A-111-6 Miniature Synthesizer Voice

I often used my A-111-5 as a “stopgap” when I quickly needed another simple synthesizer voice and maybe was just too lazy to patch extra VCO, VCF, VCA, ADSR and LFOs for such a secondary voice . I was often plagued by the “guilty conscience of the modularist” when I ignored the far-reaching possibilities of … Read more

A-118-2 Noise / Random / T&H / S&H

The “Slim Line” module is a version of the classic analogue noise generator A-118-1 reduced to half the width (only 4HP). As with the other “Slim Line” modules, slightly smaller buttons and sockets with narrow, round nuts are also used here. The controls are at the top and the sockets are at the bottom, which … Read more

A-114 Ring Modulator

From a mathematical point of view, a ring modulator forms the product of two signals and then subtracts the sum of the signals from it: a * b – (a + b) Unfortunately, this great formula does not make us any smarter in terms of sound. Actually, this is “only” amplitude modulation, which, in contrast … Read more

A-138f Dual 3-Way Crossfader

The A-138f is a small, dual, three-way crossfader. “Three-way” here means that we have three possible input signals and one output signal. You will look in vain for the extremely sophisticated options of the A-138e, which unfortunately is no longer manufactured. The A-138f simply fades between two signals “A” and “B” and then (from the … Read more

A-149-4 Quad Random Voltage Source

The A-149-4 module is now the third member of the “A-149 family”. All three modules are about generating random voltages or trigger signals that go well beyond the possibilities of the random/noise modules A-118-1, A-118-2 or A-117. The A-149-1, which is based on the Buchla module 266, already has quantized voltages available that can be … Read more

A-101-3 Modular 12 Stage Vactrol Phaser

The module is no longer in production. The A-101-3 phaser has two sub-units, each with 6 phase shifters (stages): The input signal runs through the 6 phase shifters connected in series and at the output, the original and the shifted signal can be mixed as desired using a “Mix” control. The output of the 6th … Read more

A-142-2 Dual Envelope Controlled VCA

The module is small and interesting. A stripped down to two parameters but still flexible envelope generator with voltage control, hardwired to a linear VCA, plus a ducking function. The whole thing is also designed twice on only 8 HP. This is made possible by the new “Slim Line” format with slightly smaller buttons and … Read more

A-127 VC Triple Resonance Filter

The concept of the triple resonance filter A-127 reminds me personally of the resonators in the Korg PS3100, which make this polyphonic analogue dinosaur sound so special. Technically, however, the three integrated filters in the A-127 are more comparable to the SEM filter (even if they are preconfigured differently). In terms of sound, just one … Read more

A-150-8 Octal Manual/Voltage Controlled Programmable Switches

The A-150-8 is a very extensively equipped module that provides a total of 8 programmable 1:2 or 2:1 switches. What is programmable? Two LEDs per switch indicate which of the two “I/O” sockets on the left is connected to the “O/I” socket on the right. So we can either switch between two input signals at … Read more

A-170 Dual Slew Limiter

The A-170 Dual Slew Limiter smooths control voltages – abrupt changes are “smeared” in the process. Switched before the frequency control of an oscillator, this function causes the well-known “portamento”, which transforms a jump on the keyboard into a slurred note. The two sub-modules differ, the upper slew limiter only allows a simple adjustment of … Read more