Los Angeles, August 15, 2023] – Chinese musical instrument manufacturer Donner today announced the release of the latest firmware update, V1.1.0, for the Essential B1 Bass Synthesizer, their first analog bassline synthesizer with sequencer. This major update brings a host of exciting new features, enhancements, and bug fixes, making the Essential B1 even more versatile and user-friendly.

At this point, all we have to do is play notes on the keyboard and they will get added to our sequence. 16 steps and hit play, and just like that, we have a pattern.Here, you can also find the Chinese brand Donner which has released many very affordable effect pedals in recent years. Already for less than 20€. I also took a closer look at some of them with synths ( Yellow Fall, Wave, Tutti Love, Vintaverb). Today came the news that Donner now also builds affordable synthesizers.I t’s not a hot SB news but a synth news worth reporting. Whenever unsaved changes are present in the sequence, the SAVE button will light up, and when switching patterns without saving, the SAVE button will flash briefly for confirmation.

Chinese low-budget guitar pedal and music tech manufacturer Donner has launched B1, it’s first 303-style analog bassline Synthesizer with sequencer.

Donner enters the analogue synth realm with a 303 clone that sounds the part – even if it doesn’t look it

The J-6 Chord Synthesizer is arguably a more curious proposition - it blends a Juno-60 synth engine (presumably the same one as you’ll find in the Boutique JU-60a) with a chord sequencer. 100 chord sets are included, with each enabling you to trigger chords and create progressions using the built-in keyboard. You can also dial in variations (arpeggios and guitar-style playing, for example). Of course, you could just use the J-6 as a synth though beyond choosing the sound itself, editing is limited to filter and envelope controls.

It also a built-in distortion/saturation to add spice to your sounds and a tape delay effect. Each effect can be turn on and off individually with a switch. The effects circuits are probably from their pedal series. The slide implementation is not by default set to legato playing, it can be set by holding the lower F# on keyboard whilst turning on power though, but it should really be automatically on, it does remember the setting though, so after setting it isn’t an issue. So it holds up against its progeny just fine...but against the other 303 clones? Well, as I mentioned, pretty much all of the clones miss a detail or two that winds up altering the sound. And some of that, I'm sure, is due to companies copying the circuitry itself and then calibrating things to sound "good". But the TB-303 DOESN'T "sound good" when up against a "real synth"...and Donner nailed that nasty, skittery, squealy, snarly distorted sound...which is a really big feat, in my opinion. Add to that the ease of programming the sequencer, and you're in a little better territory than the other clones that tried and didn't quite hit that early 1980s mark. Donner is (I believe) a Chinese manufacturer of musical instruments with warehousing in the USA and Europe. The company has been in business for a decade. It’s built up a range of own-brand musical gear, including guitars, drums, strings, wind and keyboard instruments. The B1 looks like its first entry into the synthesizer market, and it’s pretty nifty. Then to the right of that, you have accent. This doesn't affect the normal notes, only the notes you mark as accented, and it really just determines how much they are accented.

Let's look at the next dimension. There's Ratchet here, which is kind of cool. It allows you to hit a note two or three times in rapid succession. let's turn the saturation on. Right now the drive is all the way down. I'm going to turn it up a bit. You can see it gets a little bit more aggressive.