Claravox Centennial- known issues, bugs and quirks

I know the D-LEV has great staccato response.  Do you think it does subtle volume changes well too?  Do you like anything about your Claravox?  I do think it was crazy you had to wait so long without the ability to get your money back.  Good luck with your  D-LEV.  I think it’s great to see it rise.  Moog really is terrible about how they handle many things.  I just like my theremin.  They sent me two etherwaveplus without a power supply. Really.. But they took care of it.  Not ideal but I think they sound great.  I like my burns b3 for the price.  Like guitars I think all theremins have interesting differences   I think you can like the D-LEV and the Moog.  You have had horrible experience and I do feel for you.
Good luck in all things Contra Dude

"Is there anything about the Claravox positive, in your opinion?" - Yngvox MoogsteenI didn't have a negative opinion of the Cvox before it hit the market and started acting up.  The lead designer showed up here at TW and answered all sorts of technical questions in a very detailed and candid manner, which was a pleasant change from how most companies "do business".  What he revealed did nothing to dispel the notion that the Cvox had the potential to be a good solid Theremin, but there are a thousand ways to die in this business.Though I did have something of a jaundiced view of Moog itself due to my experience with owning a Theremini, which is at best a geek toy / conversation piece IMO, but is marketed as a serious instrument.  The fields are quite weak and therefore small and prone to interference.  Unfortunately the Cvox seems to have inherited its awkward and opaque field calibration procedure.They could have just reworked the Etherwave Pro a bit, maybe added the analog delay, stuck it in the Cvox cabinet, and just about everyone would have been quite happy.  The two modes - largely analog and largely digital - in the same package tie the designer's hands and so tend to produce inferior versions of both.

 I agree.   I mostly wanted an etherwave pro.  I wish analogue mode had register changes.  I just think all things considered if operating property  its the closest the average player will ever get to a etherwave pro.
Good luck with your company.  I guess I just was hoping not to be the only one enjoying my Claravox.  I really do appreciate your comments.
 
Ps
This is a thread about problems and glitches so sorry if I offended anyone.  THeremin  World is a fun place to listen and learn. I appreciate everyone’s input.

"I agree.   I mostly wanted an etherwave pro.  I wish analogue mode had register changes.  I just think all things considered if operating property  its the closest the average player will ever get to a etherwave pro."  - Yngvox Moogsteen

It really would have been more of a "centennial" type re-release too, an EWPro2 as it were.  They could have made a limited collector's edition walnut and brass commemorative beauty, and later stuck the guts in a less fancy enclosure and sold them until the cows came home.

I know the D-LEV has great staccato response.  Do you think it does subtle volume changes well too?  Do you like anything about your Claravox?  I do think it was crazy you had to wait so long without the ability to get your money back.  Good luck with your  D-LEV.  I think it’s great to see it rise.  Moog really is terrible about how they handle many things.  I just like my theremin.  They sent me two etherwaveplus without a power supply. Really.. But they took care of it.  Not ideal but I think they sound great.  I like my burns b3 for the price.  Like guitars I think all theremins have interesting differences   I think you can like the D-LEV and the Moog.  You have had horrible experience and I do feel for you.Good luck in all things Contra Dude

Thank you. I really love the volume response on the D-Lev; everything is so customizable! Of course, I live near the “Wizard of D-Lev” so I just yell at him when I want to whine! LOL! Actually, he’s brilliant (I mean that sincerely).

Again, everything on the D-Lev is highly customizable - I haven’t seen any other theremins like it. I also love the linearity as it’s very even. Because it’s a digital instrument, it’s also extremely stable (far more than modern mode on the CVox). 

Regarding your question about if there is anything I like about the CVox, the answer is yes. Once we fixed mine (Eric did the bulk of the work), I found that it was a real joy to play and I like some of the more traditional voices. I especially like its responsiveness while playing - it feels very “smooth” (whatever that means) to me. Indeed, I liked it so much that I whined at Eric (Dewster) and, naturally, he helped change various parameters on the D-Lev and, voilá,  the D-Lev did the same. There is one thing about the D-Lev that is wonderful but also very challenging in the beginning - it is so customizable and has so many parameters to set up that it’s a complex process in the beginning. However, once set up for your own needs, most can probably be ignored forever. 

At the moment, I also like the ability to use a foot pedal to mute on the CVox - my D-Lev currently can’t do that (although it is certainly capable of doing so with a slightly different hardware configuration). While the CVox stand is too tall (for my needs by about 8”) and the exterior presentation of the CVox is really nice (although too big, IMHO), the D-Lev doesn’t currently have a case - my D-Lev is known as the Bollamin as Eric put it in a Bolla wine bottle gift box - LOL - I believe the other D-Lev kits that have been shipped are temporarily housed in cardboard boxes (until their owners build cases for their instruments) - those have been lovingly dubbed “ClaraBoxes!” LOL! Someday, my D-Lev will be housed in a more permanent case but my living situation is such that I no longer have my tools and nowhere to use them if I did so I’ll just have to wait.

As I mentioned, my CVox may be having some problems but I hope they’ll be fixed. I’ve been in contact with Moog (indirectly at the moment) but they’ve assured me they’ll take care of everything. I won’t go into details about that other than to say that I’m sure they’ll be supportive. 

Finally, I play for fun - my own personal enjoyment, although I’m extremely busy as a classical musician (but not on theremin). I usually start practicing on the CVox but always end up playing my D-Lev (which is very different instrument than any other theremin). If I had to order my theremins in order of preference:

1) D-Lev
2) CVox
3) Open.Theremin V3 and V4 (I have both and, while limited they’re great little instruments - I highly recommend them for a first theremin)
4) A tie - Burns 3 and Theremini (I consider thevTheremini a toy, not a serious instrument).

Anyway, I do like my CVox and hope you don’t have any problems with yours. It’s extremely disappointing to have so many problems with mine and I hope it’ll be fixed.

Thanks for your response.  Still paying for Claravox but soon would love D-LEV.  Good luck and take it easy.  Would love to hear you play on all your instruments.  Not just theremin.

"I agree.   I mostly wanted an etherwave pro.  I wish analogue mode had register changes.  I just think all things considered if operating property  its the closest the average player will ever get to a etherwave pro."  - Yngvox MoogsteenIt really would have been more of a "centennial" type re-release too, an EWPro2 as it were.  They could have made a limited collector's edition walnut and brass commemorative beauty, and later stuck the guts in a less fancy enclosure and sold them until the cows came home.

Word......

You don't know trouble until you've had Theremin trouble!  They need a "Theremin Trouble" t-shirt with a Divine graphic.

Also: To anyone who gets their Cvox heavily reworked / repaired by Moog, I think we would all be interested in pix of the inside / outside if anything obviously visually changed as a result of that (twisted cabling, added wires, new PWBs, new antennas, etc.).  Before / after pix would be really great.

"I agree.   I mostly wanted an etherwave pro.  I wish analogue mode had register changes.  I just think all things considered if operating property  its the closest the average player will ever get to a etherwave pro."  - Yngvox MoogsteenIt really would have been more of a "centennial" type re-release too, an EWProII as it were.  They could have made a limited collector's edition walnut and brass commemorative beauty, and later stuck the guts in a less fancy enclosure and sold them until the cows came home.

That’s what you and I want, but from a business standpoint the product has to be usable as a dj-effects toy - there’s more of those than people who want to play a melody. From that perspective the theremini outshines the epro! I gave my theremini to my hipster neighbor, and the man’s head-over-heels in love with the thing

"I gave my theremini to my hipster neighbor, and the man’s head-over-heels in love with the thing"  - Bendra

Until he tries to play a melody on the thing! ;-)  There's no denying that it's a fun toss in the hay, but I'm looking for long-term commitment.  DJs on the other hand...

I've been attempting to play round with MIDI & so far totally failed. My PC recognises the CVox when its pluggeg in via USB but I'v never been able to get any note info from it. I've also tried connecting it to my Minilogue XD via MIDI 5 pin DIN and again nothing

For all I know this could just be a tweak required in the editor but so far no editor for my OS (Windows)

just for the record model No is 228 and everything else working great