Key data

Texture synthesizer

Parameter Value
Width 18HP
Depth 25mm
+12V current 120mA
-12V current 10mA
Lifetime 01/15 to 10/17
Modulargrid Link
Processor STM32F405RGT6 @ 168 MHz
Codec WM8731

Original printed manual

PDF download

Features

Audio buffer acquisition

  • Stereo I/O. Even with a mono recording buffer, a wide stereo output can still be simulated by randomly panning grains or through the stereo reverberator.
  • Stereo pre-amp with a gain range covering modular and line levels.
  • Recording buffer size: 1s (32kHz, stereo) to 8s (16kHz, µ-law, mono).
  • The FREEZE button and the corresponding gate input freezes the content of the recording buffer, allowing you to dive into its sonic details.
  • 4 memory slots for storing and recalling buffers.

Granular synthesis

  • Grain generation time base: periodical, randomized, or externally clocked.
  • The POSITION knob selects from which part of the recording buffer the grains are extracted.
  • Grain size from 16ms to 1s.
  • Up to 40 to 60 concurrent grains (depending on recording buffer resolution).
  • Transposition from -2 octaves to +2 octaves, with V/O tracking.
  • Grain envelope continuously variable between boxcar, triangle and Hann functions.
  • CV inputs for all grain parameters, individually sampled and held by each grain. For stochastic, Xenakis-style explorations, try feeding random voltages to those!
  • Diffusion network with 4 All-pass filters to post process the granularized signals.

Post-processing ("blending") settings

4 post-processing parameters are controlled by the BLEND knob and CV input:

  • Dry/wet balance.
  • Random panning amount.
  • Feedback amount.
  • Reverb amount.

Specifications

  • Input impedances: 100k.
  • Audio input gain range: line level to modular level.
  • CV range: +/- 5V. CVs outside of this range are simply clipped.
  • Internal processing: 32kHz, 32-bit floating point. RAM Recording buffer uses 16-bit (high quality) or 8-bit µ-law (low quality) resolution.

Revisions and variants

2015

Hardware revision labelled "v3" with the following differences:

  • Metal-shaft IN GAIN potentiometer (originally, plastic shaft, with a wobbly feel since it was not fastened to the panel). This potentiometer is hand-soldered, since it can become very scratchy when exposed to the heat of a regular wave-soldering process.
  • TL072 op-amp for the audio input and output (originally LME49720, a large stock of which had been bought for other projects).
  • External 12.288 MHz crystal for clocking the codec (originally: the MCU generates the codec's master clock).