Post
by EMwhite » Mon Nov 17, 2014 6:46 pm
Synths like the Roland Juno 106 and the Oberheim Matrix 6 each had DCOs; the Moog products are VCOs, however in the case of the Sub37 (and I believe, the SubPhatty before it), there is much improved tracking in the modern Moog VCOs than what was in my Little Phatty Tribute near zero warm up, etc. Both are still analog but the frequency clocking is controlled digitally on DCOs; waveforms are generated with analog circuits on both.
The Matrix 6 was based on a multiple CEM3396 ICs required external clocking on pin 4 and 9, but the core of the oscillator was indeed internal to the core of the IC and was highly integrated analog. Many other 'custom' synth ICs operated similarly.
To me, hybrid synths are synths such as the Dave Smith Prophet '12, the Mono & Poly Evolver (which has two digital and two analog oscillators), and the new Modulus (which is incredible if you haven't seen it you should check it out). So is the Mutable Instruments Shruthi and for that matter, so was the PPG 2.x They've got wave tables and CPU generated waveforms which feed into analog filters and VCAs, etc. Of course, some of the Dave Smith devices go digital again at the end of the signal path for effects which he's been particularly keen on as of late.
But all of the above use Digital CPU and/or micro controllers (Ti, Atmel, PIC, or in the case of the vintage gear, a 6809 processor) for the typical functions of patch management, in some cases, keyboard scanning, and in fewer cases, to drive envelopes and LFOs. The most recent Moog products do just that, use software based envelopes to produce voltages which control the cutoff frequency or the amount of amplitude not to mention LFOs, etc. If you've ever used a MP-201 (Multi pedal), it had a handy envelope generator which was done 100% in software, but then used DACs to output an analog voltage.
Backing up a few years and you'll see that the Voyager is very unconventional, or rather, very conventional meaning that the CPU is only used for housekeeping functions such as patch management and Midi processing. Compare the analog board in a Voyager or Old School to a Little Phatty and you'll see [easily] 2x the number of components. And no, the fact that there is a 3rd Oscillator and an additional filter on the Voyager does not account for the difference. Rather, it's what is done in software vs. pure hardware, primarily in Logic ICs. The Little Phatty / Slim Phatty also were among the first to have digital noise and sample and hold. Can you tell the difference?
I think you can sum it up by suggesting that digital control of modulation does not result in a digital or even a hybrid synth. At least that's what I think.
In this context, SoundOnSound is wrong in my opinion, it's not a hybrid. And a Matrix 6 is not a hybrid either. Prophet 12 and Prophet 2, yes. That's a hybrid synth.
'76 Minimoog, Taurus 3, Oberheim FVS + Son of 2-voice; Sequential ProOne; Juno 106; Moog Model 15; Kurzweil 250; Hammond M3; and a handful of Fender Basses
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