Doepfer

> However I
> found the 136 really hard to 
> understand until I got a scope: without one it?s virtually 
impossible.

It took me a day or two, but I was able to get a good understanding of 
the A136 by patching it to a VCO and listening to the results, and 
also by patching it to an A170 slew limiter and watching the -/+ LEDs.

There's no doubt that a sillyscope would be very useful, though. I'm 
watching that thread carefully, because I haven't found a good, 
inexpensive one that I like yet.

> The first op amp in the circuit 
> amplifies the incoming signal by about 4.3 times, so anything larger
> than about 2V immediately causes 
> the op amp output to saturate just below the voltage supply rails 
(+/-
> 12V). 

I mentioned this hard clipping of DC voltages back in the "Module 
Quirks" thread. I think the fact that its not mentioned in the A136 
User's Manual is a very serious ommission. In addition, the 
description of how the amplification pot operates is COMPLETELY 
BACKWARDS, and the description of the +A and -A pots is erroneous as 
well. 

I think that it would have been much easier for me to get an 
understanding of the A136 if the User's Manual wasn't so poor. This is 
definitely a case where Doepfer owes us a correction, and since the 
problem can be fixed by updating the online documentation, there's 
really no excuse.

> Controlling the 136?s affect on a DC signal must take a lot of 
patience!

There's no doubt that the A136 isn't for the faint-of-heart, but after 
using it for a while, and noting the approximate knob positions of 
various critical values, I don't find it anywhere near as laborious as 
it was at first.

Joe