Doepfer MS-404
The Doepfer MS-404 is basically a TB-303 emulator. It's analog, monophonic, has a nice 24dB/oct VCF (filter), a simple envelope and the bonus of two LFOs. As with any 303 emulator, the MS-404 has the typical 303 controls you would expect for the filter and envelope. However the two added LFOs add a whole new dimension to the 303 sound. This is because they can modulate the VCOs! Other common 303 emulator features also found on the MS-404 include an external filter input, CV/GATE interfacing, MIDI implementation and a glide effect. All parameters are MIDI controllable. The slide and accent effects from the 303 are possible on the MS-404 from the glide control and MIDI velocity for accent. The MS-404 ranks high among the 303 emulators under $500, and it sounds pretty darn good too. It has been used by Hardfloor and Josh Wink.
- Demos & Media
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Audio Clip 1 - Hear a sample 303-pattern with plenty of filtering, performed on the MS-404.
Audio Clip 2 - A series of various MS-404 bass synth sounds.
Audio Clip 3 - More bass and synth sounds. Submitted by Moimir Papalescu.
- Specifications
- Polyphony - Monophonic
- Oscillators - 1 VCO (sawtooth, pulse, PWM, noise)
- LFO - Triangle wave (0.003Hz to 5kHz)
- Filter - 24 dB/Oct resonant filter (w/ independent LFO)
- VCA - ADSR
- Keyboard - None
- Memory - None
- Control - MIDI, CV / GATE
- Date Produced - 1994
- Resources & Credits
Images from Doepfer On-Line.
Errors or Corrections? Send them here.
This thing has an excellent squelchy filter and the PWM sounds are pretty good, although i'd probably still go for a Deep Bass Nine for really meaty analogue bass. Having said that, the MS404 isn't just limited to bass like a lot of similar units.