About to pull the trigger on an M4000D Mini. Have used MTron Pro Software before but I’m looking to move from Vsts to hardware synths / Samplers.

Are owners happy with their purchase? Also does anyone use the 4000 D as a midi keyboard to control other synths? I’d like to use it to control my piano Sampler instruments as I just got rid of my midi controller (an S88) as I didn’t have the space for a full 88 Keybed. Are the 4000D semi weighted keys feel good for piano playing? 3 Octaves are fine for me. Would also use it to control a Moog Minitaur.

Anyway, from what I understand the jury is out on whether the M4000D sounds any better than the software. So I’d love to hear from owners if they’re happy with their purchase.

Actually, the jury, made up of people who currently own real Mellotrons (myself included), came in long ago. If you want authentic sounding samples, you need to take them from the output of a real Mellotron so the Mellotron's electronics can work its magic. All the M4000D models use samples that do NOT come from the output of a real Mellotron. They come from the output of a tape recorder. This is key. The samples are direct from tape. They may sound clean, but they do not sound authentic. They've also been Sound Forged, replacing certain spots in each sample that were considered "flaws" with different sections of the same sample, so they no longer match the originals (which is why they sound so sterile). In fact, I can pick out an M4000D on a recording from the sterile sound of it.

The samples in M-Tron Pro sound more authentic than the M4000D samples. If I were to purchase a standalone clone, it would be the Memotron because the samples were taken from real Mellotrons. It sounds pretty close to a real Mellotron.

I would also never buy a product from the company who makes them because of their questionable ethics. They are not the original developers of the Mellotron and the first part of the model number "M4000" was "borrowed" from the model of a real Mellotron from the original Mellotron company, Streetly Electronics, which is still in business building real Mellotrons.

One important note: by dictionary definition, if it doesn't have tapes, it's not a Mellotron. Many people who purchase M4000D's think they've purchased a real Mellotron just because the badge says "Mellotron", but they're only fooling themselves.

I don't own a 'real' Mellotron (thank goodness - the servicing and potential issues scare me off in my remote location) but I am a happy owner of M4000D Mini. I love it.
I couldn't care less whether it sounds authentic or not, but the samples are great and it sounds awesome.
Very happy with my purchase.
The keybed is okay, but not piano action, also limited octaves. I wouldn't want it to be my master keyboard.

I’ve got a micro and love it. I’m sure the mini is even better. If it’s good enough for Nick Cave, Jamie Liddell, and Jack Antonoff then it’s good enough for me. Who has time to **** around with maintenance on an original anyway?

It’s too bad the Memotron which has Streetly tapes is not nearly as well designed as the M4000 series. They should do a complete redesign cause it doesn’t look fun to use at all.

Memotron vs M4000

Even if the Memotron sounds better unfortunately the M4000 looks 10x better workflow.

Jon Medeski in his Mellotron orchestra uses the M4000 and he is a purist. It must be because of the superior ergonomics.

love of the mellotron shows in the dev of the M-Tron Pro...

I Agree. The M4000D has a great physical design. Streetly started development of a digital prototype before the M4000D was conceived, but decided against completion because the technology wasn't quite there at the time.

I know a few people who have Memotrons and they really like them. One of them has a Memotron sitting on top of his M400.

The thing I like about the Memotron is, you can create "frames" of 3 sounds and easily call them up.

A friend of mine restored Medeski's M400. So far, he's restored about 25 Mellotrons from the ground up and they all play better than when new.

What maintenance? I make minor adjustments to the keyboards of my Mellotrons every 4 or 5 months for a total of about 10 minutes. I spend way more time than that tuning my guitars. For some reason, the myth of Mellotrons being high maintenance machines continues.

A lot of famous people have never played a real Mellotron, so have nothing to compare with their digital clone. I wouldn't use them as examples of which digital clone I should own.

Am I wrong or one of the "problems" with the M4000D is that - unlike the Memotron - additional soundsets are very very expensive? Just asking

They're $500 USD each and come with 100 sounds. Most people will audition all the sounds and then go back to using only the 5 or 6 common sounds that everybody's familiar with.

so maybe the 2nd best experience is using a m4000d + the M-Tron pro app from G-Force (cheap)?

I have to confess that I'm even worse:
After purchasing a desktop Memotron and going through all the sounds, I decided to get rid of its workflow and just enjoy the default frame. Choir, Flute and Strings, that's all I need from a Mellomemowhatevertron - for the rest I use synthesizers!

Cheers,
Bert

Yeah it doesn’t take any maintenance until it does... you also apparently own multiple Mellotrons so I’m sure you’re much more capable than the average person at maintaining them yourself. Not sure what relevance the second paragraph of your post has so I’ll leave that one alone.

A real Mellotron is a beautiful machine no doubt, but the OP was asking about the digital versions so that’s what I was discussing.

Love my M4000D Mini so far, I bought it mostly because the workflow is super nice but I also think it sounds lovely (and the way it sounds is highly configurable, something people don't seem to talk about much). I'm just using the factory sounds for now, although I think I'm going to order Sound Card 04 in the near future to get the Orchestron/Optigan sounds. It's a bit pricey, but it's about as boutique as anything so why not.

Do you find the micro keyboard very limiting when recording parts?

Thinking the mini is the way to go, also with separate A and B outputs so I can pan them in the mix...

Definitelly sold on the M4000D, most likely the mini though the micro seems real cool.

It’s too bad they don’t make a plugout version of the m-tron pro with streetly tapes.
A nice little box to sit on top of your midi controller.

I got a custom card for my M4000D mini, which has most of the leads from cards 2 and 3 without all of the rhythmic accompaniment stuff. It’s great and was worth every cent. Really increased the range

If you're going to own an instrument, I would think you would take on the responsibility of maintaining it. Mellotrons require way less maintenance than a guitar.

My second comment means that just because someone "famous" uses a particular clone doesn't mean they're qualified to judge that clone in comparison to the real thing if they're never used the real thing. In this case, which digital Mellotron clone is the best. Only an experienced Mellotronist could make that judgement.

Do you ever change the tape harnesses on your Trons?

I would be worried about snapping a tape.

How did you go about getting a custom card made?

I didn’t make it. Sent an enquiry about cards, wondered if there was a possibility for a high capacity card with all the sounds. I was offered a custom one but couldn’t specify what was on it. Turns out it was right up my alley.

Not sure what you mean by harnesses. Mine are cycling Mellotrons like the original MkI/MkII with 8 stations of 3 sounds. Each end of the tape is attached to a take-up cylinder and laced through a turnbuckle that moves up and down as the tape is played or released. I've change a couple of tapes...not because they snapped, but because of damage that I caused. It's a pain in the butt to change one, but not overly difficult.

It's even easier to replace a tape on an M400 frame. I've laced a couple of frames, all 35 notes, just because I wanted different sounds. The tape follows the same path as in a cycling Mellotron, but the tapes are only 6 feet long instead of 48 feet like mine. They're marked so it's easy to align the start point with the head.

But tapes should never, ever snap. That's the sign of a badly adjusted keyboard. I've owned 4 Mellotrons and never had a tape snap. And of the couple of dozen people that I know who own Mellotrons, I think one or two may have had a tape snap. If adjusted correctly, the keyboard should have a quick and easy action with minimal stress on the tape. In fact, there are original tape frames around that are still going strong.

This is what I mean by Mellotron tape change:



The M400 has 3 sounds? So you need to change tape to get another group of 3?

I got the micro because of space. If I had more room I would have gone for the mini for sure.

The M400 has 3 sounds on a frame. All you have to do is change the frame. Very easy. I was talking about changing the tapes on a frame if one breaks or if you want different sounds. Since cycling machines don't have frames, you have to actually change the tapes to get different sounds. Not as convenient, but you can have the equivalent of 6 or 8 frames, depending on the model. With the advancement in Mellotronics by Streetly, you can now have 6 sounds on a tape, so their M4000 can come with either 24 sounds or 48 sounds.

24 sounds without changing a frame. Amazing !!!

But the drawback is, if you want to add a new sound, you have to replace all the tapes. If you're experienced, that's about an 8 hour job. The nice thing about the M400 is, if you want to add a sound, you can just buy a new frame. But they're expensive.

Where do you buy frames and how much do they cost?

They don’t sell them on Amazon.com ?