I am super stoked to announced that customers in the US can now order SoundForce products from Perfect Circuit (Burbank, CA). With great advantages such as free shipping (above 99$), easy returns and an extended warranty. Of course you can order online (https://www.perfectcircuit.com), but they also have a brick and mortar shop in Burbank, so you can try the products there before purchasing if you are in the area.
This 14/15/16 of June I will get plenty of modular action. I am going to 3 events that are organised by dedicated and passionated people.
On Friday the 14th, there is an event in my hometown of Enschede, in the Netherlands. We have a great little of community of syntheads. Last edition was a lot of fun. It takes place in the sickhouse, an old Hospital building where all sort of cool underground and art things are going on. Link to event.
On Saturday, I will travel to Belgium (my country originally) to participate to the PULSE festival. There is a great live line-up and a nice makers maker. It sounds very promising, there is a second hand market and some interest for DIYers. Link to event.
On Sunday, I have the opportunity to present my modules at the Square Wave modular improvisation session in Deventer, The Netherlands. Link to event.
The SoundForce DCO is an oscillator for Eurorack based on the architecture of the Juno-60/106 oscillator section. It is a modern homage to that sound using technology from the future. It provides true analog waveforms with digital stability.
Some tech-talk:
A DCO is not an all-analog VCO but also not a digital oscillator. It’s an hybrid design that combines the best of both. Similarly to many VCO’s, the DCO generates its core waveform, the saw wave, by charging a capacitor in an op-amp integrator configuration. A VCO will restart the waveform cycle when the signal has reached its maximum amplitude. But the DCO starts an new cycle when a micro-controller, a small computer chip, commands it to. The micro-controller also controls the rate at which the capacitor is charging, hence the frequency of the oscillator. As with a digital oscillator, the DCO acquires the CV input voltages and turns them into numbers that will later set the frequency of the oscillator. This is done inside the micro-controller using 16 bits sigma-delta analog to digital converters. All signals are true analog signals. The PULSE wave is derived from the SAW wave using a comparator and the SUB oscillators are generated using a flip-flop IC. Furthermore, the use of a very modern micro-controller with built-in 32 bits timers have improved the frequency accuracy a lot compared to the original design.
If you want to dive deeper in the technicalities of DCOs, check out this video from GOLT! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqY6cVJS9fo
Features:
The SoundForce DCO features 10 slide pots (faders) reminiscent of the Roland synths. 5 sound sources are available: SAW, PULSE, SUB1 (1 octave lower), SUB2 (2 octaves lower) and NOISE. The built-in mixer allows you to mix them together using the faders and the MIX output jack. The PULSE has manual pulse width control, as well as PWM with a CV input and an attenuator. An FM input is also available with an attenuator. The oscillator can be hard synced to another oscillator using the SYNC input.
Specifications:
– 16HP
– Frequency range : 20Hz – 14kHz
– Depth: 24mm (+ power connector)
– Power: +12V 82mA, -12V 26mA
– V/OCT input range -3 to 7V
– FM input range -5V to 5V
– PWM input range -5V to 5V
Price and availability:
The module will be shown on the SoundForce booth next week at Superbooth (booth O501) along with some more upcoming modules. It’s available right now to pre-order at 229 euros (189 euros outside of Europe) on the SoundForce webshop. It will be shipping in June.
Not a 1st April joke 😉
SoundForce presents a new model to its dedicated USB-MIDI controllers product line: the SFC-1, a controller especially designed for the fantastic u-he’s Repro-1 plugin. See the SFC-1 product page : here.
Features
With a whopping total of 51 pots, 41 slide switches and 6 tactile switches, you can control every single MIDI-mappable parameter of the plugin in analog fashion. The awesome effect chain is also fully-covered on the bottom section of the controller.
Every control is assigned to a default CC number, but that can be changed using our control panel app in Google Chrome. A shift button unlocks an alternative channel for each pot, allowing you to control potentially 51 extra parameters. Even more user-specific controls are possible with the extra set of user-assignable switches and pots.
Build quality
The enclosure is made of 100% sheet metal. The case is made of bent steel and powder coated in black. The front panel is aluminium, also powder coated and screen printed with scratch-proof white ink. Please note that the final product will have a plain black powder coat, not structured like the pictures are showing. Discrete and minimalistic wooden pieces of 6 mm thickness are added to the sides. Dimensions are: 380 mm x 173 mm x 55 mm (Length x Width x Height).
The SFC-1 is a boutique controller manufactured in small batches in the Netherlands. A lot of operations are still performed by hand and automation is used when possible to improve quality and processes.
Shipping & pricing
The controller will start to ship in June. You can come check it out at Prolight+Sound/Musikmesse in Frankfurt (on Thursday and Friday only, in Hall 8 Booth B10 – Audio Maker Square) and Superbooth in Berlin (Booth O501). 100 pieces will be made in the first batch. The price will be 329 euros including VAT for EU-customers and 271 euros outside the EU. Pre-order now on the webshop.
3 other SoundForce MIDI controllers are still currently available : SFC-Mini (for Minimoog plugins), SFC-60 (for the TAL Juno 60 emulation plugin) and SFC-5 (for the P5 plugins).
We’re 10 weeks away from Superbooth 2019 and the race to finish up the new products has started. This year will be amazing I am sure, last year was totally worth. If you are considering to go as a visitor, you should totally do it if you can.
I will be showing the new mystery controller as well as at least 3 new fully-assembled commercial eurorack modules. And I have a really neat new location, at the beginning of the hallway at the top of the big staircase.
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