A module a month, after it's paid off, and I'll have a full cabinet in no time!)

Thanks for all your input!

anaivemistake · Post by **anaivemistake** » Fri May 15, 2009 5:58 pm

yeah, those dot com systems are nice. I just ordered a case. hasn't arrived yet. I am hoping to put it to work with my XS. Dot com has so many pieces you can keep adding and it will play nice with all my Moogerfoogers. I figure its something that you don't have to really save up for either. Any time you have a couple hundred free bucks you can buy a couple modules for it. You could always buy an orb and start a dot com. I wouldn't fault that route. The XS is really good though, and the customer service is great too. There are no bad synths, just different ones. Thats how I feel though.

MF 101, MF 102, MF 104, MF 105, MF 107, CP 251, Future Retro XS, Future Retro Revolution

Voltor07 · Post by **Voltor07** » Fri May 15, 2009 7:34 pm

anaivemistake wrote: There are no bad synths, just different ones. Thats how I feel though.

Exactly. Thus, this thread.

Brad · Post by **Brad** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 4:52 pm

This is why I hate this forum . . . .

My Future Retro Revolution just arrived!

Acid Mitch · Post by **Acid Mitch** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 7:40 am

The Revolution has some settings that sound like a 303 but the sound is weak, amp and resonance are not the same as a 303 and note ranges + knob ranges are different.
The remix thing with the sequencer is not great and the Fx are a complete waste of time.
I did like the layout of the Revo. The steps being in a circle was really good.I just didn't like the sound.

Christopher Winkels · Post by **Christopher Winkels** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 7:57 am

anaivemistake wrote:There are no bad synths, just different ones.

Ah, I see you've never owned a TX81Z.

I've never owned a Revolution, but the XS is a real balls-to-the-wall synth. Think Sequential Pro-One, but with more patching and filter options.

CTRLSHFT · Post by **CTRLSHFT** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 2:11 pm

Acid Mitch wrote:The Revolution has some settings that sound like a 303 but the sound is weak, amp and resonance are not the same as a 303 and note ranges + knob ranges are different.
The remix thing with the sequencer is not great and the Fx are a complete waste of time.
I did like the layout of the Revo. The steps being in a circle was really good.I just didn't like the sound.

I can get behind the fact that it doesn't sound exactly like a 303. And yes, you need to set things a certain way to get a proper emulation.

I do need to say though that the remix feature is killer, can totally take you places you might've not considered. It's intuitive, fast, and can dramatically alter a seq into something awesome worth tweaking. It's a creativity tool which can be very valuable in enhancing the entire experience you have with the instrument.

...It's also a feature that separates FR sequencers apart from the rest of the hardware seqs out there.