Actual information on Claravox

Yes, i was wondering the same. I have a Claravox on order but this board seems to address the faulty ones mostly  l was also wondering if this is a minority. 

Hmm... there seem to be more people each time I check having problems with the Claravox. Are these a minority? (all technology has a failure rate, I understand this) Are there people out there that have received the Claravox and are having no issues and are happy with their purchase? Love to hear from you. Wife still wants to go ahead with purchase, I am getting a little nervous as we live in Australia and not so easy to send back I'm guessing for a service.Cheers.Its worse for me I'm am in NZ  My hope is that as the model numbers get higher and delivery times later some of these issues will have been ironed out. I would prefer a model number over 1,000 then I know there are at least that many tested before I get mine

I'm with you! I hope they hold off sending to outside American countries until everything is sorted... I'd rather wait and get the instrument I am hoping for than having to send it back. If I get machine 1337 that would be pretty sweet.

C'mon Moog! You have amazing products... you can do this!

Yesterday I received an e-mail from Thomann that the point in time they expect to be able to deliver the Claravox I have on order is now estimated to be around 30 November (!) I'm thinking things over, also due to the problems and insights into its innards that have been emerging, that the classic/analog part is not really on par with an EPro as had been suggested in the initial presentation, while the modern/digital/synth part seems mosltly like the Theremini Pro that was expected to emerge at some point, but didn't materialize. Perhaps Dorit Chrysler's custom Theremini with its visibly larger pitch rod and volume loop could be regarded as the only Theremini Pro in existence? I'll be thinking it over for a bit longer, but at this point I'm concidering to see if I can just cancel the order, then perhaps prioritise getting a good gigging amp first (considering an Udo Roesler Da Capo 75 Acoustic amp, from the former amp designer of AER, and having heard someone use an AER amp for violin and voice, I'm quite conviced that they would work very well for theremin, various other instruments and voice really well) and concidering having a Subscope Voicematic built at some later point. The digital/modern-mode part is probably fun to explore, but in the end I will probably be happier with a purely analog theremin that's a step up from the EW Plus, in terms of timbral possibillities.

I more than understand anyone who is fed up with Moog, they've performed extremely poorly in this matter (probably an understatement). I love 'em, but I can't defend 'em.

As one of the Elect™ who has a functioning Claravox, I do have to push back on "Theremini Pro" remark; it doesn't play or sound anything like a Theremini, including Dorit Chrysler's instrument (which I've had the occasion to play). The Claravox "traditional" mode has (in my opinion) a somewhat more pleasing voicing than "modern" but I'm actually playing in modern mode most of the time now due to the greater control over the pitch field. I can't compare with the Etherwave Pro as I've not played one, but subjectively I find it extremely enjoyable to play.

Thank you for your perspectives, Bendra. I might just wait it out and see what eventually arrives, longer time means Moog might be able to solve issues that occur in some of the earlier production models. I haven't payed for it yet, it's ordered with a pay on delivery option, and then I have some time to evaluate the instrument and if not happy I can return it and get a refund.

"The Claravox "traditional" mode has (in my opinion) a somewhat more pleasing voicing than "modern"..."  - bendra

Do you prefer the "traditional" mode voicing because the "modern" voices are rather "synthy" and static?  (I'm just guessing here.)

"... but I'm actually playing in modern mode most of the time now due to the greater control over the pitch field.

Could you elaborate on this?  Is it linearity, note spacing, register control, etc. that you prefer in the "modern" mode?  Or is the "traditional" mode pitch field somehow weird?

Traditional vs Modern - hard for me to qualify, and it's subjective of course. To me the traditional mode sounds "lighter" and easier to blend with other instruments. Gregoire Blanc says all of his videos used modern mode, so obviously it can sound great, just for me it requires more careful attention to the volume dynamics to get the best sound. I made a couple of quick videos just after I got the instrument to demonstrate the presets:

modern: https://www.facebook.com/690883815/videos/10159500677983816/
traditional: https://www.facebook.com/690883815/videos/10159501331313816/

Re: greater control over the pitch field - in modern mode only, in addition to the knob to expand/contract the field, you also have a second knob "response", which adjusts the pitch linearity without changing the overall range of the pitch field - turning clockwise counterclockwise makes the notes closest to the antenna closer together and the notes further from the antenna further apart, turning counterclockwise does the opposite. So it's possible (at least for me) to have a larger playable space without having to adjust my technique or "lean" to modify the pitch field with my body's capacitance. Also in modern mode I can use the register knob to raise or lower the pitch by octaves.

"Re: greater control over the pitch field - in modern mode only, in addition to the knob to expand/contract the field, you also have a second knob "response", which adjusts the pitch linearity without changing the overall range of the pitch field - turning clockwise makes the notes closest to the antenna closer together and the notes further from the antenna further apart, turning counterclockwise does the opposite. So it's possible (at least for me) to have a larger playable space without having to adjust my technique or "lean" to modify the pitch field with my body's capacitance. Also in modern mode I can use the register knob to raise or lower the pitch by octaves."  - bendra

Thanks!  I'm guessing that you turn the "response" knob counterclockwise, so that the near field is less cramped?  And that no one in their right mind would turn it clockwise?

Sorry, I got mixed up - clockwise expands the range closest to the antenna, counterclockwise does opposite. Currently my pitch response knob is at about 1:30, so yes. I'm not sure why you would do the opposite - maybe if you were only interested in the bass range for some music and didn't care about the higher notes? Or if you were just doing glissandi?

I'm guessing that you turn the "response" knob counterclockwise, so that the near field is less cramped?  And that no one in their right mind would turn it clockwise?

Hi Eric. I can't agree with this. It heavily depends on the piece you're currently trying to play. Of course, this is very comfortable to have a fifth between fist and palm and I try to tune this way whenever possible. But sometimes this leads to the fact you don't have the entire necessary range in front of you. In this case you have to tune an octave or even more between your fist and palm. I see it logical to see in front of me the range between the lowest and the highest note of the piece you're playing. With equal and as large as possible distances between notes. At the same time I don't care about the note spacing outside of this range..