EEH Zaunkönig Brochure Scan and Front Panel Pic

New pics added to this post, along with some history.

2nd Page of German Article on the EEH Zaunkönig Translated

The 2nd page has been translated in this post. That makes the full article translated into English. Credit, and a huge thanks, goes to xonox in the comments of that post.

EEH Zaunkönig Article Translation

See this post, for a Google translation of the first page. The second page will take more time.

German Article on the EEH Zaunkönig

You might remember the EEH Zaunkönig brochure posted here.

Cord Mueller sent in these scans of an article written in German about the EEH Zaunkonig from Musik Spezial, Sonderheft 'Musik mit Computern', August/September ’85.

Translation of the first page via xonox in the comments, ocr-ed with Mac OS Preview and translated with Google translate second page will take some more time):

The "Zaunkoenig" is an eight-voice polyphonic sound sampling unit. It is the basic building block of an expandable system that is constantly being expanded.

A unique feature of this system is the ability to play sampled sounds time-corrected. This means that the stored sounds always remain constant in terms of their speed (length), no matter where they are played on the keyboard. At first glance, many will probably attach little importance to this quality. But anyone who has ever worked with sampling systems will know that it is hardly possible to play the sounds in a meaningful way if the transposition constantly changes reading speed changes (until now it was the case that notes played higher and shorter became shorter and notes played lower correspondingly longer).

With the time correction of the "Zaunkoenig" you can set the expiry time of saved words, noises or complete orchestra parts yourself for the first time. The speed can be faster or slower than that of the wrapa Keng: ing occurs without affecting the pitch! In this way, sampled tone sequences, rhythms or tiles from vinyl recordings can be synchronized with your own pieces of music. Conversely, with the Zaunkoenig it is also possible to tune a sound without changing its length.

Taken together, these two working techniques represent a really important development for the musician, because any sound material with any pitch and speed can be adapted exactly to any piece of music with any key and speed.

In the basic version, the "Zaunkoenig" stores sounds up to a length of 6.4 seconds with a dynamic range of 16 bits and a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz. This also meets the highest demands.

In order to save storage space (i.e. to increase the recording time), the frequency response can be limited upwards in 1 kHz steps. With a frequency response of up to 14 kHz, e.g. a recording time of 9.1 seconds, at 10 kHz it is 12.8 seconds, etc."

Update: and the 2nd page also thanks to xonox in the comments:

The basic version of the Zaunkoenig has eight voices. A different sound can be assigned to each voice, whereby the combination with a sequencer is particularly recommended in MIDI mono mode. The voices can be routed to the mixer via mono, stereo or individual outputs.

The Zaunkoenig can be played with velocity, as long as it is connected to a corresponding MIDI keyboard (the Zaunkoenig does not have its own keyboard, so it is an "expander"). The tones can be modulated via two sockets on the back. Velocity and modulation sockets are freely programmable, i.e. you can determine separately for each sound which parameters should be changed for a modulation (or different playing dynamics).

Sounds are recorded either via the microphone or line input. The recording begins either automatically when a certain minimum level is exceeded, or manually by pressing a button. After reading in, the recording can be played immediately without having to make any settings. After assessing the sound, the contents of the memory can easily be changed using the 19 rotary knobs. The start and stop points, loops and all parameters known from the synthesizer can be influenced on the reqlers. With "Zaunkoenig" each voice has two VCFs, a VCO, an LFO and five (!) envelope generators (i.e. a total of 16 VCFs, 8 VCAs, 8 LFOs and 32 ADSRs). A second waveform can be added to each sampled waveform, similar to a synthesizer's second oscillator. The two waveforms can be detuned against each other in order to program fuller sounds or intervals (however, the eight-part playing style is retained). These parameters are related to all of the post-processing and do not relate to the actual recording.

Two loops can be set on the Zaunkoenig. Loops are repeated repetitions of a specific point in the stored sound (similar to a tape loop). This loop is defined by a start and end point, each of which has a controller assigned to it. The first loop sounds as long as a key is held down, the second starts as soon as the key is released (Release). Using a special calculation method, the computer only provides the loop points that can be used to form loops that are free of interference and clicks!

If you save e.g. B. a spoken sentence, then with the help of the loop functions, words, letters or even just individual waveforms can be tapped, from which new wave sets can then be created. Words in a sentence or letters in a word can also be resorted in this way.

Finding interesting waveforms is also made easier by a sampling window that can be freely adjusted in width, with which the memory content can be searched by hand. In order to achieve optimal sound quality, the "Zaunkoenig" has various selectable calculation methods (algorithms) available, according to which the processing of a recording takes place - e.g. B. for speech, vocals, strings or complex sounds.

The standard waveforms of the LFOs can later be exchanged for the selected waveforms or entire sets of waves, making frequency and amplitude modulation possible. Furthermore, all sounds can modulate each other.

In the keyboard program, each key of the keyboard can be assigned an individual pitch that is not tied to half or whole tone steps in terms of tuning. In this way, new scales can be developed or totally weird tone sequences can be programmed.

Since multisampling is possible, multiple split programs (i.e. different sounds in different layers) can also be programmed. The Zaunkoenig recognizes how many voices are played in the respective keyboard area and switches the voice cards independently of the keyboard assignment. As a result, each section has eight voices (of course, there can never be more voices than there are voice cards). Another keyboard layout makes it possible to assign different sounds or several sounds to individual keys at the same time.

All finished sounds can be saved via the built-in floppy disk drive. When loading the sounds, all the data on the floppy disk is transferred to the Zaunkoenig's main memory, so that once it has been read in, all the data is immediately available without resorting to the floppy disk again.

Memory cards can be used to expand storage capacity to up to 32 seconds at full bandwidth.

In order to increase the sampling time even further, a Winchesterdisdrive will soon be available, with which 6.4 minutes (that's 386 seconds!) can be recorded with full frequency response. The eight-voice basic version can be expanded to a maximum of 16 voices with additional voice cards. Finally, add-on cards are available that enable stereo sampling. This method is particularly suitable for recording spatial sounds (reverberation). took or CD disks original. to record faithfully (stereophonically). SMPTE, terminal, sequencer, analogue MIDI Wander and the Winchester disk drive are in preparation. The basic version of the ZK costs - approx. 20000 DM (incl. VAT). The device is expected to be available from September.

EEHs Natural Sound Store Unit Zaunkönig Brochure - The FIRST Sampler w/ Realtime Time Stretching

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

This one was spotted and sent in via M Me. I beleive this to be the first post to feature the Zaunkönig/Zaunkoenig. EEH also made the Banana and the DS 500. I just like saying they made the banana. See the EEH label for more. Why it wasn't yellow or even yellowish green, we will never know...

via this auction

"Original brochure, allegedly only 2 devices were built. FIRST sampler with realtime time stretching. Was bought by Akai and in a stripped down version, without realtime, for the S 1000. So the wren is the father of the Akai S 1000"

Update: you can find an article in German on the Zaunkonig here.

Update2: scan of the brochure added below along with a close-up pic of the front of the Zaunkönig, in via an anonymous reader. Also some interesting background added.

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Some more EEH Banana Synth Sounds

video upload by umusic6

umusic6 EEH Banana posts. See the EEH label for more.

EEH Banana Synthesizer Sound Demo

video upload by umusic6

"Just raw sound, no processing. Still needs a bit of voice calibration, though."

See the EEH label below for more.

EEH DS- 500 Digital Sequencer

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"The device was built around 1980 and is in good technical and visual condition for its age. This sequencer was also used by Tangerine Dream. Power supply and operating instructions are included."

This appears to be the first one featured on the site. EEH was known to make the BANANA anlog synth similar in look to an Oberheim OB-Xa in OB-SX case. You can posts featuring EEH here.

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Dada Pogrom - Walk Away

Published on May 7, 2020 beatkamp ®

Wait for it. Synth revealed below...

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Rare EEH/SSB Syntec Banana Vintage Analog Poly Synth

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Up for auction a very very rare EEH/SSB Syntec Banana analog polyphonic programmable synthesizer.
Made in Germany in the 80s by EEH and distributed by SSB.
Only 100 or so were made.
This one has MIDI and only a few had it.
The synth is in good cosmetic condition and works flawlessly.
Runs on 230V."

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EEH BANANA ANALOG SYNTHESIZER "SOUNDTRACK" FROM "BRAINAURA-MUSIC"

Uploaded on Nov 29, 2011 musivox·25 videos

So is it EEH, SSB or both?

"PHANTASTICS RELAXING SOUNDTRACK BANANA !YOU HEAR THE RARE PIECE ONLY 200 BUILT BY SYNTHESIZER ANALOG EEH BANANA FROM SYNTHESIZER STUDIO "MATTEN & WIECHERS" IN BONN GERMANY ! THE PLAY WAS PLAYED IN THE LIFE OF IMAGINATION 1995 NORTH BEACH / NORTHSEA GERMANY IN HOME STUDIO! I'M LOOKING LIKE ANALOG SYNTHESIZER + ALSO DEFECTIVE AND EXCHANGE-SWAP! MORE MUSIC HERE FROM ME HEAR YOU WITH "BRAINAURA MUSIC". MUSIC FROM ALL OF YOU HEAR BY ..... WWW.BRAINAURA.DE.TO....PLEASE GOOD COMMENTS !"

EEH BANANA "ANOVA" FROM: BRAINAURA-MUSIC

1984 BANANA Synthesizer German Ad

via synthmuseum.de

See the SSB channel below for more including a demo of one featured in a Moonlight Matters studio tour.

Moonlight Matters - Studio Tour

Published on Jan 8, 2014 Future Music Magazine·330 videos

"Future Music head to Bruges, Belgium to visit the amazing studio of Sebastiaan Vandevoorde aka Moonlight matters. See his vast collection of synths including the incredibly rare Yamaha EX1 and many other gems in our exclusive tour.

CREDITS
Producer - Chris Barker
Video Editor - Will Seelig
Videographer - Will Seelig"

Update: Synths featured in order with rough start times:

0:00:00 Studio Electronics Omega 8
0:06:30 Alesis Andromeda A6
0:15:28 Sequential Circuits Prophet-VS
0:19:56 SSB Syntec Banana Synth (like an SSM OB-Xa)
0:29:04 Sequential Circuits Prophet-5
0:30:53 Moog Memorymoog
0:36:10 Roland System 100
0:45:19 Yamaha EX1
0:56:30 Yamaha D85
1:00:18 Roland JD-800
1:01:30 Simmons SDS1
1:02:47 Oberheim OB-Xa
1:04:25 Roland Juno-106
1:05:15 Yamaha DX7 IID (has unison mode)
1:06:49 Yamaha YC45D
1:08:00 Roland TR-606
1:08:22 Boss Dr. Pads
1:08:37 Oberheim XPander
1:09:00 Roland SH-101
1:09:16 LinnDrum
1:09:53 Casio CZ-101
1:10:22 Simmons SDS9
1:11:53 Roland JX-8P

1982 German Banana Synthesizer Ad

via Synthmuseum.de

follow-up to this post.

1982 SSB Syntec BANANA German Synth Ad

via synthmuseum.de

Like a pinstriped blue Oberheim OB-Sx with more control.

See the SSB label at the bottom of this post for more.

Formant Elektor Modular Synthesizer

This one was for sale in Germany here.

Update via 7ate9 in the comments: "also there's two EEH DS500 digital sequencers in there (see http://till-kopper.de/eeh.html and http://m.matrixsynth.com/2009/09/tangerine-dream-sequencer-eeh-dynacord.html), EEH (Electronic Engineering Hoffman from Düsseldorf, Germany) also made the SSB Banana synth, marketed by the legendary Synthesizer Studio Bonn and some custom hybrid sequencer for Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze"

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Tangerine Dream Sequencer EEH + Dynacord Sequencer Big Brain

via hellmusic

These are located in Hamburg Germany and are for sale. If interested send email to the via at yahoo.de.

Update via Qwave in the comments: "This EEH DS500 hybrid sequencer was not commissioned by Tangerine Dream. But the huge EEH CM4 was seen in Chris Franke's rack in the eighties. And Klaus Schulze used the CM2 during the Audentity recordings. Klaus was once pictured with an unconnected DS500 on his mixing board.

Here is some additional information about the EEH DS500: http://till-kopper.de/eeh.html

And the little company EEH came from Wuppertal, Germany. They went off the market (bankrupt?) before releasing their last project: a rack sampler with the transposing wihtout changing the timing like on all other comcercial samplers before. But it was not released. I think this was before the white Akai samplers were released. This was stone age of sampling then. more then 25 years ago."

"Just noticed a modification on the pictured unit in the posting: the original power switch was where the srew near the "PW" is seen on the back. And it appears to be modificated to sit on the very top right of the panel. Right to the bypass switch."

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SSB Syntec Banana

No that is not an Oberheim. This is the SSB Syntec Banana. The image here recently came up on AH and as you can see it is from sequencer.de. The person that posted it was looking for more information on. I dug through all the banana posts and found a post I put back up on October 1, 2006.

You can find more info at the previous post.
Comments disabled here to keep them all there.
I also put the images here.

EEH DS500 Digital Sequencer

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

Details:
"The company EEH developed and built the CM2 and CM4 sequencer for TangerineDream, at that time Schulze,…. This model is the small brother DS500."

Udpate via Till "Qwave" Kopper in the comments:
"More info on this hybrid sequencer"

SSB Syntec Banana

via this VSE Post.

inVrs: "i recently bought this very rare german synthesizer called "banana". it was manufactured by SSB (Synthesiezr Studio Bonn) and only about 100 were built as far as i know."

Analog Crazy: "The Banana is basically an Oberheim OB Polyphonic made only in Germany. Its flat top reminds me of the OB-SX but apparently it sounds more like an OB-8. You are lucky to have one because only 200 units were ever made."

dougt: "Supposedly they were trying to get Oberheim to market it that's why they copied the OB look..."

My question: Was it really called the banana? What's up with that?

Update via Dirk Matten in the comments:
"The price for the OB-Xa was DM 14.230 - the Banana sold for DM 5.350. Tschak!
It is not a Oberheim copy and the sound can be compared to Moog. We made it look like the Oberheims, because we sold the Oberheim line exclusiv in Germany, did all the advertising and marketing without any support, made the name Oberheim big in Germany - and planed to offer the Banana to Oberheim as a competetive item for the international market. Received quite a lot of requests from internation distributers. Even without having seen the product, Tom Oberheim told me that he would never produce or sell something from outside his company. This was a big mistake - that's what Russ Jones, marketing & sales for Oberheim, told me some years later. "Dirk, we both know that this would have been a big business."

Dirk Matten"

Update regarding the name:
"We also planned a drummachine "Coconut" and had the idea for an ad: my business partner and me as apes eathing bananas throwing with coconuts.

I asked several people over a long period and Conny Plank, most important producer in Germany, told me: Dirk, very simple "Harras" or "Hasso" like the german shepherd dog. That's what he thought would be fine for international success. We kept it national with "Banana".

harrharr"

Funny! : ) There would just something funny about owning a synth called the banana. I'd get a kick out of that.

Another Update from Dirk. Fascinating stuff:
"To be a little bit more precise on the historical aspect, which might be intersting to someone:

When Tom came to our company we asked him: "What do you think about a hot product from outside?" His answer was: "Every day I get a lot of letters and telephone calls from all over the world by no name people, who want to offer their ideas to me. Did Roger Linn call me? No. He did it himself."

We stopped that discussion, did not show the prototype to him, had a nice lunch in an italian restaurant in Cologne and decided to go the Roger Linn way."