SOUND machine
core is a 8-bits CPU Intel 80186
manages 6 voices polyphony.
A voice is composed by 2 oscillators (OSC1 + OSC2) which
structure is based on CEM 3374 + a
white noise circuit + a sub-oscillator.
System manages different voice allocation modes:
- up to 3 voices assignable to different Midi channels
- 2 sounds can be stacked in UPPER and LOWER part.
|
OSC1 |
OSC2 |
shapes |
sawtooth / square |
sawtooth / square |
pulse width |
yes |
yes |
volume bal |
no |
no |
hardsynch |
yes |
yes |
ringmod |
yes (fixed depth) |
as OSC1 |
ENVELOPE 2 EGs:
- EG1 VCA: 3 stages ADR
- EG2 AUX: 4 stages ADR + 1 extra time.
FILTER resonant
4-poles lowpass filter based on Curtis CEM 3372
with cutoff and 8 fixed resonance levels. Keyboard
tracking attenuates filter effect over octaves (to both
low or high part).
LFO a single delayed low
oscillator (range 0,1 to 10Hz square and sinewave)
modulates:
- DCO1 & 2 pitch
- PWM pulse
- VCA amplitude
- VCF filter (the "SWEEP").
SEQUENCER
single track polyphonic, about 700 notes that can be
recording in either real-time or stepmode. Of course
Polaris can be also played byt MIDI with a great full
Midi implementation:
in fact all sliders sends the relative control changes.
MEMORY:
- 132 sounds RAM
- 12 RAM sequencers.
Data backup can be done by MIDI SYSEX or tape storage -
several hardware modifications expands the storage
capacity.
MAINTENANCE some common
issues:
- buttons membranes is infamous for being highly
unreliable and needs cleans or technical cares
- keyboard velocity system may need also to be
periodically calibrated.
- power supply drains too much and it has been
reported various issues of faulty power
supplies.
On the right side a video tutorial for some
possible fix
|
|
EDITOR
some editors available on the market:
- Soundquest
RELATED MODELS:
|
ARP CHROMA Big,
powerful and unreliable machine! previous model VIDEO |
|
POLARIS II Should be same
machine at 100% with different outfit for Japanese
market VIDEO |
VST PLUGIN
/ SAMPLED VERSION there are some free and
commercial samples set:
|
name |
price |
link |
demo |
|
SOLARIS |
VST free |
|
n/a |
|
Create music net |
free sample pack |
|
n/a |
AUDIO
DEMO
Soundcloud