Why doesn't Digital Feedback Blow Up Like Analog?

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"When I posted my first Plexiphon video, I got a few comments like ‘how about Bruxa x Plexiphon’, or better, ‘how about two Bruxae x Plexiphon’.
I think I can answer that now. Bruxa is a dominating module. This simply means, whatever you patch up, Bruxa is going to demand all attention. New to modular? Bruxa is a Bruxa is a delay/filter using a crappy karaoke toy chip. Sorry, it’s the ‘lo-fi delay’ that reached a cult status in the legendary Soma Lyra-8 Orga(ni)smic Synthesizer.
And then there’s the PoliMaths vs Maths discussion. Maybe they should have called it the PolyFunction, because it’s not Maths. It’s more like a ‘polyphonic function sequencer’, where a function is nothing more than a rise and fall. A slope or envelope depending on the Coast you’re on. It’s an attack/decay shape to sculpt a sound.
In this patch, I am using Echophon – the echo – as a clock, using the clock divider output. It’s a cool example of working with limitations. There’s no clock module in this case, but any ‘repeat’ that ticks is a clock. So today it’s not a tape delay, it’s just sending blips to PoliMaths’ activation IN. PoliMaths is like an eight channel sample and hold. When a trigger comes in, the module ‘activates’ by reading all knob positions (sampling) and holding them until the next activation. The channel index will decide which of the eight channels is affected. Depending on the SPAN mode/color, the channel will either be addressable (white), rotating (yellow) or fire all (cyan blue). If you’ve updated your PM, there’s a purple mode too (binary logic).
In this patch, the eight envelopes are distributed to various effect modules like Bruxa, more Bruxa and Plexiphon. Depending on knob settings (and especially ABSORB) Bruxa can make percussive sounds with its crappy chip. So what can we do with it? We can make a drum machine that nobody else has.
The patch itself is turning my effects units into an improvised lo-fi CMOS drum machine and Plexiphon is adding a bit of reverb. Even on full strength it can’t compete with the two Bruxae.
There’s an intermezzo where I’ll patch a long loop between Echophon, Mimeophon, Bruxa 1, Bruxa 2, Plexiphon and QPAS. In plain English, it’s making a long FX chain, but the end of chain is also the beginning. A snake biting its own tail. It’s like taking ugly feedback noise, and then try to sculpt it into something that faintly sounds like music – or a score from an 80’s horror sci-fi B movie with lots of sax and violins.
I was expecting something like throwing a mentos in a bottle of Coca Cola, but it didn’t happen. Instead, a nice abstract feedback patch emerged. It turned out to be pretty civilized.
In this video I discovered that feedback patching with digital modules is very different from using analog modules. A well designed digital effect doesn’t explode, it stays clear from crashing into digital brick wall and self destruct. In fact, digital feedback patching is more like continuous sound on sound dubbing. If you’re into chaotic feedback patching, you’ll benefit from adding at least one analog module, like a Serge wavefolder, waveshaper, filter or resonant EQ – or any other brand. Just make sure it’s using real analog components and real voltage instead of coded error handlers, limiters, exceptions and guardrails. In the analog domain, chaos is only bound to the rules of Mother Nature.
The ‘crappy drum machine’ patch is decorated by a second take with Error Instruments x This Is Not Rocketscience Kharper. I am running it through dual Bruxae and Plexiphon, where the PP gets modulation from Bruxa’s mysteriously labeled CV outputs. They basically contain CV related to Bruxa’s internal chip rumble. Nothing special, but super cool as a mod-source."

Plexiphon | The World's Most Haunting Reverb Is Back

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"Nobody has said it out loud, but Plexiphon is definitely Erbe-Verb 2.0.
I will prove it by running it with the old Shared System. I replaced Echophon and Erbe-Verb with Mimeophon and Plexiphon but the Shared remains the Shared. However, when experimenting with different sources - and you'd love the #VHIKK X as a guest - Plexiphon suddenly sounds as new as it's designed to be. When I made the 'What is a Plexus' video, I used XAOC Samarkanda to make my own network so if you want to learn what a plexus is, check it out."

Additional Plexiphon posts

Yamaha FS1R Comes to Software with FSVR Emulator

via musica.studio

ALL 88 ALGORITHMS
Every FM algorithm from the hardware, with the voiced and unvoiced operators the FS1R is known for.

THE FACTORY BANKS BUILT IN
1408 voices [patches], 384 performances and 90 formant sequences read out of the ROM, so the patch browser needs no dump of your own.

FSEQ PLAYBACK
The formant sequences that made the FS1R sound like nothing else, with every loop mode, the start delay and MIDI clock sync.

THE FRONT PANEL IS THE GUI
Down to the cursor stops and the controller set, read out of the firmware's own screen tables rather than off a photo.

VST3, CLAP AND STANDALONE
Windows, macOS and Linux, built on every push, with no installer and no dependencies.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Build Your Own Audio Plugins, No Code Required, With Amorph AI Driven Plugin Platform

Build Your Own Audio Plugins, No Code (Amorph v1 Beta) video upload by Artists in DSP

"Amorph is a free audio plugin. You build, play, and share your own tools inside the DAW — the sound, the knobs, and the code sit on your computer.

This is the full how-to. Install. The window. Three ways to build. Remote. Lock. Share.

A patch can be an instrument, an effect, or a MIDI processor.

Download Amorph v1 Beta:
https://artistsindsp.gumroad.com/l/am...

Getting started:
https://artistsindsp.com/get-started-..."

Modular Town : a synth hidden in a town (Amorph)

video upload by Bungle Society

"Modular Town — a synthesizer town, drawn by hand.

Modular Town is a single Amorph instrument: a hand-drawn village you scroll through, where every knob, step-sequencer and jack is mounted on a building facade wired by hand, just like real hardware. 🏭 Filter (Cutoff/Resonance) on the factoryVCO1 / VCO2 on the vending machinesDetune and Attack/Decay/Release tucked into the houses🥁 A 16-step drum machine (Drums Volume, Accent, Drive) running through its own sequencer🍜 Ramen Bass Shop, a mono bass synth with its own 16-step piano roll, playable live or sequenced. A day/night cycle you flip from a shop sign. Delay (Time/Feedback/Mix) on a canal-side wall. A full patch panel route LFO, ENV and random modulation across the whole village with real cables✨ Reverb, aged-paper texture and film grain for a sketchbook feel"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Phaseburn One sound demo: everything you hear is one synth [Open Beta]

video upload by Phaseburn Music

"Phaseburn One is a synthesizer built around a phase-locked loop: the main oscillator tracks a reference signal, and whatever you patch into that reference becomes part of the sound. Everything you hear is the plugin on its own, nothing else added.

In the video: the PLL lab, the morphing oscillator and its fold, four step sequencers and four LFOs, the probability sequencer, the mixer and patchbay.

VST3, CLAP, AU and standalone, macOS and Windows, instrument or effect. Free open beta until 15 October 2026.

https://phaseburn.music"

The following is some additional info directly in via Phaseburn Music:

"I want to introduce Phaseburn One, a synthesizer we have been working on for several years, which is now in open beta and free for everyone until 15 October.

The sound is built on a phase-locked loop. One oscillator listens to another and keeps trying to match it, and the interesting part starts where it fails. When it tracks accurately the tone comes out clear and strangely alive, and when the loop is loosened you hear the chase itself: the oscillator catches up with the target, overshoots, breaks off, finds the frequency again, sometimes clinging to a harmonic instead of the note you played. PLLs are not new, they have appeared before as modules and effects, but as far as we can tell nobody has built a whole instrument around one. Four macro dials open the loop by ear, so none of the theory is needed to land somewhere usable.

Three more oscillators sit beside it: Morph, which sweeps between waveform families, a Vector shaping oscillator and a Sub. A transient module can add a click, noise or a metallic edge, or build a kick out of a sine. Around the loop there is a modular patchbay where you draw the cables yourself, a rack of seven effects and a mixer, and almost everything can be modulated from a dedicated section of LFOs and modulation sequencers.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Frap Tools Magnolia: From Lush Poly to Nasty Mono

video upload by Starsky Carr

"The Frap Tools Magnolia is an 8 voice analog polysynth with through zero FM, wavefolding and poly aftertouch — and it goes from lush Jupiter pads to full MS-20 scream in about two moves. Full review and demo.

I've never played a polysynth that turns into a monosynth this easily. Magnolia is what happens when Frap Tools take the Brenso oscillator and the Cunsa filter out of their Eurorack range, put them in a very sexy box with a poly aftertouch keyboard, 64 modulation slots and no menus at all — then add a load of things nobody else is doing.

Sync that flips the waveform instead of resetting it. FM smoothing, which I don't think I've seen on a poly before. A resonant high pass filter that squeals into MS-20 territory. Filter FM from either oscillator or the noise. And Poly Move, which throws a random value at every note you press so the whole thing breathes like a modular.

I've had a review unit here for a few weeks and it's going back this week, which is a genuine shame. In this video I go through every section, show how you interact with 64 modulation slots without a screen or a modulation matrix, and build a patch from one plain triangle wave into something enormous. There are two demo tracks in there too — it inspired me to write a track, which doesn't happen with everything that comes through the door.

WHAT'S UNIQUE ABOUT IT
• Two oscillator types
• A dedicated TZFM envelope,
• Sync that flips rather than restarts
• FM smoothing
• Resonant low pass AND high pass filters,
• Filter FM from OSC 1, OSC 2 or noise
• Poly Move
• Hertz detune
• 64 modulation slots, all assigned and toggled from the panel — no menus, no screen

Around £3,800 / $4,200 / €4,200. It's an expensive synth, and there's nothing wrong with that — my full thoughts on whether it's worth it are at 47:52"

The Synth Yamaha Wants You to Forget | The V50

video upload by Espen Kraft

"My sound patches: https://espenkraft.com
In 1989, while Korg's M1 and the sampling boom were rewriting the charts, Yamaha reached into the parts bin and handed us the V50 — a 4-operator FM workstation synth almost nobody asked for.

The V50 wrapped Yamaha's 4-operator FM engine (the same one in the DX11 and TX81Z) in a full workstation shell: an 8-track sequencer, a PCM drum machine, dual digital effects and a built-in floppy drive. On paper, a tidy package. In practice, in a year that wanted fat organs, realistic pianos and new dance sounds, it landed as a warmed-over fossil. I disliked it then, and I dislike it now — but I'll show you what it can and can't do.

All effects in the video are from the V50 internally. No external processing.

Yamaha V50 — key specs:

Released 1989
4-operator, 8-algorithm, 8-waveform FM synthesis (DX11 / TX81Z engine)
16-note polyphony, 8-part multitimbral
100 preset + 100 user voices
Built-in 8-track sequencer — 8 songs, 16,000 notes
PCM drum machine with 61 sampled drum sounds
Dual digital effects (reverb, delay, distortion)
3.5" floppy disk drive
61-key keyboard with velocity + aftertouch
US list price when new: ~$1,895

00:00 M1 ruled the world
00:35 Yamaha's answer: the V50
01:23 What you got for your money
02:14 FM Pianos again
02:52 PCM drums
04:18 A flop
05:00 Various sounds from the V50"

The Drum Machine That Was Too Big to Handle | Oberheim Stretch DX

video upload by Nostalgic Explorer

"There's a drum machine from 1983 that was intended to sound like a real drum similar to the Linndum — rolls, flams, off-the-beat feel. But the real story is bolted to its side, and most people have never seen one.

The Oberheim Stretch DX is the machine almost nobody talks about — the expansion that turned a 6-voice box into something else entirely. Here's how it happened, and what it can still do.

⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 — The drum machine that didn't want to be a machine
00:38 — Oberheim DMX: the little brother that came first
01:20 — 18 sounds, EPROM cards & the idea that predicted sample packs
02:00 — Inside the DX: sequences, quantize & the swing mode
02:40 — Rear-panel tuning & individual outputs (why 6 voices matters)
03:10 — The Stretch DX: the bolt-on nobody expected
03:40 — Installing a Stretch: soldering irons & ribbon cables
04:00 — Why the DX & Stretch DX faded — and what they left behind
04:20 — Let's make some beats

🎛️ Gear in this video: Oberheim DX, Oberheim Stretch DX"

SinTH2 - answers to your questions (subtitles on, please))

video upload by SinTH2

Click CC for subtitles.

Transcript:

0:022 secondsGood morning. Hello everyone. Tom Horn, that is Tomasz Rożek. Greeting you from my

0:077 secondsmodest little studio. As you can see, behind me are two finished instruments. This

0:1313 secondsis the folding panel version, as you already know, the fixed panel version, and the third version, which is behind me, which is still being built. The enclosure, as you can see, is

0:2323 secondsalready finished, but this is the desktop version. I think it's a really nice one. It will be finished in about two weeks. And that's exactly what I wanted to

0:3131 secondstalk to you about, to tell you how things look at the moment, because I'm getting a lot of questions, a lot of emails and messages about when you'll be able to order

CLICK FOR MORE »

The Gritty 80s Digital Synth Nobody Talks About | Kawai K1m

video upload by Ian Dixon

"The Kawai K1m is a 1988 digital synth module with no resonant filters and no built-in effects, but it still has a distinctive late-80s character that makes it much more interesting than the spec sheet suggests.

In this video I take a first look at my Kawai K1m, explore the four-source sound architecture, PCM samples, additive-style wave building, joystick control, factory presets, multi mode and external effects, then try building a new patch from scratch.

Chapters:
00:00 Why the Kawai K1m is interesting
00:24 K1m overview and why I bought it
01:38 Dry sound and synth architecture
02:28 Four-source patches and muting parts
03:20 Waves, PCM samples and additive-style synthesis
05:10 Drum samples and looped waveforms
06:55 Programming controls, envelopes and joystick
07:59 Polyphony and the gritty K1m character
08:56 Factory sounds and D-50-style bells
09:59 Vocal sounds, effects and Miami Vice references
12:56 Editing patches with the software editor
14:10 Multi mode and layered performances
15:02 Building a new K1m patch
17:57 Is the Kawai K1m worth buying today?
19:08 What should I do next with the K1m?"

video upload by jami.m

"Yazoo mix no 2 - Goodbye 70's / Nobody's Diary - Prophet 6"

Nobody Wants to Admit the JX-3P Sounds This Close to a Jupiter-8

video upload by Espen Kraft

"This is another ridiculously comparisons video that serves no other purpose than to fetishise old gear."

Kawai Q-80EX | One of the best 80s sequencers that nobody talks about

video upload by Espen Kraft

"The Kawai Q-80EX midi sequencer from 1989.
An absolute beast of a sequencer yet nobody seems to know it exist or what it can do.
How does it compare to two cherished competitors of the time?

Check out the TG100 plugin here: https://www.martinic.com/tg100-reverb

Big thanks to Anders E. Jensen for letting me have his Q-80EX for almost a decade.

00:00 Intro
00:08 The competitors
00:22 Kawai Q-80EX (with battery backup)
01:15 Repeat individual tracks
01:58 Recording
03:36 Sponsored plugin
04:48 Quantizing
05:36 Motifs
06:53 Which sequencer is the best?"

Asking manufacturers what nobody knows about their synths

video upload by mylarmelodies

"Want some random synth facts? At London Synth & Pedal Expo, I asked Music Thing, Korg, ASM, Arturia, Genki, Elektron, Embodme and ALM Busycircuits - what does nobody know about your machine? 👀"

00:00 - Today's Video
00:13 - Tom Whitwell doesn't know how the slopes work
00:48 - Korg Minilogue's Hidden Arcade Game
01:16 - Leviasynth's Ergonomic Notch
01:46 - Keystep 37's Sneaky LFOs
02:04 - RYK's Hidden Defender Game
03:05 - KATLA's Audio Replacement Trick
04:03 - Elektron's Octatrack Fails
04:49 - Erae Touch's Secret Sequencer
05:22 - ALM's Many Easter Eggs

Novation Peak on Drums — How to Turn a Peak (or Summit) into a Drum Machine (with free soundbank)

video upload by TheGuacamoleXplosion

"This no-talking video explores 7 different methods of using the Novation Peak as a drum synthesizer, a drum machine or even a groovebox.

A soundbank for the Novation Peak (should also be mostly compatible with the Novation Summit) with all stuff from this video and some more, as well as the individual Peak patches, can be downloaded here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folder...

00:00 - Intro
01:06 - Peak Drum Jam #1: Fake Trance for Drake Fans
03:13 - Kraftwerk — Autobahn throwback
03:36 - How to turn your Peak into a drum machine? The Autobahn beats
05:10 - Peak as a Groovebox: The Streets — Blinded By The Lights
06:22 - 'What if?' break: AFX mode for the Peak now!
07:02 - Simulating AFX mode by sending MIDI PCs to the Peak
08:32 - Surrogate Multitimbrality: Marvin Gaye — Sexual Healing
09:15 - 6 Methods for Peak beatmaking — Drummer from yet another Mother
09:55 - JMJ — Oxygène IV throwback
10:38 - 'Played' drums
11:28 - Arpeggiator 'played' mode — how it works
11:59 - Pink Floyd — On The Run throwback
12:08 - Feeding 'played' mode from an external sequencer
12:18 - Testing the limits of 'played' mode: Elbow — Grace Under Pressure
13:05 - Patch from scratch: Four-to-the-floor beat with rumble
19:24 - Changing the master tempo (impact on LFOs vs. Envelopes)
20:12 - Peak Drum Jam #2 (with the patch just made from Scratch)
22:39 - Making a drum template patch (with random Peak Spa Meditation background music)
26:02 - LFOs vs. Envelopes: Creating an early 80s beat from our drum template patch
36:14 - Final Peak Drum Jam #3 (1983/84 throwback)

All Peak Patches in this video were created from scratch. All Peak tracks were recorded through RME audio interfaces (Babyface Pro and Fireface UC) directly into Cubase stereo tracks. There are absolutely no effects on the individual Peak stereo tracks, not even panning, and levels are set to unity gain, to give an as-clear-as-possible impression of the Peak’s sonic potential and limits. On most parts (except intro), there is brickwall limiting on the stereo master, and on most multitrack parts also additional compression and EQ on the stereo master. Guitar parts recorded D.I. into the Fireface UC with a 1973 Stratocaster, several track and send FX on those.

Disclaimer:
I bought the Peak at regular price in 2020. Nobody paid me to make this video or compensated me in any other way, and it’s not monetized. No generative AI was used in the making of this video.
All songs © by their original writers and publishing companies; covered here in the framework of fair use for educational purposes.

Autobahn — written by Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider and Emil Schult
Blinded by the Lights — written by Mike Skinner
Sexual Healing — written by Marvin Gaye, Odell Brown and possibly David Ritz
Oxygène (Part IV) — written by Jean-Michel Jarre
On The Run — written by David Gilmour and Roger Waters
Grace Under Pressure — written by Guy Garvey, Craig Potter, Mark Potter, Pete Turner and Richard Jupp

Everything else © 2026 TheGuacamoleXplosion"

New product reveal: A physical control surface for MIDISID.

video upload by MIDI IN

"Nobody likes menu-diving, right? This is an add-on for MIDISID which gives you physical controls (analogue pots and sliders plus prophet-style buttons) for most of MIDISID's functionality.
This is an expensive thing to build, and I don't know how many to plan to make. Therefore, I'll be running a 'threshold pre-order campaign' over the next couple of weeks.

Pre-order campaign:
https://lectronz.com/seller/campaigns...

General MIDISID info:
https://peacockmedia.software/midisid

0:00 Intro
0:22 Nobody likes menu diving
1:32 Presentation
3:34 The tour
8:45 Conclusion"

SUPERBOOTH 2026 WAS MENTAL

video upload by Gray Contrast

"2 hours through FEZ Berlin on the final day of Superbooth 2026. Synths, controllers, AI tools, quick conversations, a few things nobody has on YouTube yet — and Loopy Pro live in the wild."

0:00 Intro
0:56 Neuzeit Instruments — https://www.neuzeit-instruments.com w/ / jan0ritter
6:05 Dato Musical Instruments — https://dato.mu
8:34 True Cuckoo Interview — https://www.truecuckoo.com
10:44 Roland Future Design Lab – Tone Explorer — https://articles.roland.com/tone-expl...
16:15 Roland Future Design Lab – Project LYDIA — https://articles.roland.com/introduci...
23:53 True Cuckoo Live Gig — / truecuckoo
24:09 BoBeats on the Circuits — / @bobeats
25:46 Expressive E Osmose CE — https://www.expressivee.com (played by Tomasz Bura: https://linktr.ee/tomaszbura)
37:50 BLEASS — https://www.bleass.com
48:47 Exquis Controller (Intuitive Instruments) — https://dualo.com/en/exquis/
1:00:00 Entonal Studio (Node Audio) — https://entonal.studio
1:08:12 Tonebank (Node Audio) — https://node.audio
1:16:39 Mõnai by VOID9 — https://void9.com
1:27:12 Showing Loopy Pro — https://loopypro.com
1:27:51 Microrack — https://microrack.org
1:33:01 El Tigre Soundsystem — / eltigresoundsystem
1:33:58 Nord Electro 7 — https://www.nordkeyboards.com/product...
1:47:00 Zoom LiveTrak L-12 Next — https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/digital-mi...
1:50:29 Zoom LiveTrak L-6 Max — https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/digital-mi...
1:52:40 Focusrite ISA C8X — https://us.focusrite.com/products/isa...
1:55:02 Modular Audio Tools MAT 16X8 — https://www.modularaudiotools.com

Genki's CEO On How The €4990 KATLA Synthesizer Was Made

video upload by mylarmelodies

"Here's how KATLA was made - recorded at the Synth & Pedal Expo London (plus sounds at the end!). Katla is a unique synth - inspired by a titanic volcano in Iceland, with a huge gritty vibey sound. It literally has volcano in it(!) And after this interview, I thought about it a lot. Because behind the scenes, I've been working on a product and so much of what Óli said here resonated with my own experiences. I was really struck by how open, candid and frank Óli was, and I think there's huge value in learning from their journey. Hope you find this interesting!

Note that there was the Hackney half marathon happening in the background with people shouting and whooping constantly throughout the chat - but Izotope RX to the rescue!"

MORE ON KATLA
▶︎ It's since sold out, but there is a waitlist! https://genki.is/katla

VISIT THE LONDON SYNTH & PEDAL EXPO NEXT YEAR?
▶︎ https://synthandpedalexpo.com/london-...

CHAPTERS
0:00 A Volcano In A Synthesizer?
01:03 Depression, Iceland & A Big Idea
02:11 Nobody Knew What They Were Building
04:31 Fake Deadlines & Soccer Moms
06:09 The Godfather Of The Project
08:00 How Do You Sound Like A Volcano?
09:32 Spending Big & Hoping It Works
11:20 Linux, ARM Chips & Why Digital?
12:45 Who Actually Has Final Say?
15:50 4:30am Hack Sessions In Iceland
18:16 Trusting Creatives When Life Hits
21:28 We Were Beginners. We Didn't Know.
23:48 The Secret Ingredient: Grease
26:16 Where Does The Lava Come From?
29:23 Why Does This Cost £5,000?
34:11 Two Years, 100 Units, A Baby
36:50 Mylar Playing Katla Afterwards

Roland Juno 106 Synthesizer - Serviced - New Voice Chips - Signed by Kip Winger

Note: links to listings are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.
Dead Roland Juno 106 Repair - Synthchaser #178 video upload by Synthchaser

via this eBay listing

CLICK FOR MORE »

JMT SYNTH / SRV-1b

video upload by beatsville store

https://beatsville.jp



A desktop spring reverb unit featuring a built-in miniature spring.

You can use its high-quality, authentic spring to achieve a beautiful, classic reverb—or you can dive headfirst into the lush, vibrant resonance of a wildly oscillating spring, letting yourself drift and drown in its saturated wetness. It gets absolutely drenched.

And while nobody explicitly told you to shake it, smack it around, or slam it against the table... well, naturally, you’re going to do it. After all, there’s a real spring inside that actually shakes! It’s the thrill of the authentic.

Mix the clean-boosted signal (GAIN) with the spring-reverb-processed signal (REVERB), then adjust the overall output volume using the LEVEL control.

When the switch is in the down position, the signal bypasses the effect, passing directly from IN to OUT. The LED illuminates when the effect is active.

*Powered by a DC 9V power adapter (center-negative / Tip = -); sold separately.