Vintage Classics // Octave Cat
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- Опубліковано 8 чер 2024
- / starskycarr
starskycarr.com
An in-depth look at the Octave CAT. This one is an absolute classic from 1977. It's the Series Revision Model (SRM), which is the same as the SRMII apart from its additional sync mode and CV connections.
There's also a few minutes of showing the differences between this and the Behringer - everything else is the close enough to make a comparison rather boring!
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► Clubbing TV From the Studio:
• From The Studio
0:00 A bit of Background
4:08 VCO 1
5:37 Modulation
8:21 VCO1 as LFO
9:37 VCO2
10:19 Sync
11:28 Filter
13:27 Dual X-Mod
14:00 Some BASS patches
15:36 Envelope Repeat
16:01 S&H
17:10 What's the Behringer like?
25:37 Some Sounds
31:32 That Intro Track
You really do make the best videos Mr Starsky! Clear, funny and informative and you mae it clear when FX are added! Great stuff, as always! :)
Starsky is a gem! His videos are so helpful and educational. Should you need to learn anything about synths, just watch his UA-cam videos and you quickly find out what you need. Not to mention he answered some very specific technical questions about my OB-6 in an e-mail exchange. I suggest you listen to this guy. He is the best! :)
Great timing - I've just been given one to repair.
2 tracks of Cat...and some sidechain.
This synth truly is remarkable. Credit to Behringer for the decent remake.
Never get tired of the sound of classic analogs, and the Cat is no exception. Love the osc-cross-mod, and the sync, both nicely gnarly - Would love to see a plugin version of this because it definitely has it's own special sauce 🙂
Cherry audio have one 😀
@@StarskyCarrNo way ! Nice one, I'll definitely check it out - thanks ! 👍
Back in 1994, Carmine Bonano from Voyetra Software gave me a brand new, never been opened, NOS Cat. Apparently at the time he had a warehouse full of extras from when the Octave Cat went out of business. It kills me that I sold it a few years later. Still remember taking it out of the box and cutting open the fresh plastic sealing it was wrapped in. Full warranty card, manual and other sundries. Man, what a fool I was back then.
ive got one of those NOS...museum quality
@@hanzvolt NICE!
I've been fortunate to have grown up with my father having one of these around, in varyting stages of functionality! I have it right now in my apartment (original run not SRM, VCO 1 works, VCO 2 does not) - right next to the Behringer CAT! It's what brought me into synthesis. I recently learned that the same holds true for Jon Carin of Pink Floyd (and related solo projects). Thank you for this!!!!!!! Much love and waveform mixing to you sir!
What an ace video as always. Loved the intro track. Awesome piece of kit. Inspired me to get going with my Behringer Cat again.
Cheers Starsky.
I don't know what makes the Cat sound so good but whatever it is, it works. See them coming up from time to time and get sooooo tempted.
I have never seen one in person but t has my pre-seal of approval. 70´s synths are the real thing. Best
Brilliant, as always! Hail and good tidings from Carlsbad, California.
The only analogue synth i regret selling. I sold it for £50 and the Kitten £30 when the DX7 came out.
I've still got, and use, the Cat SRM that i bought from T'Pau's keyboard player in 1983. Refurbished by Synth Prof a few years ago, and working well.
Ive got an Octave CAT SRM2 and the Octave CAT Stick...its a sick ass combo!!
Wow rarer than hens teeth
Sync really comes into its own when you use the VCO1 input on the rear panel. It sends +10 V on the tip of a TRS jack, and returns on the ring. So using a TRS to 2 x TS jack lead and a volume pedal allows you to bend VCO1 while it's synced to VCO2 while keeping your hands free for other things. It's an effect I used quite a lot back in the '80s.
Thats a cool trick I'll have to give it a go.
@@StarskyCarr The Cat is a synth that keeps on giving. Even after forty years of ownership it still inspires!
I've checked my notes, and it's actually the other way around: the 10 V is on the rung, and the return on the tip
Fascinating synth this and great video (as always). I'd love to have a play of one some day.
Sounds amazing. I say keep it as it. Don’t fix it unless the output dies.
On phone an definitely heard it 😂👌👌👌👌
IPhone 44 with a .5 inch subwoofer built in 😀
That's some phone!
I remember being nearly thrown out of Chase Musicians on Oldham Street, Manchester ca. 1981 trying to play one of these and failing miserably. I did make it sound like a wailing cat, lol.
I used to have an Original . You are the only one that has shown the Pseudo Sequencer in action! I used to spend hours trying to get something musical or usable with this feature. When you got your first synths in those days you “proper rinsed “ them! Used to have endless fun modulating the sync sounds too.
I own only watched your behringer cat video today, cheers mate
Everyone always calls it the The Octave Cat but, to be THAT GUY, it's technically The Cat by Octave. I believe though it should have been referred to as Octave the Cat and had a companion Saturday morning cartoon.
Thank you for all the high quality videos. One thing that intrigues me is how the internal patching in the Octave Cat is very similar to how the Moog DFAM is routed. Just sayin'...
I owned an original version but sold it along with a crumar performer and a home made maplin 3800 for 100 quid during a difficult time in my life 😖 i cant imagine how much the value of all of them would be now 😂
I,m at 24min of the vid and the compare between the Octave and the Behringer. This is interesting as i was a kitten owner back in 82 . Bought it from Chase on Charles st London. I took the kitten back for a repair and while it was in repair, Chase had a break in and a lot of synths were stolen, My synth was one that was stolen. The guys at chase gave me a new machine and while he was checking the specs he said oh shit yours was one with a blah blah chip and he found a blah blah whatever it was and replaced it in front of me..... My point Im getting to is , the replacement kitten didnt sound the same as the older one (both same model) It did thing the old one didnt and my original kitten almost , to me seemed like a totally different synth. So a compare between the Beh cat and the Oct cat is great fun but its just like saying :you're a british bloke you must be just like that other british bloke:...... if ya get my drift .............................. P.S... I really love your reviews .... as a PPS..... when I used the kitten at gigs I was ALWAYS asked how the F did I get such a total Monster sound from that little synth .. I was using the 2 sub osc and the other wave forms all turn up full and a pro one playing the same notes on a drone..... Yes the walls and windows would vibrate
I first heard of The Cat in the 1980s but never had a chance to play one. Then, a few years ago I heard the GForce demo. This thing just sounds so damn good. It's nice to hear your take as well Starsky - of all the mass-produced compact monosynths of its era, this one (to me) is the most "alive". More than any Moog, ARP, Roland, Oberheim, Sequential.
Behringer did a pretty good job on this one too. But as you point out, I think its envelopes are digital. There is nothing wrong with that in theory, but they predictably botched the fastest end of the control (much like they did on the MS-101 glide knob). That range of an attack control tends to be where I live, so .... I hope they fix it (if they haven't already) with a firmware update. Then I'll probably buy one.
that rattled the studio, lol. eve audio sc207 did a cracking job on that bass. they roll off at 44Hz but handled it well. got the lfo, lfo effect.
First synth I ever played (music class at college in about 1981) - was just thinking of getting the B version - just gone out of stock at Andertons.
That end track! Omg!
Joke’s on you, my bookshelf speakers rendered that bass just fine :P
Also heck yeah what a great tone on that bass!! And it’s rare for analogue transistor based oscillators to go that deep. Or certainly the Prophet and Jupiter VCOs seem to struggle.
nice review, i v never been impressed by the tone of the CAT (is FAT but the tone is “splashy not focused”, there is something not pleasing with CAT oscillators to my ears), very impressed by your last demo track tho 👌.
i come to your channel to listen what track will you make with a given synth.
Starsky in my opinion what you are missing in your studio that i think feet with your musical taste are the Vintage Samplers EPS, ASR, s900, DSS1, Mirage etc, you would love them.
The Behringer is the best deal by far in bass analog monosynths right now - we'll see what happens with the MS-1 mk2. I was surprised you did not bring in the sub on a VCO1 or VCO2 only bass patch - one of the many strong points of the design IMHO. I do hope Behringer adds a "not quite" option to the AR to allow that sweet quack all the way down.
Thanks for the preview! CAT sounds unique and Behringer over delivers for the price imo.
Definitely
can get some nice ring modulation on that synth
I will never forget the first time I heard the “Octave Cat” in the late 80’s. I had an apprenticeship with my drum teacher and his wedding band during weekends. The keyboardist had a DX7 in front of him, but The Cat mounted to his left for bass lines. It was the funkiest, nastiest, coolest thing ever. To boot, the keyboardist looked like Sammy Davis Junior. He would stomp his feet and make faces as he laid into that thing. Fun times 😂
There’s two sync modes on the Behringer. Did you give them both a crack? Love the sound of the CAT! It’s so alive.
I am sure that many viewers are curious now how the patches compare to behringer's cat..
3:09 yup, can't hear a thing on these speakers! xxoo
Dear Master Carr, oh Lord of synths, would you please answer this Humble Bumble's most serious of questions? In your spectacular review of the Cat rev 1 you did not cover the one subject that has been driving me insane for months (I'm not saying you forgot, Your Highness. I'm sure you have a fine reason for having left it out). My question concerns the Cat in mono mode. Does the key priority on the Cat behave like the Behringer Cat in your earlier review of that synth? I'd really like to know if it does (or if it's been resolved in an update) before I purchase the Behringer model.
Be well, oh Master Modulator, and please continue to share your vast knowledge of the Patch with us simple tweakers of knobs.
Really? If my last post was so insulting then why don't you remove the first one as well? It's apparent that UA-cam no longer allows the truth to be stated anywhere anymore. I've already unsubscribed from this channel so just wipe all my comments away.
Satan loves you.
Really? If my last post was so insulting then why don't you remove the first one as well? It's apparent that UA-cam no longer allows the truth to be stated anywhere anymore. I've already unsubscribed from this channel so just wipe all my comments away.
Satan loves you.
Tuning issues are probably because of the keyboard bus bar. Had a early model Cat, that has a discrete filter based on 3080 opamps, and the filter resonance was even more crazy :)
A circuit with IC’s in it isn’t discrete. I know we started using the word differently but just FYI.
@@PWMaartenI was just about to make the same comment.. why does this person think it’s discrete?
Well ok... For for each pole there is one 3080 OTA opamp, and all the supporting components. This later model displayed here uses a SSM 2040 filter chip.
People often say stuff like "Jupiter 8 has discrete oscillators", but there too there are opamps all around. I'm not there to correct those people like you two.
I think it's discrete enough if there is not a chip designed for the job, but it's made up by basic "of the shelf" electronic components. Besides, nothing more inside a 3080 than a bipolar transistor basically.
that synth sounds a lot like the Jen SX1000 that I used to have as a teenager
Nice… I’ve bought one to demo, but after 18 months it’s still needs some TLC
I’ll have it if your throwing it out.😂😂👍
😂
Fun fact: when individual selling of goods was illegal in the Soviet Union, “throwing x out” was the euphemism people used to tell others that someone had x and was selling them. “Stefan is throwing out his old radio”, for example.
Was just randomly reminded of that 😅
@@kaitlyn__L so are you throwing out your cat 🐈? 😂
@@DJSupaflyguy haha took me a sec to remember that’s the name of the synth we were discussing. Gawd I wish I had one. I think I like it better than an Odyssey tbh.
Ive owned a cat and an odyssey. I dont own the odyssey anymore is thats any recommendation
That's funny how it's jarring to see master/slave connections on things when it used to be everywhere. Everything from Roland used to describe MIDI sync (and DIN Sync) using master/slave terms. And IDE hard drives used to all have master/slave jumpers you had to set. People weren't used to hearing host/client.
Yeah it’s weird… but once you hear notice it…
@@StarskyCarr Yeah ... But Roland doesn't think it's weird! Still using it in all the manuals I've seen including the TR-8S.
@@RaquelFosterthat is strange. It’s one of those things we’re so used to hearing that we don’t give it a second thought.
You are right, something really ill on this unit. OSC1 sounds OK, but Osc 2 sounds horrible. Shame.
VS/ OCTAVE CHERRY AUDIO❤ PLS
mul. ti. sam. ples. mul. ti . sam. ples. mul. ti. sam. ples. pleeeeease multisamples pleeease
Go ahead and delete all my post. The truth hurts, doesn't it?
??
@@StarskyCarr Sorry for the confusion Starsky. It seems the YT bots don't like me much (I've no idea why) and keep deleting my comments no matter where I post. I've grown tired of that and having taken it a bit personal I lashed out and ended up looking like an idiot in the process. Again, sorry about that.
BTW, I love your YT channel. I can't get enough of your demos and comparisons. Keep up the excellent work.