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Spiral/wire binding for official Deluge manual
MohnJadden
United StatesBeta Tester Posts: 6
I'm a new Deluge owner and also newbie to synths and production in general. I'm loving the fact that the manual is a Ctrl-F-able PDF but I'm the kind of person who learns best from a physical book, especially when I can open it up and lay it flat.
Is there any way the official Deluge manual could eventually be sold as a spiral or wire bound edition? I might just cough up the $50ish to have it done at a local big-box office chain but it'd be nice if it could come from the source.
Comments
Lulu prices are cheap and can do a spiral build...
https://www.lulu.com/pricing
Maybe this is what you're looking for.
https://synthstrom.com/product/deluge-manual/
I just ordered one for myself as I was getting some spare parts for the Deluge anyway.
I have the printed manual as well. I think a lay flat spiral bound version would be helpful though.
Would encourage OP to just print and let bind.
@jsilence Since you have the printed manual from Synthstrom, would you mind sharing what type of binding it is? The shop doesn't seem to mention. I suppose it's paperback or similar.
It is glued paperback. High quality, but does not lay flat.
Then again, there are a couple of nice pdf cheat sheets you can print and have handy with the Deluge.
I ended up going to a local print shop - they're doing a one-off for $75. I think Staples was the cheapest competitor, but not by much - $50ish. I'm OK with the few extra bucks when I can sit down with a pro rather than big-box employee.
Lulu is deffo cheap but I got a bit of the heebie-jeebies. They wanted $20 for the job. IDK, man. Cheap for a reason. But yes, it definitely is very good to have a lay-flat spiral bound manual - easier to fit onto a smaller desk space, lap, etc. Maybe future versions if it doesn't cost Synthstrom too much? I'd imagine nobody really had a preference until I came around.
Are those the ones at the back of the manual or are there others? Cheat sheets are a good thing.
There are some from other people. Some free, some cost a buck. Just dig with google. Don‘t have a computer near me right now.
Lulu quality is completely fine - I have used them for spiral manuals and have been satisfied (although using a locally-owned printshop is quite noble so props there).
That said, I purchased the Synthstrom/Synthdog manual directly from Synthstrom. I find the manual, while thick and solid (sadly due primarily to lots of wasted page space "for notes") is quite disappointing in a printed medium. As to one major reason, the index is very small and unhelpful (and the ToC very generic unless you think a ToC line item such as "Audio" is helpful).
As an example, there is an index line item for "RECORDING" and it shows a reference to exactly two pages. If someone were looking for recording, maybe they'd want "Recording Line In" or "Recording Samples" or "Recording Levels" or a littany of other things to record. There are 245 instances of the word recording but only 2 pages identified in the index related to recording. Under that index entry is "RECORDING PATTERN". For a user, I wonder who is looking in the index for something that is called "recording pattern"?
All I am suggesting is that before you go buying a manual or printing it, make sure the manual is helpful to you, and that it will be helpful in printed form with such a sorry ToC and Index. I am a person that loves manuals and hardly ever use the Synthstrom one and wish I hadn't purchased it. The PDF is far more helpful given I can do a keyword search.
I find a handful of wonderful people on this forum, and other forums, along with some amazing YouTubers are a fortuitous miracle to help save one from the manual.