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"

Xaoc Devices Berlin

video upload by Xaoc Devices

Xaoc Devices Berlin: the oscillator that opens up the Leibniz Binary Subsystem

video upload by Tom Churchill

"On the surface, Xaoc Devices Berlin is a simple compact VCO offering square and saw waves with hard sync, FM input and octave switching. The most interesting part lies behind the panel and that is the Leibniz Binary Subsystem interface, namely LBZ out and LBZ in. The frontpanel LBZ LINK button and its corresponding gate input switch between the default saw wave and a signal that has been passed through any Leibniz module (or a combination of Leibniz modules) connected to Berlin. Add Xaoc Devices Jena for wave processing and the output is no longer a simple saw wave – you now have a vintage-style wavetable oscillator with a penchant for the experimental due to its open, hackable nature. Berlin operates in a way similar to the classic PPG Wave and Fairlight CMI synths and employs a variable sample rate of an extremely widerange internal clock. As the sample rate changes with the oscillator frequency, Berlin's internal square and saw waves exhibit no aliasing effect. The whole frequency range spans from 30 seconds in LFO mode up to 250 kHz (!) with the clock reaching an astounding 20 MHz. Add to that voltage control over all parameters and the result is a highly versatile module capable of creating a significantly diverse palette of unusual waveforms.

Xaoc Devices Berlin notable features:

– wide-range VCO with LFO mode (over 20 octaves of tracking);
– Leibniz Binary Subsystem interface;
– extremely widerange clock source;
– manual and voltage control over all parameters (including octave switching and LBZ LINK!);
– simultaneous Square and Saw/Leibniz wave outputs;
– extensive waveshaping potential when combined with Xaoc Devices Leibniz Subsystem modules, e.g., Jena or Rostock"

Xaoc Devices Rostock & Drezno II: new patch ideas for the Leibniz Binary Subsystem

video upload by Tom Churchill

"In this video, I’m taking another look at the Leibniz Binary Subsystem from Xaoc Devices. This is a set of Eurorack modules that let you convert analogue audio and CV into 8-bit digital signals and then process them in all sorts of unique and interesting ways. Using various combinations of Leibniz modules, you can do everything from waveshaping and bitcrushing to sequencing and drum pattern generation.

Xaoc Devices recently sent over the latest modules in the system for me to check out. Drezno II is a new and improved version of their original analogue to digital and digital to analogue converter module which acts as the main front-end for the system. And Rostock is a binary data pipeline, or digital shift register, which lets you delay, loop, scramble and reclock the 8-bit data stream. In the video, I build a few patches that explore some of the musical applications of these tools."

Chapters:
00:00 Intro & patch previews
03:22 Drezno II / Leibniz 101
07:22 Rostock overview
10:33 Complex stepped modulation
16:56 Sequence canons
21:52 Digital chorus and flanging
27:13 Looping drum patterns
32:18 Clock-based destruction
36:20 Generative sequencing

Xaoc Devices LEIBNIZ #4 / POCZDAM / switching & routing / extensive playthrough

video upload by BRiES

"POCZDAM is a routing and switching utility module for the LEIBNIZ BINARY SUBSYSTEM. It hosts a lot of inputs and outputs that you can use to extract bits (gates) from the selected source or to send your own signals in to route somewhere else in your patch. POCZDAM also features a built-in clock that you manually need to connect for it to have any influence on the system.

POCZDAM is really intuitive to work with but everything really much depends on remembering what you connected to which Leibniz inputs and outputs of Poczdam. While preparing for the video there were a few of times where I was profoundly confused just because I forgot the order in which I chained the modules. As a result of this, I thought a lot about how to concisively demonstrate the functionality of the module, which is not as straightforward as it might seem because you need to know the order of every part of the chain to be able to make sense of it. I decided to just follow the patch examples that are described in the manual, as a safe-guard to make sure there's no confusion which module is routed how and what the expected result of the patches is.

POCZDAM official user manual: https://xaocdevices.com/manuals/xaoc_...
POCZDAM poster/infographic: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1atpE...

You can support my work at http://www.ko-fi.com/BRiES (ideal for one time donations) or https://www.patreon.com/madebyBRiES (ideal for monthly donations). On the support pages there's several downloads to other Leibniz documents (check the gallery on ko-fi / I'm still updating the patreon page), most of these are available for everyone. Supporters get access to exclusive videos (patch examples and breakdowns). Some videos get posted on the support pages earlier as well.

0:00 intro
0:06 hi
1:30 Poczdam features and operation
2:50 source selection
3:25 output 1 bit outputs
4:00 output 1 clock
4:30 output 2 link button
5:05 output 2 clock
5:20 built in clock generator
6:23 output 2 bit inputs
7:20 source select CV input
8:23 patch example 1
14:05 patch example 2
23:27 patch example 3
28:03 patch example 4
38:52 conclusion"

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"

Xaoc Devices Sofia, Koszalin, Gera & Poczdam

video upload by Xaoc Devices

"Sofia is an unusual analog oscillator based on an original waveforming principle. The sound is a mixture of a warm saturated base tone and two modulating ripple elements. A wide array of control inputs coupled with separate outputs for numerous components of the sound shaping chain allows for extensive self-patching and complex animation of the final waveform. The resulting range of possible sounds is surprisingly vast, including but not limited to: vowel-like, tearing hard-sync effect, woody pings, warm and fuzzy sine-like evolving tones with a touch of bright sparkle on top. Sofia pairs very well with filters, but it also shines with just a VCA.

24hp, 30mm depth (including ribbon cable bracket)

Current draw:

+90mA/-80mA/0mA

Available: June 2022"

Xaoc Devices Koszalin

video upload by Xaoc Devices

"Koszalin is a full stereo frequency shifter (2 ins / 4 outs) offering both quasi-exponential and linear frequency change of up to +/-5kHz as well as full stereo feedback under voltage control. Frequency shifting results in linear translation of signal spectrum producing all kinds of atonal sounds. It should not be confused with frequency scaling, also known as pitch shifting. Complex phase cancellation patterns occurring with frequency shifting and deep feedback produce spectacular barber-pole effects. Koszalin offers direct control of feedback amount, feedback routing, and feedback response. It also facilitates frequency modulation of any stereo audio signal, thanks to the linear TZFM input.

10hp, 43mm depth (including ribbon cable bracket)

Current draw:

+12v 140mA/-12v 30mA/5v 0mA

Available: May/June 2022"

Xaoc Devices Gera & Poczdam

video upload by Xaoc Devices

"Gera

Gera is a component of the Leibniz subsystem that allows masking individual bits of the digital data by the use of logical AND operation. It features 8 individual gate inputs that affect the individual bits of data, as well as 8 illuminated tact switches for manual inverting of each control input. When connected to Drezno that is processing a waveform or voltage, masking of individual bits yields various forms of quantization.

Bit processing logic in Gera is hardware based, hence there is virtually no latency, and the binary signals may change at extreme rates.

6hp, 30mm depth (including ribbon cable brackets)

Current draw:

+12v 45mA/-12v 0mA/5v 0mA

Poczdam

Poczdam is a binary data routing solution for the Xaoc Leibniz subsystem. It allows manual and remote switching between two Leibniz data sources, modifying individual bits of the data stream, and re-clocking the data with its onboard voltage controlled wideband oscillator, or with any external clock signal. Poczdam is particularly useful with complex Leibniz setups that need to reconfigure the data flow between multiple modules. However, it can also be employed in small creative patches, e.g. for waveform splicing, disrupting rhythmic loops or generating digital chaos.

10hp, 30mm depth (including ribbon cable brackets)

Current draw:

+12v 20mA/-12v 10mA/5v 0mA

Available: June/July 2022"

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

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"

The Road to Berlin | XAOC Leibniz Binary Subsystem | Episode 03

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"I got a bit stuck after doing the 2nd episode. Yeah, that episode sucked, but that also happens at the Lab. Dead ends are important if you want to learn to think more in u-turns. In this episode, we're back on track.

I knew the Leibniz Binary system would give me a hard time, but I underestimated that. I had a few weeks staring at my case wondering 'what's next?'. Sure, there's plenty to explore, but it's hard when you don't resonate well with the broken chiptune sounds - which are inevitable. Then, XAOC added 'Berlin' to the list of cities. It's labeled a 'numeric' VCO and it's designed especially for the Leibniz modules. It's basically a simple sawtooth with 1V/OCT, FM and Sync, but it's more like a quality D/A converter for generating waveforms. The Drezno II used to take care of that, but it would make jagged waveforms by summing lots of squares. It sounds very 8-bit. Berlin doesn't have that problem, it sounds great.

In this episode I am not doing a deepdive yet, because I just got the module. Instead I'll try to explain why it's relevant, and how a sawtooth gets all these odd/even harmonics and overtones. Why it's considered 'rich' compared to a sinewave. Then, it's easier to understand why Berlin only has a sawtooth (or scrambled saw) out. When you draw a graph of numbers 0 to 255, you'll get a nice ramp (reversed saw) that flips back to zero and counts up again. Berlin is basically counting up very fast and restarts at 0.

I'll leave the interaction between Berlin and other modules to episode 04, which will probably be posted next week. It's not going to take too long :)."

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

Leibniz Subsystem quick jam

video upload by Xaoc Devices

"Our humble hommage to Vangelis. The first improvised patch in our headquarters after we've come back from Superbooth 22 and put our monolith system back together. Based on a sizable Leibniz Subsystem with two Poczdam modules switching between two sequences and two audio processing paths, including feedback with Odessa controlling the distribution of its own harmonic banks via Leibniz."

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

Xaoc Devices ERFURT / not just for counting and dividing / extensive playthrough

video upload by BRiES

"In this video I demonstrate how you can use ERFURT either standalone or in the context of the Leibniz Binary Subsystem. I talk about the clock, the inputs and outputs and show you how to extract useful signals from the module. ERFURT isn't just an ordinary counter or clock divider: it can drive the wavetables in JENA, produce sequences through DREZNO or lock the Leibniz system to the masterclock of your patch... to name just a few examples.

PS: I mention somewhere that the slowest clock is a 1/46k but it should be 1/64k. It's a simple mispronunciation because of how numbers work in the dutch language (we say the last number first - ridiculous I know).

____________________________________________________________________
Xaoc Devices ERFURT manual: http://xaocdevices.com/manuals/xaoc_e..."

Additional ERFURT posts

8-bit signal processing for eurorack - Drezno & Lipsk / Leibniz subsystem / Xaoc devices

video upload by Monotrail Tech Talk

"The Leibniz subsystem from Xaoc devices is a line-up of modules that work with 8-bit conversion. It’s a unique concept that allows for a lot of interesting signal manipulation and generation. In this video I explain what 8 bit is, and how it’s implemented in this line-up, using Drezno and Lipsk. Of course, there are multiple chapters with patch ideas and audio demos as well.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/monotrail"

TEST SERIES Erica Synths Matrix Mixer Xaoc Leibniz Binary Subsystem Odessa Jena Drezno Lipsk Sounds

video upload by Outsider Sound Design

"Abstract sound design with Double Xaoc Leibniz Binary Subsystem and Erica Synths Matrix Mixer . Xaoc Odessa, Jena, Drezno, Lipsk, Zadar.

The purpose of 'TEST SERIES' is to focus on the sound design possibilities of various gear combinations. This series is not musical nor does it serve as an instructional video. It is all about sound potential.

Please consider supporting this channel by purchasing a sample pack or music download from www.outsidersounddesign.com"

Fala Versio | Versio Platform | Episode 13

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"Noise Engineering has just released three new firmwares for the Versio, Legio and Alia platforms. As always, they're amazing and they're free downloads for any of those platforms. Fala Versio is a formant filter that's super easy to use. It will add a lot of vocal expression to your patch. On mild settings you can create choir-like sounds, on more extreme settings it will talk. In short, it's just amazing.

This is a simple video, which was a warm bath after my last Leibniz video. I'll be using MakeNoise Strega, Bruxa, Serge Medusa and the Broken Loquelic as my sound sources which create an excellent mood for the time between XMAS and the happy new year. I did not make any 'best wishes' or 'best of 2024' video this year because I couldn't finish it in time. I also realized that my 'best of 2024' are never going to be my all time favorites (except the new Serge Medusa and Instruo Dail).

Obviously I wish you all the best and I am hoping you'll have a great time patching the modular during the holiday season - and beyond. I'll probably post something before the end of the year.

Serge has been a personal discovery in 2024, so instead of getting the latest modules, I went back to 70's tech and it's a dream come true. I also love Bruxa a lot. Objectively the Joranalogue x Hainbach Collide 4 is a major achievement in eurorack, and it's impossible to ignore DivKid's colllab-contributions to the eurorack landscape, including the Droid patch.

I still need to figure out my DivSkip. XAOC Berlin is a must-have in the Leibniz niche, but on it's own it's just a very basic VCO. Another favorite is Oneiroi and it's cool to see that Black Maths is on the bestseller list, proving the old stuff doesn't get old. The new Buchla/TTA modules are also dreams that came true and it's great to finally have an orginal 259 . I didn't have time to dive into the new Qu-Bit StarDust looper, but I bet it will be worth checking out if you want to escape monophony."

TEST SERIES 2X Xaoc Leibniz Binary Subsystem Odessa Eurorack Abstract Sound Design Jena Drezno Lipsk

video upload by Outsider Sound Design

"Abstract sound design with Double Xaoc Leibniz Binary Subsystem.
Xaoc Odessa, Jena, Drezno, Lipsk, Zadar.

The purpose of 'TEST SERIES' is to focus on the sound design possibilities of various gear combinations. This series is not musical nor does it serve as an instructional video. It is all about sound potential.

Please consider supporting this channel by purchasing a sample pack or music download from www.outsidersounddesign.com"

Moskwa II & Leibniz Subsystem - Patch Ideas

video upload by Xaoc Devices

"These are two patch ideas exploring the potential of Moskwa II, Ostankino II and the Leibniz Subsystem working together. This combo offers endless possibilities of generating and transforming both trigger and CV sequences in a completely new way. Multiple bit outputs and inputs offer an enormous number of combinations resulting in subtle or radical variations of the incoming sequence."

Xaoc Devices LEIBNIZ #6 / ROSTOCK / delay and loop 8 bits of information / extensive playthrough

video upload by BRiES

"'ROSTOCK by Xaoc Devices should not be taken lightly' is what I figured out while making this video. ROSTOCK can be easily mistaken for just being a delay, but the patch ideas (provided in the manual of ROSTOCK) prove that with some creative insight you can use ROSTOCK for much more somewhat unexpected and useful things.

This video is a slow burn. I start of by proving that high-fidelity audio rate delay is probably not the strongpoint of ROSTOCK, but just like me there will probably be a lot of people hoping that they can still get away with using it as such. That's why I spend a generous amount of time showcasing this feature of the module. I demonstrate and explain how the clock works on ROSTOCK and how to use the seperate clock inputs, as well as exploring the loop and scramble features of the module. Afterwards I go into detail about the patches provided in the manual of ROSTOCK and you'll soon see that this is where ROSTOCK really shines: auto-generative waveforms, patching up a trigger/gate sequencer or 1-bit multi-tap delay, creating chaos and looping melodies, ... ."

0:00 intro
0:24 a few sounds
1:24 introduction to ROSTOCK
6:03 thank you Xaoc Devices
7:10 summary of the video
8:22 explaining audio delay (intro patch)
15:55 modulating length CV
19:27 modulating the clock
22:50 no clue about Leibniz?
25:30 clocks
27:40 conveyer belt analogy
31:08 loop and scramble
48:18 P.I.1 audio delay and feedback
1:00:49 P.I.2 JENA chaos loop
1:11:37 P.I.3 LIPSK gate sequencer
1:22:34 P.I.4. POCZDAM multi-tap
1:28:10 P.I.5 Turing Machine bonus
1:44:04 thank you for watching!

Making Music With The Leibniz Subsystem

video upload by Xaoc Devices

"The Xaoc Devices Leibniz Subsystem is a gateway to all kinds of experiments in the Eurorack ecosystem, but it can also serve as a foundation for more traditional music compositions. See how you can achieve this with a few simple patches that you can incorporate into your own system."