Mini vs Micro: a tale of two brutes
Things have been relatively quiet over here in synthland recently--it's hard to find the desire to write about synths while your country crumbles around you. But let's pretend none of that is happening for just a second, mm'K?. Throughout synth history there are related synths that, "on paper" purport to be the same thing internally, but in fact sound very different. Think the brighter oscs and more aggressive filter on the MKS-80 rev4 versus rev5, or the slower envelopes on the CS-15 (compared to the 5/10/30). Sometimes these things are just good fodder for the anoraks to one up themselves down the pub; sometimes these things actually result in real differences in sonic potential. Today's piece is about the latter. The Microbrute (mB) is a stripped-down, diminutive version of the Minibrute (Mb; read my ode to the OG brute here ) with a couple of obvious "balancing" features, i.e., the CV ins/outs, and the legit sequencer geared toward live use. It...