No.1 APEX Eurorack Delays

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"I am not sure if there's an APEX (best of the best) delay in eurorack. If there was, I would never ended up with so many of them. The 'problem' with eurorack is that each manufacturer adds something special. They have to. I guess my 'problem' is the autistic need to make 'one brand' cases instead of a colorful patch blanket. I never fully realized I had so many delays and even though there is no good and bad in euro, I could easily build a subjective top five - in any order - except for number 1. The top spot has been taken for seven years, but is now on the verge of retirement.

I'll be using a stack of Plaits and Rings as a reference sound, so prepare for a 20 minute 'spa'. In the end, there is an APEX delay after all. I'll add chapters later, for now I want you to relax, listen, maybe even do something else, and when you hear something remarkable, check what's playing. Spin FX delays like FX-AID are not included, but mentioned in general because they're not just delays. I also think the karaoke-chip delays (e.g. Bruxa, Lyra-8 FX) are too exotic but APEX in their own field. I also didn't include any analog/BBD delays because I have no experience with them. This is not a competitive review, it's a lab tour.

Please comment if I overlooked a delay that beats everything else, I don't have/know all of them. It's also cool if you'd share your personal favorite!

Cheers,
Robert"

Buchla Tiptop 264T | ART protocol hacking with XAOC Drezno

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"According to Gur from TTA this was unlikely to work, but 'unlikely' is not impossible. The ART protocol is something like analog encoded digital data used to be transferred over regular patch cables. It carries information that can be used to play quantized notes on an ART capable VCO like the 259t (and obviously the ART series from TTA). I tried using XAOC Drezno to convert the ART signal to bits, and then scramble a few before recoding it back to analog. This is just an experiment and it was a bit too much off-topic for episode 14. It would also make the video too long and nobody's watching the end of long videos anymore. It makes me wonder if this could also work on MIDI data, but that's for another day."

Fonitronik PS3100 / Triple Resonant Patch / ODESSA / GRIFFIN'S CLAWS

video upload by BRiES

"I used Griffin's Claws to patch the output of the Fonitronik PS3100 back into itself - the result isn't drastic but rather there's a subtle added resonance because of the feedback.

Edited in early 90s fashion for my pleasure."

XAOC DEVICES SAMARKANDA first test

video upload by ALEQ Modular

"I'm just receiving the XAOC DEVICES SAMARKANDA module !!!

The ultimate delay module ?
Maybe not , it needs some extra modules, maybe, like filters, or compressors.
But the best I know in the 'modular' spirit. And it's what I'm looking for.

Why ? because the module fonctionnalities are completely open. Almost all parameters are CV (or gate) controllable, and the 4 delays can be independante.
So, if I need more functionnalities, I can add them to the module by patching other modules: there are all the jacks we need.
Also, no sub menus or tiny screen.
It means that it can be deeply connected to all my other modules: the 'modular' spirit...

To show how this module is easy to use, this is really an 'out of the box' test. (for a result after a deep exploration of the module, see the very good demo that are already on youtube, from your favorit youtubers)

Audio sources are the DUAL UNDULA OSCILLATOR and the 4TOMS from LARIX ELEKTRO.
Sequences with LARIX ELEKTRO module, RITOURNELLE serie."

Powerhouse Eurorack Quad Delay & Looping // 3 Patches with Samarkanda from XAOC Devices

video upload by DivKid

"Here’s Samarkanda from XAOC Devices which is a real powerhouse, monster (insert other big buzz words) delay and looper in a whopping 42hp Eurorack module. Each channel offers from 0.5ms up to 15 seconds of delay or looping, with various behaviours, reverse options, lots of CV modulation and you have options to link channels to extend up to 60 seconds of buffer time. Whether working in quad series or parallel chains, create ping pongs, short delay chorus, flanger or karplus strong pitch tracking resonators there’s truly LOADS of ways to use this."

*TIMING INDEX // CHAPTERS*

00:00 Hello & previews

01:23 What is Samarkanda?

02:12 Feature run down

PATCH 1
04:20 A playground of delay FX!
05:49 Mono to stereo ping pong delay
07:03 Characterful dub echo
09:10 Scattering modulated delay critters
11:11 Building 3 delay layers & textures

PATCH 2
12:16 Two approaches to stereo looping beat FX
13:01 Pitch down crusty loops
14:55 Beat repeat stutter glitch FX
16:00 Keeping extreme glitches ‘musical’

PATCH 3 - Tom Churchills Serge patch!
17:12 Short delays are ace!
17:45 Chorus & flanger FX
18:25 Pitch tracking resonator / karplus strong
19:32 Stereo grain clouds (delay meets granular)

Eurorack Night Jam - Feat, Xaoc Odessa, Plonk, and Wavefonix 3320 LPF.

video upload by Giulio Carmassi

"A little jam to try out a few new modules."

Patching with Leibniz - Episode 5

video upload by Xaoc Devices

"In episode 5, we will show you how to make nice evolving pads with just a mix of bit outputs, create a complex VCO with a Leibniz twist, and cook up something more than just a simple comb filter."

00:00 - Intro
00:05 - Patch 13
02:07 - Patch 14
06:50 - Patch 15

Eight Simple Tricks with Koszalin

video upload by Xaoc Devices

"Here is another set of simple but useful tricks you can incorporate into your patching habits. This time it's all about our frequency shifter Koszalin!

00:00 - Intro
00:05 - 1. Two Voices
01:08 - 2. Through Zero FM
01:51 - 3. FM With Stacked Channels
02:43 - 4. In The Feedback Loop
03:10 - 5. Stacked Again
03:41 - 6. Up & Down
04:11 - 7. Ring Mod
04:23 - 8. Slow Down!"

Patching with Leibniz - Episode 4

video upload by Xaoc Devices

"Episode 4 and another three patches for the Leibniz Subsystem! This time we're focusing on control signals showing you how to create a delay effect for voltages and an advanced LFO à la Leibniz. On top of that there are more ideas for shaping signals from Berlin."

00:00 - Intro
00:05 - Patch 10
03:56 - Patch 11
06:10 - Patch 12

Leibniz Unleashed | XAOC Leibniz Binary Subsystem | Episode 04

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"It's been six months since episode 03 (The Road to Berlin). This is mainy because I make videos as I go and as I learn. The Leibniz system, by itself is not difficult to use, but in the audio domain it's impossible to bypass the 8-bit sound quality and harsh noise is inevitable. I needed to take many breaks to make this video and I had to get my knowledge from the manuals and the excellent works of Tom Churchil. I never fully realized you need to make loops for best results and I didn't know how important 'reclocking' is. I experimented with external VCO's before I realized Berlin and Poczdam offer their own Leibniz clocks to manipulate and 'reclock' the datastreams.

I had many 'I did not know' moments while making this video, and often I had to reshoot stuff that did not make any sense anymore. I wanted this episode to be a 'Leibniz Unleashed' experience, showing off some amazing patches that have a lot to offer and complement what's already out on YouTube.

I guess a logical followup for Episode 05 is to explore musical applications some more, especially in the audio domain. Leibniz is just great for CV and rhythms, but (at first glance) not so great in the audio domain (unless you fancy glitch, noise and other raw genres, it excels here).

I hope this video will help you get more production value from your Leibniz set, or help you decide if it's something of interest. Modular is too expensive to just do a leap of faith and figure it out later. It can take a year before it starts to make sense. But it's been a great year!

00:00 Introduction
00:13 Drezno Recap
02:56 Chains and Loops
04:27 Berlin and Jena
08:44 Odessa and Ostankino (expander for Moskwa II)
11:47 Generating rhythms with Lipsk, Erfurt and Gera
15:26 Re-clocking with Drezno II, Rostock, Buchla TTA 258t (20 kHz) and NE Sinc Iter (+4 MHz)
17:43 Re-clocking with Poczdam
19:36 Routing and re-clocking with a full Leibniz System"

Eight Simple Tricks With Odessa

video upload by Xaoc Devices

"It doesn't matter if you are a beginner or an expert, we hope you'll find something interesting among those simple but useful tricks that can help you create new exciting patches with your Xaoc Devices Odessa oscillator!

00:00 - Intro
00:05 - 1. Saw & Square
00:51 - 2. Supersaw
01:07 - 3. Easy Chords
01:28 - 4. Phasing & Flanging
01:52 - 5. Through Zero FM
03:14 - 6. Tame The Fundamental
04:10 - 7. Extreme Settings
05:00 - 8. Slow Down!"

Patching with Leibniz - Episode 3

video upload by Xaoc Devices

Patching with Leibniz

"Here is the third episode of Patching with Leibniz. Let's see, if there is something better than Jena to pair with Berlin. How can you spice up this classic pair? Oh, and perhaps you want to master chaos? Leibniz style of course!"

00:00 - intro
00:06 - Patch 7
03:24 - Patch 8
06:25 - Patch 9

Xaoc Devices Lublin

video upload by Xaoc Devices

"Lublin [ˈlublin] is a dual, DC-coupled, high-quality VCA module with exponential control characteristics. It features a gain control circuit that prevents distortion from excessive amplification, which is common with traditional VCAs.

Besides audio and CV inputs, it features additional pinging inputs that use an elaborate analog circuit to model the dynamic behavior of vactrols, allowing you to trigger a carefully crafted gain response that mimics the natural decay of plucked and struck acoustic instruments.

Note that despite this emulation, Lublin is not a lowpass gate type module as it retains the full frequency bandwidth when reducing gain. Unlike many modules that use vactrols, Lublin's dynamic profile can be varied within a wide range.

Dual Voltage-Controlled Amplifier ∙ High quality, low noise and distortion, DC-coupled signal path ∙ Ping inputs for emulating vactrol response ∙ Three variants of ping response ∙ Exponential CV response with adjustable sensitivity ∙ Gain limiting circuit for protection against signal clipping

Timeline:
00:00 - Intro
00:29 - Ping response controls
00:43 - Bass!
00:54 - Combine CV & ping
01:37 - Generate envelopes"

Xaoc Devices Lublin | Dual VCA with vactrol-style envelopes

video upload by Tom Churchill

Chapters:
00:00 Intro & patch previews
01:24 Lublin overview
02:46 Twin VCA with pinged envelopes
07:56 Patching a low pass gate
12:07 Dialling in the perfect kick drum
16:34 Creating vintage hi-hats
19:08 Stereo plucked chords

Xaoc Devices Lublin: pinging for the new era, or strike your VCA!

They say you can never have too many VCAs. So we decided to make another one, actually two in one. After our modern classic that is Tallin, lauded for its inimitable saturation circuit, it's time for Lublin [ˈlublin]! Lublin is a high-quality dual VCA module with exponential CV inputs. On top of that, its two identical channels feature additional inputs for pinging. These inputs use an elaborate analog circuit to model the dynamic behavior of vactrols, allowing you to trigger a carefully crafted gain response that mimics the natural decay of plucked and struck acoustic instruments. Unlike lowpass gate modules though, Lublin reduces gain while retaining the full frequency bandwidth, so it is perfect for harmonically rich signals, like our Odessa additive VCO. The vactrol-like behavior is just a starting point as the envelope may be varied within a wide range using a switch (natural, shortened and prolonged response) and a potentiometer, so you are not stuck with one decay characteristic. Therefore, you can use it not only to create bongos, but also for fat compressed kicks! The built-in gain control circuit (saturating CV instead of the audio signal) prevents distortion from excessive amplification. Lublin is DC-coupled, so you can use it to process CV as well as audio signals.

Notable features:
- Dual Voltage-Controlled Amplifier
- High quality, low noise and distortion, DC-coupled signal path
- Ping inputs for emulating vactrol response
- Three variants of ping response
- Exponential CV response with adjustable sensitivity
- Gain limiting circuit for protection against signal clipping

- width 6HP
- depth 33mm (including cable bracket)
- +40mA/-20mA

PRICE: 170 EUR MSRP, available now!

Check with dealers on the right for details.

Patching with Leibniz - Episode 2

video upload by Xaoc Devices

Patching with Leibniz

"Here is the second episode of Patching with Leibniz. This time, we'll dive deeper into the waveshaping capabilities of Drezno and we'll show you some basic blocks for an advanced gate generator based on the Leibniz Subsystem.

00:06 - Patch 4
02:41 - Patch 5
06:05 - Patch 6"

Patching with Leibniz - Episode 1

video upload by Xaoc Devices

Patching with Leibniz

"We know you've been waiting for this! A series of videos showing Xaoc Leibniz Subsystem patches. In each episode we will present three new ideas. Simple solutions, easy to incorporate into your everyday workflow, some clever and unusual ones, but also a few crazy monsters spitting out unexpected sounds, triggers and voltages! Stay tuned!"

00:06 - Patch 1
02:53 - Patch 2
05:25 - Patch 3

Body Synths' favourite delay module for Eurorack

video upload by Body Synths

"OK here we go! Listening to the Metal Fetishist through every single output of the XAOC Sarajewo, simultaneously. Synth jam. No talking. I could have recorded 3 hours of this honestly but I hope you appreciate a short video :)"

A guide to the Leibniz binary subsystem from Xaoc Devices

video upload by Signal Sounds

"In this video, Tom takes a look at the Leibniz Binary Subsystem from Xaoc Devices: a range of modules that create and share 8-bit digital representations of analogue audio and CV signals in a Eurorack modular synth. It includes an overview of all eight current modules in the range: Berlin, Drezno II, Erfurt, Gera, Jena, Lipsk, Poczdam and Rostock.

Read the accompanying blog on the Signal Sounds website: https://www.signalsounds.com/blog?p=s...

Xaoc Devices products are available here: https://www.signalsounds.com/xaoc-dev..."

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:29 What is the Leibniz binary subsystem?
02:34 What are the Leibniz modules?
04:40 Drezno II, Gera and Rostock
09:13 Waveshaping with Drezno II
12:12 Processing modulation with Rostock
16:05 Berlin and Jena as a wavetable VCO
21:58 Lipsk and Erfurt as a drum machine"

Eurorack Modular - July 25 2024

video upload by John L Rice

"It’s been a month since I’ve posted any new modular synth experiments so here’s one to get me back in the saddle! 🤓

Synth Tech: E102 Quad Temporal Shifter and four E330 Multimode VCO
Modcan: Quad LFO
Happy Nerding: 3x MIA
ADDAC: VC Rotator
VPME: T43 Precision Adder
Instruo: Quad Performance Quantizer
Klavis: Quadigy EG
Xaoc Devices: Praga VCA/mixer
Strymon: Magneto delay/reverb
Erica Synths: Black VC Clock v2
2hp: Delay
Doepfer: A-182-1 Switched Multiple (modified)
Circuit Abbey: Unify mixer"

Hacking the XAOC Berlin VCO

video upload by ALEQ Modular

"The XAOC Berlin is a digital VCO compatible with the Leibnitz system of XAOC. This system allows to play with bits: Interesting !

Here, I'm using the Leibnitz connectors, and two multiple from Larix-Elektro to have access to the 8 bits that generate the SAW wave.
Just because it's very simple way to convert the Leibnitz connectors into jacks !

And after, I'm explaining how to produce new kind of waveforms.

This is not a safe way to use the module. But its a good way to understand it, and thinking about acquiring some Leibnitz compatible modules, to play with bits !

Note:
The Multiple from LE is not yet available, this is a prototype originally designed to add I/O to others modules like the 4TOMS.
Shold be available after this summer.
Thanks to the LE CV Generator, and the Attenuverter Bank, from LE too...

PS:
Try this carfully: I haven't checked how the circuit is built, if the I/O of the Leibnitz connector are protected. So maybe you can damage your module...
I strongly recommande to use modules from the Leibnitz system instead."

Stereofication | feat. Makenoise 'Bruxa', QPAS SmilePass and XAOC Minsk

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"After the release of Bruxa two days ago, I noticed a lot of comments about it being a mono delay in a world that quickly goes stereo. So in this video, I'll use the concept of a mono delay and check out two options to stereofy it (besides running it through a stereo delay, granulator or reverb). QPAS smilepass is an 'allpass' filter which can produce 'false' stereo effects. XAOC Minsk really perfected this 'art' and can turn Strega/Bruxa into a wonderful stereo swirl with absolutely no effort. Higly recommended."