Ember-1 vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Ember-1 took 25 min 56 s and $1.78 at list price, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash took 9 min 16 s and $0.063 at list price. Ember-1 took 2.8× as long and cost 28× as much.
Ember-1
Fireworks · $15.00/M out · 589 HN pts
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
DeepSeek · $0.50/M out · 1,482 HN pts
Pelican
Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle
Watch
Draw a mechanical wristwatch that shows the current local time, with a sweeping seconds hand and a date window. Make it look expensive.
Landing
Build the landing page for Lumen Cycles, a Copenhagen workshop that builds custom cargo bikes to order. Make it look like a real brand you would trust with 4,000 euros.
Breakout
Make a Breakout game I can play right now with the keyboard or the mouse. Give it several levels, a score and some juice.
Logo
Design a logo for Night Heron, an independent bookshop that only opens after dark.
About
Write the opening of the About us page for Patchbay, a three-person studio in Rotterdam that repairs vintage synthesizers. About 150 words.
Patchbay is a three-person workshop in Rotterdam dedicated to keeping vintage synthesizers alive. We work on the machines that shaped electronic music — analog polysynths, temperamental drum machines, early digital oddities — replacing tired capacitors, rebuilding keybeds, and coaxing silent oscillators back into tune.
Between us we bring decades of experience in electronics, instrument design, and music-making, but what unites us is simpler: we believe these machines were built to be played, not displayed. Every repair happens by hand at our benches, with period-correct components wherever possible and thoughtful modern solutions where reliability demands it. We test everything the only way that matters — by listening.
Whether your Juno has lost a voice, your 808 has lost its kick, or a flea-market find needs a full restoration, we treat each instrument as if it were heading back to a studio, a stage, and a long life of making noise. Because it is.
Patchbay is a three-person studio in Rotterdam dedicated to the care, repair, and resurrection of vintage synthesizers. We started in a small workshop near the Maas, surrounded by oscillators, patch cables, and service manuals, because these instruments deserve more than dusty shelves and hasty fixes. Between us, we have decades of experience in electronics, sound design, and restoration, but we approach every machine with the same curiosity: listen first, trace the signal, understand the history, then bring it back to life. Whether it's a crackly filter, a dead voice card, a drifting oscillator, or a power supply that needs rebuilding, we work carefully, honestly, and with respect for original character. We also advise on maintenance, calibrate tuning and envelopes, and source hard-to-find parts when possible. At Patchbay, repair isn't just about making sound again. It's about keeping these instruments making music for decades to come.
Specs and numbers
| Ember-1 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Fireworks | DeepSeek |
| Made in | US | China |
| Released | 24 Sep 2026 | 10 Sep 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $3.00 | $0.045 |
| Price out, per M tokens | $15.00 | $0.50 |
| Context | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Weights | closed | open |
| Hacker News points | 589 | 1,482 |
| Time for the six prompts | 25 min 56 s | 9 min 16 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $1.78 | $0.063 |
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash was cheaper: $1.72 less at list price, and less on each of the 6 prompts. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash was faster: 16 min 40 s less in total, and faster on each of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, both Breakout games play.
Rebuild this screen experiment: Ember-1's rebuild matched the screenshot at 67%; DeepSeek V4.1 Flash was not in it. Tea Garden experiment: Ember-1's game passed 5 of 5 checks; DeepSeek V4.1 Flash was not in it.