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Clon Minotaur Overdrive by Nembrini Audio

https://apps.apple.com/app/id1562822809

Description:

Clon Minotaur Transparent Overdrive is modeled on The Klon Centaur* a guitar overdrive pedal developed between 1990 and 1994. The Clon Minotaur is characterized as a "transparent" overdrive, meaning it adds gain to the signal without significantly altering the tone of the guitar.

Depending on the settings of the control knobs, the Clon Minotaur Transparent Overdrive can act mostly as a clean boost, adding mostly volume and minimal coloring to the sound. This can be used to drive the input valve stage of the virtual amplifier to use the characteristic distortion sound of an overdriven guitar amp.

Clon Minotaur Transparent Overdrive controls can be set to distort the sound signal in the plugin, where two modeled germanium diodes can perform waveform clipping.

The gain parameter controls the balance between the modeled diode clipping stage and the clean stage. The two signals are summed together before they interact with the other two controls, treble and volume.

Works as a standalone app, AudioUnit v3 effect, or Inter-App Audio effect

Legal Disclaimer:

  • Please note that all marks and models are all trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Nembrini Audio. These marks and names are used solely for the purpose of describing certain tones produced using Nembrini Audio’s modeling technology.

Details:
Universal: Yes
Minimum OS version: 9.3
Rated: 0 based on 0 votes

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Comments

  • Wtf. Free? Boo yeahhhh

  • Yeah! And sounds damn good, nice one Nembrini

  • @Gavinski said:
    Yeah! And sounds damn good, nice one Nembrini

    +1

    Also much more cpu efficient than chow centaur.

  • @jolico said:

    @Gavinski said:
    Yeah! And sounds damn good, nice one Nembrini

    +1

    Also much more cpu efficient than chow centaur and less aliasing.

  • Since it's free, I imagine the majority of the raw code is based on Jatin's ChowCentaur — which is open source.

  • Hell yeah, glad it’s free. Can’t believe what the real pedal goes for. I can’t wait to compare this to chow

  • Damn! I knew I should have just not purchased that original Klon for $5500. Now All I have to do is fit an iPad inside of a gold metal case with a mythical creature graphic painted on the side.

  • Thank you Nembrini.. 👍

  • @BladeRunner Are they seriously up to $5k now? Last time I looked was a couple of years ago, before I got my Hudson Broadcast.

  • Too sweet!

  • @mistercharlie said:
    @BladeRunner Are they seriously up to $5k now? Last time I looked was a couple of years ago, before I got my Hudson Broadcast.

    Hudson Broadcast? Hadn't seen these before -- very interesting that they use transformer saturation!

    I've built a clone of the Centaur. I like my Rat clone much better. It could just be that I don't really like the way TL072's sound in distortion circuits, but I just don't get the hype.

  • @NeonSilicon The Broadcast is fantastic. I wouldn’t be without it now. Lots of sounds, and all of them good. One surprise is that it’s really good after digital distortion. I like to run H9 dirt into it.

    And I know this is off-topic, so I’m bring it back around. I wonder how this Klone app works running into actual amps?

  • @SNystrom said:
    Close:

    😩

  • @mistercharlie said:
    @NeonSilicon The Broadcast is fantastic. I wouldn’t be without it now. Lots of sounds, and all of them good. One surprise is that it’s really good after digital distortion. I like to run H9 dirt into it.

    Nice! Thanks for the info.

    And I know this is off-topic, so I’m bring it back around. I wonder how this Klone app works running into actual amps?

    Probably depends on how you reamp it. I have some DI transformer boxes I could try with, but my setup probably wouldn't be good enough to do it justice.

  • @NembriniAudio Thank you! Your guys are awesome 😎👍

  • Thanks for the info ! :)

  • edited May 2021

    It's easier to talk about quantum physic than to explain what is a "transparent" overdrive.

    But, thank you 1000 times for this! What a gift!

  • If there’s any Chow code I’d like to see credit documented so I’ll assume they just made their own and are trying to beat Chow on price.

    What license does Jatin post with the code? people should modify his code to get an AUv3 app working faster.

    I’d love to see Piano Motifs in an AUv3 package but I know that’s a huge ask fir a developer starting out with a Swift based app.

  • Ooh, this looks interesting, I'll have to give it a try!

    @jolico said:
    Also much more cpu efficient than chow centaur.

    I actually spent some time this weekend working on improving the performance of ChowCentaur... I'm curious to see how it compares.

    @McD said:
    If there’s any Chow code I’d like to see credit documented so I’ll assume they just made their own and are trying to beat Chow on price.

    What license does Jatin post with the code? people should modify his code to get an AUv3 app working faster.

    ChowCentaur is licensed under the BSD 3-clause license, which allows the code to be re-used (even in proprietary apps) so long as appropriate credit is given. I am also quite happy to accept contributions if other folks want to look at the code and help make it faster/sound better!

    Seeing as both the apps are free though, I really don't see the need for it to be any sort of "competition"! Always happy to have more great-sounding apps to make music with :smile:

  • FWIW, I have no complaints about Chow Centaur's CPU-use. I find it pretty lightweight in that regard. I also find that it has some warmth that I don't find in the Nembrini version.

    @chowdsp said:
    Ooh, this looks interesting, I'll have to give it a try!

    @jolico said:
    Also much more cpu efficient than chow centaur.

    I actually spent some time this weekend working on improving the performance of ChowCentaur... I'm curious to see how it compares.

    @McD said:
    If there’s any Chow code I’d like to see credit documented so I’ll assume they just made their own and are trying to beat Chow on price.

    What license does Jatin post with the code? people should modify his code to get an AUv3 app working faster.

    ChowCentaur is licensed under the BSD 3-clause license, which allows the code to be re-used (even in proprietary apps) so long as appropriate credit is given. I am also quite happy to accept contributions if other folks want to look at the code and help make it faster/sound better!

    Seeing as both the apps are free though, I really don't see the need for it to be any sort of "competition"! Always happy to have more great-sounding apps to make music with :smile:

  • @chowdsp said:
    [...]
    ChowCentaur is licensed under the BSD 3-clause license, which allows the code to be re-used (even in proprietary apps) so long as appropriate credit is given. I am also quite happy to accept contributions if other folks want to look at the code and help make it faster/sound better!

    Seeing as both the apps are free though, I really don't see the need for it to be any sort of "competition"! Always happy to have more great-sounding apps to make music with :smile:

    I just read your paper you have linked from your git repo, very cool! Thanks for making it available on Arxiv.

  • @chowdsp said:
    ChowCentaur is licensed under the BSD 3-clause license, which allows the code to be re-used (even in proprietary apps) so long as appropriate credit is given.

    I don't see any credit being given here so is it safe to assume they created their own application since this is a highly sought after pedal and Nembrini has a catalogue of apps
    targeting great hardware devices.

    I'm glad we have them both at these prices but I don't begrudge either of you for asking for
    some money for a transparent overdrive even if it's a tribute to an abomination to the scared species of horses. Polluting horse with human DNA is a shocking experiment of some
    mad Greek Gods. Those Greeks have a lot to answer for.

  • @Daveypoo said:

    That turns the phrase "Hung like a... " on it's head, so to speak.
    Weird phrase anyway... I mean, where to they hang horses? Don't get it.

    "Gitty up, Trigger." - Roy Rogers
    "Forward with haste, Silver." - Lone Ranger
    "Down Boy, Ed". - Wi-i-i--l-l-lbur-r-r-r-r

    "A horse is a horse..."

  • @Daveypoo said:

    Excellent, Mr. Poo!!!

    There goes my hero...

  • Clon Minotaur and ChowCentaur are both great emulations. They have some similarities but completely different sweet spots in my opinion. I can tweak them to sound quite close to each other but the knob settings look different at that point. My understanding is that Jatin wrote the code for ChowCentaur based on the original Klon’s available schematics coupled with his own skills, and based on my conversations with Nembrini it seems that the Minotaur is based on original schematics but also on taking apart and recreating hardware units, a KTR klon or a j rockett archer. So based on some discussions with Nembrini and after A/B-ing the emulations, I can say the Minotaur is not based on the Chow code and is completely its own emulation of hardware units. I’ve actually been gainstaging by using both the Chow and the Clon in the same chain. They’re both fantastic but a little different.

    So here’s my comparison take. At higher gain settings with gain/tone maxed I prefer the Chow, but for a transparent boost/overdrive sweet spot I prefer the Clon.

    At high gain I find the Chow to be really ripe and tight, with a perfect lo cut and harmonic response, high gain without the harshness or fizz. The Clon maxed out sounds like a more typical pair of clipping diodes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great, but in this setting I prefer the uniqueness of the Chow tone. The Chow also seems to actually have more gain on tap. But this is misleading, because on the Clon the Output knob can actually add a little extra dash of gain and changes the gain contour, whereas on the Chow the level knob seems to act more or less as a level. So the secret to getting max gain with the Clon is to crank the gain knob but to also crank the output knob to about 3 o’clock. I’m finding that the Clon’s output knob is much much more versatile than a simple level knob. It’s almost like a secondary gain adjustment. That being said I still prefer the high gain tone on the Chow.

    Now the real sweet spot on the Clon Minotaur is in the transparent overdrive zone. It is phenomenal, really rich and robust, but doesn’t color the tone, rather enhances it. Gain at 10-11 o’clock, Treble at 2 o’clock, Output at 2 o’clock... the magical sweet spot of this emulation. To me it sounds notably better in this zone than the Chow. I think the Clon sounding really robust and satisfying could be a matter of eq hump, or Nembrini’s expertise in bringing strong pure tone that then is mixed with the distorted tone. When the Chow is set with all knobs at noon, it’s really nice and transparent but also a little warm and dark, compared to the bypassed guitar tone. With the Clon at those settings I get a more jangly rich response.

    In terms of feel and picking dynamics both emulations are excellent. Right now I’m leaning towards using Chow for higher gain and Clon for transparent boost. Considering that Nembrini is calling this release a “transparent overdrive”, they absolutely nailed it!

  • Does your opinion hold for both humbuckers and single coil pickups?

  • edited May 2021

    @SNystrom said:
    Does your opinion hold for both humbuckers and single coil pickups?

    Both. I seem to prefer the Chow with humbuckers and the Clon with single coils, but it really depends on the guitar and output of each pickup. Most of my humbuckers and single coils are quite hot, so they handle high gain really well but can also have some treble roll off. Then I have the mojotone quiet coils which are marketed as noiseless Strat style pickups, but they’re actually just side by side coils which makes them humbuckers in disguise, and they sound really stratty. These are great with both emulations.

    Cycling through the Chow, Clon, and my Rimrock Mythical Overdrive pedal, they all get really close to one another, and that is a great thing! I’ve actually been front loading my audio interface with the Mythical Overdrive, and it amazes me that the Chow and Clon sound just as good!

    Both of these emulations should be a staple at the front of every iOS guitarist’s chain. No need to pick, can use both in series for gain staging and toggle one or the other based on your needs.

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