SUPERBOOTH 2024: Modal Electronics - Talking About The Future Of Modal

Great news, as I have an Argon 8 M and was looking at the Carbon 8.

Wow I never knew any of this.Thanks.I was too busy messing around with their great synths.

Very, Very, Very luck in the new structure and survival of such an amazing product quality and service until the moment of bankruptcy that is Modal, I love my Cobalt 5S, and I have hopes for a Carbon 5S in the future. (NAMM 2025 or Superbooth 2025 may be

The Skulpt was quite good an affordable. Even the Craft 2...and the Cobalts 5s. Ok you might not want to chase the lower end...but affordable synths are appreciated. How about a mini keyboard for the Skulpt with pitch and mod with a basic sequencer built in that you can slot the Skulpt into. Just an idea....anyway Modal make nice looking synths for sure.

Interesting!... ( Glad they mentioned that they will continue to support their older products... Hopefully that will mean regular free updates for both the Synths & app... ) ~
On the topic of looking to new innovators, have they considered working with universities or colleges?... ~ ( I'm sure some bright audio design students etc... Would love the opportunity to work alongside an established company with their own set of fresh ideas to realise... ) ~
Or maybe running young designer competition's to win contracts with Modal might be a way forward etc...

You can always tell when people are being very careful with their words

Thanks for doing this Nick. I'm a modal fan and purchased their carbon 8x and 5s. I was looking for the Carbon 8 video from this year's superbooth and subsequent Sonictalk discussion, but worth waiting for and good news to the chaps for assest integrity and solvency.

👏🏻 Thank you so much for clearing this up. I really liked Modal for awhile now. So I’m guessing it’s a Chinese manufacturer that bought them. Which is fine but kind of bummed a bit that it’s not still a UK outfit. But yeah, kind of the Marshall thing. I really ike that they want to collab. Thanks so much for this interview Nick. ❤

It was great meeting the modal guys and great that there’s a Scotsman involved with Midal

They don't name the new owners. That's a bit strange. Seems evasive to me. And the guy on the right is classic private equity turnaround angel, he could just as easily use exactly the same words at a trade convention for food production or aeronautics or household goods or, or, well, anything.... But TBH as long as Modal are back in business then all good, they make great products. Best of luck to them.

The guy on the left comes across as arrogant and guarded. People have invested in these products and deserve meaningful updates as opposed to this. This feels disrespectful to their loyal customers.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Modal products, technology and the sound. I've been a champion of Modal for years. But a large amount of what came out of Christian's mouth about how they ended up where they are, is an absolute lie, or disingenuous at best. I'm surprised actually that the new owners have kept him on. And the reason they're looking for collaboration from engineers and developers, is that all of their engineering staff quit last year, when they stopped getting paid.

All that said, I have high hopes for the future of Modal, and look forward to their new products.

Great news! Looking forward to new, exciting synths from Modal!
Hopefully windcontroller friendly!

Really looking forward to the Carbon 8, glad to hear it should be showing up this fall-ish

About Now, about the big picture. I like it depends of structure, communication, production. I trust the approch, I'd like to share more with them. GO Modal !

in this process of redesign, perhaps change the encoders and the pitch mod "wand". Wouldnt hurt to simplify the design layout also? Good luck in the re-introduction and all the best for the future!

Hello..I am the one on the right..thank your for the positive comments and the cynicism..as well…we are all entitled to our opinions but the facts we don’t own….yes the company lost most of the team last year because it made no money…true…but it held on to a few loyal and dedicated staff..members and some who left still support there efforts…

Through all off this the web and the app have been kept afloat by there efforts…they know who they are and Modal
Owes them a huge debt…there are also many users who get what Modal means and they too spread the word positively…it’s up to Modal now to earn trust and continue to support existing and new users …there are some statements made by individuals who believe they have inside knowledge …they don’t..they rely on rumours and second guessing and get it wrong…Modal will be as transparent and open with its partners and customers as much as is possible..it’s one thing to have a vision and passion but you need to keep a level head and do the maths…and find that passion and vision as best you can with hands tied behind backs….and still pay the bills…and incidentally do you know how many synths companies have gone bust ..we hope to this time around serve you better..or was that just venture capitol Angel bulls…t…hope not 😎🍷🎹 To all off you in the Modalverse ..thank you

The Cobalt8 is an amazing sounding machine.

Great news! Good luck with your plans!

Should have been bought by Music Tribe.

Thankyou for giving this Team some airtime. It was great to see them at the show and very visible. All the demos of the carbon previously showed it doing very aggressive hard edged sounds ala argon. It was revealing to see it doing dreamy like cobalt. Looked very versatile, plugged into the modal app no problems and had that very wide modal sound. Liked the dreamy cobalt sound so much I bought a 5S which feels like a steal at its price point. Doesn't come across in the vids but the build quality is exceptional.

Proud and mostly happy to own and compose with Argon and Cobalt! Happy to know some good news about Modal. Thanks for the interview! Cheers from Belgium .

Nice to see that there is a road for Modal. Sounds promising with the experience they have now onboard. Christian… for the next Synth I need something pretty wild 😛 All goes, from wild distorted artifacts to crazy blipp bloop randomness. Damn, I can not write a comment without an Idea for a Modal synth 😂
What I wanna say, I am very thankful to Modal. The Argon and Cobalt brought me back to making music.

The wind controller community loves you guys!

When Modal made their first debut, the 001, 002 and 008 were the only synths that I liked hearing. IMO, those 3 had an innovative set of sounds that I can imagine hearing on a lot of records. Wish they'd bring them back updated for a new era.

That marketing and communications guy doesn’t inspire confidence … yeuch … the other guy … more so …

I bought a Cobalt 8 earlier this year when the company's future was uncertain, but I loved it so much I had to have it. My rationale was that a company that could produce a synth of such a high standard were unlikely to let themselves go down without a fight, I'm very excited to hear that they've come out intact. I think I'll buy an Argon 8 to celebrate and to further embed my support of the Modalverse.

sounds all pretty normal company shifting stuff. of course witchhunters hear other things

Glad to know there is a future. I took a chance and finally bought both a Cobalt 8 and Argon 8 two weeks ago. Happily, the app and update process worked again so I now have the latest OS for each and downloaded all patches for each too. I am loving the sounds and the features on each. I didn't know the past other than Modal made some amazing synths and hope it all gets sorted out. Too many of the major manufacturers (R, Y, K) are just repackaging old operating systems or another B word manufacturer copying legacy products. Modal is a bright spot - keep shining.

I'm going to start a Gofundme to buy Nick a tripod

Modal should sort out their website domain in the interim. Seems to have been taken over by malware.

They should update their presets so that they are utilising their effects updates in the latest firmware. It's like the synths are stuck on version 1 but it can do so much more. Had to tweak all presets on the Cobalt to use v2 effects (that chorus v2 is super sweet), use free running oscillators, use the balanced LP for more fatness and the ping pong delay for more stereo width. Before it was kind of meh. Now it's a completely different synth to me.

Their website redirecting to porno site.

I just purchased a Modal Cobalt8 last week, completely unaware that the company had gone under. Their website is now offline, and I'm unable to download any software, including the essential ModalApp for Windows and Android. I've exhausted all my online resources. Does anyone have any leads?

Hands down the BEST implementation of modern wavetable synthesis WITH waveshaping ever envisioned. Envision a two Osc CRAFT mono synth with partnering sequential or Moog 4pole analog filter.