Mellotron M4000 Mini (production years unknown)
Little is documented about the Mellotron M4000 Mini. The main surviving record is an Alto Music product listing. That listing calls it the "M4000D MINI Mellotron." It is a digital Mellotron, developed to be even smaller and lighter than the regular M4000D. The Mini weighs 9.5 kg against the M4000D's 17.5 kg, and it is designed to sit on top of a full-size M4000D to make a dual-manual Mellotron.
The same listing says the Mini uses in-house streaming technology for uncompressed 24-bit audio reproduction. Sound quality is referenced to the original first-generation Mellotron tape library of the 60s and 70s. The cabinet is furniture quality with a hinged lid. The front panel has two TFT displays plus a backlit laser-cut surface for visibility. External dimensions are 31.77″ × 12.95″ × 2.99″ (80 × 32 × 7 cm).
The listing also says the Mini easily recreates the classic Mellotron sounds heard on Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin records. It claims use by numerous musicians and producers, including Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, Wilco, Incubus, Queens of the Stone Age, Sean Lennon, and Gotye, among others.
Not documented: production years, original price, key count, number of sounds or voices, sample library size, connectors, MIDI, power supply, polyphony, and effects. No independent reviews or owner complaints turned up, so the record here is thin.
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