MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs Muse Spark Open
MiniMax M3.1 Flash took 23 min 37 s and $0.095 at list price, Muse Spark Open took 9 min 38 s and $0.29 at list price. MiniMax M3.1 Flash took 2.5× as long, and Muse Spark Open cost 3.0× as much.
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax · $0.60/M out · 550 HN pts
Muse Spark Open
Meta · $4.25/M out · 1,383 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 studio in Rotterdam dedicated to bringing vintage synthesizers back to life. We repair analog and digital instruments that shaped the sound of music, from classic drum machines and polyphonic synths to quirky, characterful machines that rarely leave a musician’s side. Our work combines technical knowledge with respect for each instrument’s history, because a synth is more than a circuit board: it carries the decisions, compromises, and personality of its original design.
We diagnose faults, restore unreliable voices, and carefully service aging components without erasing the character that made an instrument worth keeping. Whether a machine has been silent for years or simply needs a thoughtful tune-up, we treat every repair as a careful act of restoration.
Based in Rotterdam, Patchbay works with musicians, studios, collectors, and anyone who believes electronic instruments deserve another chapter. We restore them to sound as they should, preserving the details that make each one unique.
Patchbay is a small studio in Rotterdam where vintage synthesizers come back to life. We are three technicians, musicians and longtime collectors who have spent the last decade trading schematics, hunting spare parts, and learning the quirks of every oscillator and filter that has passed through our hands.
What started as helping friends keep their Junos and ARPs in tune has grown into a dedicated workshop in the north of the city. We repair, restore and service instruments from the sixties to the early nineties, from well-known classics to rare prototypes that barely left the factory.
We believe these machines are more than equipment. They carry histories, imperfections and sounds that cannot be replaced. Our job is to respect that character while making sure each instrument is reliable, playable, and ready for another lifetime of music.
Specs and numbers
| MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Muse Spark Open | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | MiniMax | Meta |
| Made in | China | US |
| Released | 19 Oct 2026 | 15 Oct 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $0.15 | $1.25 |
| Price out, per M tokens | $0.60 | $4.25 |
| Context | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Weights | open | open |
| Hacker News points | 550 | 1,383 |
| Time for the six prompts | 23 min 37 s | 9 min 38 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $0.095 | $0.29 |
MiniMax M3.1 Flash was cheaper: $0.19 less at list price, and less on each of the 6 prompts. Muse Spark Open was faster: 14 min less in total, and faster on 5 of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, both Breakout games play.
Rebuild this screen experiment: MiniMax M3.1 Flash's rebuild matched the screenshot at 78%, Muse Spark Open's 53%. Tea Garden experiment: MiniMax M3.1 Flash's game passed 5 of 5 checks, Muse Spark Open's 5 of 5.