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"Silver face Studio Electronics Omega 6 (6 part polyphonic / 6 part multitimbral) fully analog rackmount synth. Can be upgraded to an 8 voice but SE would have to do it. Fully functional and in wonderful cosmetic condition apart from some minor wear around the rack holes and a couple very faint scuffs on the top panel. Comes with standard Oberheim SEM style LowPass, HighPass, BandPass and BandReject and Moog style LP filters PLUS two additional Arp 2600 style filters on the first two voices and Yamaha CS80 style filters on all six voices! As well it has the Op Amp upgrade and Snappify Mod (also called the Tune-Up). Comes with power supply (supply is internal, so for Europe you just need a standard 3 prong computer type cord). Manual is a pdf download from the SE site, though it does not even touch how deep this synth can be operated and programmed. Latest OS is installed. This really is the Big Daddy of all modern analog polysynths, which has the added bonus of being able to be configured how you want in multitimbral mode. Sounds AMAZING!
In addition, I will include the following soundbanks: Salvation Pads, Black Music Essentials, Cadix, Subs & Ins and Theirot.
New price with this configuration, not including the soundbanks, would be almost $6000. Soundbanks would cost $440 to buy. Save yourself over $2000."
"It is a fantastic synth and works great. I recently replaced one slider and also replaced the crummy felt dust covering that was on each slider on the inside with some better felt protectors. These older Roland analogs have a fantastic tone and make great bass, lead and sequenced synths. Physically it looks and feels very solid. It has CV/Gate IN/OUT and also has an audio in for processing other synths/drums/anything."
"Analog synthesis, step and realtime sequencing for internal and external instruments, can load samples into it, drum machine, multitimbral polyphonic hybrid synthesizer, complex sequence-able filterbank (which you can run internal sounds into as well), & more. You really have to check out Jorg Schaaf's demos to understand. The learning curve can be big because it is so deep, but once you get it it makes sense the rewards are MASSIVE as you really start to understand how ingenious this machine is. For example, the 4 oscillator analog synth can actually be used as 3 separate 1 osc mono analog synths. I love sequencing the filterbank and running a D-Synth (hybrid) pad sound through it...
Please note that the sound engine is exactly the same in the Spectralis 1 and 2. The 2 has larger flash memory and some cosmetic changes (though many prefer the looks of the 1), otherwise they are identical, though a new 2 is more than twice the price of a used 1."
"Reconstruction of the second vid in this series. There were a few changes, but the result is close enough and simpler.
The key here is sending an irregular pulse to the 266e QRV section. The result selects stages in the 250e running in continuous mode. The irregular clock comes from a steady pulse to the 281e, with the decay amount determined by a 266e FRV. The trick is to use the envelope as the clock output instead of the pulse. This means the clock will always be on a regular time, but it may skip a few input pulses if the decay is still in progress due to a long decay time. By adjusting the decay fluctuation rate and decay offset, you have a lot of control over the density of the output. It can be mostly on, mostly off, or somewhere in between.
Another key here is to use the 255 as the envelope for the sound, based on the ALL output of the 250e. This means rapid changes will get emphasis. I found it best to use a very small nonzero rise setting on the 255 so that the levels would move around more gradually. However, this leads to a sloppy envelope. The fix is to use a 281e for the envelope instead, and use the 255 to control the level of it using the VCA in the 256e (or 254v). This gives you crisp envelopes with variable emphasis. Best of both.
Another key here (possibly too much in this vid) is the exploitation of the stage jitter in the 250e. In continuous mode, it is possible that the input stage selection voltage will land very close to the center between two stages. When this happens, the 250e toggles back and forth between the two stages. The rate of the toggle is usually fast, but sometimes it's a little slower. I found that the number of steps selected in the 266e QRV section affects the likelihood of the effect. It seems to happen at a setting of 7 or 13. A side trick here is to apply a small amount of slew to the stage selection voltage using the 255. This causes the 250e to issue two successive pulses, almost too quickly to hear, and only sometimes (depending on how far away the successive stages are), which causes the envelope in the 255 to boost more. It adds more variation to the emphasis on the 281e.
The trumpet sounds from my earlier vid in this series was confirmed to be the 259e, tracking mode, modulating the morph, hard sync, mem skew b at about 2 o'clock, just like I had claimed. I hit them here too, but decided to do something a little different this time instead, hitting something closer to the old buchlajazz version of this on my soundcloud channel.
I think this patch would benefit from a retuning, and maybe more tweaking, but the main aim was reconstruction and documentation. Some of the techniques here are broadly applicable."
Now that you're well versed in the concept of Voltage Control, get ready for some more advanced synthesis techniques. In this course, The Bob Moog Foundation's lead educator Marc Doty explains the Voltage Control Amplifier (VCA), the sideband-rich synthesis called Ring Modulation. He even dives into Noise explaining what it is and how to use it in your sonic experimentations.
You'll also learn about different VC techniques as he demystifies and demonstrates After Touch, Portamento, Sample and Hold and other alternative control techniques.
See all these powerful tools and concepts in action and how they are implemented in the minds and hardware of the world's greatest synth designers.
Bob Moog was an early pioneer and inventor of voltage-controlled analog synthesizers. He revolutionized the music industry and his ideas, inventions and musical instruments have dominated the sound of music for more than 30 years. Aside from being an innovator, Dr. Bob was an outspoken advocate of education. The Bob Moog Foundation, created by his daughter, Michelle Moog-Kousa, continues his legacy with Dr. Bob's SoundSchool, the preservation of his inventions and the development of the Moogseumthe only museum of its kind dedicated to the advancement of sonic education. We hope you will help support the BMF's efforts by watching these courses with the knowledge that a large portion of the proceeds go to support their awesome efforts!
So sit back, hit the play button, and proceed on your journey into the Foundation of Synthesis with Marc Doty, and the Bob Moog Foundation. Be sure to watch all 6 of the BMF's courses on filters, modulation, oscillators, sound design and more!
More info on this title: http://j.mp/VD3wOv"
Synthesis on hardware synths is a real adventure. Every synth designer has their own interpretation on how things look, feel, sound and get patched together! In this sixth course in our Foundations Of Synthesis series, Marc Doty assembles a selection of synths from his personal collection and demonstrates how he creates his sounds.
All of the synthesis and control processes that Marc brought to the table in the previous five courses blend together as he builds (and patches) lead, bass, and FX. This course is a unique opportunity to get inside a master synthesist's head to see how he manipulates and realizes the sonic dreams that reside in his aural imagination!
Bob Moog was an early pioneer and inventor of voltage controlled analog synthesizers. He revolutionized the music industry and his ideas, inventions and musical instruments have dominated the sound of music for more than 30 years. Aside from being an innovator, Dr. Bob was an outspoken advocate of education. The Bob Moog Foundation, created by his daughter, Michelle Moog-Kousa, continues his legacy with Dr. Bob's SoundSchool, the preservation of his inventions and the development of the Moogseum the only museum of its kind dedicated to the advancement of sonic education. We hope you will help support the BMF's efforts by watching these courses with the knowledge that a large portion of the proceeds go to support their awesome efforts!
So sit back, hit the play button, and get into sound design in this Foundation of Synthesis course with Marc Doty, and the Bob Moog Foundation.
Be sure to watch all 6 of the BMF's courses on filters, modulation, oscillators, sound design and more!
More info on this title: http://j.mp/SZWST5"
Marc Dotylead educator for The Bob Moog Foundationis back with a series of tutorials in this course on Voltage Control.
But what is Voltage Control and how do you use it in the world of hardware synths? Well, here's the story: In the early days of sound synthesis, if you wanted your sounds to change or evolve in any way whatsoever, you had to do it manually. Need the pitch to go up? Grab the the oscillator knob and turn it! Want the volume to change? Again, grab the volume knob! What about sequencing a series of notes? Well, before voltage control, you had to record every pitch onto magnetic tape and cut them all together in the order and rhythm that you wanted. It was hard work to create electronic music way back when!
Voltage control forever changed all that! And in this course Marc Doty shows how different hardware synth designers harness the power of VCs to transform and supercharge electronic music composition. Taken one step further you'll see how Voltage Control was the mother of MIDI... and we all know how powerful MIDI is!
Bob Moog was an early pioneer and inventor of voltage-controlled analog synthesizers. He revolutionized the music industry and his ideas, inventions and musical instruments have dominated the sound of music for more than 30 years. Aside from being an innovator, Dr. Bob was an outspoken advocate of education. The Bob Moog Foundation, created by his daughter, Michelle Moog-Kousa, continues his legacy with Dr. Bob's SoundSchool, the preservation of his inventions and the development of the Moogseumthe only museum of its kind dedicated to the advancement of sonic education. We hope you will help support the BMF's efforts by watching these courses with the knowledge that a large portion of the proceeds go to support their awesome efforts!
So sit back, hit the play button, and proceed on your journey into the Foundation of Synthesis with Marc Doty, and the Bob Moog Foundation. Be sure to watch all 6 of the BMF's courses on filters, modulation, oscillators, sound design and more!
More info on this title: http://j.mp/SZauJ3"
"This is the Kawai SX-240, an 8-voice, 2DCO hybrid analog synthesizer from the early-mid-1980's. The layout and color scheme are very attractive, but the sound is even better. The only limitations I can see for this synth are: 1. DCO2 is square wave only; 2. there is only an alpha dial for altering sounds (not so bad); 3. the MIDI spec is very limited.
Because they are rare and there are no pics of the internals on Flickr, I wanted to photographically document it. I wish I had a better camera, though!
I got this off ebay for relatively cheap. Was stuck on one sound, had a tweaked bender, and missing the large rotary knob. It was pretty dirty when it arrived, so I cleaned it up. The electrical problem was due to two open traces on the digital board from slight battery corrosion. I removed the old NiCd battery, thoroughly cleaned off the PCB, and jumpered the open traces. I replaced the battery with an Li-ion CR2032 (first installing a diode to disallow charging when plugged in). I then restored the presets and voila - back to life!
Other mods I made were to replace the dedicated power cord with a 3-prong IEC socket. I also used a very nice big aluminum rotary knob to replace the missing plastic alpha-type knob.
Update: I recently made some changes to the SX-240. First, those wood end cheeks are really lame: plastic laminated particle board - horrible for such a great sounding synth, so I bought some nice walnut and had them cut to fit. Second, the SX-240 can have a keyboard split at a fixed point on the keys, and since the split marking is a bit subtle (for me anyhow), I decided to make the lower 2 octaves reverse keys. Finally, a lot of the panel tact switches were dodgy, so I went in and replaced them all. I think it looks nicer and certainly more unique!"
Published on Oct 8, 2012 by HarryMatic
Channel moved to Harry Axten
"The last version of my VS1103b MIDI synthesizer. I have designed nice front and back panels which are made of laser-cut plastic. I have also gotten rid of the noisy volume control and the MIDI thru, instead adding separate left and right audio outputs. Schematics, stripboard layout, more photos and a full writeup can be found at : http://www.instructables.com/id/E82VEK1GXUZ7YJA/"
"The VS1103b, manufactured by VSLI Technology, is a single-chip MIDI/ADPCM/WAV audio decoder and ADPCM encoder that can handle upto three simultaneous audio streams. It can also act as a MIDI synthesizer.
It is this MIDI synthesizer capability that we are interested in. Make no mistake - the quality of the MIDI voices isn't stunning, but it has a charm to it that reminds me of the FM synthesis found on old Soundblaster cards of yesteryear. The VS1103b MIDI synthesizer mode conforms to the General MIDI standard - 15 melodic channels and 1 percussion channel.
The only problem with this chip however is that it is a very small 48 pin surface-mount package. Fortunately, SparkFun make a break-out board for this chip that has a 20 pin DIP package - much more suitable for DIY electronics."
Comes with standard Oberheim SEM style LowPass, HighPass, BandPass and BandReject and Moog style LP filters PLUS two additional Arp 2600 style filters on the first two voices and Yamaha CS80 style filters on all six voices! As well it has the Op Amp upgrade and Snappify Mod (also called the Tune-Up). Comes with power supply (supply is internal, so for Europe you just need a standard 3 prong computer type cord). Manual is a pdf download from the SE site, though it does not even touch how deep this synth can be operated and programmed. Latest OS is installed. 
This really is the Big Daddy of all modern analog polysynths, which has the added bonus of being able to be configured how you want in multitimbral mode. Sounds AMAZING!
