TB3030 - Roland TB-303 Clone

You don't see these often. Oakley TB3030. No title link just the two shots via this auction sent my way via Evil Paul.

Details:
"This is a TB3030 synth, which is basically an exact copy of the classic Roland TB 303 synth engine with a few extra enhancements, but without the sequencer.

I always wanted to get that classic analog 303 sound but didn't want to fork out the cash ($$$!) for an original Roland TB 303. I came across a guy on the internet who went to a massive amount of trouble to copy the 303 circuit exactly, add some extra features, and print some new circuit boards for it. I bought a circuit board from him, sourced all the parts (some were very hard to find!) then constructed it (I'm an electronic engineer). I worked on it every night for a month to build it, and it worked reasonably expensive to get all the parts for it.

I also built a midi interface into it, so it can be controlled by any external midi keyboard, or a sequencer such as a computer running Cubase.

It also includes a number of mods to the original 303 synth engine (in the vein of the devilfish mods), which make it more versatile as a synth. It includes a balanced output, an overdrive/distortion circuit, filter FM, a sub octave generator, VCA decay control and an accented decay control, all of which are not included on the original 303.

It certainly has an awesome tone! You can download some samples (and other info for it) from this page: http://www.oakleysound.com/tb3031.htm. Note that these sound samples are for the newer version (TB3031) which is slightly different, however the guts are basically the same and mine sounds basically the same.

Looking at the front panel, it has the following controls:

* Tune
* FM Modulation
* VCO Waveform select
* FM Wave Select
* Slide
* Filter cutoff frequency
* Filter resonance
* Accent
* Accent Decay
* VCF Envelope
* VCF Envelope Decay
* Sub oscillator (adds extra bass an octave down for a really fat sound)
* Mod wheel control (from memory this is mapped to filter cutoff, allowing you to control the filter frequency directly from your keyboard or sequencer)
* Drive (distortion circuit that really makes this thing bark)
* VCA Decay
* Processor control on/off (allows slide and accent to be controlled with midi velocity)
* Volume

On the back it has Midi in and Midi thru connectors, signal out and filter input jack, and the power connector. It has been built into a 3 unit rack case."


Previous TB3030 posts
Previous Oakley posts

Top 20 Greatest Synths - Feb. 14th 2007

Re-Published on Mar 4, 2016

Via Sonic State.

"The long awaited IPTV series The Top 20 Greatest Synths will be going live here at Sonic on Wednesday February 14, 2007. Each of the 8 episodes broadcasted once a fortnight, will be around 10 minutes long and feature 3 chart positions with full length episodes for the number 2 and number 1 slots later in the series. The entire programme will then be posted in the Spring as one contiguous show.

Each episode has footage, facts and features about the greatest electronic instruments ever produced as well as interviews with the people who made ‘em and the people who played ‘em. It’s basically a big fat excuse to rant about all-things-synth in a show that aims to be witty, passionate, respectful and shamelessly nostalgic about electronic music, circuit boards, the 1980’s, resistors, wood finishes, keyboards with knobs on and everything in between."

Title link takes you to more info.

Fairlight on YouTube

Bob Moog Fairlight Intro


"Dr Moog demos the Fairlight CMI 1983"

Fairlight Keith Emerson

"1983 Today Show with Keith Emerson and the Fairlight CMI"

YouTubes via jhanalog.

Via Failed Muso. Check out Failed Muso for some more videos including Vince Clarke.

Matrixsynth by Mercurial

Eventide H8000 Eve/Net remote

Akai AX60 With Wood Side Panels

Title link takes you to shots pulled via this VSE thread listing it for sale by Altitude.

Waldorf on Novamusik

Looks like the new Waldorf products are listed on Novamusik. Prices are still TBA for BloFeld, Stromberg, and Zarenbourg. The Q Phoenix is listed at $2299 and the Micro Q Phoenix is $699; both include a free copy of the Waldorf Edition (Attack, D-Pole, and PPG Wave 2.V).

RIP Lino Ragni

And word is we lost another. Via Florian on the AH list:

"from Dieter Doepfer, I got also the sad news, that Lino Ragni has passed away, who was the founder of the keyboard maker company Fatar."

Doug Curtis Guest Book

I didn't realize it when I first posted the obituary for Doug Curtis, but there is a guest book there that you can sign. If you are up to it I encourage you to sign it and show your support to his family and friends. For those who do not know who Doug Curtis is, read this post. Note that the guest book is updated after review, so you will not see your entry immediately.

Analogue Haven on Doepfer

Thought this was kind of interesting. I went over to the Doepfer site after checking out these videos. I see the image to the left and click on it. I scroll not really paying attention and start reading the news: "december 21st, 2006 : happy holidays! it's our second holiday season and there is much to be excited and thankful about. for you modular fans, it has been one wild year with the explosion of new modular makers in the eurorack and frac rack lines and enough energy and ideas to keep things very exciting into 2007. for you analog keyboard fans, this year saw the release of new synths by bob moog (little phatty) and dave smith (mono evolver) as well as by up and coming legend ken macbeth (m5). for fans of virtual analog and digital synthesis, the virus ti and korg radias proved to be worth the wait and new boxes by creamware (prophet 12 & arp odyssey) are showing why soft synths and va's are best with real knobs and being outside of your main box." It goes on to list other manufacturers, and I'm thinking, ???, this is pretty cool of Doepfer showing their support for other manufacturers, and then I see a listing for a Korg Kaoss Pad 3 for sale. That's when it clicks. I scroll back up and see Analogue Haven in the header. It's not just a section on the US distributor, but the actual Analogue Haven site. The odd thing is I'm still on the Doepfer site. Analogue Haven is just embedded on the right. Eentwesting... The Deutsch (German) site does the same which is even more interesting when you think about it. Anyway, it just seemed a little odd to me.

Roland RS-09 Sample

Title link takes you to a sample of the RS-09 by donaldm via this VSE thread. Note it is not a musical track but just examples of what the RS-09 sounds like. Many of the examples is just holding down the keys so you can get a sense of the movement.