MATRIXSYNTH

VU-Perc & HD-Rot & VCOFan

Published on Nov 25, 2012 by ggijs
http://gieskes.nl/eurorack/?file=rot
http://gieskes.nl/eurorack/?file=vco-fan

Electro Harmonix EH-0400 Mini Synthesizer

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"Rare chance to get hold of one of these, in great shape & fully working!*

This is a very basic analog synth, designed by David Cockerell who designed all the coolest EH stuff & also worked on the EMS synths, of course. It has a very growly, distinctive filter! Played from the 'keys' it's good-sounding & very straightforward (no envelope!) but spend a bit of time with it, mess around with the sliders while you're playing & you'll be surprised at the 'hidden' sounds you can get.

In very good shape, & I have cleaned the slider pots. If you check the clips on Youtube, you will notice they all sound awful. I think this needs to be played as much on the sliders as the keyboard, to manually open up the filter etc. Sliders were full of crackle & stiff to move, are now smooth & crackle-free. All the slider caps are original & intact, except the tip for the On/ Off switch which is missing- purely cosmetic! The cardboard back has a little wear around the sockets, & the battery clips in perfect condition, no sign of any leaks or corrosion at all.

There's a particularly nice PWM bass sound, very reminiscent of the riff of Being Boiled (Human League), which would have been a Korg 700s, I think?

*I'm not entirely sure what the deal is with the SENS setting. There is a Piezo mic stuck underneath the touchpad, which I'm guessing might re-trigger the filter if you tap the keys(?) Again, looking at Youtube, there are videos that claim to show it working, but I'm not convinced.. as far as I can tell, the Sens setting seems to have no effect on filter or triggering or anything..

Works from 2x 9v batteries, & has an internal speaker. I think this sounds great with batteries, through the speaker! There is a 1/4" Output socket & a 1/8" socket for a PSU **I have never used this with a PSU.. being EH you'd imagine it's 18v+, & I have a suitable PSU for my Electric Mistress, but I have a feeling this may be 9vAC. The only pic I've seen of a PSU with this (on Matrixsynth) was EH-branded & 9v- tricky to find any info on this! My advice- be careful & stick to batteries!!**"

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Powertran Transcendent 2000

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"This is a classic old mono synth designed by Tim Orr of EMS in the early 1980's and was sold as a kit. Not too many of these left in good working order now and they are highly sought after by those wanting real analogue sound with knobs and buttons to play with! THis example has had a couple of mods to improve the signal to noise ratio on the outputs and the addition of an LFO LED light on the front panel that flashes in time with the LFO rate. I had one of these as a teenager and got hold of this one again recently with a view to making some mods of my own but time is not with me so I have to let it go now. The key contacts can be temperamental on these but this one is pretty good and currently they all work.

Also included is a paper and CD (.pdf) copy of the original Electronics Today magazine articles that describe all the processes as well as construction details. Very useful - I learnt more about how it works for these than I ever knew back in the 80's!"

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