Claravox Centennial- known issues, bugs and quirks

   On analog only, on the first three presets, the filter knob has no effect.  They are also very low in volume compared to other three presets.Only on traditional not modern.  I called Moog he said use the app to restore presets. I told him that only resets the app not the Claravox.  He disagreed,  I didn’t think the app worked at all in traditional mode. I tried it and it did what I thought. Is there a factory reset for the Claravox.  Has anyone had this type of problem?  Moog said I was the first. 

I tried loading a voice off app into Claravox in the affected presets and saving them.  All three work now.

On analog only, on the first three presets, the filter knob has no effect.  They are also very low in volume compared to other three presets.Only on traditional not modern.  I called Moog he said use the app to restore presets. I told him that only resets the app not the Claravox.  He disagreed,  I didn’t think the app worked at all in traditional mode. I tried it and it did what I thought. Is there a factory reset for the Claravox.  Has anyone had this type of problem?  Moog said I was the first.

I've not seen this problem, but if you want to get the original presets, here's what they are in the app library:

1 - Classic
2 - Clair de Lune
3 - Cloudy Vista
4 - Bright Shift
5 - Alibi
6 - Afterburn

Thanks 
Everything working now since I loaded new voices over presets.  Thanks again, your comments are always helpful.  

Does that mean the traditional mode presets are also loadable? - I had thought they were hard wired . Although now I think about it the oscillator is fixed and you are probably only editing the filter, delay brightness and waveform settings for the analogue sound

For me the Claravox is the best theremin I possess.

This is what it boils down to. For all its flaws there are vanishingly few options available that can do what the Claravox can. It sounds great (especially in traditional mode), is very responsive (in modern mode), and the BB delay is a wonderful addition. My trouble comes from the fact that I want the sound of traditional mode with the playability and octave register of modern mode. That plus the intermittent “burbling" problem that comes up from time to time makes the instrument feel consistently unsatisfying, despite actually being extremely capable.

I would have preferred that Moog either release an all-analog instrument that is simple but rock solid, or an all-digital instrument with a UI that does justice to its sound-design potential. Instead the Claravox is a weird chimera that appears simple but is actually complicated, requires a computer to program effectively, and has some basic design issues that likely rose from their having to cram two instruments into the same housing.

That said, nothing else can do what the Claravox can do, so perhaps what the instrument offers is worth the faff.

Galen - I think with some tweaking of the presets for modern mode you could get very close to the traditional mode sounds

In fact even in the design stage Moog said that Modern mode should sound like traditional mode out of the box that's before most of us started tweaking the presets tho 

Galen - I think with some tweaking of the presets for modern mode you could get very close to the traditional mode soundsIn fact even in the design stage Moog said that Modern mode should sound like traditional mode out of the box that's before most of us started tweaking the presets tho

I know we’re entering into highly subjective territory here, but I am finding there is something “alive” and “warm” in traditional mode that I have so far not managed to replicate in modern mode. I’m not an analog purist, but to my ear there is something special in the traditional sound that I haven’t been able to get from modern mode. I’ll keep trying though.

That said, this is an example of my point: I think the number of options on the Claravox, combined with its design compromises, result in people feeling unsatisfied with an instrument that is actually extremely capable. Like, if there was just no analog voice on the Claravox I wouldn’t be tempted to A/B the two modes and find the niggling differences between them and wish that the instrument had the best of all possible combinations.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t legitimate grievances — the inability to fully mute the analog voice is just crazy. (Another issue that would be resolved by just removing traditional mode.)

Agree Galen

personally I don't think there will ever be another theremin with all the features and controls the Claravox has.

I too want to chime in and say that I really like my Claravox.

However...

I am frustrated that we waited so long, paid so much, and in the end got something with what should have been obvious flaws corrected before they ever left the factory.

Mine (#89) finally started developing inconsistent volume antenna response late last night. It would cut out, and come back in if I jiggled the antenna a bit (which I dont want to keep doing in fear of worsening it).

I opened the back just to have a look around... despite not getting it until after people had reported getting theirs in the 300's, mine doesnt even have the connecting cables from the antenna connector tab and the nut on the pcb though oddly both antennae have zip ties. Obviously the cables themselves going from the daughter board to the motherboard arent secured or routed in any way, and the usb cable goes over everything - no proper routing - with no strain relief near the top socket.

I'll be adjusting some things on my end now that I'm home from work today to see if I can improve things on my own, but if the simple fixes dont work I'll likely contact Moog. Bisem is right that its Moog's mess up, so they should be the ones to correct it.

EDIT:... and the simple fixes didnt work. I dont have any acetone, and dont want to take sandpaper to the antenna, so rma submitted.

HOWEVER however... again I still like my Claravox... And I'm gonna go against the grain and say its because of its modern mode.

Its very feature rich when you go into the modern mode and mess around with midi messages - especially using external gear and lfo's to automate various parameters to really get into the weeds of sound design.

My only real complaint (other than the hardware volume antenna flaw/other flaws found in that aetherwellen site that was posted earlier) is that a certain software mode for the volume antenna doesnt work the way I'd want it to. Its the mode that disables the volume antenna and turns control over the volume to external midi cc#7. Unfortunately that mode also kills the volume antenna cv and midi out. I was wanting to send the volume cv to external modular synth stuff to process it in really crazy ways and then return it to the claravox via midi, but that isnt possible. I'd love a mode that gives volume control to midi, but the volume antenna would work normally otherwise. I messaged Moog about this a while back and was told its something that could be changed in firmware, but havent seen any movement on it since. I'm tempted to rma my Claravox even if the simple fixes work, just to re-establish communication and press this a bit more while also getting any upgrades they may have made on the later models.