@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTERyeah :) and I have to notice that translation for controls was made by someone knowing his sh!t well, not just a random vocabulary substitution.
Your laugh at 12:00 is classic! Every synthesist can relate to that moment. That moment of exploration.That moment of discovery. That moment of joy, when you turn the corner and uncover something wonderful. :) This is a great synth! Thank you.
Someone in Germany is rightfully kicking themselves after seeing, that with a little TLC and MadBrain ;) you easily brought a classic back to life 🔥🔥🔥✌🏼🍀
Surely is! I Love my Polivoks so much - but I really HATE the wobbely Keybed, so I've fitted a 1V/Oct CV/Gate Interface and play it with my Moog for example. For that Reason (alone i guess) the Keybed is as well functioning as Generally in Mint Condition. My favourite Vintage next to the MS-20, especially for darker tone perc. Sounds and Fat PWM/Saws. They've been built almost Ridiculously pragmatic back then, the M-Tank Switches for instance have been used because they've been "the" Switches. and so it looks..
I have the Estradin 231, which is a re-designed 230 but otherwise the same. Mine has cyrillic legends so I guess yours was aimed at the east european non-cyrillic market. Mine was built in 1986 btw... but it's not glowing in the dark (anymore at least).
Hi, Sam! As far as I remember, the coils under the Estradyn-230 keyboard are used for finger vibratto. You can modulate the pitch by quickly wobbling the key left and right.
@@MrGoodMood16 The 230 uses the same keyboard as the 231. They differ only in the enclosure. All units except the keyboard control unit are interchangeable in both models. The 231 has a separate board on the logic instead of the string of precision resistors in the 230.
My thing of using Soviet synths in my modern metal band will drain my pockets. Okay, I'm looking for this one as well now. By the way, the factory is 120 km away from where I live and some young folks are working on reviving it!
These 80s Eastern block analogs are so well built/over-engineered compared to similar western synths, and this one is the jewel of the bunch. I love that giant red indicator lamp.
Soviet pots were a pain, even military grade ones. Soviet transistors were a weak copies of western ones with low range. A couple of transistors has worked like one western. No quality jacks, no high capacity caps. Contacts that oxidized soon. Those who engineered these things made a huge work of selecting/finding the RIGHT parts and making the whole thing stable 💪🏻 It is not Roland or Moog because their creators had access to the whole competitive market of radio parts and soviet creations were always a compromise... The prices for that synths were far from being affordable, something like 5-10 of monthly wage, so only clubs or studios could afford these toys.
@@Greg-yi5re Good point, I was thinking only in terms of chassis/construction. nevertheless, if I had to choose one, I'd still take a rickety chip-board Prodigy over any Soviet-era riveted-cast-metal counterparts.
I have a few Soviet synths....one of which is the Altair 231, which is basically identical to the Estradin 230 in a different body style. I cant imagine my studio without the Altair
I also had an Altair 231 before. It's actually much better than the 230 as the VCOs are much more stable. I still got an Alisa-1387 which I also want to sell.
thanks for sharing this rarity, so cool to see this on your channel. Not sure I ever heard one of these, even though my great-uncle owned one back in the 90s. Much love from Ukraine!
I like that they just used 80s car dashboard plastic for the case. Had a Ford Taunus with that texture on the interior. What a hilarious choice for a case. You should paint that the colour of skin.. Gross it up real good.
It's great to see the way you have developed such facility with things like antique keybeds over the time I have watched your videos. Not that the electromechanical stuff is so hard intellectually, but just figuring out the thinking of some of these old designers can be an adventure. On fixing up such stuff as ancient organs and forty-to-fifty-year-old synthesizers, I wish I had the time (and the access - there's more funky old musical tech floating around Europe at reasonable prices than we see in the US). Alas, it's not happening for me. But I love watching you get these things working. It looks like this Estradin had some metal fatigue and maybe a suboptimal repair done at some point, so the shipping turned out to be more than the old beast could bear. Cheers to you for healing it.
This is a very cool synthesiser. I have a formanta faemi 1-m and that thing is the bane of my life but I think I have finally fixed after 2 years of owning a half broken synth. The USSR made some ace synths.
I'll put in a plug for some stuff I was introduced to, by a buddy. He has a busy studio that uses 2" tape and a mixer with long-throw faders, so he needs a crackle-free environment. He alerted me to something that is a godsend for older pots and switches: Stabilant 22. It's pricey, but it often takes very little (a sesame-seed sized drop or two) to do the job. Their website has a page of appnotes, showing the many ways it can be used. I hate to sound like a shill for them (and I'm not), but when you find something that can make beloved older gear spring back to life, you value it, and you let people know about it. I mention it here because some older devices (especially foreign-made like the Estradin) may have well-used pots for which there is no real available replacement. When the resistive strip inside them has gotten worn down, a contact cleaner (like DeOxit) can dislodge grime and remove oxidation, but can't do much about the inconsistent gap between wiper and worn strip. Stabilant is an electroconductive polymer that behaves like a liquid solder joint, and remains viscous for the life of the product. Because it never dries, you can't build up layers. But it doesn't take many microns of gap to make a control crackly, and a single application of the stuff can easily fill that gap. It won't likely resurrect a 50 year-old wah-wah pot in a Cream cover band, but I've been amazed at what it *can* rejuvenate. You may find it very helpful in the museum.
Its 100% Russian, was made before Ukraine existed. But I agree I love these soviet era synths. Edit: As Fin pointed out it was still made in Ukraine, I forgot it was called Ukraine before the split. Was thinking it changed its name.
@@shocktnc i said soviet era… ukraine existed, it was just part of the soviet union. These were also made in a factory in Ukraine only I believe, not produced elsewhere in russia/soviet union at the time.
@@shocktnc seriously respect that you are capable of recognizing when you got something wrong, far too rare nowadays. Dont think this synth was produced there but there was this soviet military plant that actually made synths/drum machines. “Elektrovimiruvach military plant“. I just love soviet era electronic instruments, they just have this cyberpunk apocalypse vibe to them.
thxu sam! 🎹 to see you take on the rehabilititation of a vintage synth and breath new life into its keys and oscillators warms my hacker heart. rock on maestro! 😎🙏🎹✨ 🎶
@@modulblok-e3168 in title of video is "Ukraine", made in Zhitomir, in label marked as USSR. In what timeline it is rusian? Becouse it is yours wish? Edit: Oh i see, u just rusian dude. Please don't answer on previous questions. Thx
Can you imagine gigging with this synth across the USSR? Every 1km of travel would require 1min of maintenance and repair. Great video! Great synth. But the best synthesizer ever to come out of Russia would be the Eternal Engine EMI Apparatus and you have one sitting right next to you in this video! Hang onto it. Those synths are now completely unobtainable.
Also, try to get TOM-1501, which is kinda replica of Crumar Performer, but with some uniq soviet-heavy sound. It also exist with export-type front panel in english.
In Soviet Russia, Synth plays YOU!! 😁 Seriously cool find though. I was surprised by the clear (and correct) English labels, but reading your other comments, it makes sense if it were built for export.
I just got into synths and fell upon your channel and absolutely love it. Could you play van Halen? Jump on this one day. I would love your your take on it. The sounds reminded me of that song even though i think they used a Oberheim OB-Xa. Keep up the amazing work.
i'd been thinking a long time of building my own analogue synth, some modules are really simple, but, for instance, the adsr, 555's easily available, even microscopic surface mount ones, the variable resistors on most designs i find are VERY odd, so they're expensive. getting an arduino to replace the 555 is an easy swap. the other modules are more fun for getting but there's an old top octave divider synth, by, i think don lancaster, that was as polyphonic as you wanted, all built on cards, it'd be a great midi conversion. want a 61 key synth, you build 61 synths, 10 cards afair, one being for power.
I had this exact keyboard (just the keys, not the whole synth) as a kit. It was a complete pain to assemble. I still have a set of those springy contacts.
Hey, I got the ESTRADIN 230 and his brother ALTAIR 231 The induction-magnetic thinggy is not modulation, it's horizontal pitch shifting (well, at least on the 231, I can't tell for the 230 becoz the system was broken and no time to fix it). But as both of these synths have the same schem it should be horizontal pitch shifting too (astomishing featur btw) french kizz
It sounds really nice, super for Spacey sweeps and effects. I did wonder what on earth those coils were for! Oh and nice tweed jacket not your usual look but it works lol.
Sam -- I'd love to stop by the museum -- but it's a little far (live on the East coast of the US). Now I know that you set up some dial-in access to some of your retro phone equipment -- how about you get some "robot arm toys" from the 1980s, and set them up to be remotely controlled over the Internet, which "play" some of these vintage synths -- then I could remotely get in on the fun!!!!
Great job! Adjusting keyboard contacts is a real pain. Interesting that for a Soviet-era machine, the panel legending is in English. Seems to have a lot of electronics for such a basic machine. Do you know how close the circuitry is to that of an MiniMoog? Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦
NAME A MINI MOOG CLONE?
Behringer Poly D lol.
The 2016 and 2022 Moog Minimoogs? 😋
I'd say a level 4-5 earthquake.
Grandmother !😅
Alan
ESTRADIO is right on spot from the 80's soviet discotek!
I love watching you restore these old pieces of gear - it's like seeing an expert surgeon saving a life.
Btw, this particular synth was made explicitly for export. We do Cyrillic texts on goods for internal market.
yep pretty useful for using over here haha.
@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTERyeah :) and I have to notice that translation for controls was made by someone knowing his sh!t well, not just a random vocabulary substitution.
Ah, that explains it. 😄
Having its age and materials, it's a miracle it came to you in one piece (more or less) been shipped overseas.
yeah it was supposed to be more intact. but it was functioning so cant complain
AcTually... shipping from Germany to GB often turns out to be "lorrying underseas".. :)
Your laugh at 12:00 is classic! Every synthesist can relate to that moment. That moment of exploration.That moment of discovery. That moment of joy, when you turn the corner and uncover something wonderful. :) This is a great synth! Thank you.
Someone in Germany is rightfully kicking themselves after seeing, that with a little TLC and MadBrain ;) you easily brought a classic back to life 🔥🔥🔥✌🏼🍀
Surely is! I Love my Polivoks so much - but I really HATE the wobbely Keybed, so I've fitted a 1V/Oct CV/Gate Interface and play it with my Moog for example. For that Reason (alone i guess) the Keybed is as well functioning as Generally in Mint Condition. My favourite Vintage next to the MS-20, especially for darker tone perc. Sounds and Fat PWM/Saws. They've been built almost Ridiculously pragmatic back then, the M-Tank Switches for instance have been used because they've been "the" Switches. and so it looks..
Great find and fix but definitely no JMJ 😅
I have the Estradin 231, which is a re-designed 230 but otherwise the same. Mine has cyrillic legends so I guess yours was aimed at the east european non-cyrillic market. Mine was built in 1986 btw... but it's not glowing in the dark (anymore at least).
Some of the zappy sci-fi noises sounded like they'd come right out of the BBC radiophonic workshop 😆
There was a bit around four minutes that was straight from the Blake's 7 theme 😃
Reminds me of lots of background sounds from Logans Run.
Hi, Sam! As far as I remember, the coils under the Estradyn-230 keyboard are used for finger vibratto. You can modulate the pitch by quickly wobbling the key left and right.
yup, but I seem there is no room for that on the 230. Perhaps it's not fully implemented. But that's ok on the ALTAIR 231
@@MrGoodMood16 The 230 uses the same keyboard as the 231. They differ only in the enclosure. All units except the keyboard control unit are interchangeable in both models. The 231 has a separate board on the logic instead of the string of precision resistors in the 230.
My thing of using Soviet synths in my modern metal band will drain my pockets. Okay, I'm looking for this one as well now.
By the way, the factory is 120 km away from where I live and some young folks are working on reviving it!
Cool 🤚🙂👍🏼
Do you have more info or links of the people working at reviving the factory?
your nickname's really fitting for someone using synths in a metal band
These 80s Eastern block analogs are so well built/over-engineered compared to similar western synths, and this one is the jewel of the bunch. I love that giant red indicator lamp.
Soviet pots were a pain, even military grade ones. Soviet transistors were a weak copies of western ones with low range. A couple of transistors has worked like one western. No quality jacks, no high capacity caps. Contacts that oxidized soon. Those who engineered these things made a huge work of selecting/finding the RIGHT parts and making the whole thing stable 💪🏻 It is not Roland or Moog because their creators had access to the whole competitive market of radio parts and soviet creations were always a compromise... The prices for that synths were far from being affordable, something like 5-10 of monthly wage, so only clubs or studios could afford these toys.
@@Greg-yi5re Good point, I was thinking only in terms of chassis/construction. nevertheless, if I had to choose one, I'd still take a rickety chip-board Prodigy over any Soviet-era riveted-cast-metal counterparts.
I have a few Soviet synths....one of which is the Altair 231, which is basically identical to the Estradin 230 in a different body style. I cant imagine my studio without the Altair
I also had an Altair 231 before. It's actually much better than the 230 as the VCOs are much more stable. I still got an Alisa-1387 which I also want to sell.
thanks for sharing this rarity, so cool to see this on your channel. Not sure I ever heard one of these, even though my great-uncle owned one back in the 90s. Much love from Ukraine!
At 10:12 it starts to sound like Hocus Pocus - Here's Johnny, I like it
I like that they just used 80s car dashboard plastic for the case. Had a Ford Taunus with that texture on the interior.
What a hilarious choice for a case. You should paint that the colour of skin.. Gross it up real good.
It have aluminium case with artifical leather on it. Also there was aluminium keyboard cover, so whole synth is very very heavy
Sam! Brilliant as ever! Warning! Mad engineering & musical genius is in the house! 🙂😎🤓
It's great to see the way you have developed such facility with things like antique keybeds over the time I have watched your videos. Not that the electromechanical stuff is so hard intellectually, but just figuring out the thinking of some of these old designers can be an adventure. On fixing up such stuff as ancient organs and forty-to-fifty-year-old synthesizers, I wish I had the time (and the access - there's more funky old musical tech floating around Europe at reasonable prices than we see in the US). Alas, it's not happening for me. But I love watching you get these things working.
It looks like this Estradin had some metal fatigue and maybe a suboptimal repair done at some point, so the shipping turned out to be more than the old beast could bear. Cheers to you for healing it.
3:18 the first few keys you pressed i thought the noise was just you humming synth noises :)
top work fixin, sounds great
This is a very cool synthesiser. I have a formanta faemi 1-m and that thing is the bane of my life but I think I have finally fixed after 2 years of owning a half broken synth. The USSR made some ace synths.
Along with Altair, it has horizontal aftertouch meaning that you can move keys sideway to apply pitch bend or something. It's a very rare feature.
Loved the sounds and music of this machine! thanks for sharing these oddball amazing units
Played this antique at the museum this weekend, it had definitely been on the Vodka the night before. Go there it’s absolutely brilliant!
0:02 this whole video was awesome! love the Apparatus in the background, whada’ great addition.
Everything has become... Supersonic Electronic!
OffBlast!
It's great how you have the knowledge to fix this stuff, makes a good video.
Another wonderful thing I've never seen before 😍
I'll put in a plug for some stuff I was introduced to, by a buddy. He has a busy studio that uses 2" tape and a mixer with long-throw faders, so he needs a crackle-free environment. He alerted me to something that is a godsend for older pots and switches: Stabilant 22. It's pricey, but it often takes very little (a sesame-seed sized drop or two) to do the job. Their website has a page of appnotes, showing the many ways it can be used. I hate to sound like a shill for them (and I'm not), but when you find something that can make beloved older gear spring back to life, you value it, and you let people know about it. I mention it here because some older devices (especially foreign-made like the Estradin) may have well-used pots for which there is no real available replacement. When the resistive strip inside them has gotten worn down, a contact cleaner (like DeOxit) can dislodge grime and remove oxidation, but can't do much about the inconsistent gap between wiper and worn strip. Stabilant is an electroconductive polymer that behaves like a liquid solder joint, and remains viscous for the life of the product. Because it never dries, you can't build up layers. But it doesn't take many microns of gap to make a control crackly, and a single application of the stuff can easily fill that gap. It won't likely resurrect a 50 year-old wah-wah pot in a Cream cover band, but I've been amazed at what it *can* rejuvenate. You may find it very helpful in the museum.
Cool, i love the soviet era synths,tube amps, and effects pedals. A ukrainian moog clone is just awesome, thanks for posting
Its not only ukra. Also russian ukraine just put it together🤣
Its 100% Russian, was made before Ukraine existed. But I agree I love these soviet era synths.
Edit:
As Fin pointed out it was still made in Ukraine, I forgot it was called Ukraine before the split. Was thinking it changed its name.
@@shocktnc i said soviet era… ukraine existed, it was just part of the soviet union. These were also made in a factory in Ukraine only I believe, not produced elsewhere in russia/soviet union at the time.
@@fintan9218Ah your right, that's on me.
@@shocktnc seriously respect that you are capable of recognizing when you got something wrong, far too rare nowadays.
Dont think this synth was produced there but there was this soviet military plant that actually made synths/drum machines. “Elektrovimiruvach military plant“. I just love soviet era electronic instruments, they just have this cyberpunk apocalypse vibe to them.
Another amazing synth find from LMNC!
Sounds incredible that
Beautiful sounds. I expected it to be kinda fuzzy but it's gorgeous.
the end is simply amazing 😄
thxu sam! 🎹 to see you take on the rehabilititation of a vintage synth and breath new life into its keys and oscillators warms my hacker heart. rock on maestro! 😎🙏🎹✨ 🎶
11:50 this whole part was sick
its cool that u have one in good condition. In Ukraine its hard to find, becouse them often broken and people dont care about them, and dont fix
And in russia ? Its a russian produkt
@@modulblok-e3168 in title of video is "Ukraine", made in Zhitomir, in label marked as USSR. In what timeline it is rusian? Becouse it is yours wish?
Edit: Oh i see, u just rusian dude. Please don't answer on previous questions. Thx
@@dudemaster8575 i mean a ussr produkt so russia was also ussr ,,if you want to find a good one maybe in today,s russia
@@dudemaster8575 im a german ukri. Dont take too mutch selenskys pinocchio powder 🙂👍🏼
Damn, the soviet man was so genuine I almost recognized my grandpa in his 30s😂 With love from UA to UK
Can you imagine gigging with this synth across the USSR? Every 1km of travel would require 1min of maintenance and repair. Great video! Great synth. But the best synthesizer ever to come out of Russia would be the Eternal Engine EMI Apparatus and you have one sitting right next to you in this video! Hang onto it. Those synths are now completely unobtainable.
Thanks for another awesome video, I love how much fun you have playing these instruments for us!
OMG its so cool you managed to get Giorgio Moroder's cousin Giorgio Nocomuter to be in your're video! ❤❤
Loving it Sam. Sounds really groovy.
Also, try to get TOM-1501, which is kinda replica of Crumar Performer, but with some uniq soviet-heavy sound. It also exist with export-type front panel in english.
Awesomeness as always Sam! And rocking that Georgio Moroder look at the end 😂❤
would love to have one. Great sound!
I want a whole set by Estradio!
Estradio and SamBach Collab?
I like that you had the Mini head sitting on the bench. Mechanical and electrical worlds colliding.
The low end on that synth is full of beans!!!
Nice to see yet another interesting piece of kit brought back to life.
I absolutely love your channel!
In Soviet Russia, Synth plays YOU!! 😁 Seriously cool find though. I was surprised by the clear (and correct) English labels, but reading your other comments, it makes sense if it were built for export.
I quite liked the sound when it was broken! 😅
Very Nice Video, never seen before. 🙋♂️🎹
Cool! I heard some Kraftwerk-Robots vibes there.
MONSTRUOUS BEAST OF COOOOOOOLLLLL !! hello from FRIBOURG, swiss ( museum synth :)
That thing sounds just as good as a Moog.
That thing sounds fantastic, you got it going good. Your synth karma must be building up now.
That was another great video. 😎
Very interesting to se the insides, and the fault fix's. Great video 2x👍
The sound you get out of it by turning it off and on reminds me of the Buzzer numbers station.
Love the giant red plastic incandescent light, uber soviet haha. Would love a sample pack and or schematic for this... thanks for sharing!
We do love a box that makes cool sounds.
It came with mustache!!
Now I know what hardware was used recording "Mystery of the Third Planet" cartoon...
I just got into synths and fell upon your channel and absolutely love it. Could you play van Halen? Jump on this one day. I would love your your take on it. The sounds reminded me of that song even though i think they used a Oberheim OB-Xa. Keep up the amazing work.
Your laughter is priceless, kind sir
Haha, you're a nut! Sick synth.. It sounds great! 😎
What's with the cylinder head on the table, is that for a Mini ? 🤔
Sounds loads like a SID chip. Love it. Some C64 tunes are classics in my eyes.
I have original negatives from which PCBs for Estradin were printed with a silk screen at the factory
6:43 is that the mysterious brown note? (scnr)
Cool video, great piece of gear!
i'd been thinking a long time of building my own analogue synth, some modules are really simple, but, for instance, the adsr, 555's easily available, even microscopic surface mount ones, the variable resistors on most designs i find are VERY odd, so they're expensive. getting an arduino to replace the 555 is an easy swap. the other modules are more fun for getting but there's an old top octave divider synth, by, i think don lancaster, that was as polyphonic as you wanted, all built on cards, it'd be a great midi conversion. want a 61 key synth, you build 61 synths, 10 cards afair, one being for power.
Awesome tuning!
Estradio needs to release an album.
I had this exact keyboard (just the keys, not the whole synth) as a kit. It was a complete pain to assemble. I still have a set of those springy contacts.
“Estradin-230” sounds like something my doctor would prescribe me, tbh
OMG! @ the end is Moroder in the house! Amazing!
That sound so good! Big bottom end.
Ohhh, now looking forward to Polivoks review, in case you dived into unknown depths of Soviet synths
4:01 - 4:05 sonically, my favorite part
Sounds proper job! Are you going to midi clock it with a mod fitting? Would love to hear it sequenced with your Rebirth kit.
dunno. maybe! its fine as is but who knows!!!! i think this one works with the polivoks mmidi converter
Pretty good Model D clone
Hey,
I got the ESTRADIN 230 and his brother ALTAIR 231
The induction-magnetic thinggy is not modulation, it's horizontal pitch shifting (well, at least on the 231, I can't tell for the 230 becoz the system was broken and no time to fix it).
But as both of these synths have the same schem it should be horizontal pitch shifting too (astomishing featur btw)
french kizz
amazing, gotta get mine working, it seems immensly fiddly, maybe they improved the mechanism for the 231
Ideal for an early Human League tribute band.
12:55 till 13:20 what kind of melody is this. I think i heard it already but dont know where
That keyboard sounds VERY fat and nice! NOT what I expected for Former Soviet Block. Who ever made it did so with love and passion!
It sounds really nice, super for Spacey sweeps and effects. I did wonder what on earth those coils were for! Oh and nice tweed jacket not your usual look but it works lol.
Just waiting for the Behringer clone now :)
Where is your museum? I want to see these devices in person, I'm assuming it's in Kent for some reason.
kent, search it up :D
@@LOOKMUMNOCOMPUTER I used to live in Thenet.
Martyn Ware and Ian Marsh would have loved one of these. I bet anything off those first two Human League albums could be played on this!
It sounds like the voice of Buddha.
Sam -- I'd love to stop by the museum -- but it's a little far (live on the East coast of the US). Now I know that you set up some dial-in access to some of your retro phone equipment -- how about you get some "robot arm toys" from the 1980s, and set them up to be remotely controlled over the Internet, which "play" some of these vintage synths -- then I could remotely get in on the fun!!!!
Keyboard Cat would be proud of that outro
In Soviet Russia, Synthesizer plays YOU.
The small intermittent issue at 6:40 sounded lke it dropped it's guts 😂😂😂
it did but it was fine after letting it all out
Very strong ending there💪🏼🤘🏼👌🏼
Give us more!
Great job! Adjusting keyboard contacts is a real pain.
Interesting that for a Soviet-era machine, the panel legending is in English.
Seems to have a lot of electronics for such a basic machine. Do you know how close the circuitry is to that of an MiniMoog?
Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦
I also thought it was weird that the labels are in English.
Maybe they were made with the idea that they could be exported to the West?
Slave of the us. Oligarchs Caled ukraine
Geroyam Slava! 🇺🇦🔱🇺🇦
@@Xoferif yep, soviets exported a lot of stuff to Warsaw Block countries (that's anti-NATO treaty), Including Eastern Germany.
Great!!! Thanks for sharing.
I love that the volume controls go up to eleven! Well, 0-10.
that's sick, cool refurb
A metaphor for the Soviet Union: seemingly solid on the outside but flimsy and collapsing on the inside.
Sounds really good.