The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Hi, I own an AN200 and have found it to be exactly what many reviews have said it to be, ie- "Not a toy".

I have found it to be an extremely expressive piece of kit that can be persuaded to make any kind of weird noise i can imagine!

It is the first real synth that i've used apart from an old Yamaha FB-01, and have been seduced by the analogue noises that this beast makes.
 
However, for some time now i have been trying to find out what certain synth terms mean. Is there anyone who can help explain to me what a "Self-Resonating" oscillator is and quite why the random LFO setting is called "Sample and Hold" ?

Thanks for your help.
  


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--- In AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com, "Mark Daborn" <darkest.yugo@n...> 
wrote: Is there anyone who can help explain to me what a "Self-
Resonating" oscillator is and why the random LFO setting is 
called "Sample and Hold" ?
>  Maybe you mean a self-oscillating filter? On some filters if you 
crank the resonance up all the way, it will oscillate. You then can 
adjust the pitch with filter cutoff to tune it. Usually need to turn 
level of filter down to avoid speaker/ear damage! "Sample and hold" 
goes back to the days of voltage-controlled analog synths. Waves 
generated by the oscillators ( or white noise) usually had a signal 
strength of 0 to 10 volts. A waveform input is "sampled" by a pulse 
signal which produces a voltage corresponding to the point on the 
wave that was sampled. The voltage produced is then "held" at that 
point until another pulse signal samples the incoming wave's voltage. 
If the input signal is white noise, the output will be a random 
voltage pulse. Sampling rate is controlled by an internal clock ( 
knob usually marked in hz like an lfo - 1hz to 1000hz for example.) 
In Voltage-controlled analog synths, a random voltage can be used to 
modulate pitch, filter cutoff, or just about anything else.

Forgot to mention I have a PLG150AN plugged into my S80. You're 
right about the sound - it's essentially half of an AN1X with a few 
extra features. Best $240. I ever spent. Yamaha took the plg150an 
board, stuck it in a box, added some bells and whistles, and voila! 
AN200. I can't believe they were closing those out at $200. - thats 
less than what the board inside sells for! I heard it had some kind 
of timing problem that was cutting off the first note of a sequence? 
It's an excellent Analog modeler, especially for the price, but 
doesn't work well as a "groove box". I sure would love to see Yamaha 
make another VA synth - this time more knobs please! ( us americans 
always think more is better )    ;-)