Nicolas

After a 3 months wait for the BBD chips, they finally were delivered right during my summer break. Last week I was able to start to finish the first batch of uChorus 6 and Chorus 6. It’s now shipping from the webshop and stock will reach dealers starting from next week. The first modules are already flying to Perfect Circuit at the moment.

Since last year I have the opportunity of having Bries testing and demoing SoundForce modules. I was always very impressed by the level of depth which he goes to and how musical his experimentation with the modules are. So it was clear that I wanted to him ask again for the Chorus modules. The result is a 1 hour 11 minutes film 🙂 Of course everything is labelled in the timeline, so you can jump to certain parts if you don’t have time to watch the whole thing.

Back in April, something totally huge happened and Fred Again performed on NPR’s tiny desk using the SFC-8. The controller is used probably mostly as a general purpose controller for many different parts, most likely in Logic. You can see he relabelled it to make it more intuitive to use for his application. Because of the camera angle, it took me half hour to really accept that it was actually a SFC-8 🙂 This is really making me so happy to see such a creative and popular artist using one of my products. I was enjoying Fred’s music for the last few months already. This will have positive effects on the sales but this is so much more for me a stepping stone, and I feel another level of recognition for the hard work of the last few years. Thank you Fred!

For Superbooth 2023 next week in Berlin, SoundForce is introducing 2 new Eurorack modules to complement the Juno-style range in both the full format and the compact micro format: Chorus 6 and uChorus 6.

Both modules are classic Juno-style analog BDD chorus, using the Xvive MN3009 BBDs and the same audio path as the original circuit. They can do the classic I, II and I+II modes. I+II modes are available from both the Juno 6 and Juno 60, each in mono (as the original) or stereo, giving you 4 I+II options.

The 4HP uChorus 6 offers only the basic functionality but can give you that classic chorus sound in minimal amount of space. Both modules are skiff friendly at a depth of 38mm.

The 14HP version offers also the basic modes but additional manual and external modes can take the module away from sweet and pretty sound territories right into weird and noisy soundscapes.

The manual mode gives you the opportunity to control every parameter of the chorus and gives you access to the LFO that modulates the BBD delay times. Here is what you can tweak:
– time slide pot: sets the start delay time
– rate slide pot and CV input : sets the frequency of the delay time modulation
– depth slide pot and CV input: sets the depth of modulation around the start time
– mix slide pot and CV input: sets the mix between the dry input signal and the BBD delays outputs
– LFO wave: selection of different waveforms to modulate the delay time
– range: selection of 3 different frequency ranges for the LFO (S: 30Hz to 500Hz | M: 1Hz to 100Hz | L: 0.016Hz/1min to 10Hz)

In external mode, the delay times can be modulated using an external signal through the EXT IN cv input. Plug in a CV/LFO source from your eurorack case into the EXT IN, set manually the starting delay time using the time slider and use the EXT ATT slide pot to attenuated the incoming CV signal (equivalent to setting the depth). In external mode, the depth/rate sliders and CV inputs are not active.

Both modules can take Eurorack or Line input signals and either stereo or mono inputs.

The uChorus 6 will be available in June at around 199 euros including VAT. The Chorus 6 will be available in July at around 299 euros including VAT.

It’s a Christmas miracle as the SFC-8 is finally produced and ready to ship! Customers from the USA are welcome to shop at Perfect Circuit and in the Canada at Cicada Sound. All other customers can order directly from the webshop.

The SoundForce SFC-8 is a boutique class-compliant USB-MIDI controller dedicated to Jupiter-8 plugin emulations. It is usable with any MIDI-mappable software or hardware but the panel layout has been designed especially for Arturia’s Jup-8 V and the TAL’s J-8. Considering the differences in the plugins front panels, 2 modes have been programmed to suit the control panel layouts of the 2 plugins perfectly.

Features
The controller has a USB connector for power and USB-MIDI. But it also has 5-pin DIN-MIDI input and ouput. All the messages received at the DIN-MIDI input are merged with the controller messages and sent out to both the USB-MIDI and DIN-MIDI output. So you can plug your keyboard or sequencer to the SFC-8 and use it as a USB-MIDI interface, or use the DIN-MIDI output to go to the next MIDI device in your setup. The DIN-MIDI connectivity allows direct connection with modern and vintage hardware synths and thanks to the control panel app, the user can setup their own MIDI maps and change CC numbers for each control. In the future, support for different hardware synths will be built in the control panel app.

Build quality
The controller is assembled in The Netherlands with parts from Europe and Asia. The enclosure is made of 100% sheet metal and is manufactured by Grawart (http://www.grawart.pl). The case is made of bent steel and powder coated in black. The front panel is aluminum, also powder coated and screen printed with scratch-proof white and orange inks. Walnut wood side panels of 8mm thickness are fitted to both sides of the controller.

Pricing and Availability
The SFC-8 is available on the SoundForce webshop for 499 euros incl VAT (exact price will depend on your local VAT %) in the EU and 412 euros for customers outside the EU. In the US, Perfect Circuit will be distributing the SFC-8. Please get in touch with Perfect Circuit for pre-ordering and ordering information. In Canada, Cicada Sound will be distribute the SFC-8.

There are a few SFC-1 Rev B back in stock. Those are the very last ones. Some will go to my webshop, some will go to the dealers. After the last units, the controller will be discontinued. I really love the SFC-1 but it’s a really big controller to build which makes manufacturing complex. Also I need to make time and room for new things.

Eurorack specialist Bries (https://www.youtube.com/BRiESY) made a demo video of the S-LD module. On the 6th June and 7th July, alternative firmwares have been posted in the support section of the website. They are compatible with the S-LD hardware, also recognizable by the Rev C marking on the back PCB. Please note Rev B (Samples and S-909 purchased in 2022) firmware were also posted but I cannot guarantee 100% that the update will work because of an issue with the USB bootloader of a batch of STM32 used in that batch. You still can give it a try.

Both modules are now in stock and shipping from my webshop on this site. There are also modules being dispatched to all my awesome dealers/shops this week. So if you are outside of the EU, watch the stock at your “local” dealer. If they don’t stock it yet, a little email request goes a long way!

It was an intense week! Now back to work with fully energized. Here are some highlights:

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Bries from Belgium has made 2 other videos about the Dual LFO module. There is one full tutorial with very in-depth overview of the module and then another video with some extra patches. I am very pleased with the way the module is presented, it’s very complete and well explained. Check it out!

I am happy to announce the release of the Dual LFO module, a dual tap/sync-able LFO (that can also operate as a free running LFO) with plenty of options and CV inputs. The module can track the tempo/frequency of the incoming tap signal very accurately and it has a built-in divider/multiplier with different ratios that allows for interesting synced modulation and even polyrhythmic drum patterns using the square or pulse waveform.

This design originated pre-covid and I pushed it back a few times to focus on other things. I am happy I took the time and revised the hardware and firmware a couple of times since its inception and made it the best I could. It’s very satisfying and liberating to have this module finally coming out and I am looking forward to see and hear what people will do with it.

Find more information on the product page. The module is available in my webshop for EU/Europe and at my dealers.

You can learn about the module and its features in the demo video from Quincas, aka the “Synth DIY guy”: