Plankton Electronics SPICE User manual

PLANKTON ELECTRONICS
SPICE USER MANUAL
rev0



WARRANTY 3
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 3
POWER 4
RACKING 4
FIRST STEPS 5
OVERVIEW 7
PATCHING SYSTEM 7
LED SYSTEM 8
INPUT 9
FILTER 9
DIGITAL 10
INPUT 10
FRACTIONAL BIT RATE 11
SAMPLE RATE 12
ENCODER 13
BIT MUTING 14
BIT INVERTING 14
BIT SWAPPING 14
POST FILTER 15
ANALOG 15
INPUT 15
ANALOG CIRCUITS 16
STATE VARIABLE FILTER 18
MIXER 18
FEEDBACK 19
ENVELOPE FOLLOWER 20
FINAL NOTES 21


 

WARRANTY

Plankton Electronics warrants this product to be free of any defect in the manufacturing
or materials for a period of one year from the date of purchase. This warranty does not
cover any damage or malfunction caused by incorrect use – such as, but not limited to,
power cables connected backwards, excessive voltage levels, or exposure to extreme
temperature or moisture levels.
The warranty covers replacement or repair, as decided by Plankton Electronics. Please,
contact our customer service for a return authorization before sending the module
([email protected]). The cost of sending a module back for servicing is
paid for by the customer.
Plankton Electronics implies and accepts no responsibility for harm to person or
apparatus caused through operation of this product.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    
This machine has been designed by Àlex, Albert , Miguel and Ivan for Plankton Electronics.
It has been possible thanks to the support of: Skye Klein, Aidan Taus, Uncertain
Proportions, Paul Boos, iSapien1956672, Destin LeBlanc, Daniel Browne, Casey Neiditch,
Corey Ackland, Conny Fornbäck, Brandon Ivers, jonathan scott, Olivier Ozoux, John Schussler,
eiji haruyama, Alex Brunori, Stega, Stanislav Shtin, Frédéric Folie, Aleix TVNO, Adam Lindsay,
Benedict Lee, Eldar Bikkinin, Jeroen Baekelandt, Frank Reimann, Ben D. Jones, Robert,
Swindger, Firehazrd, Ken Sheldon, Re8et, Jeffery Schenk, Greg Sterling, Daniel Browne,
SoundSweepsBy, Frieder G., James Devane, Jesús Leon, bothelbows, wtk.dwc, Philip Wise,
Nangu, Kymatica AB, Corentin Vercoustre, Martijn Pillards, Scott Silver, Rumblin Cynth
Rampo, Manu retamero, ANAL-blaster, Chris Meyer / Learning Modular, Schtickkicker, Nikki &
Madame, Lesinge, Spencer Kiss, Mike, NAOFUMI HASUIKE, Greg Cabrera, Jody Schaible, Rosa
Luxemburg, Michael Navarrette, Andrew Goodman, tgm, Mister Valentin, Frank Aponte,
Андрей Ф-П, Oliver Garcia-Borg, bpcmusic, Martin Brown, Eike, Wesley Hodgson, Martin
Daubenmerkl, Michael DeHaan, EDOUARD LOMBARD, David Eastman, Audiobender, Ian
Gowen, Aidann Bowley, Jonathan Snipes, Boyd Post, James Yanisko, Tara Stark, Nick Herman,
Saraf, Ben T. aka dyce., Jeff Farr, Rosemarijn van Westbroek, Sociopatch, G. Cantalapiedra,
Pauyl Morgan, Alexey Keller, Aziraphale, Stijn Leijte, KlemDyubua, Hiroaki Yutani, Robert
Hyman, Mark Lunney, Christopher Lutz, Nate R, Kyle, The Rosskonian, Zoundsman,
Lorenzo09, Kristoffer Larson, oliver scott, Mat Laibowitz, Hayden Nicholls, Daniel C Levler,
beat.imprint, Victor Jalencas, David LESPERON, k, Twinsun (Florent Risacher), t3hh, The
Guvnor, estemusic, Matt Lanham, Tyoma, Makeev, Apola Kipso, Jacob Carter, Roddy Graham,
Paul Deetman, Ektschn :], Clayton Grey, Peter Giles, synthfr, GDLK - Noah Murphy, Håkan Sjö
Ballina, soler, Maria Fernandez, King Heiple, Attila, Georgina, Alfredo (Can Electric), Pedro
Pina, Eloi, Befaco, Winter Modular, Endorphine.es, the Eurorack Barcelona group and many
others.



ABOUT THIS MANUAL

SPICE is modular distortion unit. It has 6 different functions that can work
independently or as a group. Think about different modules prepatched between them.
Some of the functions, like the feedback, can not be used on its own, they depend on
the other functions.

SPICE can be tricky to use. The first operation is simple. Sound destruction can be
achieved very fast by playing the controls randomly. To extract subtler effects from it, a
deeper knowledge is needed. Unless you’re an experienced user, reading this manual,
watching the Youtube videos at and reproducing the patches of the metapatch are
mandatory steps to master the machine.

Metapatch link: spice.metapatch.com


POWER

SPICE needs a 15V 1000mA DC center positive power supply. Be sure that you use the
correct power supply. Don’t mess it up!

As an eurorack module it needs 195mA on the +12V rail and 160mA on the -12V one.


RACKING

SPICE can be used in a desktop format or as a eurorack module. If you want to rack it
follow these steps:

1. Turn OFF the unit and unplug the power cable.
2. Unscrew the 4 screws on the corner.
3. Pull the unit from the case. This can be tricky. If you use a tool be careful to not
to scratch the panel. Use it only on the eurorack screw holes.
4. Disconnect the power cable from the case.
5. With the eurorack case turned OFF connect the eurorack cable to the eurorack
PSU.
6. Screw the panel to the rack.
7. Turn ON the power. Patch.




FIRST STEPS

Before reading the manual you will like to play the unit.This chapter may add some light
to the first contact with the machine.

First of all set up the unit like in the following picture. (You can also find this patch at:
http://spice.metapatch.com/patch/9492)



If you have patched it like in the picture you have to listen to some sounds now. Some
notes about this initial patch:

- Adjust the gain (“INPUT”) potentiometers on the “DIGITAL” and “ANALOG”
sections so they start to blink. If you’re using an eurorack signal they will start to
blink very quickly. With lower signals, like a guitar, you will need to turn up the
signal a lot.

- The “HP” fader must be at its lower position while the “LP” at its higher position.
This way you’re not filtering the sound.

- All the “FBACK” potentiometers must be turned down.

- The “BITRATE”, “SAMPLE RATE” and “POST FILTER” potentiometers on the
“DIGITAL” section must be fully open.

- The filter on the “ANALOG” section must be opened and on the LPF setting
(switch to the left).

Now follow this steps (go back before moving to the next step) :


- Turn down the “BITRATE” and “SAMPLE RATE” potentiometers.

- Move the “DRY” and “WET” faders and listen to the difference between the clean
and processed signals

- Select the different analog distortion circuits.

- Bypass the digital section by connecting a patch cable from the “FILTER OUT” to
the “ANALOG IN”.

- Add some resonance with the “BOOST” or “SATURATION” circuits and mix with
the result with the “DRY” signal.

- Try the different “ANALOG” filter settings (LP, BP and HP)


- Turn up the “HP” fader and see how it affect the different distortion circuits.

- Use a drum beat and connect the inverted output “INV” of the “ENV FOLLOWER”
to the the “DRIVE” CV input (turn up the attenuator).

- Repeat the above with the different CV inputs. Try the standard output “OUT” of
the “ENV FOLLOWER”.

- Patch the “ANALOG” “OUT” to one of the “CUTOFF” CV input. Turn up the
resonance.

- Invert the “ANALOG” and “DIGITAL” sections: spice.metapatch.com/patch/9489

- Turn up the “DRIVE” on the “ANALOG” section and turn up the different “FBACK”
potentiometers. At this point try these steps:

- Experiment with the different “ANALOG” circuits.

- Change the “FILTER” parameters.

- Change the gain (“INPUT”) of the “DIGITAL” and “ANALOG” sections.



Have you had fun? This is just the beginning. Let’s see how the machine works.

OVERVIEW

SPICE has different functions prepatched between them. These functions are (as
labeled in the unit):

-FILTER: a prefilter used to shape the sound being feeded to the distortion stages.
It has a high pass and a low pass filters with 2 CV inputs.

-DIGITAL: a low-fi digital section with fractional bit rate reduction, sample rate
reducing, bit muting, bit inverting, bit swapping, and a low pass filter. CV inputs
for the bit rate and sample rate functions.

-ANALOG: 7 distortion circuits followed by a resonant state variable filter. 2 CV
inputs for the “DRIVE” and the “CUTOFF” controls.

-MIXER: a two channel VCA to mix the DRY and WET signals with CV inputs.

-ENV FOLLOWER: An envelope follower with normal and inverted inputs. It takes
an audio input and convert it to an envelope.

-FBACK: a triple feedback section that takes signal of the ”WET IN” back to the
“FILTER”, the “DIGITAL” and the “ANALOG” sections.


PATCHING SYSTEM

SPICE is pre-patched (or half-normalled). This means that some inputs and outputs are
already internally connected. You can break any of these connections by connecting a
cable into the input (destination) of the half-normalled connection. By connecting a
cable at the output (source) you are splitting the signal so that output would be
available for another use while the normalled connection will remain the same.







The half-normalled routing is highlighted in the machine with the grey text. Below there
is a schematic with all the connections.



There are some internal connections (pink) that can’t be broken. These are:

- The “DRY IN”. It goes directly to “DRY” VCA of the “MIXER” section. It’s splitted to the
“MULT” output to be processed to any of the sections (or external modules).

-The whole “FBACK” section. It take the audio from the “WET IN” and sends it the input of
the “FILTER”, “DIGITAL” and “ANALOG” sections.


It’s important to understand that SPICE can be used in many different ways. The             
prepatched system is just one of the possible configurations. Think about SPICE as 5             
different modules that can be patched freely, independently or as whole, with or without             
other modules. Think out of the box.


LED SYSTEM

There are two LED colors on SPICE. White and Pink:

White LEDs indicate a position, an state or a CV voltage. The 7 LEDs around the
encoder indicate the selected analog circuit. The LEDs on the “HP”, “LP”, “DRY”
and “WET” faders plus the “SAMPLE RATE”, “DRIVE” and “CUTOFF” ones indicate a
voltage. This voltage is the sum of the potentiometer and its related CV input.

Pink LEDs indicate an audio level. In the case of the the “ENV FOLLOWER” LED, it
indicates the audio level. This LED must blink in order to have a proper
envelope at the output. The “INPUT” LEDs at the “DIGITAL” and “ANALOG”
sections blink when the signal clips the input. They have to start to blink a little to have a
proper audio level.

INPUT

The “INPUT” section is an easy one. Usually you will connect the sound
source to the “DRY IN” connector. This will go directly to the “DRY” VCA
in the “MIXER” section. This way the DRY and WET signals can be mixed
at the end of the processing chain.

The signal is also sent to the “MULT” output. From here the signal is
seminormalled to the “ENV FOLLOWER” and the “FILTER” inputs.



An different use of this section could be: Connect the sound source to the “DIGITAL” “IN”               
and then to the INPUT section. From “FILTER” “OUT” to “ANALOG” “IN”. This way you will               
mix a digitized signal with it’s distorted version in the “MIXER” section.



FILTER

The “FILTER” section is formed by two 12dB filters in series. A high-pass filter and a low
pass filter plus its related CV inputs and attenuators. This section is made to provide a
prefiltering stage before the clipping sections. A proper filtering stage will determine the
desired distorted sound.

NEWBIE NOTE: “a high-pass filter (HPF) is an electronic filter that passes signals            
with a frequency higher than the cutoff frequency and attenuates signals with           
frequencies lower than the cutoff frequency” (Wikipedia wisdom).

A low-pass filter passes signals lower than the cutoff frequency and attenuates           
signals with higher frequencies.



By default the “HP” fader will be at its lower position (about 20Hz) and the “LP” at
its top position (about 20KHz). At these positions they will not filter any sound.


The prefiltering stage is very important to get decent results at the distortion stage. It is               
a basic tool to squeeze the machine and get the best of it. The most common use is to                  
roll off the bass frequencies before using intense distortions, like the “FUZZ” circuit. A             
subtler effect is achieved by removing the high frequencies, reducing the total harmonic            
content at the end of the process. This will help to fit the track in a mix.


An different use of the filter is to patch it after the “DIGITAL” or the “ANALOG” sections.                
You can use it to remove some of the generated frequencies at these stages. Note the               
difference between using it before and after the distortion stages.



By connecting the “INV” output of the “ENV FOLLOWER” to the “HP” CV input you will get                
interesting results with drum loops. The HP will open and close according to the rhythm              
of the loop. Move the fader and the CV attenuator to get the best results from it.




DIGITAL

The “DIGITAL” section is a 12 bit lo-fi audio processing where the signal is digitized and
processed in 5 different ways: fractional bit rate adjust, sample rate reducing, bit
mutting, bit swapping and bit inverting.


NEWBIE NOTE: “A digital representation expresses the audio waveform as a          
sequence of symbols, usually binary numbers” (Wikipedia wisdom). Zeros and        
ones. The audio signal is digitized with an analog-to-digital converter (ADC),          
processed inside the microprocessor and sent back to the analog circuit through           
the digital-to-analog converter (DAC).


INPUT

The input potentiometer controls the pre-amplifier stage of the “DIGITAL” section. It
must be adjusted where the clipping led starts to blink. At this point there is no clipping
yet. For eurorack signal it should be close to the zero point. For weak signals like an
electric guitar, it should be turned up.


If you’re rolling off some frequencies on the previous “FILTER” stage you will need to              
readjust the “INPUT” potentiometer to get the optimal gain.