As of today both the ECR-1, our convolver module, and our GR-1 granular synth are back in stock. If you order from our webshop we can ship the same day (weekends excepted). On top of that we also offer express shipping.
GR-1’s tested and ready for their boxes
ECR’s ready to receive their knobs
More about shipping: it seems that COVID-19 is still somewhat affecting transit times, but it’s very sporadic now. And mostly it seems that overseas shipping (outside of Europe) is 1 to 3 weeks. Express overseas shipping seems 2-3 days.
The GR-1 has seen a bunch of small but important firmware updates. We’re now at v2.3.3 and this seems like the most stable version to date. If you are a GR-1 user you are highly encouraged to upgrade. See the chapter “Firmware updates” in the manual for more information.
A lot has happened since the last post. Here we’ll summarize, and we’ve also saved up a juicy firmware update for the GR-1. Read on.
The Corona crisis has influenced some shipping times and shipping costs. Overseas transit times (Europe to Americas, or to East Asia) are about 6 weeks because almost everything is moving as sea freight now instead of via passenger flights. Shipping inside Europe seems to have remained nearly the same. The postal service has also started charging extra for overseas shipping. However, we will not charge you extra for the standard postal service.
Furthermore, we’re producing at full speed again. We hope to eliminate the waiting line for the GR-1 early in the summer. Later on in summer the ECR-1 will follow and will ship directly in the week your order is placed.
ECR’s and GR’s all packed up.
ECR-1 boxes up close.
We’ve added sound demos for the ECR-1, see below. These show what the ECR-1 can do in a conventional sense, but also in more creative ways. The ECR-1 downloads page was added too. On this page you’ll find resources for reverb responses.
GR-1 Firmware 2.3 adds many features to improve workflow. Editing presets, and making your own performances is now much quicker. Browsing through sample libraries and menus is now also much more zappy. It adds better hands-on controls to fine tune parameters directly, and also to change the matrix without menu diving. Last but not least grains can now be up to 5s, which is why we threw in some free grain stealing! Check the full release notes here. See the new 2.3.1 manual, as always, in the GR-1 downloads section. At the bottom you’ll also find a bunch of new GR-1 patches, kindly donated by a new user.
As usual, the GR-1 update procedure works with downloading the firmware file to USB stick or by hooking your GR-1 onto your router with a LAN cable.
We’ve also added a showcases and testimonials page for the GR-1 with various links to songs and albums GR-1 users have recently made. Enjoy!
That’s it guys. Hope you enjoy all the new presets, albums, audio snippets and firmware. Until next time!
We’ve not been sitting still. For our GR-1 customers we decided to make video’s: a tutorial and a new teaser for 2019. The tutorial covers some of the more in-depth features that weren’t covered before, including the new multi-timbral mode. Enjoy, and watch and learn 😉
We also produced a brand spanking new set of patches for the GR-1, 32 to be specific. We designed these patches to show how versatile the machine really is. Anything from field recordings to samples of classic bass synthesizers are usable for many musical applications. There are very lush sounding ambient tracks and pads in there, and just as many glitchy and noisy drumtracks. You can check some excerpts from this pack on Soundcloud:
The new sound pack is completely free and ready to go from our GR-1 downloads page: GR-1 downloads.
In terms of actual product development we’ve not been sitting still. We’re still updating the GR-1 firmware every month or two. And our new Eurorack Convolution Reverb module, the ECR-1, has now reached the stage where it is actually usable by a non-developer. It has a small full-color display mounted and has all the buttons, pots and audio/CV in and outs it needs.
The current prototype of our Eurorack Convolution Reverb module, the ECR-1.
You can also look at the convolution reverb thread on Muff Wiggler if you like to know more. Cheers!
Just a post to inform you of what’s going on in the world of Tasty Chips.
First of all, the GR-1 production schedule. We’ve been on time for the last 5 months. We’re still good, but we’re 1 week behind now. We’ve identified some of the slowdowns in the assembly&test program, and solved them. We should be able to produce unhindered for the rest of the year at least.
We’ve open sourced the old Sawbench hardware! Since it was always a DIY project, a schematic is welcome. We’re still selling the DIY kits, if you’d like to try. In a way this is our thank you to the open source community that fed us, and helped us to grow. Sawbench github is the place to visit of your DIYing this or perhaps making a clone.
One more thing: feel free to visit our forum to ask for help with these. Just know that we ourselves cannot supply information indefinitely to people wanting to clone parts of it. We have a business to run. Which brings us to our next topic:
Innovation! We’re producing a new Eurorack module. It’s the first of its kind: A true-stereo convolution reverb with display. On the photo you can see a prototype, of course based on the Raspberry Pi (although we may switch to another Single Board Computer later on).
ECR-1 prototype: the first Eurorack convolution reverb!
Some features:
Load your own responses from USB stick
RECORD your own responses from the inputs, and SAVE to USB stick
Up to 40s impulse response
128×128 full color display
up to 4 responses
envelope shape
parameter read-out
WAV name
Separate Dry and Wet controls
Attack and Release controls
Input gain control
Stereowidth control
Predelay control
Audition feature to replay your responses
The software is about 90% finished. The hardware does still need a bit of work, but prototype on the photo does actually record and replay at HIFI 48 kHz quality.
