Organelle hardware update ? Critter & Guitari policy on hardware updates or upgrades

I am thinking about buying an Organelle but the expense represents about a
years worth of saving money (broke EU student living in an austerity plagued
country)… so as such I am really considering as many aspects as possible
before buying : )
sorry if I am plaguing you with questions.
i have a background in java, currently studying
programming at university, have used plogue bidule for years and have
dabbled in max/msp, and have aspirations for learning some DSP. so the
organelle really appeals to me on a few levels, especially I like the fact
that it is a self contained musical instrument. so the idea of developing
custom PD patches for a universal, standard kind of ‘platform’ like the
organelle is great, versus say a laptop with peripherals attached. although
i admit I want to attach some small, basic peripherals when used at home : ) : )
never the less, i spend about 10-12 hours a day on campus since i live so far away
so i like to take some small creative things with me.

anyway, with my statement of interest fully declared - on to the query. i
see that the Organelle is currently out of stock, but if I find one before
then - I am wondering if Critter and Guitari are planning to update the
hardware in anyway for the next batch/revision ?
or update at some point in the future ?
If it happened with the next batch after i just bought one, I would be
bummed to discover this after buying the ‘older’ one. Which is why I am
asking now: what are Critter & Guitari’s plans for the future of the
Organelle with respect its hardware ?
I guess the only thing to really consider is the processor/ram
as I don’t suspect you intend to replace the maple keys with graphite or something ; )
possibly the converters too ?

in the eventuality of a hardware update,
… would it be Critter & Guitari policy to offer a commercial upgrade
service for existing Organelles ?
and, out of curiosity, what kind of price difference would it have made to
spec the Organelle with a 1.6 or 2ghz processor and a gigabyte or 2 of ram ?
instead of the current 1ghz 512mb setup.

I see so many media devices on amazon selling for $35 that are running the cortex
a9 but at roughly double the speed or four times the ram. I’m sure economies
of scale plays a role in this, but I’m curious just how much… I guess like
anyone with a mind to developing patches - more power is more good : ) (i
dont subscribe to minimalist philosophies when it comes to grunt ; )

also, and this is probably way off the realms of what you might
encourage…but just in terms of feasability, how impossible would it be to
simply yoink a better spec’d A9 out of a cheap device, and supplant the existing
Organelle A9 with it ? I suppose the A9 needs to be machined to match the
pcb ? in such case could it simply be put on a compatible ‘daughterboard’ to
make it fit ?

thanks!

Thanks for considering the Organelle!

The models currently in production are the same specs as previous models. We don’t have schedule for updated hardware at this time.

The $35 Amazon style computers are enticing for sure, but remember they lack much of the hardware the Organelle provides: keys, knobs, 1/4" audio jacks, foot switch, etc…

In the end it comes down to what you want accomplish musically: if you just need a box to crunch numbers, one of these cheap Amazon boxes is the ticket. But if you want to experiment with human-sound interaction in a quick and easy way, the Organelle is a great platform for this.

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hi oweno,
for an individual poised to buy, that’s reassuring to know the current batch matches the previous/existing one.
the amazon (and price) citation was specifically just about the processor and I presume economies of scale comes in to it too, but of course I am not implying the consumer costs for a stripped down number crunching device should be compared to the Organelle, which as you say provides the keys, knobs, etc. My point really is just about the A9 processor, economies of scale notwithstanding, they seem cheap so I was just curious what impact it would have had on the price of the Organelle if you simply opted for a 2gb/1.6ghz (or faster) A9 processor. it’s not a battery powered device either so power can’t be too much of a concern ?

As you say, Organelle really nails the human-sound interaction in a quick and easy way. There’s nothing in terms of the physical interface that really needs to be changed. However, upgrading the processing power isn’t going to have an effect on the human-sound interaction aspect, the physicality of it… and so as a programmer, and patcher who will be building within the constraints of the processor/RAM it’s something I’m thinking about…

Mainly, if you do update the processing power in future models - would you rule out the possibility of offering commercial processor/ram upgrade service for your existing Organelle owners.

Secondary, and perhaps far fetched … is my query about the feasability of an individual ripping a better spec’d A9 out of some number crunching device…and replacing the Organelle’s processor with it. Is that pie-in-the-sky thinking or no ?

ultimately, I’m fine with it as it is … I’m happy to work within it’s limitations if this is what it’s going to be. however i would really like to know if, in principle, a paid processor/RAM update would be available to existing users if you do indeed update the grunt power at some point. or if, in principle, you can flatly say that in the event of a unit with more power an upgrade path won’t be offered.

it’s the last burning question before I sink my dough, and subsequently programming/patching time in to the platform.

thanks!

Could someone explain how the specs in the organelle compare to this? That is inside the op-1, a synth that has stayed strong in its five years since release… Seems underwhelming if u describe it as 400mhz core w/ 512mb mem though amirite?

a completely disingenuous comparison.

you realise of course the op-1 is essentially fixed architecture as far as the user is concerned, with the dsp probably written in something low level like assembly and compiled to binary code. and the organelle is linux running pure data, pure data being an open-ended visual patching environment using high level functions. even if you ignore the whole custom patching element of pure data, which Organelle heavily markets as a unique selling point, designing something identical in pure data to the functions of the op-1 will not run as efficiently. just how much less efficiently ? i could only speculate, but it is a certainty. (obvious sampling time benefits of the extra ram notwithstanding)

that in itself is enough to render the fake comparison moot.

but the most important part is the fact that Organelle is an open ended patching platform, it’s sold as such. and as such the processor/RAM specs serve as a constraint to just how open ended this open ended platform actually is.

so, while it might be tempting to make some smug comment from the sidelines, I stand by the veracity of my queries on this topic - if not concerns.

besides, i stated several times that I am happy to work within the constraints of the current spec, especially if they are resolute that this is going to be the spec for the long-term. I am mostly just asking about their policy in the event of a processor/RAM upgrade in a later batch or model. second to that, some queries on what informed their current choice and possibilities for diy-upgrades.

if you or anyone else thinks it’s churlish to ask such things I can only apologise for offending your artistic sensibilities.

lol I guess that’s one way to explain to me the difference… I was seriously asking though , I’m not up to date at all on computer stuff

Sorry it like bothered u lol

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doh! i thought you were jiving me ; ) … anyways, those are the differences. to the best of my knowledge at least. you should stay tuned for oweno’s answer though as I may be wrong about the differences in efficiency. I’d be pleasantly surprised if that was the case!

There is some more info in the below post about the processing power of the Organelle. We don’t have any info about a version 2 at this time or if the hardware would be upgradeable, only the current version is in production.

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