Published on Feb 15, 2016 Dr Korg
"Testing a single chip additive synth from www.dspsynth.eu"
Update: some details and pics via DSP Synth where you'll find links to order it. Note there are two versions of the chip.
"The K5 is a 5 sine oscillator in a 8-pin DIP.
1 analog pitch input CV for the fundamental. 1v/oct.
4 analog levels CV for level of the 4 overtones.
This is the synth that requires no filter for shaping. because you can modulate the harmonic content of the fundamental frequency.
$15 including shipping.
There is also a LFO version of the chip, the KL5 Harmonic LFO.
Same function but LFO-range of the fundamental frequency."
With one of his nice DCO chips and an Arduino of some kind (Adafruit Trinket or Teensy), you basically have all of the power of the RCA Mark II (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA_Mark_II_Sound_Synthesizer) for less than $50.
ReplyDeleteI have the dsp-G1, hooked it up to a Trinket, and spent some time just staring at it, trying to figure out how those sounds were coming out of an 8-pin chip. In the old days, you could always make a voltage controlled square wave from a 555 Timer, but a midi-controlled DCO with low pass filter sweeps? Hard to believe all of that fits in an 8-pin chip until you have one sitting on a breadboard in your hand. And yes, I do understand the C code necessary to program an accumulator function, but all of that in an 8-pin chip is still kind of magic to me.
If this isn't cool, cool is dead.
On a side note, does anyone know what kinds of pots he is using with the breadboard in the videos? Those look much more secure on a breadboard than what I have been using.