Recent Posts

The long-awaited polyphonic mixer A-135-5 is now finally available since the end of 2023. Yes, of course you could already make do with A-130-8 VCAs, for example. Some poly fans also installed a series of A-138n narrow mixers or A-138f dual crossfaders, but of course it wasn’t all that elegant. The A-135-5 mixer is elegant. … Read more

The A-190-5 is a Midi-to-CV/Gate interface primarily intended for polyphonic applications. This means that up to four modular synthesizer voices can be controlled via any midi keyboard. Polyphony is still a rather exotic “fringe phenomenon” in the modular area. Effort, cost and complexity to control such a system appear relatively high compared to modern analog … Read more

Four manual attenuators in a slim 4TE module. Ok, this is definitely not an exciting module with lots of bling and two dozen hidden features. This is a tool. Simple, clear, and once you have it – indispensable. For example, I have two A-183-1 Dual Attenuator Modules (now running out of stock modules) in my … Read more

The A-131 module is the “sibling module” of the A-130 VCA. In contrast to this, it works with an exponential characteristic, but is otherwise identical. This makes it rather unsuitable for amplifying control voltages, but in most cases it is very suitable for amplifying audio signals. User interface Inputs: Outputs: Controls: A slightly “coloring” VCA … Read more

Like its predecessor A-121, the A-121-2 filter is a multimode filter with 12dB slope that offers separate outputs for highpass, lowpass, bandpass and notch (bandstop). Technically, the filter is a direct offshoot of the “Dark Energy II” synthesizer, which basically uses the same circuitry. How does it sound? Fine, round, pleasant and in terms of … Read more

The A-120 module is – the name “Low Pass 1” suggests it – something like the “mother of all Doepfer filters” (from a historical perspective, not from a technical perspective). The circuit is based on the famous 24 dB Moog transistor cascade (“ladder” filter). And this is actually the official mother of all synthesizer filters. … Read more

The idea of running an audio signal such as vocals or drums through a modular system is always popular – with hopefully musically usable output. In addition to the often heard filtered drums, you can of course do a lot of creative things this way. The A-119 module performs several tasks: User interface Inputs: Outputs: … Read more

It’s hard to imagine even more VCAs in a small space than the A-130-8 allows. No fewer than eight independent, linear VCAs are housed here in just 6HP. And because there was still some space on the front panel, there are also sum outputs for inputs 1-4, 5-8 or for all inputs 1-8 together. So … Read more

The A-111-5 is not an oscillator in the traditional sense, but a complete mini synthesizer with VCO, VCF, VCA, ADSR and two LFOs. A “Dark Energy” (first generation) for the modular system! A lot of things here are patchable, but upon closer inspection you’ll see that some signal paths are exclusively internal. For example, there … Read more

The A-130 Voltage Controlled Amplifier is a (very well-equipped) linear VCA. The “sibling module” A-131 works with exponential characteristics, but is otherwise identically equipped. It has already been shown with the mixers A-138a (linear) and A-138b (exponential) that an exponential characteristic of the amplification comes closer to our psychophysiological feeling of a “perceived linear” volume … Read more

The module is no longer in production. The A-111-1 was the high-end model among Doepfer’s oscillators and is only available on the used market. The successor model with some detailed improvements is the A-111-2. Compared to the A-110-1 or A-110-2, the A-111-1 offers expanded synchronization options, an additional input for linear frequency modulation, and a … Read more

Does this sound familiar? A new module enters the market and your first thought is: Oh, I know that one, I already have one of these, two in one housing – so what… I’ll take another look anyway: Oh, morphing between filter types, even via CV. Lots of control inputs, common for both filters, separate … Read more

An almost ideal VCO for small, portable module systems: The A-111-3 measures just 4 TE! At its core, it is the same VCO as the A-111-2 High End VCO II, which, however, is much more luxuriously equipped. So, again, we’re dealing with a highly tuning stable oscillator that offers pretty perfect tracking of 1V/octave over … Read more

The A-171-4 Quad Slew Limiter is the youngest member of Doepfer’s family of polyphonic modules. What they all have in common is a four-fold layout of the functionality. All of these are influenced by common controllers and/or common control voltages. In addition, all Poly modules (at least in current production) have the option of internal … Read more

The module is no longer in production. The principle of the vocoder has problems with unvoiced modulator signals: For example, the hissing and explosive sounds when speaking (s, sh, t, p, etc.). If they are processed like vowels, the speech intelligibility of the result is usually not particularly high. That’s why vocoders often have modules … Read more

The module is no longer in production. The A-129 / 4 is purely an add-on module for up to three A-129 / 3 Vocoder Slew Limiters. This can be used to control the speed with which the control voltages are passed on from the inputs of an A-129 / 3 to the outputs (slew limiter … Read more

The module is no longer in production. The attenuator / slew limiter can be switched between the analysis unit A-129 / 1 and the synthesis unit A-129 / 2. This allows individual frequency bands to be attenuated or amplified (“offset” controller) or the influence of the carrier signal (usually a spoken voice) to be limited … Read more

The vocoder modules are no longer manufactured. The Doepfer vocoder consists – sorry, consisted – of several modules. The two basic modules A-129/1 (analysis unit) and A-129/2 (synthesis unit or filter) were only available together. In the A-129 / 1 Analysis Section, the audio input signal is routed in parallel through 13 (steep) bandpass filters, … Read more

Compared to the “Superphaser” A-101-3, the A-125 looks quite modest: Only half as many controls and – yes – 35 fewer sockets. But you don’t always need such complex options as the A-101-3 offers. Quite apart from the cost factor: You get 4 complete A-125 modules for the price of a single A-101-3. Oh yes: … Read more

The module is no longer in production. The A-121 is an early but very neat filter design by Doepfer. Unfortunately, the Curtis module CEM 3320 used is no longer available, so the module is no longer commercially available. It’s a shame because it has a very unique sound character and some interesting technical features. From … Read more

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

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

The A-115 audio divider is a simple frequency divider that outputs square wave signals of 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16 the frequency of the input signal. This corresponds to a tone 1, 2, 3 and 4 octaves below the input signal. User interface Inputs: Outputs: Controls: Suboscillator The A-115 Audio Divider can be used very … Read more

“Processor” here does not mean a processor in a computer, but simply an (analog) circuit that can change waveforms. Here the input signal is processed by two parallel circuits, the results of which are then mixed together: a clipper, which cuts the input signal sharply above a threshold, and a polarizer/attenuator, which can both attenuate … Read more

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