GPT-6.1 Sol vs Ember-1
GPT-6.1 Sol took 12 min 10 s and $0.37 at list price, Ember-1 took 25 min 56 s and $1.78 at list price. Ember-1 took 2.1× as long and cost 4.8× as much.
GPT-6.1 Sol
OpenAI · $10.00/M out · 1,166 HN pts
Ember-1
Fireworks · $15.00/M out · 589 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, keeping vintage synthesizers in working hands. We repair the instruments that have picked up a crackle, lost a voice, drifted out of tune, or stopped making sound altogether.
We like the patient side of repair: tracing a fault, understanding an old circuit, and finding the right fix rather than the quickest workaround. Our aim is to make each instrument dependable without sanding away the character that made someone fall for it in the first place.
Some synths arrive with a clear problem. Others come with a story and a noise that only happens after twenty minutes. Either way, the work starts with listening—to the instrument and to the person who plays it.
We’re a small studio by choice. It keeps us close to the work, and to the musicians who trust us with something they want to keep making music with.
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.
Specs and numbers
| GPT-6.1 Sol | Ember-1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | OpenAI | Fireworks |
| Made in | US | US |
| Released | 29 Sep 2026 | 24 Sep 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $2.00 | $3.00 |
| Price out, per M tokens | $10.00 | $15.00 |
| Context | 1,050,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Weights | closed | closed |
| Hacker News points | 1,166 | 589 |
| Time for the six prompts | 12 min 10 s | 25 min 56 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $0.37 | $1.78 |
GPT-6.1 Sol was cheaper: $1.41 less at list price, and less on each of the 6 prompts. GPT-6.1 Sol was faster: 13 min 46 s less in total, and faster on each of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, both Breakout games play.
Rebuild this screen experiment: GPT-6.1 Sol's rebuild matched the screenshot at 97%, Ember-1's 67%. Tea Garden experiment: GPT-6.1 Sol's game passed 5 of 5 checks, Ember-1's 5 of 5.