COTK (Club of The Knobs) Ensemble Generator in da houwse!
Moderators: Kent, luketeaford, Joe.
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Roycie Roller
- Death Row Wiggler
- Posts: 1434
- Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:57 pm
- Location: Sou-westerly
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JohnLRice
Yes, the transaction went very well, especially considering the past horror stories and that it had to travel well over 5000 miles to get to me.
Here is the story: ******************************
On Wed 12/17/2008 12:10 AM I emailed COTK some questions about price and availability of the Ensemble Generator
On Wed 12/17/2008 6:36 AM I received a nice detailed reply from COTK confirming they had one in stock with the DotCom power connector (that I requested). They weren't positive if they could accept PayPal or not but said they would check with their accountant.
On Wed 12/17/2008 9:43 PM I sent a reply that I if they had one in stock and could accept PayPal I'd like to purchase it.
On Mon 12/22/2008 1:25 AM I received an email from COTK. They apologized for the delay, provided and invoice and said I could pay with PayPal.
On Mon 12/22/2008 1:52 AM I sent my payment via PayPal.
On Mon 12/22/2008 3:14 AM COTK accepted they PayPal payment.
On Tue 12/23/2008 6:12 PM, being an impatient baby , I sent an email asking if my shipment had been sent yet.
On Wed 12/24/2008 3:04 AM I received an email that said my Ensemble Generator (and one for Ty, another person who I've been chatting with about this on the Synthesizers.com forum) would be shipped on Friday (I'm assuming 12-26-2008)
On Wed 12/24/2008 4:48 AM I sent a thank you email.
On Wed 12/31/2008 12:36 AM I sent an email asking for confirmation that the Ensemble Generators were shipped and for my tracking number and method of shipping (air, container ship, homing dolphin ) so I could anticipate when it would arrive.
On 01/06/2009 5:45 AM Ty received a response from COTK about the two requests he had sent for a tracking number. They explained that they don't automatically use a tracking number for air mail packages under a certain weight so there was no tracking number. One could be added for an extra charge so I recommend requesting this if you make an order from COTK.
On Tue 01/06/2009 1:00 PM Ty informed me that he received his Ensemble Generator!
I figured mine wouldn't be far behind!
On Wed 01/07/2009 5:13 AM Ty received a response from COTK regarding some usage questions he had sent earlier that day or the night before.
On Wed 01/07/2009 11:36 AM Ty sent additional questions to COTK
On Wed 01/07/2009 12:55 PM Ty received a response from COTK
On Wed 01/07/2009 ? PM Ty sent additional questions to COTK
On Wed 01/07/2009 1:58 PM Ty received a response from COTK
On Friday 01/09/09 5:31 PM I still had not received my Ensemble Generator
so I sent an email to COTK expressing my concerns and asking if they could let me know the address mine was sent to in case they had it wrong etc.
On Friday 01/09/09 6:00 PM I went back up to my UPS store and asked them to check around for my package and they found it!!!
8) It might of been there since Tuesday for all I know but I was so relieved to get it I wasn't mad at the UPS store employees at all. 
On Friday 01/09/09 6:10 PM I sent an email to COTK explaining that I had received my package and all was well.
On Saturday 01/10/2009 3:55 AM COTK sent a friendly 'good news' response.
***************************************************
So there you have it! Over all I think COTK did a great job! The only minor negatives were a couple unanswered emails, it would of been nice if they had made it clear that a tracking number was optional and the postmark indicates that it was shipped on Monday the 29th, not Friday the 26th BUT, I feel bad even mentioning that since it was the day after Christmas! I sincerely hope the COTK staff took time to relax and celebrate with friends and family!
Here is the story: ******************************
On Wed 12/17/2008 12:10 AM I emailed COTK some questions about price and availability of the Ensemble Generator
On Wed 12/17/2008 6:36 AM I received a nice detailed reply from COTK confirming they had one in stock with the DotCom power connector (that I requested). They weren't positive if they could accept PayPal or not but said they would check with their accountant.
On Wed 12/17/2008 9:43 PM I sent a reply that I if they had one in stock and could accept PayPal I'd like to purchase it.
On Mon 12/22/2008 1:25 AM I received an email from COTK. They apologized for the delay, provided and invoice and said I could pay with PayPal.
On Mon 12/22/2008 1:52 AM I sent my payment via PayPal.
On Mon 12/22/2008 3:14 AM COTK accepted they PayPal payment.
On Tue 12/23/2008 6:12 PM, being an impatient baby , I sent an email asking if my shipment had been sent yet.
On Wed 12/24/2008 3:04 AM I received an email that said my Ensemble Generator (and one for Ty, another person who I've been chatting with about this on the Synthesizers.com forum) would be shipped on Friday (I'm assuming 12-26-2008)
On Wed 12/24/2008 4:48 AM I sent a thank you email.
On Wed 12/31/2008 12:36 AM I sent an email asking for confirmation that the Ensemble Generators were shipped and for my tracking number and method of shipping (air, container ship, homing dolphin ) so I could anticipate when it would arrive.
On 01/06/2009 5:45 AM Ty received a response from COTK about the two requests he had sent for a tracking number. They explained that they don't automatically use a tracking number for air mail packages under a certain weight so there was no tracking number. One could be added for an extra charge so I recommend requesting this if you make an order from COTK.
On Tue 01/06/2009 1:00 PM Ty informed me that he received his Ensemble Generator!
I figured mine wouldn't be far behind!On Wed 01/07/2009 5:13 AM Ty received a response from COTK regarding some usage questions he had sent earlier that day or the night before.
On Wed 01/07/2009 11:36 AM Ty sent additional questions to COTK
On Wed 01/07/2009 12:55 PM Ty received a response from COTK
On Wed 01/07/2009 ? PM Ty sent additional questions to COTK
On Wed 01/07/2009 1:58 PM Ty received a response from COTK
On Friday 01/09/09 5:31 PM I still had not received my Ensemble Generator
so I sent an email to COTK expressing my concerns and asking if they could let me know the address mine was sent to in case they had it wrong etc.On Friday 01/09/09 6:00 PM I went back up to my UPS store and asked them to check around for my package and they found it!!!
8) It might of been there since Tuesday for all I know but I was so relieved to get it I wasn't mad at the UPS store employees at all. On Friday 01/09/09 6:10 PM I sent an email to COTK explaining that I had received my package and all was well.
On Saturday 01/10/2009 3:55 AM COTK sent a friendly 'good news' response.
***************************************************
So there you have it! Over all I think COTK did a great job! The only minor negatives were a couple unanswered emails, it would of been nice if they had made it clear that a tracking number was optional and the postmark indicates that it was shipped on Monday the 29th, not Friday the 26th BUT, I feel bad even mentioning that since it was the day after Christmas! I sincerely hope the COTK staff took time to relax and celebrate with friends and family!
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JohnLRice
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sandyb
glad to hear your dealings with COTK went well John. i bought a modcan b series miniwave from the same guyJohnLRice wrote:Good luck!Roycie Roller wrote:Would also love to hear more of that thing.
I think i'll to try to get one of those this year (wish me luck!)..
sandy
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Roycie Roller
- Death Row Wiggler
- Posts: 1434
- Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:57 pm
- Location: Sou-westerly
Glad you got it, and good to hear it's going to a good home! It looks like a beast! Out of curiosity, how complex does the Ensemble Generator circuit look? Or is it enclosed in a metal box like i think it is?JohnLRice wrote:Good luck!Roycie Roller wrote:
I think i'll to try to get one of those this year (wish me luck!)..
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JohnLRice
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Roycie Roller
- Death Row Wiggler
- Posts: 1434
- Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:57 pm
- Location: Sou-westerly
Thanks for the video demonstration, I've been hoping to hear more about this module since it was announced. I would love to see or hear any other bits and pieces or experiences you may be willing to share, I'm curious what sort of effect standard knob twirling has on the output and what sorts of variation you can achieve with different settings.
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JohnLRice
Since I need to figure it out myself I'll make another little vid when I think I actually partially know what I'm doing with it and why!NV wrote:Thanks for the video demonstration, I've been hoping to hear more about this module since it was announced. I would love to see or hear any other bits and pieces or experiences you may be willing to share, I'm curious what sort of effect standard knob twirling has on the output and what sorts of variation you can achieve with different settings.
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JohnLRice
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Roycie Roller
- Death Row Wiggler
- Posts: 1434
- Joined: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:57 pm
- Location: Sou-westerly
Good lord that is a packed board - either the circuitry has a very linear path or the traces are doing some serious dance work. Either way that must have been a nightmare to lay out.JohnLRice wrote:I was curious as to what this puppy looks like under the hood so I snapped a quick picture. It be chock full o' parts!
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JohnLRice
Yes, I was just thinking how hard it must have been to design it! There are even about 5 box capacitors soldered to the underside of the board!
I makes me appreciate why this is one of their more expensive modules (not counting the C960 sequencers etc). When you figure the design effort, parts cost, build labor time/cost and of course the great sounds it gets
, it's a pretty good bargin at 390 Euro! 8)
I makes me appreciate why this is one of their more expensive modules (not counting the C960 sequencers etc). When you figure the design effort, parts cost, build labor time/cost and of course the great sounds it gets
, it's a pretty good bargin at 390 Euro! 8)
There is lots of great software like PCB Artist that helps make complex PCB structures. I actually made a MFOS LFO with it and it worked out really well. I really like this module - does anyone know of any other demos out there? They had some audio samples on the COTK website about a year, ago, but they appear to have been taken down.
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JohnLRice
The samples are still on the site, they just got moved to this page: http://www.cluboftheknobs.com/video.htmlJonathanG wrote:I really like this module - does anyone know of any other demos out there? They had some audio samples on the COTK website about a year, ago, but they appear to have been taken down.
I've used the C1670 in a few of my videos, here's one you may have heard before where I created a polyphonic patch and ran it through the C1670 (the obvious string parts, more of a brighter ARP/Solina sound than the darker sort of Mellotron sound in the COTK demos):
[video][/video]
I should say that while the COTK C1670 Ensemble Generator can sound absolutely awesome, it is a finicky and fragile beast! It can be tricky to dial in and mix the output to avoid the 'chip noise' (as I call it) and one of the main techniques to do this (turning up the input level to a point where the overload lamp is occasionally flashing) may be the cause of the BBD chips getting burned out!
I'v replaced the 3 chips once on mine and discovered recently they are burnt out again. 
Nice video. The music goes quite well with the images.
Did the folks at COTK have any input as to what is causing the BBD chips to get burned out? I have to say I am intrigued by the module, but really don't want to have too many reliability issues. Also, are the chips socketed and are they hard-to-find?
Did the folks at COTK have any input as to what is causing the BBD chips to get burned out? I have to say I am intrigued by the module, but really don't want to have too many reliability issues. Also, are the chips socketed and are they hard-to-find?