Ember-1 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
Ember-1 took 25 min 56 s and $1.78 at list price, Nemotron 3.5 Lightning took 10 min 9 s and $0.012 at list price. Ember-1 took 2.6× as long and cost 152× as much.
Ember-1
Fireworks · $15.00/M out · 589 HN pts
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning
NVIDIA · $0.20/M out · free route · 399 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 devoted to the restoration and repair of vintage synthesizers. We believe analog gear holds a living voice, and our purpose is to safeguard that sound for musicians, collectors, and creators who value authenticity. With hands-on experience in circuitry, voltage calibration, and component preservation, we treat every console, drum machine, or modular voice with meticulous care. Rotterdam’s eclectic artistic community fuels our commitment to keeping analog heritage alive, bridging past technology with present music. Whether rescuing a neglected lab unit or reviving a cherished polysynth, we approach each instrument as a unique piece of musical history, ensuring it performs as intended for years ahead. We love helping artists reconnect with the warmth and character only vintage hardware can offer. Our workshop sits in the heart of the city, where dusty circuit boards meet fresh compositions, and every repaired synth becomes part of a new musical story.
Specs and numbers
| Ember-1 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Fireworks | NVIDIA |
| Made in | US | US |
| Released | 24 Sep 2026 | 11 Aug 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $3.00 | free route (list $0.07/M) |
| Price out, per M tokens | $15.00 | free route (list $0.20/M) |
| Context | 1,048,576 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Weights | closed | open |
| Hacker News points | 589 | 399 |
| Time for the six prompts | 25 min 56 s | 10 min 9 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $1.78 | $0.012 |
Nemotron 3.5 Lightning was cheaper: $1.77 less at list price, and less on each of the 6 prompts. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning was faster: 15 min 47 s less in total, and faster on 5 of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, both Breakout games play.
Rebuild this screen experiment: Ember-1's rebuild matched the screenshot at 67%; Nemotron 3.5 Lightning was not in it. Tea Garden experiment: Ember-1's game passed 5 of 5 checks; Nemotron 3.5 Lightning was not in it.