Vector Synth Autumn Update

"Over six months have passed since our last update. There is a lot of encouragement and positivity, some amazing feedback and a lot of ideas flying around on where to go next, what things to improve, what new features to add.

We really appreciate the trust Vector operators put into us, a small boutique synthesizer maker. In return, we try to make this little but powerful machine the best it can be.

There’s a lot to share, so let’s get right to it.
Firmware Update 2.6.6

The 2.6.X series firmware has been in beta for a few months and the community has been incredibly helpful with presenting ideas, testing and reporting bugs. After so many iterations — six of them — the 2.6.6 firmware is ready for production use and is shipped with all new Vectors. So what’s new?

New Ladder Filter

In addition to the second-order 12dB/oct filters which can be switched between low pass, band pass and high pass modes, the new firmware introduces a 24dB/oct low pass ladder filter. The new filter provides a classic and well-known tonal character, which in combination with Vector’s synthesis engine gives it new opportunities for creative filtering.

New Blend Modes

The 2.6.6 introduces new Blend modes for even more ways the harmonic Generators can interact. PDAM and rPDAM stand for Phase Distortion and Amplitude Modulation, and Reverse Phase Distortion and Amplitude Modulation. The two new Blend modes complement the existing PD, AM, and PDAM Blend modes. Just like the other modulation types, these are also audio-rate and the operators and modulators can be separately filtered before modulation.


Individual Generator Detuning

With the new firmware, each Generator (of two per corner) can be individually detuned at fixed ratios: 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5. Or in other words: one octave down, one octave and a fifth down, two octaves down, and two octaves and a fifth down. The detuning takes place before Blend modulation, and increases the possible sound palette considerably, especially when combined with the new filtering and modulation options.

New Presets

Because of the speed at which new features are added, it was hard for the built-in presets to keep up the pace. This time though, please welcome a new page of system presets. The new presets can be used both as finished sounds or as foundations for custom presets. The new presets incorporate the latest firmware features so they are good starting points to explore the new capabilities.

Condensed Changelog

Reworked and extended Corner Matrix
New 24dB/Oct low pass ladder filter available
Prime (fundamental) harmonic frequency can now be appended to various points in the synthesis pipeline (Gen1, Gen2, Blend, Mix) or turned off
Each Generator in each corner can be separately downtuned by fixed ratios
Two new Blend modes:
PDAM -- phase distortion followed by audio rate amplitude cross-modulation
rPDAM -- reverse curve phase distortion followed by audio rate amplitude cross-modulation
Improved Randomizer -- it is now possible to apply the randomization only to selected Corners instead of randomizing everything
Implemented preset import/export to a USB flash drive, both individual preset files and bulk export
Presets slot numbers are drawn to assist with import/export
Corner Matrix button now works as a shortcut straight to the Orbiter Screen and opens up the Corner Matrix
Many graphical tweaks, bug fixes and quality of life tweaks
Preset Sharing

As a further improvement, the new firmware now allows to import and export of user presets to a USB flash drive, to share them with other operators, and a function to backup and zip all user presets at once for archival and backup purposes."