THE CONTROL SYNTHESIS' DEEP BASS 9

Deep Bass 9 picture

The doc said : DEEP BASS NINE is a midi-controlled analogue bass synthesizer, based on the sound of the classic acid dance machine : the TB303.

Weel, at least it's clear ! The unit is a 1U 19" rack, with the same controls as the TB-303 : Waveform selection (square or sawtooth), tuning, cutoff frequency, resonance, envelope modulation, decay and accent; plus midi channel selector and power switch.

In addition, the DEEP BASS NINE will work as a single channel midi to CV convertor and there is even an external audio input to the filter, so the DB9 can be used to treat any external sound source.

The accent is controlled via midi note velocity, the glide via midi. The rear pannel connections are : audio in/out, midi in/thru, CV in/out, GATE in/out.

The filter must be 12db, or even 24, but not 18 at all ! So the 303 emulation isn't so perfect. Of course you can get some cool fat basslines, but a 19" rack isn't really that way easy to play real-time !!! And the control knobs aren't midi controllable like the BassStation. Anyway if you take time writing background lines with midi, it sounds OK.

the price is around 800.- Fs here in Switzerland.

303 emulation rating : 4/10 - More like a single-OSC analog synth than a 303 clone !