I agree. Brilliant demo. I just wish I could understand what the fuck he's doing or what he's talking about! Serious mad scientist in the lab stuff but sounds great.
Not really. I have both, and can say they are very very different. The blades smacks you in the face somewhat (the output can get very hot!). If you want some gnarly stereo acid bass lines, it's probably the one you want. It does a pretty good impression of a dual complex oscillator, although it's not the easiest oscillator to tune, and lacks a bunch of control and additional waveforms of say the instruo CS-L. The bass doesn't drop out with added resonance, and even though the resonance can go mental, it's very easy to dial in. It's probably the more versatile of the two. The QPAS doesn't self oscillate (you can with a feedback loop, but it's not great for that), and it's resonance is much harder to dial in (even a very low envelope into the cutoff can be too much). The output feels almost line level compared to the blades. However, the !! Inputs do things the blades can't. Just pinging those inputs gives a pretty close approximation to LPGs, and throwing audio rate modulations at them is a lot of fun. The QPAS also has the VCA built in, which makes it super convenient (patching up a couple of vcas post blades is a bit annoying). Oh yeah, it also has THAT resonant filter sweep (yeah, blades can't do THAT) I pretty much just use the instruo CSL, 2 instruo Ceis, and a qpas as my main wavefolded FM'd bonkers voice. That's a great little combo. The blades seems to work better with your standard pulse/saw/tri oscillator outputs. If you're newish to modular (as in, haven't yet forked out for a dual complex oscillator), or you're wanting a filter that can scream for squelchy bass lines, blades. The qpas is probably a better fit for those who already have wavefolded outputs on their oscillators, those who want to play their synth with a keyboard, or those who are more interested in ambient textures. (mind you, blades into an optomix can get close to a QPAS) They're both amazing, but as I said at the start, they are *very* different. Arguably blades is the more versatile, but they both do things the other can't.
MI is the shit, I learned a lot of cool modern HW engineering building from their git. I will forever be in their debt for the awesome commitment to the opened source philosophy. If everyone was like this the world would be a better place.
Thanks, Émilie! You are making awesome work being on the cutting edge for development. Last but not least, thanks to Divkid for this top-notch demonstration/tutorial video. I really hope to see new videos out as soon as possible :3
Makes me so happy to see a new module from MI. Don’t even care what it is, it just feels like such a personal victory (I hope) for Emilie and hope she gets confidence, pride and enjoyment out of this great achievement. It takes a lot of time to develop your own products and it can be very terrifying and stressful, wanting to deliver something special and having self-doubt. I would say: follow your inner compass. Trust you know your ‘own’ true way in a society where everyone has something to say.
Afaik, there are no modules in development since 2018, this one is from the old batch and there will be more of them. But nothing ‘new’. So no personal victory, sadly.
If Émilie reads this: Thank you so much for comming the continuation of creating new modules! MI+VCV was my first step into modular. Three years ago, i said i will never go the modular route...since i have a pc and VCV. I had so much fun with "Rings" that i decided to actually buy a small case just to get this modul in my Dawless setup...something i could have actually for free with VCV XD Now i am the happy owner of countless real Modules and i can not describe the insane fun i have when i make music with them! This modul will be the reason why i gonna buy another case :) Thanks Divkid for your brilliant demonstration! Every day the new moduls appear, but th MI moduls always are innovative in some way and the fact that they are open source open a whole new universe for me...electronics :D Love goes out!
Exciting stuff! What a lovely surprise too - you know it's going to be a great day (in Modular and in general) when new Mutable Instruments is on the horizon. Also loving the longer musical intro on this video.
I've been working with this MONSTER of a filter hands-on for a couple of days after I was (massively) luckily enough to score one at a reasonable price this month. When I knew it was time to go beyond my primitive understanding and re-reading the manual a fourth time, and then I saw DivKid had a video on it, well that was a no brainer click lol
it is a great update on clouds and really fun when you feed in Plaits and then send output to Rings and modulate with Marbles. A great quartet powerhouse together for ambience modular perfection.
Wow! This module sounds great. Fantastic features. And it's well priced as well it seems. Oh dear .............. another one to add to the list, pushing me closer to another case upgrade!
amazing demo as always!! i got this beast today absolutely unexpected. Its an unblievable module. i also let my Tele through, it really really sounds sick!!! already one of my favs!!!!
Ace demo Ben and I did not know you also played guitar like myself! I have a lot of mutable instrument modules now: Plaits, Marbles, Rings, Shades, Kinks Links so good stuff a bit tricky to learn.
This thing is amazing for making phatt kicks! Also, if you like distortion, you can get some crazy, badass, noise out of this badboy, just by using it as sine wave osc and some creative patching. Can't tell you how much I love this thing! Thank you soo much to the creator!
esta buenisimo . el disenio es tan hermoso que te permite mutar de una funcion a otra. tendria mas de 1 en el rack . y el demo epic , cuando aparece el guitarrista en el scope . lol . amo .
Very interesting stuff. I've been looking into filters recently, and would really like a dual filter. I've looked at the Soundforce Dual Filter (you've reviewed), which looks very simple but capable. However, for a few more possibilities, I was about to buy a Morgasmatron, but I've been hesitating because of the amount of HP space it takes. Then I saw Blades pops up often in forums and came by here to see what it does. Most impressive, and, it's all in 18hp (instead of 20hp), and you also save yourself a few euros too. Difficult decisions yet again!
I'm in love with my pair of Dinsync Sara filters and this looks every bit as good as those. The addition of wavefolding is a great idea, and as usual the MI panel layout is lovely. I'm sure someone will quickly come up with a completely unusable µBlades ripoff though :-(
I know what mean. However, Emilie is a very forward thinking person it seems, and gladly gives out (open sources) the code for her modules after a certain period of time. Which, if I understand correctly, must mean it's for everyone to use.
Hello Ben! First i want to thank you for all the good work you do with those reviews!... It’s always interesting to watch and listen!...A question for you when you have the time.... I’m new to modular,.. i bought a SV1b and a Primary oscillator from Pittsburgh modular... if you were me what would be the next module? ADSR, VCA, Maths...? Thanks in advance! Cheers!✌️
Blades has such an elegant design that builds on an modern classic. I love Ripples 2 for its grit and performative response. Does Blades share the same filter topology as Rips v2?
wow. never though someone vould ever be able to make so much out of 2 filters... THX so much. for helping me contribuating to the music making economy ;) also you have spectrum analyser while in scope mode on Data ? that's neat ( and not on mine) beta ?
Nice demo. Quick side question : are those the Polar Noise braided cables ? I've been looking at those but I'm concerned about "high density patching", such as self-patching a Cold Mac, etc. Do they bend nicely when patched in cramped spaces ?
Quite a bit like the Stereo Dipole but with CV over modes, which is great. But knowing MI, there are some "things" under the hood that will be discovered soon, I'm certain.
@@tl3ss Indeed, Blades has 2 cores, not 4. I have allocated my VCA budget to different things (CV over drive, response and routing). Different design decisions!
I can’t watch this all now but I’ve been trying to figure out how to make a filter/folder that sweeps from filtered centers to bypass and end folded. I tried with my Zoia a year ago and did not like the results since it doesn’t have a proper folder but hope this does it!!!!
Well shit.... I havnt been feeling my morgasmatron as of lately but have held on to it as its my only dual morphing filter. I now have no choice but to fill its place :)
@@CapRockout Glad im not alone here. Honestly the morph was the main reason I was hanging on. Its a cool module for what it is but the filter tone just seems to fall in the uncanny valley between silky smooth and tons of dirt / character which leaves me avoiding it more often than not. To get what seems like a much smoother filter, actual control over the drive and its harmonics, and the open source potential of mutable for 2 hp less..... im sold.
basically not making new modules, only releasing already designed modules. talked about this few weeks ago, so only things that will come out are modules she already designed.
Amazing video, as usual. Btw, I noticed that in the raw filter demo you have some drive dialled in, so it is not a raw filter demo. The sound is kind of grainy.
Hello, the drive isn't unity all the way left and drive beyond that. You can reduce the level into the circuit with drive all the way down. So to keep levels nearer unity you want some drive on the knob turn. That's really handy for been able to pull back and sound and be more dynamic with level management.
I wonder if this will be open source, so far the updated ripples and this haven't been. I'm guessing it didn't help sales yet it did so much for the modular diy community
what do you mean nothing about your data? Got a specific point in the video you can point to and I'll let you know how it's set. If you hold the top right button in the oscilloscope mode you access to more menu items along the top. One is 'min' for 'minimal' that turns off the background colour, grid and settings. Hit the top left button to get back out of that. The second of those new settings is the lissajous XY mode. This uses 2 inputs to create 2D shapes. Hope that helps.
@@DivKid that helps a ton!!! You just have the coolest graphics and I dunno, mine just looks messy for lack of a better word, and yours looks clean and futuristic. Appreciate the response and all your videos :)
Thank you, appreciate the interest and comment it's good to help out where I can. The white line 2D stuff is all that XY mode and I put the minimal mode on to sort of un-clutter (guess that's the bit you mean is messy) though the grid is useful as you're time division blocks and voltage levels are then shown on that grid. But yeah hold the top right button in scope mode and try the other settings. I should probably make a guide to the DATA module at some point.
You can make a notch filter, with variable width of notch. Take the central blended output and set it to parallel filtering. Moving both cut offs together then will move a notch around and you can varying the cut offs to change the width. Very powerful/flexible.
Anyone, discus filters please: As hardly anyone has tried this filter yet, I hope someone would like to tell us their first impression, and if you are in the future you are welcome to talk here based on your experience. I got an E440 that I like very much and also a great filter in my mother 32. I love my mum. But I also got a Xaoc Belgrade that tbh don't like that much unfortunately, because I want to. I would however like to get a more complex filter to than the above mentioned. So, anyone out there having any recommendations, filters you think compares to this one, or thoughts about filters in general? This one seems really good though and I like the offset, folding possibilities.
I think the Belgrad is a very complex filter. Sometimes I have a feeling like you, that I don‘t like it very much. It behaves strange, or something like that, I feel sometimes, that there is somethin wrong with it. But when I start to modulate it, I always come to the point, that I never want to miss what it does. And I don‘t know any other filter, that can do what this beast can do. And because it behaves the way it does, I am very happy, that it is only one chanel...
@@PORRFNK Thanks for tip. Yes I've seen this filter in many cases but sort of overlooked it anyway. Probably because of how it looks, like not so flashy or whatever. I'll do some more research on it.
@@rassell9918 Thanks. Yes you mirror my sentiments. It can do funny or interesting things when modulated but I mostly end up using a few sweet spots for whenever I need a raw or clean more or less static sound or quality if that makes any sense. Not being one of the sharpest tools in the shed I have a hard time understanding the logic in it. But then again, monsters are probably not that logical.
In my opinion, you've already got two of the most musically characterful filters around, and what follows those is a long exercise in chasing the dragon for that magical feeling that those two gave you. But from a practical standpoint, there are some bases that they don't cover: dual/stereo applications, state variable filtering (low pass, band pass, and high pass on a single modulatable output), band pass in general, and formant filtering (less useful but can be fun). It looks like Blades covers most of those bases. But the specs on paper never tell you whether it delivers that sonic magic that scratches your itch. There will always be another dragon on the horizon.
