Tempest hardware changes & quality over time

[MaxThroughput]

Hey all,

I am looking to buy a used tempest, but its kind of old. Might be one of the models from the first couple years. Were any hardware changes made? Is there any reason that I should hold out for a newer model? Also this one in particular has some headphone signal noise when dialing up a lot of compression, is that normal or indicative of a problem? Lastly, how would I go about getting a DSI repaired when it's beyond warranty?

Thanks,
Max

[Yorgos Arabatzis]

No need to repair the compressor noise is an intended behavior if you push it hard..Also no changes from the first units and i don’t think DSI will release a Tempest 2..So..
Just grab it!

[MaxThroughput]

No need to repair the compressor noise is an intended behavior if you push it hard..Also no changes from the first units and i don’t think DSI will release a Tempest 2..So..
Just grab it!

Thanks, I appreciate the info. I'm still trying to determine if its the best fit for what i'm doing though. I have an octatrack and pro2, so the pro2 should be able to make most of the drum sounds the tempest could, right? Then I could just sample them into the octa. Though it would be cool if i could midi sequence the tempest and add some live rhythmic diversity in combination with utilizing its synth voices.

[Yorgos Arabatzis]

You can’t compare Pro 2 with the Tempest in terms of sound design.I believe the envelopes are different to each other and T comes packed with dedicated drum samples inside.Another T’s big and most important difference is the joy of playability as an instrument.That can’t be beaten by any machine out there.I had the Tempest/Octatrack combo and i can assure you it was a blast.Now i’ve replaced the OT with the MPC Live..

[MaxThroughput]

I bought it! I'm looking forward to seeing how I can sequence the pads and synth channels to basically have two new instruments. I can build drum patterns, sequence them, and choose what I want to keep outside of the sequences for real time modulation. Since the octatrack can sequence up to 4 notes per step, i think that will give me enough diversity to keep live performance interesting and I enjoy creating realistic sounding drums on a synth so it was a no brainer.

[Yorgos Arabatzis]

Glad to have you on board
Start your journey by reading carefully these threads:

https://forum.davesmithinstruments.com/index.php/topic,78.0.html

https://forum.davesmithinstruments.com/index.php/topic,34.0.html

From the second one you can also download the Tempest various patches a very generous contribution from many users out there...