New kid on the block (chimera new bc16 synth)

tombola · Post by **tombola** » Tue May 27, 2008 9:48 am

th0mas wrote:
otto wrote:Sounds a bit atari-punk
I thought that a bit too, which is funny.. an atari punk costs $10 to build .

The noise making circuit in an atari punk costs $10. It doesn't have variable waveforms, two oscillators (well, one and a bit), an proper loopable envelope generator, an LFO (with variable waveforms), 15 knobs, numerous patch points, a beautiful custom-machined three-piece white plexiglass case, MIDI note/trig/mod and a bunch of patch cords.

Whatever you can say about the Chimera (most pertinently 'where the h**l is mine?') I wouldn't try argue that at $269 it's not one of the most incredible bargains in synth history...

They're also very sturdy - Ben Fisher's background is partly in security/government work. Aside from the little mini banana leads, this thing is built like a tank - it's held together with hex bolts, has a custom-machined metal battery cover etc.

(Tom from Music Thing - so I do have one - which I paid for - and seem to have become the official cheerleader - )

JSRockit · Post by **JSRockit** » Tue May 27, 2008 12:10 pm

Wow, this one shows you how small it really is:

th0mas · Post by **th0mas** » Tue May 27, 2008 2:30 pm

tombola wrote:
th0mas wrote:
otto wrote:Sounds a bit atari-punk
I thought that a bit too, which is funny.. an atari punk costs $10 to build .
The noise making circuit in an atari punk costs $10. It doesn't have variable waveforms, two oscillators (well, one and a bit), an proper loopable envelope generator, an LFO (with variable waveforms), 15 knobs, numerous patch points, a beautiful custom-machined three-piece white plexiglass case, MIDI note/trig/mod and a bunch of patch cords.

Whatever you can say about the Chimera (most pertinently 'where the h**l is mine?') I wouldn't try argue that at $269 it's not one of the most incredible bargains in synth history...

They're also very sturdy - Ben Fisher's background is partly in security/government work. Aside from the little mini banana leads, this thing is built like a tank - it's held together with hex bolts, has a custom-machined metal battery cover etc.

(Tom from Music Thing - so I do have one - which I paid for - and seem to have become the official cheerleader - )

Hi Tom, I'm a longtime reader of music thing. Nice to see you on the forum!

I think you missed my point.. someone mentioned it sounded like an APC so I was just stating the obvious. I wasn't suggesting it's actually comparable.. I guess it was open for interpretation but my comment was more or less in jest.

BTW, while you're posting all the p**n of this thing in action, could you find out if there's more than 3 in existence? Your shots and demo of it are making me very jealous (and I don't even have a pending order!)

ballophun · Post by **ballophun** » Wed May 28, 2008 1:06 pm

That looks really awesome but I'm not surprised about the skepticism on this forum.
I haven't heard of one order filled yet. I've asked around too.
And it's not a surprise that the writer of one of the most popular synth blogs in the universe got his like a week after he ordered it.
I know they're ridiculously cheap, but there's a dude on here who ordered his in January or something and he still hasn't got it. That's not cool.
But hey, if it does turn out to be a scam, as some have suggested, yours will be worth a f**k fortune. And if it doesn't , I'll take two.

polardark · Post by **polardark** » Wed May 28, 2008 2:07 pm

ballophun wrote:I know they're ridiculously cheap, but there's a dude on here who ordered his in January or something and he still hasn't got it.

I ordered mine in december. Well, at least now we know that there's an actual working device so things are moving forward. I think mr BC could've been a bit better at informing us about the status and progress of this thing. I mean it's better to tell the truth than to say "oh, we'll be shipping in two weeks, honest" every month.

Assuming things work out in the end, i think this is a very interesting product.

langmick · Post by **langmick** » Wed May 28, 2008 2:20 pm

Here's what is bugging me, he took a lot of $$$ without a working product that was ready to be produced and shipped. He's still putting together basic components.

It's not like the device was shipped and then needed tweaking, it didn't even fricking EXIST.

That's not good business in my book, not at all, that is dishonest c**p.

I can't believe he had the stones to do that, no matter what his reasoning.

polardark · Post by **polardark** » Wed May 28, 2008 2:46 pm

langmick wrote:It's not like the device was shipped and then needed tweaking, it didn't even fricking EXIST.

Unfortunately, if you look at historical synthesizers this is not an entirely uncommon business practice and other companies are doing this today as well. It is dishonest, especially when you go out with a bunch of half-truths. I think we can be reasonably sure that there was no actual finished production run of the circuit boards as late as April despite statements to the contrary. What sort of frightens me is that there is still no evidence that there is more than one prototype out there.

It's hard to tell what might've happened... Maybe the creator of this project simply doesn't have that much time to work on it. Maybe he ran out of money. Maybe he ran into trouble with FCC/CE testing. Could be any number of things. The less information that is released, the more speculation we're going to get. Sure, a big company can afford to try and save face by giving things the silent treatment but a small operation like this will only be hurt by it.

langmick · Post by **langmick** » Wed May 28, 2008 8:21 pm

Maybe the creator of this project simply doesn't have that much time to work on it.

I noticed in the vids he posted that he ripped the patch cables out of the device in what looked like anger.

The silent treatment just makes things much worse, IMO.

atom · Post by **atom** » Fri May 30, 2008 3:30 pm

i try to be updated on how it's going (i ordered mine in january also)

they set up a forum:
http://chimerasynths.10.forumer.com/

and a blog for news:
http://chimerasynthesis.blogspot.com/

so check that out for latest news.

misterite · Post by **misterite** » Sat May 31, 2008 12:14 am

Don't fret my fellow gearwhores....I GOT THE CONFIRMATION AND A WORKING TRACKING NUMBER!!!

Yep it's on it's way. Now, before all of you start to turn green with envy mind you that I bought mine at the beginning of Nov of last year. If you haven't recieve a confirmation yet I'm pretty damn skippy you will very soon.

I will post vids and pic as soon as I get it.

This is the system I am incorporating it in...

http://www.myspace.com/electronicmusictechnician

Like the BC, the whole rig runs off batteries (including amps). I can get 5 hrs off of one charge

misterite · Post by **misterite** » Sat May 31, 2008 12:14 am

Don't fret my fellow gearwhores....I GOT THE CONFIRMATION AND A WORKING TRACKING NUMBER!!!

Yep it's on it's way. Now, before all of you start to turn green with envy mind you that I bought mine at the beginning of Nov of last year. If you haven't recieve a confirmation yet I'm pretty damn skippy you will very soon.

I will post vids and pic as soon as I get it.

This is the system I am incorporating it in...

http://www.myspace.com/electronicmusictechnician

Like the BC, the whole rig runs off batteries (including amps). I can get 5 hrs off of one charge

misterite · Post by **misterite** » Sat May 31, 2008 12:31 am

shameless self promotion

langmick · Post by **langmick** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 2:18 pm

Someone over at KVR got their unit.

That's great news.

andrasklang · Post by **andrasklang** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:00 pm

yay!
that is good news. hopefully they start churning out.

Phollop Willing PA · Post by **Phollop Willing PA** » Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:51 pm

misterite wrote:shameless self promotion

Neat and tidy. Is that a hospital bed it's laid out on? Nice!