Pareto 26.10 vs Ember-1
Pareto 26.10 took 12 min and $0.097 at list price, Ember-1 took 25 min 56 s and $1.78 at list price. Ember-1 took 2.2× as long and cost 18× as much.
Pareto 26.10
Unbiased · $3.20/M out
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 was born from a simple frustration in Rotterdam: the belief that vintage synthesizers should be heard, not locked away in climate-controlled collections. Founded by three engineers and musicians who share an obsession with the raw, unpredictable character of analog gear, we operate out of a small studio where the smell of soldering iron and ozone is as common as coffee. We don’t just fix broken circuits; we restore the soul of these machines. Whether it’s a temperamental Moog, a glitchy Roland, or a rare obscure European find, we treat every patch cord and potentiometer with reverence and precision. Our trio combines decades of electronic music production experience with meticulous hardware restoration skills, ensuring that every repair honors the original design while making the instrument reliable for modern stage use. We believe that the quirks of vintage technology are features, not bugs. Our goal is to bridge the gap between historical preservation and contemporary creativity, giving these legendary instruments a second life in today’s soundscapes. Join us in keeping the analog signal chain alive.
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
| Pareto 26.10 | Ember-1 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Unbiased | Fireworks |
| Made in | — | US |
| Released | 15 Oct 2026 | 24 Sep 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $0.80 | $3.00 |
| Price out, per M tokens | $3.20 | $15.00 |
| Context | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Weights | closed | closed |
| Hacker News points | — | 589 |
| Time for the six prompts | 12 min | 25 min 56 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $0.097 | $1.78 |
Pareto 26.10 was cheaper: $1.68 less at list price, and less on each of the 6 prompts. Pareto 26.10 was faster: 13 min 57 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%; Pareto 26.10 was not in it. Tea Garden experiment: Ember-1's game passed 5 of 5 checks; Pareto 26.10 was not in it.