Din Sync SARA VCF User manual

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Dearcustomer,
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ThankyouforyourpurchaseoftheSARAVCFeurorackmodule.
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TheSaraVCFisafullyvoltagecontrolledstatevariablefilterwithdual“opposing”selfoscillating
cores.Thetonecapabilitiescanrangefromdelicatetooutrageousandallstopsinbetween.
Everythingfromclassicvintagetwinfiltersetups,oscillatorintofilter(quasilpg),selfoscillation
andformantstylesoundscapes.TheSaraVCFdoeswellbothinclassicdutiesand
experimentalsounds(justtryselfpatchingthestatecontrolfromoneofthecoreouts)
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WithCVovereverycontrolthemodulationpossibilitiesopenthepaletteofsoundevenfurther.
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Readontogetthebestoutofyournewmodule.
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Yournewmodulecomeswith12monthsfreetechnicalsupportfortheoriginalpurchaser,just
dropanemailto[email protected]ifyouhaveanyquestionsorproblems.
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Againthankyouforyourpurchase,it’smuchappreciated.Anddon’tforgettokeepaneyeon
http://www.dinsync.infofortheforthcomingmodules.
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Paul
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Whoreadsmanualsanyway?
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Iknowright?butpleasetakeaquickreadofthefollowing.
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Installation
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TheSARAVCFhasreversepowerprotection,sopluggingthepowercableinbackwardsshould
resultinnodamagetothemoduleitself.Howeverpluggingthingsinbackwardsisneveragood
ideaandcouldpotentiallydamageotherpartsofyoursystem.Theprotectionisthereincaseof
pluggingthepowercableinbackwardsbyaccident,pleasestilltakecaretochecktheorientation
ofthecablewhenconnectingitforthefirsttime.
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figure1thecorrectandwrongwaytoconnectpower
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Beforeinstallingpleasepoweroffyourmodularcase.Connectoneendofthecabletothe
moduleasshowninfigure1.Connecttheotherendofthecabletoyourmodularcasebus
board,pleasecheckyourcase’smanualforthecorrectorientation.Thestripeonthecable
shouldbeconnectedto12.Wehavenowstartedusingkeyedconnectorsonourpowercables.
Ifyouhaveabusboardwithashroudedheaderpleaseconfirmthattheredstripeisat12v
beforepoweringyoursystem.Afteryouhaveconnectedthepoweryoucanmountthemodule
usingtheincludedscrews,SARAVCFrequires16HPofcabinetspace.

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BEFOREUSE
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SINE WAVE WARNING!
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TheSARAVCFiscapableofcreatingveryloudsinewaveswhichcouldpotentiallycause
hearingdamage,speakerdamageorboth.Listeningatveryhighvolumesforextendedperiods
shouldbeavoidedtoprotectyourearsandyourequipment.
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NOTJUSTANOTHERFILTER
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whenapproachingtheSARAVCF,it’sbestnottothinkofitasjustanotherfilter,ortwofiltersin
one.Thedesignphilosophywastocreateamusicaltoolthatwouldrewardtheuserwithtime
andeffort.Takesometimetoexplorethepossibilitieswithexternalcvcontrol,theressome
weirdshitinthereIcantellyou.
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Mostfiltersareprettyeasytooperate,howeverSARAVCFhasafewthingstonote.
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Thedefaultroutingistoplugasignalintocore1inputandtaketheoutputfromcore2notch,in
thissetupcore1notchoutputisnormalisedtocore2inputandbothcoresare“opposed”
That’stosaywhencore1issettolowpass(viathestatecontrol)core2willbehighpass,and
viceversa.
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Whenfirstusingthenotchmodesitsveryeasytofiltereverything,resultinginnosoundatall!!If
thishappenstakeamomenttocheckthepositionsofthefrequencyknobs,rotatingthem
opposite(orthestate)usuallyfixesthings.
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Singlecoreoutputswillbeinverted,thisistosaythatwhenusingthecoresassinglefiltersthe
outputsareinverted.Ifthesignalpassesthroughbothcoresitwillofcoursenotbeinvertedany
longer.
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WhenyouhaveacontrolvoltageconnectedtotheQorSTATEcvinputstheknobsbecome
attenuators.(thisisnotthecasewiththefrequencyknobs)
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Theinput/outputratioforbothcoresisslightlydifferent,core2ismoredampenedsinceits
consideredtheoutputstageandsoistamedalittle.Inusethiswillmeantheoutputofcore1is
louder.Ifyouwantthebestpossiblesinglefilterresponsethencore1shouldbeusedasithas
roughlya1:1input/outputratio.
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Thecenterfrequencyofeachcorecanbeadjustedtoyourtaste,theyhavebeenadjustedto
giveanoptimalrangeforthecutoffknobs.Howeverthismeansthatthefilterswillbleedslightlyin
lowpassmodewiththecutoffatzero.Youcanfindmoreinformationabouttheadjustmentsin
thecalibrationsectionofthemanual.
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wowyoureadthisfar?I’mimpressed.That’sprobablyprettymuchallyouneedtogetstarted
andifyoudidn’tjustjumpinalready,readonforalittlemoredetail.Orskipforwardtofindsome
weirdpatchestotryoutforyourself!
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SARAVCF
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eachcorefeatures
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Controlvoltageinputforcutoff12/+12v
ControlvoltageinputforQ0/+5v
ControlvoltageforState0/+5v(shared)
Selfoscillation,tracking1v/octforaround4octaves
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keyfeatures
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Dual“opposing”coreswhereeachcoreisamirrorstateoftheother.
Whenonecore’sstateissweptfullylowpasstheothercoreisfullyhighpass.
Controlvoltageforstateworkswellintoaudiorange.
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additionalfeatures
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Eightsimultaneousoutputsfromvariousstagesofrouting
Coretwoinputisnormalledfromcoreonenotchoutput.
Canalsobeusedastwoindependentfilters.
Eachcorehasadifferentinput/outputresponse.
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Patches
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QuasiLPG
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setcore1Qtomax(selfoscillation)
core1FREQsetsbasepitch
setcore2FREQtominimum
setcore2Qtominimum
setSTATEtominimum
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connectanenvelopewithzeroattackandasmoothdecay(suchastheVCF303envout)
tocore2FREQCV
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usingacv/gatesequencerconnectthesequencerpitchcontrolvoltageoutputtocore1FREQ
CVandthegateoutputtotheenvelope
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takeoutputfromcore2LP
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InlovingmemoryofInfradead’schickens
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setcore1FREQ9o’clock
setcore2FREQ12o’clock
setQ1max
setQ2max
setSTATEmax
patchcore2lpouttocore2QCVin
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setupamaths(orequivalent)fortwocyclinglogwaves,speedwillbetheclucks,multimaths
sumoutto
core1FREQCV
core2FREQCV
STATECV
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takeoutputfromcore2NOTCH
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cluckcluckcluck
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waterfalltrills
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samepatchasabovebutincreasemathsspeedsandpatch
core2bpouttocore1input

Engineroom
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core1freq0%
core1res100%
state100%
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core2freq25%
core2res90%
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patchosc3032squareouttocore1in,oscfreqcontrolseffect(adjustuntilbeatingaround80%)
patchcore1hpouttostatecv
patchcore2lpouttocore2qcv
takeoutputfromcore2notch
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Pete’seelpie
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setbothcorestoselfosc
sendtwodifferentquantisedcvstobothfreqcvins(differentsourcesforbestresults)
inputcanbeanywave(ornoneatall)
setfreqandstatetotaste
takeoutfromcore2notch
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Attackoftherandomsquawks
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freq1around2oclock
freq212oclock
bothrestomax
statealittleoffcentreeitherway
patchcore2bandpassouttocore1freqcv
patchcore1bandpassouttocore2freqcv
takeoutputfromcore2notch
adjustfreqknobsuntilfeebacktonestartstosquawk
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dxfantasy
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setstatetomax
setcore1freqto11oclock
setcore2freqto9oclock
setcore1qtomax
setcore2qto3oclock
osc303MKIIsawouttostatecvin
vcf303envouttocore2freqcv
takeoutputfromcore2lpout
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triggervcf303envandadjustvcf303decaytotaste
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Cylonpulsedrive
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bothfreqsto50%
bothq’sselfosc
state100%
patchcore1lpouttostatecv
osc3032squarewavetocore2input
outputfromcore2notch
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CALIBRATION
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PLEASENOTE:
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Yourmodulewasalreadycarefullycalibrated,youshouldnotattemptto,norneedtoadjustthe
trimmers.
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MISADJUSTMENTWILLCAUSEMISOPERATIONandreadjustmentsarenotcoveredby
warranty.
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Thisinformationisprovidedasacourtesyandadjustmentsshouldonlybemadebyaqualified
technician.
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Trimmerlocations
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CORE1
1:1v/octadjustment
2:DCoffset(scopeHPout)
3:DCoffset(scopeBPout)
4:Centerfrequency(factorysetting,setFREQandQtomax,scopeLPout,adjustfor78khz)
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CORE2
5:DCoffset(scopeHPout)
6:DCoffset(scopeBPout)
7:1v/octadjustment
8:Centerfrequency(factorysetting,setFREQandQtomax,scopeLPout,adjustfor78khz)
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donotadjusttrimmers9through13,theyarepresetatthefactoryandshouldnotneed
adjustment,MISADJUSTMENTWILLCAUSEMISOPERATION.
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Acknowledgements
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manythanksgooutto
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StephenKwartlerfromhttp://www.promodular.comforthepaneldesign.
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Chris“Infradead”Lehfeldtforbetatesting,demonstratingandgenerallybeingawesome.
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Specifications
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Width16HP
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Depth
35mm,measuredfromtherearofthefaceplate.
44mm,measuredfromtherearofthefaceplatetotheedgeofthesuppliedandconnectedpowercable.
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Powerconsumption:
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max
45ma+12
45ma12
