newer etherwaves

I haven't tried one yet, but I understand the newer ones sound and play great. A friend is looking If he finds a used one on eBay, who old should it be, last year? two years?

Andy

I got mine towards the end of September last year, and I am very impressed with it. I certainly don't feel any desire to get a better model, though maybe as I get better at playing the thing, I will, but the sound is as nice and expressive as anything that I have heard.

I can get 5 octaves out of it easily, and the linearity makes it very playable. It would be interesting to hear from anyone who uses the pro, but I would imagine they all had their standard before that, so it is probably older.

Is this true? Does anyone know specifics about a hardware upgrade to newer etherwaves?

My Etherwave is the newest. I'm not sure if the other, older Etherwaves could do this, but mine can make a completely smooth sine wave output for a very acoustic sound.

Would you be able to post a recorded sample Zsy, so that we can compare it to the older instruments? If this is true, then I guess a lot of people will consider buying a newer model (including me of course). Thanx in advance!

Zsy, I'm not so much concerned about the quality of the sound as I was about the controllability of the pitch. Besides, I don't think you meant exactly what you wrote, because if it was a perfect sine tone it would sound boring! The Etherwaves have a knob to set the timbre between saw wave and square wave, but I don't think you can get a sine out of it

Anyhow, I got a new Etherwave a few days ago. There was an older one available on craigslist but I went for a new one because of this thread. And I think you guys are right. I first played an Etherwave about 4 years ago, and it was very hard to stay on pitch. Then my school bought a Pro, and it was so much easier that suddenly I felt like a player. Then I finished school and had to buy my own theremin, but couldn't afford a pro, so I got a new Etherwave.. and it's great!

I'm kind of a geek so I'd really like to know what electrical changes might have been made in the newer Etherwaves to make their pitch response better. Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Happy playing guys :)

I believe that the orientation of the coils - both pitch and volume - has been changed to give better pitch linearity and volume response. Also the newer models have a voltage and current regulator chip, resulting in better stability, and the tone is clearer and less fuzzy.

Apparently you can spot a newer model because the top of the case is chamfered.

Etherwaves produce neither sine waves nor square waves. Here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8666613@N04/2199492524/sizes/o/) is a chart showing the waveforms of the newer model for a mid-range note for various settings of the brightness and waveform knobs. Note the asymmetry, indicating the presence of even harmonics, giving it a brassy tone.

thanks for the info GordonC. and wicked chart too.

I had my et. standard (already sold) 3 years ago. I think I haven't tried any other std. different than that. From which building dates you think it is improoved?

I believe there was an older E.S. model before 1997 or 1998. Can anyone here confirm this point?

Gordon, when I hook my Etherwave up to an oscilloscope I can set the waveform knob all the way to the right and the brightness knob all the way to the left to achieve an output signal much more sinusoidal than any shown on that chart. Perhaps they expanded the range of timbres that can be achieved when they redesigned the Etherwave's circuitry?