The Neuron is clearly a superb synthesizer/mixer and features many powerful
innovations, notably in its impressive user-interface. The website shows
Stevie Wonder with the instrument, and there can scarcely be a better
recommendation.
The designers have trained a neural network to recognise significant tonal
characteristics of sounds played to it, and users can change the sound quality
by manipulating these characteristics. ("Neuron has a basic concept of the
sonic qualities of a sound and how they interact with the human auditory
perception. [...] Years of research [...] have been invested to deduct a set
of parameters from any given sound based on pattern recognition and proprietary
transform methods.")
A SERAF (synaptic energy redistribution audio filter) is NOT a neural network,
but uses digital signal processing techniques similar to waveshaping in an
attempt to change the tone-colour of the input sound by triggering specific
conceptual (that is, hypothetical but possibly real) neural synapses within the
brain of the listener.
I'd be interested to have an opinion from Neuron's designers on SERAFs. It is
possible, but rather unlikely, that Neuron's neural network already
incorporates all the potential power of SERAF methods, but in any case it would
certainly be an interesting exercise to try to develop unusual SERAF sounds
that Neuron does not understand - I'm sure Neuron's designers would want to be
involved in such experiments. I wonder how horribly complicated the legal
situation would become if the 'propriety' of Neuron's methods were ever
questioned and the precise workings of a neural network became evidence in
court!