Claravox Centennial- known issues, bugs and quirks

"I only play in the modern mode because in the traditional I get crappy volume response that can't be regulated like the modern mode along with the aforementioned bleed through of sound even with my hand completely through the loop."  - bisem[/i][/color]

Why did they even make the volume side purely analog in traditional mode?  It makes no sense to reduce functionality, and I don't think anyone would be upset if volume was handled better with a processor.

"They should have just flipped a coin and decided to go with a digital or analog only.  IMO they should have put all their efforts into the digital side."

Since they sell themselves as an analog company, they should have simply updated the EW Pro and stuck it in something like the Cvox cabinet, then used the same guts in a cost reduced version going forward once the centennial special edition was past.  That would have satisfied just about everyone.  A digital / analog hybrid is the worst of both worlds.  The Cvox is a crazy experiment that probably sounded good in the business meetings, but it spent too little time on the drawing board and in the lab, which is weird since they had a whole extra year to work out the kinks.  And now it walks among us.

Just to put things in context here.

I recently got an MPE keyboard - its brilliant for vibrato and cutoff filter changes etc. using the keys but yup its quirky too. Its asy to generate a second note using a slide for instance and occassionally due to something weird in the MIDI I get the odd note that doesn't sound but I definatley wont be getting rid of it any time soon.

Perfection is very hard to achieve.

I know about the volume thing on the CVox - for me its jsut how it is and I work with it and don't get me started on the editor   but again when the editor is working on a good day its brilliant and I'm sure they'll fix the bug in the next release

"Perfection is very hard to achieve."  - gingercat

True, that.  Sorry for my ranting, I know that it doesn't help things.

  The Cvox is a crazy experiment that probably sounded good in the business meetings, but it spent too little time on the drawing board and in the lab, which is weird since they had a whole extra year to work out the kinks.  And now it walks among us.

I only play mine in digital "Modern" mode now.  It sounds the same to my 63 year old ears and plays so much better....especially the volume response.  I would imagine that most players will use the digital mode anyway for the features it offers.   That's why I think they should have just gone 100% digital.   
However I would love to see an analog version that is superior to the EW Pro but I doubt that will ever happen now.  I can only imagine that this endeavor with the Claravox has been a nightmare for Moog.  

     I almost always play in modern mode too.  I wasn’t expecting that but it is superior in so many ways.  There was no reason analog mode doesn’t have register changing.  My 62 year old ears think it sounds thicker in modern mode and obviously easier to alter.  Modern mode sounds more like a etherwave pro than analog mode.  Plus,  the crazy volume difference.  Seems like something that could have been fixed during development. I was pleasantly surprised by modern mode and somewhat disappointed in traditional mode(Lack of register changing).  Not my expectation at all when I ordered my Claravox.  I. Thought digital mode would be a bonus not the main focus of the Claravox.

In analog mode two of my preset positions seem like the filer knob doesn’t work. The sound is lower than other presets and no matter how I move knobs nothing alter sound significantly.  This is only in analog mode.  The positions and knobs work in modern mode. Wasn’t always like this.  Is anyone else having a problem like this? Thanks 

In analog mode two of my preset positions seem like the filer knob doesn’t work. The sound is lower than other presets and no matter how I move knobs nothing alter sound significantly.  This is only in analog mode.  The positions and knobs work in modern mode. Wasn’t always like this.  Is anyone else having a problem like this? Thanks

I checked mine tonight and none of presets are exactly the same volume and I assume that is because of the different filters used for different sounds. (Just a non-technical guess!)   My main problem again is the volume antenna in analog mode.  It is mushy and difficult to achieve staccato no matter what I do and I have to practically put my hand through the loop to silence a note.   Oh yeah... but you can't totally silence the note even with the mute button on. I can hear a faint whistle in the speaker as I move around the theremin in analog and digital mode.  Why is total muting so difficult to achieve?  Also the volume loop just like on the EWS has the annoying chirp if you accidently touch it while playing. I solved it by sliding a piece of nylon tube insulation over the loop that was left over from doing the same with my EWS.  So the analog mode is dead to me but digital is functionally beautifully and is a very enjoyable playing experience.

    The filter knob doesn’t alter sound only on second and third presets.  It is as if the knob is all the way counterclockwise and will not change no matter how you move it. This is only on these two presets and only in traditional mode.  Very strange. 
On another note, I developed  a whistle sound in modern mode that I really enjoy playing.  Anyone else made up any cool sounds?

Definately getting filter response on all the timbre settings in traditional mode. I wonder if it has something to do with the firmware version - I have firmware 1.02

As above I definately prefer modern mode. I'm thinking the Claravox Centennial tho was designed to be soemthing special which is why they added traditional mode - Long term the plan may have been to produce a claravox with just digital mode later on.

#198 also having issues with volume cutting in and out. I thought it was my setup but no matter what I changed I still have issues. 

After finding this thread and that YouTube video I realize it’s the volume antenna. Mine works but occasionally it just cuts out even while not on mute. Taking the antenna off and putting it back in helps. I am wondering if I should do the sanding or it sounds like it’s worth having it sent back in case the base needs work too?

I also have noticed the pitch antennae seems to slide sideways very easily and may be attached too loosely. It works but I’m wondering if it’ll act up over time?