FLAME Midi Talking Synthesizer w/ Joysticks

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"Includes original box, 2 original manuals and 4 different ac adapters for different types of worldwide voltage...

"The FLAME MIDI TALKING SYNTH is a small-sized MIDI-controlled sound module based on the analogue Speakjet ™ chip, produced by the U.S. company Magnevation LLC. Originally designed for basic artificially generated speech output in American English tongue it was then refined and further developed as an 8-bit sound module with speech-like sounds and synthetic robot voices as well as beeps, alarms, noise and retro-style sci-fi sounds. Due to the structure of the Speakjet ™ (with its complex sound synthesizer, preset sounds and serial interface) it offers an impressive range of possibilities. It contains 72 speech elements (allophones), 43 sound effects, and 12 DTM touch tones. The idea was to create sounds, patterns and sequences in the 8-bit style of the 80s or other retro sounds for making music instead of just simulating speech. Most allophones can be tuned and used tonally. The FLAME MIDI TALKING SYNTH contains two Speakjet ™ chips to produce a richer and more complex tonal variety as well as generating a pseudo stereo effect.

Since the Speakjet ™ has not originally been laid out for the purpose of making music it is actually not fully controllable via MIDI input, i.e.: once sounds are triggered they cannot be directly stopped by Note Off messages from a MIDI keyboard or a sequencer. Thus a MIDI-controlled audio tremolo has been implemented in the FLAME MIDI TALKING SYNTH virtually allowing MIDI control and enabling an easier integration into a MIDI setup. The FLAME MIDI TALKING SYNTH lets you play back preset words in its EXPANDER mode via an external MIDI keyboard or a sequencer. In addition you can use the FLAME MIDI TALKING SYNTH as a stand-alone MIDI controller since all controls and joysticks send MIDI control/change data to the MIDI-OUT connector.

The internal sound is generated by the two independently controlled Speakjet ™ chips. Each of them provides a mono audio output (32 kHz PWM output) through a 6.3 mm stereo socket. The right audio channel is assigned to chip A, the left channel to chip B. An insert Y cable splits both channels into two mono audio outputs, allowing you to position the channels individually within the stereo sound field with any external mixing device. The sound level ratio of both chips can be adjusted with the MIX control. An equal sound level is obtained by turning the MIX control to the cente5r position. All functions are clearly visible on the front panel with the start/ stop /MIDI-sync/ tempo functions on the upper right-hand corner, sound/ tremolo/ scale/ note/ pitch and random functions in the middle. The HOLD-switches are used to freeze the position of the joysticks. The REC-switches are used to play back the recorded movements of the joysticks. You can switch between the modes SEQUENCER (SEQ) and EXPANDER (EXP) with the switch in the middle of the panel."