Expert Sleepers Disting NT

Those familiar with my reviews might have sussed by now that, when describing multifunctional modules, I do my level best to avoid that most lazy term, ‘Swiss Army Knife’. But when it comes to anything as multifaceted as the Expert Sleepers Disting NT, I think I might need to make an exception!

The original Disting offered 16 different algorithms, each delivering its own CV and audio process. It doesn’t take a genius to work out the name ‘Disting’ is ostensibly a bastardisation of ‘this thing’ because, well, what else would you call it? Now, five models on, comes the Disting NT. Devotees will be pleased to know that Os has pledged to migrate all the functionality of previous models into the NT, but considering what it’s capable of, even that feels like it won’t come close to plumbing the potential of this thing (see what I did there?). As for the ‘NT’ in the name, I’m informed it doesn’t officially stand for anything. So I’m going to here declare — what with it representing such a monumental new chapter of the Disting story — that it can only stand for ‘New Testament’; a turning of the page. A step into a wholly new era of Disting.

The New Testament Disting’s immediate distinguishing factor is of course its interface, with a panel expanding upon that of its predecessor by almost a factor of three. The Disting EX boasted a small OLED screen; here that more or less doubles in size to occupy a sizeable portion of the NT’s faceplate. It’s accompanied by controls constituting three knobs, two encoders and four buttons. A USB‑C port has appeared on the left side of the panel, and there is copious I/O constituting 12 inputs and six outputs. The module also ships with an expander for incorporating TRS MIDI and a brace of extra outputs. Whew! All controls being assignable, these are not labelled (save the numbered jacks), and as such the Disting NT has a sleek, minimal look to it.

Expert Sleepers’ ambition and precocity with the NT is evidenced by the fact that by the time you read this review, the firmware I’m currently working with will almost certainly be out of date. Already numerous revisions have been released, with more in beta, and...