Sonicsmith ConVertor+ Introduction

Published on Jul 5, 2018 Sonicsmith

"An introduction to the ConVertor+ Audio Controlled Synthesizer.

The same semi-modular 9V pedal PSU or battery powered analog synth as the previous model. Using the ACO100 chip it can detect the pitch of an incoming audio signal and play along analog synth waves without never going out of tune.

The Pitch CV out along with ENV, gate & trigger CV outs, you get the full blood stream of modular synthesizer elements while staying analog throughout.

The new + version full list of changes:

The biggest difference between the ConVertor and ConVertor+ is the conversion of the input low-pass filter frequency shift knob (on the left directly below the IP GAIN, or preamp gain, knob) into a gate threshold adjustment knob. This is most useful in situations with lots of background noise (like microphones in a live performance situation). The same change was made on the Squaver P1+ vs. the Squaver P1.

The 3-way input high-pass filter (HPF) switch has been replaced with a 2-way 12dB/24dB per octave selection switch for the input auto-tracking filter. This allows the user to select more filtering for instruments with higher harmonic content or less filtering for faster transient response. The input HPF in the plus versions has been fixed at 16Hz.

The main ENV out on the plus versions incorporates an additional smoothing filter which makes it sound smooth enough even to modulate the amplitude of a sine wave.

The Squaver P1+ PWM control now spans the full range from 0-100% duty cycle, with 50% roughly at 12 O’Clock. This gives a much more dramatic sound when ENV is routed to PWM, for example.

We added 2.5dB gain to both the main ENV and side-chain ENV outputs in the plus versions. This allows us to clip the envelope at close to +9V and also allows the ENV to fully reverse to a silent (almost 0v) state when the envelope is clipped and ENV AMT is set fully counter-clockwise.

The plus versions are painted using a much more durable paint process, which we expect will last for many years.
The original versions will be offered for sale at 40% off until stock is exhausted, whereas the plus versions will be introduced at higher prices ($419 for ConVertor+ and $729 for Squaver P1+ in North America; in Europe prices will be higher because of VAT).

Both the original versions and the plus versions now have the improved higher gate threshold for the ACO chip so are equally able to reject low-level noise in the input. The plus versions just have the additional gate threshold adjustment available which is described in point (1) above."