Analog heaven
- ECSON WALDES
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Diky za komplimentblack píše:Tesi mne, ze mam tu cest s opravdovym znalcem, a ja se domnival, ze Daniel je neprekonatelny....
Nadherny ARP, s poradim c.1 nelze nez souhlasit, priznam se, ze ho shanim jiz delsi dobu. Uz jeho emulace indikuji obrovsky zajimavy nastroj, natoz real, asi se k tobe nekdy objednam a privezu na naslech SE1X
No to urcite prijed:) ! pokecame, pokroutime knoby, zabasujeme:)
Jojo, muj 2600 ma seriovy cislo 0002:) !!! jeto pan SYNTH.
SE1x bude na prvni priicce, ale jeste jsem ji nekoupil. Pak bude prvni spolu s OB-MX a Omega 8:)
Mimo to SE1x umi Ring Sync a PWM a ma Oberheim filtr HPF/BPF coz tohle vsechno original Minimoog neumel. To ji zvukove posunuje o hodne velkej kus dopredu! Jinak ale aby to nevyznelo jinak nez ma MiniMooga mam strasne moc rad! Ruku bych zanej do ohne dal.
Zminenou SE1X povazuju za bezkonkurence nejlepsi ANLOG/MIDI synth co je dnes mozny koupit. Ani Voyager neni tak dobrej.
Tesi mne ze ho mas, je to nejlepsi mozna volba!
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Skvele, vidim to na zacatkem rijna z me strany, gratuluji k 0002!
S SE1X pockej, pokud se to podari bude distribuce v CR, vice nechci jeste psat. V USA jsem pristi tyden, ale ne v CA, bohuzel.
Jinak 100% souhlas, vcetne toho Voyagera, zatim jsem nasel vice negativnich srovnani s predchudcem nez positivnich, tim vic se jejich marketing snazi.
K Syrinxu - to neni tak obvodove slozity synth, prave jsem si proletel jeho schematic, zacinam o tom uvazovat.... Formanty se dosahuji usporadanim beznych typu filtru.
S SE1X pockej, pokud se to podari bude distribuce v CR, vice nechci jeste psat. V USA jsem pristi tyden, ale ne v CA, bohuzel.
Jinak 100% souhlas, vcetne toho Voyagera, zatim jsem nasel vice negativnich srovnani s predchudcem nez positivnich, tim vic se jejich marketing snazi.
K Syrinxu - to neni tak obvodove slozity synth, prave jsem si proletel jeho schematic, zacinam o tom uvazovat.... Formanty se dosahuji usporadanim beznych typu filtru.
- ECSON WALDES
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..tohle je ten filtr o kterym tak basnim. Mel 3 filtry a 4 ruzny cesty. A to vse udelali konstrukteri s beznymi Curtis chipy

Zajimavy je ze jeho distribuci v USA delal Bob Moog. No dyt taky Bob byl Holandan jako Synton Syrinx:)
Syrinx vypustili v roce 1982, o rok pozdej zacala svet drtit digitalni poly YAMAHA DX, v ty dobe uz nikdo mono analogovej sytak nepotreboval. Syrinxe to udusilo jako i spoustu jinejch syntaku. Vyrobeno bylo pouze +- 300 kusu! Dnes je vyvazovan zlatem!
Synton Syrinx - Podrobny LINK:
http://www.techrepairs.freeserve.co.uk/synton.htm
http://www.datasynthi.com/dutchsynths/syrinx/
http://synthdiy.com/show/showproduct.asp?show=906
Ja tenhle fantastickej syntak jednou koupim ale ted by to byl zbytecnej luxus. Potrebuju MIDI analog syntaky.
Black, tyjo jestli tu bude Studio Electronix distribuce tak rovnou nakupuju!!
Chci dva ks SE1X a jednu OMEGA 8. Dej vedet az bude aktualni info!
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K Syrinxu - vypada to , ze filtr navazuje na celkem standardni architekturu VCO, mozna, ze pro dosazeni Syrinx formant zvuku by stacilo vytvorit pouze filtrovou cast, podobne jako funguje moje wide spectrum analog FM anebo to SE delaji se zaclenovanim filtru do OMEGY/SE1(X). Muselo by se to samozrejme detailne prozkoumat. Manual (basic) v pdf a ukazku hard sync najdes na
http://www.oldschool-sound.com/index.ph ... action=lib
http://www.oldschool-sound.com/index.ph ... action=lib
Panove, tak to se zajmem ctu (a nejsem asi sam ... ) a jen houst!!! Jsem sice prevazne ten trapnej vst-ckar, ale holt ne kazdej to ma jako zivotni napln, aby do toho moh vrazet hromady chechtaku. Nicmene, rad si o tom aspon predctu.
Zajimala by me vsak jedna vec, mel jste nekdo v realu v ruce Sunsyn? Nebo znate nekoho, kdo ho v cechach vlastni. Me proste tenhle syntak podle ukazek desne nadchnul a libi se mi i muznostmi, a konec koncu i nadhernym designem. Malem jsem jeden naslepo koupil za 40, ale pak se ukazalo, ze by to nemusela byt ok transakce, tak jsem z toho radeji vycouval... Ale stejne me to hloda, jednou ho urcite poridim, jestli este pujde vubec nekde sehnat. Co o nem soudite? Prijde mi to jako dobra investice, ma DRSNEJ zvuk, presne to co vst nemaji, docela neotrelej, pac ho nema moc lidi, vetsi moznosti editace nez stary anlogy. Ćo o nem soudite?
Zajimala by me vsak jedna vec, mel jste nekdo v realu v ruce Sunsyn? Nebo znate nekoho, kdo ho v cechach vlastni. Me proste tenhle syntak podle ukazek desne nadchnul a libi se mi i muznostmi, a konec koncu i nadhernym designem. Malem jsem jeden naslepo koupil za 40, ale pak se ukazalo, ze by to nemusela byt ok transakce, tak jsem z toho radeji vycouval... Ale stejne me to hloda, jednou ho urcite poridim, jestli este pujde vubec nekde sehnat. Co o nem soudite? Prijde mi to jako dobra investice, ma DRSNEJ zvuk, presne to co vst nemaji, docela neotrelej, pac ho nema moc lidi, vetsi moznosti editace nez stary anlogy. Ćo o nem soudite?
Ahoj tankisto, diky za zajem o analogove masinky. Se Sunsynem nemam prakticke zkusenosti. Zajimava koncepce, ktera zahrnuje vzajemne modulovatelne oscilatory, krome 2 analog VCO take dva digitalni (v prilozene ukazce je drsny zvuk trosku slyset) http://www.sonicftp.com/mp3_demos/jomox_sunsyn-nb.mp3tankista píše:Panove, tak to se zajmem ctu (a nejsem asi sam ... ) a jen houst!!! Jsem sice prevazne ten trapnej vst-ckar, ale holt ne kazdej to ma jako zivotni napln, aby do toho moh vrazet hromady chechtaku. Nicmene, rad si o tom aspon predctu.
Zajimala by me vsak jedna vec, mel jste nekdo v realu v ruce Sunsyn? Nebo znate nekoho, kdo ho v cechach vlastni. Me proste tenhle syntak podle ukazek desne nadchnul a libi se mi i muznostmi, a konec koncu i nadhernym designem. Malem jsem jeden naslepo koupil za 40, ale pak se ukazalo, ze by to nemusela byt ok transakce, tak jsem z toho radeji vycouval... Ale stejne me to hloda, jednou ho urcite poridim, jestli este pujde vubec nekde sehnat. Co o nem soudite? Prijde mi to jako dobra investice, ma DRSNEJ zvuk, presne to co vst nemaji, docela neotrelej, pac ho nema moc lidi, vetsi moznosti editace nez stary anlogy. Ćo o nem soudite?
Nasel jsem zminky o nedokoncenem OS, chtelo by vice proverit s vyrobcem. Dobrym zdrojem byvaji uzivatelske skupiny, viz
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/jomox/
- ECSON WALDES
- Profesionál
- Příspěvky: 1859
- Registrován: 16 zář 2002 14:52
Presne tak. Syrinx by nebyl tim co je, nemit tenhle unikatni filtr. Jinak je to totiz uplne klasickej analog s 2x VCO, jako napr MS20 (ta maq ale taky fajn HPF/LPF filtr:).black píše:K Syrinxu - vypada to , ze filtr navazuje na celkem standardni architekturu VCO, mozna, ze pro dosazeni Syrinx formant zvuku by stacilo vytvorit pouze filtrovou cast
Podobne jako SYRINX vnimam i velky DREAM syntaky - stary KORGy PS3100 PS3200 PS3300. Tam je s pouzitim standardnich OSC ale s pouzitim skvelyho Resonatorovyho filtru /tri Peak Resonatory/ (Resonator melo i par ARPu) a amplitudovy modulace dosazeno naprosto skvelejch uple novejch zvukovejch spekter. Ty barvy jsou fakt nadherny a hlavne uplne jiny od vseho znamyho.
KORG PS3300 z roku 1977. Polyfonie 48 hlasu! v dobe monosyntaku to byl naprosto neuveritelnej pocet hlasu!. Vyrobeno jen 50 kusu! Je samozrejme absolutne nesehnatelny. cena dnes stale roste, kolem 300.000kc
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb01/a ... rokorg.asp



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- Příspěvky: 869
- Registrován: 01 bře 2005 03:46
sunsynt - ukazka
2 black: diky moc, tuhle ukazku jeste nemam. Ale smutne je, ze me opet dost znervoznela
) Je to proste zase parada, nevim proc, ale zvuk tyhle masiny me nejak pritahuje...

Re: sunsynt - ukazka
Pokud Te pritahuje, muze to byt prava volba pro tvou hudbu a standardni soucast tveho hudeniho vybaveni. Jomox je nemecka firma, zastoupeni v CR zatim neni, je potreba si feeling overit nejlepe na zapujcenem nastroji, zkus se s nimi domluvit. Citace z http://emusician.com/elecinstruments/em ... ly_synths/tankista píše:2 black: diky moc, tuhle ukazku jeste nemam. Ale smutne je, ze me opet dost znervoznela) Je to proste zase parada, nevim proc, ale zvuk tyhle masiny me nejak pritahuje...
Ne ze bych souhlasil s kazdym synthem ve vyberu, autor se poctive doznava k inklinaci k VA...presto Sunsyn nevychazi spatne.
Jedna z nejlepsich veci na analogu je absence vzorkovaci frekvence, RCO vzorkuji na 41KHz, aspon 48K by bylo super, Korg vi proc. Nic proti koncepci waves...
JOMOX SUNSYN
FIG. 3: The Jomox SunSyn is a true-analog synth module with extras such as external audio processing, digital wavetables, and four independent filter poles.
The SunSyn ($3,495) is an authentic analog synth module from German manufacturer Jomox. With wooden side panels attached, it's a tabletop model, but you can remove the panels to mount it as a 6-rackspace device (see Fig. 3). The SunSyn is 8-note polyphonic and 8-part multitimbral, so each voice can act as an independent monosynth. Each completely programmable voice has two analog voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs), two digital Ramp-Controlled Oscillators (RCOs), a pink- and white-noise generator, a multimode voltage-controlled filter (VCF), a stereo voltage-controlled amplifier (VCA), two discrete analog ADSR EGs, and two digital LFOs. The SunSyn's analog routing matrix allows you to repatch the signal flow by simply pressing buttons.
All connectors are located on the rear panel (or on top when it's rackmounted). The SunSyn has two inputs, eight individual outputs, two main outputs, and a stereo output for headphones. Except for the three MIDI ports, PC Card slot, and IEC power socket, all are balanced ¼-inch jacks. The inputs accept both audio signals and control voltages.
As it should on any synth worth its salt, the front panel's logical layout makes the SunSyn's architecture easy to grasp. A backlit, yellow green, 2-line-by-24-character LCD reveals program and parameter names and data, and a large three-digit LED shows program numbers and parameter values when you turn any of the 40 knobs. Most of the parameters hidden in menu pages pertain to the arpeggiator, MIDI, and global setup (though the arpeggiator is not yet implemented). You can easily access those with the Page and Menu buttons, four soft buttons, and four corresponding soft knobs. All of the other section have dedicated knobs, buttons, and indicator LEDs.
The VCOs generate either sawtooth or variable-width pulse waves, but not both simultaneously. Knobs tune the VCOs in semitones and cents, and Range buttons quickly transpose frequency by octaves. Pressing the Sync button hard-syncs VCO 2 to VCO 1. If you press Restart, VCO 1 always begins at a zero crossing when it's triggered — an important feature for synthesizing percussive sounds. When you initiate the auto-tune procedure by pressing the Sync and Restart buttons simultaneously, its progress is detailed in the main display.
The RCOs play short samples stored in flash ROM, each exactly 256 samples long, contained in one of seven tables called Wavesets. Each Waveset is a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz WAV file comprising 248 consecutive waves. You can choose individual waves or several consecutive waves from the RCO menu and play them in a loop, either forward or in reverse, to create distinctly digital timbres. You can play the RCOs either with or without the VCOs, and you can sync the RCOs to the VCOs to increase their timbral complexity. (That gets especially interesting when you modulate one audio oscillator with another.)
You can't sample audio though the SunSyn's inputs, but Jomox sells a CompactFlash card with a PC Card adapter (approximately $67) on which you can copy monophonic WAV files from your computer. When you place the card/adapter combination in the SunSyn's card slot, it converts your audio data to Wavesets. The company also has plans to post downloadable Wavesets on its Web site. The SunSyn accepts cards as large as 64 MB that contain any number of Wavesets.
The SunSyn's filter offers a unique, fully configurable design with four cascaded poles. You can specify the number of poles to produce a 6, 12, 18, or 24 dB-per-octave slope. By changing the cutoff frequency of each pole independently, you can even produce responses in between those settings. No matter how many poles you select, resonance is always applied to all four poles, so it self-oscillates as it would on a 24 dB-per-octave filter. You can switch any pole from lowpass to highpass and combine them for bandpass response. You can also manually transpose from one set of filter parameters to another by programming two filter Scenes and turning the Morph knob. The sound and flexibility of the SunSyn's filter are quite remarkable.
One unique aspect of the SunSyn is its Routing System, which lets you push buttons to quickly redirect signals as if you were repatching a modular synthesizer. New routings are stored as part of a program. Two sources, from a selection of 16, are sent to a choice of 8 destinations. The depth of the signal is controlled by one of eight Modifiers. One Modifier, called the Control Element, is an assignable MIDI controller, such as the mod wheel or Aftertouch. The Routing System serves as the SunSyn's modulation matrix, and it allows you to reroute oscillator signals for frequency, amplitude, pulse-width, cross-, and ring modulation.
External audio inputs are normally routed to the VCF and the VCA for processing, but you can also insert them into the Routing System to modulate internal audio or control signals. An envelope follower converts audio signals to control voltages. The filter's flexibility makes it ideal for processing audio signals in the studio.
Several planned features haven't been implemented yet. The arpeggiator is under construction, and voice allocation in Multi mode needs work. In addition, a few MIDI settings are still missing, so a number of enhancements are forthcoming. Jomox plans to address these concerns by the time you read this.
The SunSyn stores 256 Single Sounds and 128 Multi Programs, all of them user-programmable. From the factory, over two dozen Single Sounds and all of the Multi Programs are blank. I also noticed that some of them have identical names, even though they're obviously different sounds; apparently, no one bothered to rename them when they were edited.
I was very impressed by the quality, utility, and versatility of the factory programs. Thanks to its well-implemented architecture and the efforts of some obviously talented programmers, the SunSyn sounds awesome. Because I often prefer the sound of analog modeling to the real thing (heretic that I am), I consider that to be no small accomplishment. Pads, leads, basses, electronic effects — the SunSyn puts a great collection of malleable analog sounds at your disposal. In fact, the SunSyn is the best-sounding polyphonic analog synth I've heard in years.
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JoMoX SUNSYN dobre znam je to skvelekj stroj! Kdyz jsem ho porve na Frankfurtu zkousel byl to jeste polofunkcni prototyp. O rok pozdej uz jsem si plnohodnotne zahral a moh jsem programovat - zapomente na jednoduchy moznosti velkejch syntaku jakou napr JUPITER-8, Sunsyn je neuveritelne vybavenej a tomu odovida i jeho slozitost. Ziral jsem!
Ma skvelej zvuk! Chvilemi jsem si rikal "ten je ale jemnej" a par minut nato "to je ale hustej maser". Je barevnej a to mne moc prekvapilo!
Sunsyn je komplet true analog! Ne jako napr digitalizovana Andromeda. Sunsyn je postaven v duchu staryho Oberheim MATRI-12, JoMoX se tim ani netaji. Lze jeho odkaz vysledovat v super slozity modulacni matrici v FM i v multimod filtru.
Vedle kalasickejch analogovejch VCO ma jeste dva digitalni RCO, coz jsou celkem 4 oscilatory na hlas - 32 oscilatoru celkem pri 8 hlasech!
RCO OSC ma v sedmi bankach 248 vlnovejch prubehu, ty jsou ulozeny v interni Flash, nebo je mozny je ukladat na PCMCIA kartu.
Filtr je ctyrpolovej, plne konfigurovatelnej HPF/LPF, je to X-Pole filtr s moznosti morfingu. Lze simulovat 303 18dB filtr nebo, BPF Oberheim SEM filtr ci klasickej Moog 24 dB filtr. Skely jsou moznosti morphingu, plynuly zmeny z nastaveni A do B.
Jeho 8 hlasu je plne nezavislejch s moznosti multirezimu. Co jsem ale cet tak Sunsyn mel problemy s 8mi nasobnou multitembrovosti. Ale melo by uz melo bejt v poradku.
SUNSYN doporucuju!!! Umi dokonaly bass linky, nadherny FM kovovy zvuky a skvely solo barvy. Je sice dost drahej cca 4.000 EUR = 120.000 kc, ale je to skutecnej MEGA analog synth s moznostma ktery stary syntaky nikdy nemely.
! Neposlouchejte ale firemni www.JoMoX.de mp3 ukazky SUNSYNu. Jsou strasny!!! Vubec to neukazuje na jeho obrovsky moznosti. Firma JoMoX nikdy sama neudelala kloudnou ukazku a to at uz u XBase09/99 ci SUNSYNu.
http://www.schneidersbuero.de/sounds/Jomox_SunSyn_1.mp3
tahle docela ujde - ukazuje FILTR-FM modulacni moznosti
http://www.jomox.de/sunsyn.html

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OMEGA 8
Celkem dobre shrnuti ve stejnem clanku viz vyse SunSyn
STUDIO ELECTRONICS OMEGA 8
FIG. 8: The Studio Electronics Omega 8 provides a 1/4-inch stereo output and a 1/4-inch trigger input for each voice.

The American-made Omega 8 is the most straightforward and traditional synthesizer of the bunch. That's no surprise considering its lineage: Studio Electronics got its start modifying Minimoogs, Prophet-5s, and Oberheim SEMs, retrofitting them for MIDI and stuffing them into rackmount modules. Ten years ago, Studio Electronics turned to making its own synthesizers using the same circuit designs as classic analog models.
The Omega 8 comes in four built-to-order models that vary in their polyphony: 2-voice ($2,295), 4-voice ($2,995), 6-voice ($3,795), and the standard 8-voice ($4,495). For the purposes of this article, only the 8-voice model would do. The Omega 8 offers true analog sound generation and processing, including discrete integrated oscillator and filter circuits.
The Omega 8 is a 4U rackmount module that has a ¼-inch stereo output and a ¼-inch trigger input for each voice, as well as ¼-inch left, right, and mono master outputs (see Fig.
. It doesn't have a separate output for headphones, and because the three master outputs are mono, you'll need an adapter to use stereo headphones with those. Although any of the individual outputs will drive headphones in stereo, you can hear only one voice.
FIG. 9: The Omega 8 is a true-analog, 4-rackspace synth module with eight independent voices and multitimbral capabilities.

The Omega 8's front panel contains a 2-line-by-16-character backlit LCD, 33 knobs, and 35 round buttons, most of which illuminate to indicate their status. Controls are divided into logical sections that reveal the instrument's traditional orientation: Oscillators, Filter, Envelopes, Modulation, Arpeggiator, Programmer, and Multi/MIDI (see Fig. 9). For deeper timbre-shaping capabilities, most sections have an Edit button that accesses appropriate pages in the Programmer section. The same infinite-rotation encoder that changes displayed parameter values selects Patches. When you turn any other knobs, however, their values are not reflected in the display, so you must rely on your ears and their positions.
The Omega 8 is classic analog in almost every respect. Each voice has two VCOs, a suboscillator, a noise generator, three EGs, two LFOs, a stereo VCA, and a choice of two VCFs. The VCOs generate sawtooth, triangle, and variable-width pulse waves, all of which you can turn on at the same time for a really huge sound. You can sync the two oscillators or route VCO 2's signal to modulate VCO 1, filter cutoff, or both.
Because the VCOs are analog circuits, they're subject to frequency drift. An auto-tune routine, initiated with a button labeled Accu-Tune, is mercifully quick. However, several times I encountered an irritating bug: one or two of the voices consistently tuned a half-step low. To solve the problem, I put the synth in 8-voice Unison mode and played a low note before engaging auto-tune — a solution suggested by the extremely sparse operation manual. Incidentally, you can apply Unison mode to play two, four, six, or eight voices with each note.
Although each voice of the Omega 8 has two filters (expandable to four), you can select only one filter at a time, so you can't place them in series or parallel. The standard complement is one 24 dB-per-octave Minimoog-style lowpass filter and another that re-creates the 12 dB-per-octave multimode filter found in the Oberheim OB-X. The original Oberheim filter let you sweep continuously from one response to the next; the Omega 8's OB filter gives you a discrete choice of lowpass, highpass, bandpass, or band-reject modes.
The first two EGs are hardwired to control the VCF and VCA, and the third is assignable to 1 of 19 destinations. They look like simple ADSR generators, but you can access two additional decay stages in their corresponding Edit page, where you also set their Velocity response and initial delay times. Either LFO can modulate 3 of 14 destinations and generate 6 basic waveforms. The arpeggiator is very basic, offering up, down, up-and-down, and random modes.
In Multi mode, you can assign each voice to play a different Patch. Voices can be layered or split and played on the same or different MIDI channels. One uncommon Multi mode is called Prepared, which plays sounds either in unison or alternately on the same MIDI channel; that is, every note can play a different Patch. The Omega 8 doesn't save the edits you make to single Patches in Multi mode.
The Omega 8's raison d'être is its sound, filling the soundscape with thick, luxurious analog timbres. Although most of the Patches are best suited for conventional keyboard duties (especially if they're funk-oriented), the Omega 8 supplies several interesting electronic timbres and effects. If real analog sounds are what you crave, the Omega 8 shouldn't disappoint. Two banks of 128 factory Patches in ROM and two banks of 128 user Patches in RAM add up to 512 memory locations, but Studio Electronics usually leaves the user banks blank. The Omega 8 also stores 128 user-programmable Multis. One nice feature is that sounds load instantly when you turn the rotary encoder. The Omega 8 is unusually quiet for an analog polysynth, too.
Being a built-to-order item, the Omega 8 can be customized to suit your needs and pocketbook. In addition to choosing the number of voices, you can specify the color and even order specialized front-panel graphics — for a price. Two additional filters are available, either for one voice at a time or in packs of eight. One design duplicates the lowpass filter on the Roland TB-303 ($119 each, $900 for eight), and the other is a re-creation of the ARP 2600's multimode filter ($129 each, $975 for eight). If you want an old-fashioned analog synthesizer that's tailored to your needs, Studio Electronics can build one for you.
STUDIO ELECTRONICS OMEGA 8
FIG. 8: The Studio Electronics Omega 8 provides a 1/4-inch stereo output and a 1/4-inch trigger input for each voice.

The American-made Omega 8 is the most straightforward and traditional synthesizer of the bunch. That's no surprise considering its lineage: Studio Electronics got its start modifying Minimoogs, Prophet-5s, and Oberheim SEMs, retrofitting them for MIDI and stuffing them into rackmount modules. Ten years ago, Studio Electronics turned to making its own synthesizers using the same circuit designs as classic analog models.
The Omega 8 comes in four built-to-order models that vary in their polyphony: 2-voice ($2,295), 4-voice ($2,995), 6-voice ($3,795), and the standard 8-voice ($4,495). For the purposes of this article, only the 8-voice model would do. The Omega 8 offers true analog sound generation and processing, including discrete integrated oscillator and filter circuits.
The Omega 8 is a 4U rackmount module that has a ¼-inch stereo output and a ¼-inch trigger input for each voice, as well as ¼-inch left, right, and mono master outputs (see Fig.

FIG. 9: The Omega 8 is a true-analog, 4-rackspace synth module with eight independent voices and multitimbral capabilities.

The Omega 8's front panel contains a 2-line-by-16-character backlit LCD, 33 knobs, and 35 round buttons, most of which illuminate to indicate their status. Controls are divided into logical sections that reveal the instrument's traditional orientation: Oscillators, Filter, Envelopes, Modulation, Arpeggiator, Programmer, and Multi/MIDI (see Fig. 9). For deeper timbre-shaping capabilities, most sections have an Edit button that accesses appropriate pages in the Programmer section. The same infinite-rotation encoder that changes displayed parameter values selects Patches. When you turn any other knobs, however, their values are not reflected in the display, so you must rely on your ears and their positions.
The Omega 8 is classic analog in almost every respect. Each voice has two VCOs, a suboscillator, a noise generator, three EGs, two LFOs, a stereo VCA, and a choice of two VCFs. The VCOs generate sawtooth, triangle, and variable-width pulse waves, all of which you can turn on at the same time for a really huge sound. You can sync the two oscillators or route VCO 2's signal to modulate VCO 1, filter cutoff, or both.
Because the VCOs are analog circuits, they're subject to frequency drift. An auto-tune routine, initiated with a button labeled Accu-Tune, is mercifully quick. However, several times I encountered an irritating bug: one or two of the voices consistently tuned a half-step low. To solve the problem, I put the synth in 8-voice Unison mode and played a low note before engaging auto-tune — a solution suggested by the extremely sparse operation manual. Incidentally, you can apply Unison mode to play two, four, six, or eight voices with each note.
Although each voice of the Omega 8 has two filters (expandable to four), you can select only one filter at a time, so you can't place them in series or parallel. The standard complement is one 24 dB-per-octave Minimoog-style lowpass filter and another that re-creates the 12 dB-per-octave multimode filter found in the Oberheim OB-X. The original Oberheim filter let you sweep continuously from one response to the next; the Omega 8's OB filter gives you a discrete choice of lowpass, highpass, bandpass, or band-reject modes.
The first two EGs are hardwired to control the VCF and VCA, and the third is assignable to 1 of 19 destinations. They look like simple ADSR generators, but you can access two additional decay stages in their corresponding Edit page, where you also set their Velocity response and initial delay times. Either LFO can modulate 3 of 14 destinations and generate 6 basic waveforms. The arpeggiator is very basic, offering up, down, up-and-down, and random modes.
In Multi mode, you can assign each voice to play a different Patch. Voices can be layered or split and played on the same or different MIDI channels. One uncommon Multi mode is called Prepared, which plays sounds either in unison or alternately on the same MIDI channel; that is, every note can play a different Patch. The Omega 8 doesn't save the edits you make to single Patches in Multi mode.
The Omega 8's raison d'être is its sound, filling the soundscape with thick, luxurious analog timbres. Although most of the Patches are best suited for conventional keyboard duties (especially if they're funk-oriented), the Omega 8 supplies several interesting electronic timbres and effects. If real analog sounds are what you crave, the Omega 8 shouldn't disappoint. Two banks of 128 factory Patches in ROM and two banks of 128 user Patches in RAM add up to 512 memory locations, but Studio Electronics usually leaves the user banks blank. The Omega 8 also stores 128 user-programmable Multis. One nice feature is that sounds load instantly when you turn the rotary encoder. The Omega 8 is unusually quiet for an analog polysynth, too.
Being a built-to-order item, the Omega 8 can be customized to suit your needs and pocketbook. In addition to choosing the number of voices, you can specify the color and even order specialized front-panel graphics — for a price. Two additional filters are available, either for one voice at a time or in packs of eight. One design duplicates the lowpass filter on the Roland TB-303 ($119 each, $900 for eight), and the other is a re-creation of the ARP 2600's multimode filter ($129 each, $975 for eight). If you want an old-fashioned analog synthesizer that's tailored to your needs, Studio Electronics can build one for you.