MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs Ember-1
MiniMax M3.1 Flash took 23 min 37 s and $0.095 at list price, Ember-1 took 25 min 56 s and $1.78 at list price. Ember-1 took 1.1× as long and cost 19× as much.
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax · $0.60/M out · 550 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 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 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
| MiniMax M3.1 Flash | Ember-1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | MiniMax | Fireworks |
| Made in | China | US |
| Released | 19 Oct 2026 | 24 Sep 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $0.15 | $3.00 |
| Price out, per M tokens | $0.60 | $15.00 |
| Context | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Weights | open | closed |
| Hacker News points | 550 | 589 |
| Time for the six prompts | 23 min 37 s | 25 min 56 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $0.095 | $1.78 |
MiniMax M3.1 Flash was cheaper: $1.69 less at list price, and less on each of the 6 prompts. MiniMax M3.1 Flash was faster: 2 min 19 s less in total, and faster on 4 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%, Ember-1's 67%. Tea Garden experiment: MiniMax M3.1 Flash's game passed 5 of 5 checks, Ember-1's 5 of 5.