Hexinverter May Close Shop in 2023 Due to Global Supply Chain Issues

via Hexinverter

Hello everyone!

Today I would like to share with you an important update about Hexinverter’s stock situation and future plans.

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I think we can all agree that it’s been a weird couple of years on Earth for just about everyone. There has been a great reshuffling of many people’s lives, their professions – and the resources we rely on in our modern world to get things built. The manufacturing world has been very hard hit as a result. Small scale electronics, especially so. It has been incredibly difficult to keep up with demand for our modules, with products falling out of stock for months (and now years) at a time.

Unfortunately, the post-pandemic manufacturing climate was the final nail in the coffin for us at Hexinverter. Today we are announcing our intent to close down operations within the next year. I do not have an exact “end date” to share just yet, but I can tell you that it will probably be sometime in 2023.

We are now shipping out a number of modules that have been out of stock for ages, including the Mutant Brain! Be sure to hit up your local dealer or the direct shop if you’ve been waiting on some fresh Mutants for your rack, as these are the final runs of these products that will be built. Once they’re gone, they’re gone! We will begin the long process of closing up shop sometime in the new year once supplies are entirely diminished.

The past decade has been a wild ride for Hexinverter and everyone involved. It blows my mind when I look back at everything we’ve done! Our early days, with all of the DIY projects and later, going all in on riding the eurorack modular wave. Of course we can’t forget all of the cats and squeaky chickens.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being a patron and believing in our vision! The people we’ve met and relationships we’ve made along the way have been the best part of this entire experience, and I can’t thank you enough for being part of our journey.

I’m not sure any of us back in the day saw the eurorack industry growing into what it is today, and I could not be more proud of the little, rubber-chicken-shaped corner we have managed to carve out in its history.

It’s been a tonne of fun, and I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have had the privilege of being a part of, and the opportunity to contribute to the world of modular synthesis.

So long and thanks for all the chickens!
- Stacy Gaudreau
Hexinverter Électronique

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What does it mean for our products?

There will be no more Mindphaser complex oscillators produced.
Parts have been unobtanium for them since the first run was in progress. If you got one of the 250 units shipped from the first batch, consider yourself lucky!

We are receiving all of our other inventory in progress (which all components are already secured for) – the Mutant Brain, Hot Glue, Mutant Machine, BD9, Snare, Bassdrum, Galilean Moons, Red Dragon, Hihats, Claps and everything else – and will be actively shipping out to dealers and through our Direct Shop – until supplies are all sold out. If you’ve been holding off, now is the time, because we have very limited numbers of everything left (only double digits of every module).

Support efforts will continue on as long as it can, and we will announce a date of its eventual closure in the future, giving a lot of heads up before that happens.

The Mutant Brain Surgery configuration webpage will live on in one way or another, along with all the other supporting media (user manuals, etc.) for our products.

See the Global Chip Shortage label below for more.

WMD Winding Down Production and Closing Shop w/ Announcement of Three New Modules

via WMD

3 new modules are available for preorder now! More info, and videos to come soon! Each of these products will be a limited run. Once they’re gone, they’re gone! Preorder today at wmdevices.com.
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We also have some important and not so exciting news. Due to the state of the world, WMD is planning to wind down production and close by the end of the year. We have these new modules and a bit more stuff coming, but that’s all we can do. Please read the post linked in our bio before flooding the comments with questions.
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Huge thanks to everyone that’s ever supported us, we appreciate it so, so much. We will be conducting biz as usual for the next few months, supporting products, firmware for Metron, attending Velocity, and Knobcon showing the new products and hanging with friends.
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Freq Boutique and Patched Out will continue to happen as well. Come party with us tomorrow at Freq if you can!
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Get your orders in, lots of stuff is discounted right now, please help us push through the next few months so we can land as smoothly as possible.
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We love y’all.
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WMD.
#eurorack #modularsynth #modularsynthesizer

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Note: I created a Global Chip Shortage label for businesses and products/projects impacted by the global supply chain issue. For companies going under I've added the RIP label for now as well. You can click on either to see other companies and products impacted.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Blue Lantern Parallax Multimode Dual Filter - Mutable Instruments Blades w/ New Layout

via Blue Lantern:

"I recently made my own layout for the discontinued Mutable Instruments Blades filter. I changed the size of the op amps to soic. The other original tssop size op amps are impossible to get because of the chip shortage. I am currently the only one making blades available again."

Available on eBay, Reverb, and Etsy

"A great alternative to the discontinued mutable instruments blades module. This custom module is functionally identical to the original. You can achieve the same sound pallet and both filters are 1v per octave compatible.

Model: BLM Parallax Filter
Width: 18hp
Current: +150mA -140mA
PCB LEVEL: 2 STACK, Power Connector on Level 1, Skiff Compatible.

This module is a custom jacks on top, knobs on the bottom design of the discontinued mutable instruments Blades dual multi-mode filter.

Original Design by Émilie Gillet

-Dual Distortion with spectral color control

-Fully analog, based on the 2164 quad VCA chip.

-Frequency knob range: 8Hz to 18kHz.

-Audio input impedance: 30k.

-DC-coupled audio inputs.

-Filter mode CV input impedance: 50k.

-Other CV inputs impedance: 100k.

-All CV inputs handle audio-rate modulations.

The project files for this product are located on the Survival page of the blue lantern modules website."

Bastl Discontinues the THYME Effects Processor Due to Global Chip Supply Shortage

via @bastlinstrument

"Good night sweet prince. You have fallen victim to the global chip shortage like many others. ⁠ ⁠

Sweet dream...you will not be forgotten⁠"

Future Retro Closes Shop

via Future Retro

"Due to the current state of the world and global parts shortages we are forced to close our doors.

Thank you for 25 years of business, and all the relationships we had with our network of dealers and wonderful customers all around the world!"


Yet another synth manufacturer impacted by global supply chain shortages. Also see:

Synthesizers.com Is Up for Sale

Mos-lab Switches to ARP 2500 Production Only - Moog Format Production Put on Hold

Mos-lab Switches to ARP 2500 Production Only - Moog Format Production Put on Hold

via Mos-lab

"I regret to inform you that Mos-lab temporarily or permanently stops the production of Moog module and system clones for chaotic supply problems.

As a result, production is entirely devoted to the construction of the 2500 modulars."

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This one was spotted and sent in via Soviet Space Child.

Synthesizers.com Is Up for Sale

The message to the left was posted on the Friends of Synthesizers.com Facebook group by the administrator, James Allen.

I reached out to Roger Arrick, and James at Synthesizers.com and James confirmed.

This is stunning news. Synthesizers.com is a leader in the 5U/MU/Moog modular market and have been around since before Eurorack took off. The first post on MATRIXSYNTH to mention them was a plain text post back on July 30 of 2005, just 10 days after this version of MATRIXSYNTH began.

Synthesizers.com was founded in 1996.

NAMM 22: Glen Darcy - Ahsun Sound Machines

video upload by sonicstate

"The entire Hydrasynth range utilizes an advanced wavetable synthesis engine, 3 Oscillators, dual Wave Mutators and 2 filters that can be configured in series or parallel, giving extensive tone generating capabilities. All the keyboard versions of Hydrasynth come with the Polytouch keybed, even the extremely portable Hydrasynth Explorer.

Glen from Ashun explained the difficulties of production during lockdown and a chip shortage, but having the entire Hydrasynth family gathered at NAMM surely makes it all worth it."

OTTO Synth Project Suspended

You might remember the OTTO Raspberry PI based synth inspired by the Teenage Engineering OP-1 posted back in 2018.

Frank Reggiani wrote in to let us know the project has been suspended. Details from the OTTO Patreon page:

"OTTO Update, May 2022

In February, this project rounded 5 years. When we started, neither of us had worked on a real codebase before, and never even read the datasheet for an electronics component. Over the years, the project has gone through quite a few changes, in scope, structure and ambition. In 2020 we launched Bitfield Audio, rented a small office space, and started working on the project with a goal of commercialization. In 2021 we both got full time jobs, and Bitfield Audio and OTTO had to take a back seat.

At this point, we have decided to stop OTTO development, at least for the time being. This has been a very hard decision for us, as we have worked on this for five years, but we simply do not have the resources it would take to finish the project.

From a hardware-perspective, the global chip shortage hit the project hard - forcing us to rework hardware parts several times because of out-of-stock components, etc. Also, on both the software-side and more broadly in terms of features and design, OTTO still builds on a foundation that was laid 5 years ago, when we didn't know what we were doing, and the past year has been spent fighting these fundamental issues.

Also, since we started, the groovebox space has been expanding, and in 2022 the OTTO lacks the defining feature that would make it worth the wait. OTTO seems to be in an inbetween-space where it is too complex for us to finish alone, but where the complexity has not translated into the 'killer features' that would make the complexity worth it.

We would like to release everything we have to the open source community, and hope to find the time and energy to polish up the existing parts at some point. If any of you have ideas where all the stuff developed for OTTO could be of use, please let us know and we can focus on the parts that can do some good.

Also, this is not the end of Bitfield Audio. We are exploring other projects that could be a better fit for the time and resources we have available.

Finally, we would like to give our deepest gratitude to everyone who has helped and supported us over the years. This includes all open source contributors, especially Bastian (Spatz), Thibault (Nebular Noise), Albert, Stephen (adorbs), and everyone who contributed UI, samples and code. We also want to thank the people who supported us on Patreon - You made it possible for us to put a lot of hours into OTTO while studying, and funded our prototype parts and board iterations.

We hope for your understanding

Sincerely,

Tobias and Jonatan, aka Bitfield Audio"

https://bitfieldaudio.com/
https://instagram.com/bitfieldaudio
https://github.com/bitfieldaudio

Commodore 64 as a Midi Synthesizer with Cynthcart & Kerberos

video upload by Avrilcadabra

"Using the legendary c64 as a synthesizer with Midi

00:00 Intro Demo
00:27 Nerd out about the c64
07:54 Direct audio Demo

Kerberos Cart info here though I don't think they are for sale since chip shortage
https://frank-buss.de/kerberos/index....

Cynthcart info
http://www.qotile.net/cynthcart.html

omx-27 https://denki-oto.weebly.com/store/p5...

Find my content entertaining or helpful? you can make my day by buying one of my songs at https://avrilcadabra.bandcamp.com/rel..."

Erica Synths Pērkons HD-01 Delayed Due to Chip Shortage

Via Erica Synths

"Earlier in 2021 Erica Synths announced the upcoming drum machine & synthesizer Pērkons HD-01. As the news were received with a lot of encouraging excitement we have been working hard to fulfil the promise of making the instrument available to you within 2021.

Unfortunately our plans were affected by unforeseen circumstances coming from suppliers - we had ordered micro-controllers for Pērkons HD-01 early in 2021 with a promise to have them delivered in September, the delivery date kept pushed and pushed ahead up to the point of them becoming available only in late 2022. We are currently reworking the PCB to function with other parts that are available to us sooner. You can be sure - no compromises are being made.

Meanwhile we have actively continued the development as well as improved the user interface. We now expect to open pre-orders early 2022 and will soon present a new demo to showcase the re-worked & even better version of Pērkons HD-01."

RRP: 1650 EUR (VAT excl.)

You can find posts featuring the Perkons HD-01 including demos here.

Some pics that came with the press release to get you excited (click on them for the full size shots):

CLICK FOR MORE »

New Superbooth Berlin 2021 Presentation Videos

You can use the controls on the bottom left or upper right of the player to skip around.

Playlist:
1. Joranalogue - SUPERBOOTH21 Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert)

The Belgium Eurorack synth maker Joranalogue presented not one, but three new modules at SUPERBOOTH21: Orbit 3, Enhance 2 and Step 8.

During their Gesprächskonzert at Fuchsbau they not only talked about these new modules, but Alter Fritz also performed a live session with a Joranalogue based Eurorack system.

Driven by an unrelenting passion for analogue circuits, Joranalogue Audio Design offers an expanding series of high-quality Eurorack music synthesizer modules. They're continually introducing new approaches and techniques to the Eurorack platform, making waves in the waters of analogue synthesis. All products are designed and made in Belgium, guided by experiences in both modern hardware engineering and vintage synthesizer servicing.

This year, the Joranalogue crew finally returns to Berlin to present its latest developments. Join designer Joran van Gremberghe and artist Frits Jacobs (Alter Fritz) for a whirlwind ride through the exciting world of these black and silver modules!

2. u-he Wiretap - SUPERBOOTH21 Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert) @SUPERBOOTH21

For this Gesprächskonzert Urs Heckmann, founder of Berlin based company u-he, teamed up with Sebastian Hübert for their performance and presentation at Fuchsbau during SUPERBOOTH21. The former one-man show u-he is now a tightly knit team of employees, active associates and 3rd-party contractors – with ambitious plans.

Famous for very accurate and widely appreciated software synthesizers and effects, u-he showed their first eurorack module at a previous edition of Superbooth – the CVilisation. At SUPERBOOTH21 it was time for another announcement. They took the chance to present their latest development with a Gesprächskonzert, of which you can find the video documentation below.
The module is named Wiretap and it played a major role in creating rhythm during their performance.

Wiretap is a double gate extractor for v/oct signals. It will generate a gate when the voltage goes high, when it goes low, when it's steady, when it moves, when it's higher than the other one and when it's lower. And you can set the gate length and get additional envelope outputs.

3. Bitwig - SUPERBOOTH21 Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert)

Berlin based DAW-makers Bitwig played a Gesprächskonzert on Thursday of SUPERBOOTH21. With the idea of - Less is More - Dave Linnebank showcased Bitwig and its possibilities, concentrating on simple ideas and how to creatively make them more complex. In other words: In this performance Dave starts with some short phrases, and then uses Bitwig Studio to extend them into musical passages. These will then become performance-ready clips by adding Bitwig's Operators for some fuzzy logic, getting the computer to make compositional choices while Dave is busy playing new lines on top.

Dave Linnenbank is a musician, technologist, and teacher. Over the past 20 years, he has crafted musical tools for pop and jazz artists, Broadway musicals, and desktop electronic musicians everywhere. Dave is part of Team Bitwig in Berlin, regularly making YouTube tutorials and more.

4. Verbos Electronics Complete Systems – SUPERBOOTH21 Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert)

During his Gesprächskonzert at SUPERBOOTH21 Mark Verbos is introducing the audience to the newly designed Verbos Electronics System Configurations: Designer Configuration, Performer Configuration, Producer Configuration.

Mark Verbos explains the intended use of each configuration as well as the philosophy behind not only the module selection but also module arrangement. He also plays some examples with all three system to give a musical reference to the explanation of the ideas behind each system. This Gesprächskonzert is a great opportunity to watch and hear all three configurations right next to each other – where else would that be possible? Enjoy the video!

5. Modor DR-2 - SUPERBOOTH21 Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert)

Modor introduced its powerful DR-2 drum machine at SUPERBOOTH21 with a short explanation by Marcel from Modor Music about its most deviant possibilities. This six-channel drum machine is completely digital – a discipline that Modor shines in. The DR- drum synthesizer features a sequencer with 128 steps and a very tidy user interface.

It positively surprised many people when it was introduced, because it is unusual and brings something new to the table. Luckily the DR-2 is not a copy of a classic, but uses modern digital synthesis to create drum sounds. A drum model can be assigned to each of the six channels. You can also assign the same model to several or all channels. The models include: Three bass drum models, three snare models, three cymbal models, claps, two tom models and miscellaneous, the latter divided into three subcategories: rimshot, rattle and cowbell.

This Gesprächskonzert was a very welcome opportunity to hear this rare drum machine in action. Enjoy the video!

6. Polyend Tracker - SUPERBOOTH21 Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert)

Sobutane presents his upcoming album Future Cake using two Trackers and one Medusa durng this Gesprächskonzert at SUPERBOOTH21.

After working with the Yamaha RM1x sequencer for 13 years Sobutane discovered the Tracker by Polyend. Originally bought just for drum parts, it revealed itself to be a great live-oriented tool, making him compose music outside his trusty RM1x for the first time in his life. Although the idea of a tracker is not particularly new, the Tracker still feels fresh and inspirational to many musicians. The Tracker brought Sobutane ideas and a new approach to composing his music, so he bought a second one and a Medusa, also made by Polyend. That was the starting point for the creation of the music you hear in his Gesprächskonzert for Polyend. Enjoy!

7. Ploytec Boom Kick - SUPERBOOTH21 Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert)

This Gesprächskonzert was unusually opened with a steel-guitar performance by DobBroMan, showing the Ploytec Boom Kick (Guitar Pedal).

Ploytec always valued the opportunity of Gesprächskonzerte at Superbooth and so they took the chance to do another one in 2021 this time for a rather unusual product – a guitar pedal that generates a kick drum in sync with the tapped in tempo. Additionally it sends a MIDI clock to other gear. This is useful for simple backing of what the guitarist is playing. The addition of a bass drum completes the otherwise solo guitar and with the MIDI tempo output, other instruments can play in sync – whether these are additional drum machines or synthesizers or whatever.

And there is one special thing to note about the bass drum sound – there are no samples saved to this machine. The drum sound is generated through synthesis and it has a huge range of possible sounds, suitable for pretty much all music genres.

And if you haven’t heard the Superbooth blues yet, watch until the end!

8. LPZW & Tubbutec - SUPERBOOTH21 Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert)

Kai and Tobi (aka LPZW & Tubbutec) probably could have sold every second SUPERBOOTH21 guest a 6mod6, that's how well their first joint product was received. At Fuchsbau the Berlin based manufacturers presented the result of their collaboration: a highly modified homage to the 606.

They were accompanied by an opening performance from Cem Oral a.k.a. Jammin’ Unit in which he used the new module intensively, giving a good idea about what the module sounds like in a musical context.

After the performance Kai and Tobi walked the audience through every sound engine of the module and showed their modifications of the original 606 circuits. Not only with the Gesprächskonzert, they convinced a lot of people that they created a great sounding and very versatile 606 inspired drum module.

Now the wait begins, the first batch of the 6mod6 still has to be built. Let's hope that the chip shortage does not delay the production too much.

9. Erica Synths PĒRKONS - SUPERBOOTH21 Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert)

Erica Synths team of engineers and musicians have been working hard to bring surprise us all with a new instrument that no one expected and everyone wanted. Erica Synths had their booth completely dedicated to their latest product the PĒRKONS HD-01 drum machine.

PĒRKONS features four sonically versatile hybrid voices (digital sound engine + analogue multimode filter with overdrive) and a sequencer with simultaneous control over all four percussion tracks, an internal analogue BBD FX send, parameter automation and much more. This is a modern drum machine with a serious vintage look.

For their Gesprächskonzert they brought not one, but two of these machines and finally explained it and showed what it is capable of. For everyone’s surprise, the demo started with a drone set – yes, it can also do drones. And for the final concert part of this presentation, no other than Kodek entered the stage. Sounds fun? Enjoy the video!

10. Nonlinear Labs C15 – SUPERBOOTH21 Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert)

Stephan Schmitt, the founder of Nonlinear Labs, plays some improvisations on the C15 and shows the enormous tonal possibilities of this instrument and its ability to be played very expressively – with up to four expression pedals and the two large ribbon controllers. The C15 is a puristic and distinct digital synthesizer. Its sounds are generated by elementary algorithms and feedback structures. This opens up new fields for sound design and gives musicians an expressively playable and dynamical behavior, similar to acoustic instruments. The C15 is an instrument that has to be played by hand to unfold its full potential. After the performance Stephan explains what features are new and which special features of the C15 he used.

This isn’t the first Gesprächskonzert by Nonlinear Labs, so be sure to check out the previous editions for more information about this unique instrument.

11. Haken Audio & La Voix du Luthier – SUPERBOOTH21 Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert)

Haken Audio and La Voix du Luthier have been presenting together at Superbooth for several years now, showing how well these two companies and their products fit together. This Gesprächskonzert features a Haken Continuum, the all-new Continuum Eurorack Module and the large Pyramid Resonator.
Watch Edmund Eagan passionately talk about his products and enjoy the demonstration and performance of the Continuum Fingerboard by Rob Schwimmer.

The almighty synthesis engine behind all these sounds is the Eagan Matrix, that now is also featured in the Eurorack module. This is a huge opportunity for sound designers and artists to expand their sound palette with very expressive and unique sounds.

12. UDO Audio Super 6 Desktop - SUPERBOOTH21 Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert)

UDO Audio brought the world one of the most interesting poly-synths of the recent years. Very rarely a company achieves such a success with their first ever product – but the Super 6 made it. Now UDO Audio showed the desktop version of this incredible synth. Great looks, ergonomics and the sound of the original Super 6 make this machine a very interesting option for many musicians and studios on the hunt for a capable poly-synth.

In this video George gives a little insight into the development of the company in general and his view on the past two years, since he presented the Super 6 to the world at SUPERBOOTH19.

LPZW & Tubbutec Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert)

LPZW & Tubbutec Gesprächskonzert (lecture concert) from HerrSchneider on Vimeo.

"Kai and Tobi (aka LPZW & Tubbutec) probably could have sold every second SUPERBOOTH21 guest a 6mod6, that's how well their first joint product was received. At Fuchsbau the Berlin based manufacturers presented the result of their collaboration: a highly modified homage to the 606.

They were accompanied by an opening performance from Cem Oral a.k.a. Jammin’ Unit in which he used the new module intensively, giving a good idea about what the module sounds like in a musical context.

After the performance Kai and Tobi walked the audience through every sound engine of the module and showed their modifications of the original 606 circuits. Not only with the Gesprächskonzert, they convinced a lot of people that they created a great sounding and very versatile 606 inspired drum module.

Now the wait begins, the first batch of the 6mod6 still has to be built. Let's hope that the chip shortage does not delay the production too much."