Melbourne NINA User manual

User Manual
12 Voice Analog Polyphonic Synthesizer
BOOGIE BASS*L1090
SYSTEM- - -
- - -

1
MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1
Contents
Introduction ........................................3
Safety & Compliance Statements ................. 3
Overview ...........................................4
Voice Architecture ..................................4
Unit Overview ......................................6
Main Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
NINA Keys ........................................8
NINA Knobs ......................................9
Rear Panel & Connections ......................10
Display Layout ................................... 12
Basic User Interface Principles..................... 12
Presets ............................................ 14
Loading Presets ................................. 14
Initialize Preset .................................. 14
Banks ........................................... 14
Rename ......................................... 14
Saving Presets ................................... 15
Import & Export Presets .......................... 15
Morphing and A/B Compare ....................... 15
Dance Mode..................................... 16
DJ Mode ........................................ 16
Store to A/B ......................................17
Load a Preset into B ..............................17
Patch Design .......................................17
Nina Voice Block Diagram .........................5
Analog VCOs .....................................17
Digital Oscillator ................................. 18
Noise and Other Sources .......................... 19
XOR ............................................. 19
White............................................ 19
Pink ............................................. 19
Aux In ........................................... 19
Input Select ....................................... 19
Ex Input Gain .................................... 19
Voice Mix ..........................................20
Drive & Overdrive..................................20
Filter / VCF........................................20
Filter Envelope EG1 ................................ 21
EG1-CUT ........................................ 21
VCA EG2 ........................................22
Glide / Portamento ................................22
Stereo Innite Panning.............................23
The Panner ......................................23
MOD Matrix Pan .................................23
Unison ..........................................24
Spin .............................................24
Modulation ........................................25
LFOs ............................................25
EG1-CUT ........................................26
MOD mode ......................................27
Modulation Sources..............................28
Modulation Destinations..........................29
Layers / Multi-timbral Operation...................30
Eects with Multi-Timbral.........................30
Arpeggiator with Multi-Timbral .................... 31
Multi-Timbral Conguration....................... 31
Reset............................................ 31
Current Layer .................................... 31
Layer Voices ..................................... 31
Output Routing ..................................32
Low Note / High Note ............................32
MIDI Channel ....................................32
CV A and CV B Source ...........................32
Volume ..........................................32
Patch/Preset Global Settings ......................32
Poly Mode.......................................32
Unison Voices and Unison Detune ................33
Panner Voices and Panner Mode .................33
Pitch Bend Range................................33
Time Mod Rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Melbourne Instruments Pty. Ltd.
331 Johnston St,
Abbotsford VIC 3067
Australia

2MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1 3
MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1
Loading and Saving Layer Setups ..................33
Load ............................................33
Save ............................................33
Arpeggiator .......................................36
Basic Operation..................................36
Dir Mode ........................................36
Hold.............................................36
Note Value.......................................36
External Sync ....................................36
Sequencer.........................................37
Recording a Sequence ...........................37
Playing a Sequence..............................37
Eects.............................................37
Chorus ..........................................38
Reverb ..........................................38
Delay............................................38
System Functions..................................39
Global Settings ..................................39
MIDI Clock In ....................................39
MIDI Echo Filter ..................................39
CV Oset Gain and Mode ........................39
Backup ..........................................39
Restore..........................................39
Bank/Patch Management.........................40
Import Bank .....................................40
Export Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Add bank ........................................ 41
Clear Bank.......................................42
Wavetable Management ..........................42
Import & Export ..................................42
Delete ...........................................42
About .............................................42
Firmware Upgrades ................................42
USB Flash Drive Removal .........................42
Appendix A: MIDI ..................................43
Appendix B: Wavetables ............................44
Appendix C: Technical Specications ...............45
Appendix D: Troubleshooting & Support ............46
Warranty ..........................................46
Introduction
Welcome to NINA, the rst synthesizer from Melbourne
Instruments.
Nina is a modernised version of the classic analog
synthesizer. It is our 12 Voice agship, featuring a fully
motorized control panel, virtually unrestricted and unlimited
modulation matrix, multi-timbral operation and a modern
computer architecture built on an open-source platform.
We are particularly pleased with the Morph function, the
way Nina’s motorised control panel makes it easy to set
up the Mod matrix, the quality of the digital eects, and
the haptics that give dynamic tactile feedback which is
useful and fun.
Nina’s patent pending motorized knobs are a world
rst in synthesizers. They have been custom designed
from a 3 phase brushless drone motor design. They
are an extremely robust, high reliability design that will
practically never wear out. The position sensing is done
using a contactless optical system with extremely high
resolution and ultra-low noise.
The circuits are custom designed and do not use resistor
trimpots (which can go out of calibration). Tuning is
maintained by measuring the temperature characteristics
of the transistors in a factory calibration step, and then
high precision FPGA monitoring of the circuits to track
their operating point with temperature while the unit is
running.
This manual is a guide that assumes you already have a
good understanding of how these kinds of classic analog
and wavetable synthesizers are used to create sounds.
It will explain all the newer features of Nina that build on
this foundation.
Safety & Compliance
Tested to comply with FCC Standards
FOR HOME OR OFFICE USE.
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules.
Operation is subject to the following tow conditions:
(1) This device may not cause harmful interference and
(2) this device must accept any interference received,
including interference that may cause undesired
operation.
For technical support email:
[e-mail]

4MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1 5
MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1
Overview
Motorized Control Panel
Nina’s unique motorized control panel dierentiates it
from all other synthesizers. This new technology allows
all the control surface knobs to automatically move to
where they are supposed to be. During Patch editing,
they show how the oscillators, VCF, VCA etc are set.
In Modulation Mode, they show you how much each
MOD destination is assigned. In multi-timbral, they jump
between the dierent presets as you change the current
layer, and in MORPH mode the entire control panel
updates on the y, according to the Morph amount.
This User Manual will explain all these dierent modes of
operation.
An important aspect of the knobs is that they are
very high resolution. They are as higher resolution
than traditional potentiometers, and are based on
a contactless optical analog position sensor. The
resolution of the sensor is extremely high, around
15000 steps. This resolution is what actually controls
the audio circuitry and what is stored in the Preset. The
LCD display will show a rounded down version of this eg
0 to 100 in steps of 1, but that does not mean that the
position is only dened by 100 steps.
The DATA Knob is used to interact with the LCD screen,
and the 3 Keys under the LCD are soft-keys, with their
functions labelled on the LCD. The remainder of the
knobs have dedicated functions printed under them. The
main output volume is the only standard potentiometer
in the unit.
Nina’s red keys each have an LED to indicate status.
These are summarized in the table on page 8.
Voice Architecture
The main stereo output analog signal is sampled by an
internal 96kHz, 24bit ADC, and passed through stereo
digital eects which are mixed back into the main analog
outputs. The 2 Aux outputs are always sent out without
eects.
See Block Diagram on page 5 for more information.

6MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1
Main Control Panel
See Pages 8-13 for detailed descriptions and basic operations.
Refer also to the Getting Started Guide included with NINA.
BOOGIE BASS*L1090
SYSTEM- - -
- - -
SOFT
KEYS
1-3

8MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1 9
MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1
KEY LED STATUS FUNCTION
SOFT KEY 1 ON = key pressed EXIT / BACK / BANK
SOFT KEY 2 ON = mode active EDIT / RENAME
SOFT KEY 3 ON = key pressed SYSTEM / ENTER / SAVE / LOAD / RESET / STORE TO / OK
MOD Blinking = MOD mode active Enter modulation mode
LAYER ON = Layer Menu active Multi-timbral setup and global Preset parameters.
ARP ON = Arpeggiator ON Short Press: turn the Arpeggiator on or o, and display Arp settings.
Long Press: display Arp settings without turning the Arpeggiator on or o.
LOAD ON = Load Menu active Load a Preset onto the current Patch, on the active Layer.
If in LAYER menu, load a Layer setup.
SAVE ON = Save Menu active Save the Patch on the current Layer to a Preset.
If in LAYER menu, save a Layer setup.
A/B OFF = A
ON = B
Switch between the A and B sound of a Preset.
RUN ON = Sequencer running Run the sequencer.
SEQ ON = Sequencer menu active Set up the sequencer
REC ON = Recording sequence Record a sequence
KBD ON = Keyboard On,
display KBD Menu.
Keys 1-16 ON = sharp/at key
Turn Keys 1 to 16 into a built-in keyboard
COARSE ON = Coarse Tune
OFF= Fine Tune
Switch between FINE and COARSE for OSC 1,
OSC 2 & OSC 3 Tune Knobs
SYNC ON = Sync ON
OFF = no sync
Hard Sync VCO 2 to VCO 1
SHAPE ON = Wavetable selection
list active
Select wavetable for OSC 3
LFO 1/2 OFF = LFO 1
ON = LFO 2
Switch LFO RATE, LEVEL, SHAPE controls and LCD menu between LFO
1 and LFO 2
SUB ON = SUB Osc
OFF = Normal Pulse
Switch VCO 1 pulse to sub-octave square
OVERDRIVE ON = Overdrive
OFF = Standard drive
Large boost for very overdriven VCF sound
TYPE (NOISE) ON = display Type menu Select White/Pink/Analog XOR or AUX In for the NOISE source
LFO SHAPE ON = display LFO Shape menu Select LFO waveform
KEYS 1-16 ON = Item in list / preset
ON = Active step
ON = Active step
ON = Sharps/ Flats
ON = Active MOD Source
LOAD operation: Short-cut to rst 16 Presets or Banks in the list.
SEQ operation: Sequencer position, rests or ties
RUN sequencer: Sequencer step display
KBD Operation: Indicates Sharps/Flats
MOD Mode: Active Modulation Source
NINA Keys NINA Knobs
SECTION LABEL FUNCTION
OSC 1 TUNE Fine tune +/- 7 semitones (1/5).
Coarse Tune +/- 2 octaves.
WIDTH Shape shift from Triangle to Saw.
OSC 2 TUNE FINE & COARSE Tune for Analog VCO 2.
WIDTH Shape shift from Triangle to Saw.
OSC 3 TUNE FINE & COARSE TUNE for Digital OSC 3.
POS Wavetable position for Digital OSC 3.
GLIDE Glissando/Portamento — causes smooth
changes in pitch between notes.
TEMPO Sets the playback speed of arpeggio or sequence.
MIX (OSC 1) BLEND Blend between Pulse and Saw.
OSC 1 Level of OSC 1 into mix.
MIX (OSC 2) BLEND Blend between Pulse and Saw.
OSC 2 Level of OSC 2 into mix.
MIX (OSC 3) OSC 3 Level of OSC 3 into mix.
NOISE Level of Noise/XOR source into mix.
LFO RATE LFO rate control.
LEVEL Set the LFO Level (Gain).
VCF RESONANCE Set the VCF Resonance.
CUTOFF Set VCF Cuto Frequency.
DRIVE Amount of overdrive for smooth distortion control.
EG1 CUT How much the VCF Envelope (EG1) aects VCF Cuto.
MOD Mode - EG1 Level as Destination.
EG1 AT TAC K Set Attack amount for EG1
DECAY Set Decay amount for EG1
SUSTAIN Set Sustain amount for EG1
RELEASE Set Release amount for EG1
EG2 AT TA CK Set Attack amount for EG2
DECAY Set Decay amount for EG2
SUSTAIN Set Sustain amount for EG2
RELEASE Set Release amount for EG2
OUTPUT MAIN Main/Master level control.
EFFECT / MOD PAN Level of Eects mix in output. Choose type and parameters.
MOD Mode - PAN as Destination.
SPIN Speed control of Stereo Innite Panning Spin.
MORPH / MOD EG2 LVL MORPH all patch parameters between A and B sounds.
MOD Mode - EG2 LVL as Destination.
COMPUTER DATA LCD Navigation / General control access

10 MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1 11
MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1
Rear Panel & Connections
1. PHONES:
1/4” Headphone jack.
2. OUTPUTS:
Main Audio Left & Right: Line Out.
For best results use a TRS Balanced cable.
3. AUX AUDIO LEFT & RIGHT:
Auxiliary Audio Out. No eects and xed level.
4. INPUTS:
Inputs 1/2/3: Line level Audio or CV.
5. INPUT 4:
Line or Mic Level Audio or CV.
6. MIDI:
Standard DIN MIDI.
7. DAW (USB HOST):
USB-C connection for Mac/PC.
NINA appears as a MIDI device.
8. USB DEVICES:
USB MIDI Keyboards and controllers,
USB thumb drives.
9. POWER INPUT:
Use supplied power accessories only.
12V 8A.
10. POWER SWITCH:
On/O.
1 3 2 5 4 6 7 8 9 10

MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1 13MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V0.9
LCD Display Context Switching
A key design goal of Nina’s Display was “no menu diving”
as much as possible. One key solution to this is that the
display automatically switches to display the parameters
of one section, when any knobs or keys in that section
are moved.
For example, if you want to set up the Eects, a very
small movement of the Eects Knob will pop up all the
settings to congure the Eects. You can then use
the DATA Knob and the Soft-keys to adjust the eects
settings:
As another example, adjusting any of the controls for
OSC 1 will bring up all the settings for OSC 1 on the
display:
When this list is displayed the DATA Knob and Soft-keys
can be used to move around the list and see a numerical
value. EDIT will let you change the setting or amount
with the data knob. Note that a value change with the
Data Knob will not be as high resolution as using the
dedicated Knob for that setting, eg OSC 1 Level Knob
has true hires control, whereas the DATA Knob will just
set 0 to 100 in steps of 1.
The EDIT soft-key has 2 modes of operation -
LATCHED: If you press EDIT momentarily, it will latch the
data knob will adjust the current value up or down, until
you press EDIT again.
QUICK EDIT: Press and hold down the EDIT soft-key
while you turn the data knob to adjust the value without
latching or needing to press EDIT a second time to exit .
Display Layout
LOAD PRESETS Screen
MODULATION Screen example
Title Bar
MOD Source
Patch/Bank Number and Name
Patch/Bank Number and Name
Active Layer
Active Layer
MIDI Signal Tempo
Tempo
Soft Keys 1-3
Soft Keys 1-3 Amount / Level
List of Presets or
other settings
List of active
MOD Destinations
12

14 MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1 15
MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1
Presets
Sounds that are saved on Nina are called Presets in this
Guide. The current live sound that you are working on is
called the Patch.
Nina’s Presets are stored in Banks. Each Bank contains
127 Presets and there are 32 Banks. New Banks can be
created, up to 127. New Banks can be added and cleared,
and Banks can be imported and exported via USB Flash
drives, see Bank/Patch Management on page 40 under
the System menu.
The Preset data includes the Patches (A and B),
Arpeggiator, Sequencer Data and Eects setup.
Note that there are some global Preset parameters which
are accessed via the LAYER menu, see page 31.
Loading Presets
Press the LOAD Key to show the list of Presets in the
current Bank. The display will show the current bank
in the title bar (01 FAVORITES) and the list of Presets,
starting with the last Preset loaded.
Pressing KEYS 1-16 will quickly load the Preset at that
number position on the list. If you want to go further
down the list than 16, use the DATA W HEEL and the
LOAD soft-key to load the Preset.
When a Preset loads, the display will remain on the LOAD
screen and the LOAD Key LED will stay ON. To exit the
Load screen, press the LOAD Key. You can adjust the
Patch using the Knobs and Keys while still in the LOAD
screen, but the LCD screen will not show the usual Patch
editing information.
Note: the above description is the normal LOAD
behaviour, when the A/B Key is on A (LED O). For a
description of how B sound loading is done, see the
section Load a Preset into B on page 178.
Initialize Preset
To initialize a Preset to a very simple state simply choose
the INIT PATCH Preset.
Once initialised, The Mod matrix has everything o
except vital minimum mappings. The lter is open and
envelopes are very simple. OSC1 is the only audible
oscillator and it is a sawtooth at max volume.
Banks
The BANK soft-key allows you to access Presets from
another Bank. Pressing BANK will display the list of
available Banks:
Press ENTER to open the selected bank and show the
Presets in that bank. If you press EXIT, you will exit Load
mode and the display will return to the Home screen.
Rename
The RENAME soft-key allows you to rename Preset or
Bank Names shown in the list.
Use the Data Wheel to scroll the cursor left or right.
Press and hold EDIT while you adjust the data knob
to change the letter or number at the current cursor
position. Note that all the letters to the right of the
cursor are greyed out. The greyed out letters will be
trimmed o the name when you press ENTER. If you want
to retain all character in current name, move the cursor
to the end before you press ENTER.
Press BACK to cancel the rename operation and return
to the Bank or Preset list.
Saving Presets
Saving Presets is very similar to loading.
Press the SAVE key to show the list of Presets in the
current Bank.
The list will always start from where you last loaded. If
you simply wish to overwrite the Preset, press SAVE.
Otherwise scroll down to a dierent location, or use
BANK soft-key to navigate to a dierent Bank and Preset
location.
When you press SAVE, you will be prompted to change
or update the name:
Use the DATA knob to select the letters and EDIT to
change them.
If you press SAVE again, Nina will briey inform you that
the Preset has been saved. If you changed the name,
the new name will be saved to the Preset and displayed
on the Title Bar. The LCD will then return to the home
screen, and SAVE mode will be exited.
If you press BACK, you can either navigate to a dierent
Preset location, or EXIT to the home screen. You can
also exit the SAVE mode without committing changes by
pressing SAVE key.
Import & Export Presets
Banks of Presets can be imported and exported from
Nina to .zip les stored on a USB ash drive. See section
Bank/Patch Management on page 40, under System
Functions.
Morphing and A/B Compare
All Presets have the ability to store 2 sounds, referred to
here as the A sound and the B sound. The main use for
these 2 sounds are for comparing an original sound with
a modied version you are working on (A/B compare),
or for exploring new sounds that are a morph between
these A and B sounds.
The A/B key switches between the sounds. If the A/B
Key LED is OFF, you are editing the A sound; if the LED
is ON, you are editing the B sound. If you wish to quickly
try this, press the A/B key, and see how the knobs will
jump between the 2 sounds (assuming A & B sounds are
already set).
Morph is a great way to explore new sounds for Preset
creation. It can also be used dynamically in playing live
music or creating interactive cinematic sound-scapes
as you play. The Morph position can also be automated
using a DAW.
As you press the A/B Key, you will notice that the Morph
Knob jumps between fully-left and fully-right. When you
turn the Morph knob, the sound will morph between the
A and B sounds according to the position of the Knob.
B is active
when key is
illuminated

16 MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1 17
MELBOURNE INSTRUMENTS – NINA V1.1
Store to A/B
At any point you can save the morphed sound to the A
or B Patch by pressing the STORE TO A or STORE TO B
soft-key (determined by A/B key).
Note: Always take notice of the state of the A/B Key
before you start to Morph, because that is where you
will be able to save it.
Below: STORE TO B soft-key shown because A/B is on.
Load a Preset into B
A great way to explore new sounds is to load 2
completely dierent sounding Presets into the A and B
sounds, and morph between them.
You can load a Preset into the B sound using the A/B
Key in combination with LOAD.
To be specic: you can load the “A” sound from another
Preset into the current Patch B sound.
A normal Preset LOAD, as described in the section on
Loading Presets on page 14, is one where the A/B Key is
on A (LED o). In a normal load, the full Preset with both
A and B sounds will be loaded.
However, if the A/B Key is on B (LED on) when you load,
then the Preset you selected will just load into the B
sound. The A sound and the rest of the current Patch will
remain unchanged.
When the A/B Key is on B, the soft-key for loading
changes to LOAD B.
Patch Design
Analog VCOs
Nina has 2 Analog VCOs, OSC1 and OSC2. These
are discrete-transistor VCOs which generate a
Sawtooth/Triangle shape and a Pulse Shape.
The control of Nina’s sawtooth to triangle wave shape
has a unique feature —
Most existing synthesizers do a crossfade between
triangle and sawtooth when you adjust the shape control.
Nina’s oscillators do a smooth shape transition between
triangle and saw, which follows the pulse width. This is
creates a unique set of timbres between the two shapes.
The following diagram shows a picture of how the Width
Knob changes the shape of the Saw/Triangle and Pulse
waveforms:
Tip: Modulate the Width with an LFO to create
interesting phaser-like bass sounds.
The morph is not a crossfade between the 2 sounds,
it is a creating entirely new timbres between them. The
morphed sound is made by smoothly interpolating
every parameter between the settings in the 2 patches,
including the entire Modulation Matrix.
Some settings cannot be morphed in the same way,
so work a bit dierently.
Setting Morph Operation
OSC 3 Crossfades between the sound of
OSC3 on A and B
COARSE Tune Steps between the octaves on A
and B in even steps divided over the
Morph Range
SUB Oscillator
Enable
Steps between the A sound and B
sound setting at the 50% Morph
position
SYNC Enable Steps between the A sound and B
sound setting at the 50% Morph
position
NOISE Type Steps between the A sound and B
sound setting at the 50% Morph
position
OVERDRIVE Setting is always the same on A and
B. Does not morph.
EFFECTs Setting is always the same on A and
B. Does not morph.
TEMPO, ARP,
SEQUENCER
Setting is always the same on A and
B. Does not morph.
Operating the Morph control will bring up the Morph
menu on the LCD.
Below: STORE TO A soft-key shown because A/B is o.
The Mode setting allows you to select Dance or DJ
mode.
Dance Mode
In Dance mode, the knobs will all move to show their
positions in the Morph, and you can edit that Morphed
sound as you go.
As you morph between the two, you can also move any
of the front panel knobs to lock in that parameter. For
example, if you are morphed ¼ of the way from A to B,
and you adjust the Resonance Knob, then when you
move the morph knob again, the Resonance Knob will;
not move anymore.
DJ Mode
In DJ mode, the Morph knob will morph between the
sounds, and you will hear the morphed sound, but the
knobs will not move. The controls will either be editing
the A or B sound, depending on the A/B Key.
Tip: DJ Mode works well if you are automating the
Morph control from a DAW and want to use the patch
editing knobs at the same time.
In Dance mode, you edit the Morphed sound if you
adjust with the knobs, but in DJ mode you edit the
original A and B sounds when you adjust the knobs.