Dreadbox Intros ‘Hades’ DIY Monosynth

Dreadbox has introduced the Hades, a Eurorack-compatible analog monosynth that is available assembled or as a DIY kit.

Features:

  • Analog Monophonic Synthesizer
  • Full Analog Circuit only with Through Hole Components
  • 42HP – Eurorack Compatible
  • 1x VCO with 2 suboctaves and 3 waves (pulse, double saw, saw)
  • Variable Width for pulse and double saw
  • Glide control
  • 3-pole 18dB/oct Resonating State Variable Filter
  • Drive Circuit
  • OTA based VCA
  • 2 envelope Generators
    • Attack, Decay/Release, Sustain
    • Attack, Release (VCA hardwired)
  • Triangle and Square Wave LFO
  • 13 patch points eurorack compatible
  • External Input
  • 5 MIDI Octaves from C0 up to C5 or unlimited via CV/Gate

Pricing and Availability:

The Hades is available now as a DIY Kit for 140€, or assembled for 250€.

19 thoughts on “Dreadbox Intros ‘Hades’ DIY Monosynth

      1. The legs of the electronic components fit into holes on the circuit board. This is the traditional “old fashioned” way of soldering boards. Most modern electronics are soldered using surface mount technology, which is intended for fast and cheap machine assembly. Surface mount parts tend to be much smaller and are trickier for hobbyists to assemble.

      2. Through hole means that the components (resistors, transistors, capacitors, etc…) are mounted through holes on the circuit board as opposed to the much smaller surface mount components (SMD/SMT) found on most mass-produced electronic products. The former are hand-assembled while the latter can be done through an automated process or a somewhat complex DIY process. The €30 difference between what they sold it for as a pre-built synth with enclosure complete vs. the complete kit has me a bit confused. I do realize the panel is totally redesigned and there are 4 more patch points. Aaaaaand €140 for a complete kit (minus a solid case or wall wart) seems like a really freaking good deal though. The only thing I can think of that’s remotely in the same ball park would be the Erica DIY Synth Voice and that costs 2x as much (12hp smaller and a DCO though). Both Dreadbox and Erica Synths are great great companies and the comparison isn’t absolutely apt. For myself it would be really cool to mount the MIDI jack to the front panel for euro implementations but I don’t know if there’s anywhere to jam it in the panel or if there’s different power requirements to keep it. Also I don’t know if they’ll do more DIY since it seems they’re going over to SMT for Nyx and not sure about the Medusa coming out later this year. Would be great but if they want to build & sell more synths they’ll probably have to give up the TH.

  1. What the..? Somehow I hit the submit order button before I was done reading the headline. Something about Dreadbox Hades DIY!! OH NO! Now I have two on order,

  2. well this put me over the edge from “someone who will eventually buy a Dreadbox” into “someone who did”. It has the Dreadbox sound AND its DIY. That’s like a twofer in my book. Oh, and no SMT. Threefer. I love building things. Can’t wait for this to show up. Now I just need to figure out which 42HP will be evicted to make room…

  3. As impulsive synth purchases go I’m feeling good about this one. I’ve been looking for a reasonable sized project to solder and this fits the bill perfectly.

  4. Just a side note – The kit does not include the wall wart power supply, so if you are going to use it as a standalone, Download the manual and order a power supply also, that way you won’t have to wait whent he synth arrives.

    Also you need an extra 1M resistor for euro power hookup that is not included – also detailed in the manual.

    1. A note note on your note … the power supplies are out of stock.

      I’m sure I have a spare 15v switchable power supply around here somewhere but undoubtedly I will spend a day looking for it, and it will only turn up once I have bought another! 😉

  5. Expert tip: if you use a flying bus ribbon with the included power supply, you can effectively power up multiple modules.

    In other words, if you install Hades in your main rack, you can re-purpose the psu that comes with it for, say, your little effects rack or a sequencing skiff.

    Also, if you do not own any eurorack at all, you MIGHT be able to power up both Hades & a couple of other (not too power hungry) modules with just its PSU. That depends on the way it’s designed and the total amount of power it can generate.

    One would probably need to get a confirmation from Dreadbox straight, but I’m about 90% certain it’ll be able to provide if not 0.5A@+12V, then something in the range of 250mA — more than enough for a couple of filters, VCA’s and a spring reverb or something (browse ModularGrid for power consumption specs).

    This all said, it makes it even more bang-for-the-buck, as it is not uncommon for a single power supply to cost €140, and here you also get a monosynth with two subs (!!!?!) and MIDI-CV converter — which alone, in a eurorack land, would most often be priced at about the price you pay for the whole package.

  6. … and just like that, both the DIY and assembled versions are out of stock. Congratulations to Dreadbox I suppose … but maybe they underestimated the desirability of this.

    1. I wish them every success — the ø-coast by Make Noise has been a big hit at $499, and Hades by design is similar: semi-modular, standalone, analog synth with MIDI — plus twice cheaper, — so there is not much reasons for it not to sell well.

      The only barrier I can think of is not enough marketing, but this is a niche industry and let’s not underestimate the word of mouth power 🙂 There’s many people that are going to need this, I have $3K worth of eurorack, but no VCO’s with sync or PWM, so it ticks a box for me. And from the now on I will start recommending it to everyone as a gateway to modulars, there’s not much other ways to get this much functionality on a budget.

    2. Wow, I saw this story go up and thought “I better jump on this deal because these will surely be out of stock within a week”.
      Or … within 18 hours!

  7. They actually used the CV and gate on the ribbon cable. Pretty clever how they put the MIDI-CV and power supply on the same little board – pretty much a free module tester included.

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