Doepfer

Hi Gustav,

> Ok, I know this is a question about personal taste but I'm going to 
> ask anyway.
> Which one is the best buy, A-106-1 or A-101-1?
> How would you compare them when it comes to 
> sounds/features/flexibility of sound?
> Anyone have them both? Which one do you like best?
> 
> I'm considering adding another filter two my setup.
> I have the 120 and the 121 (I'm not thrilled by the 121) and I 
> already own an MS-20.
> Maybe I'll get them both over time, but which one should I get first?
The first question should be: are you sure you do not like the A-121? Or 
don't you like 12dB filters at all? If you know other 12dB filters and 
like them, then we can evaluate your opinion about the A-121, which is a 
quite clean 12 dB filter. I have the elektor Formant, which has an 
similar 12 dB filter, which is not based on curtis chips (as the A-121), 
but on two seperate CA3080 6dB stages. The Formants filter is much 
warmer than the A-121. But the A-121 can loose some of its clean sound, 
by overloading it (or overloading the feedback loop).


Ok now for my opinions about those two filters:


I had both for testing the last month, and I own the 120 and the A-121. 
  Attention, the following is my private taste:

I have to say, that I did not have a lucky hand for the 106. Ok, I also 
have to admit that I never liked the (clean) MS-Series filter. It is 
IMHO the most boring 12dB filter in the world. I know the MS Series from 
the day it showed up in the shops and I never understood why people like 
the filter. So, I do not like the undistorted A106.
At the A106 additionally there is this hipass, which can be added 
inverted or non inverted; but to speak the truth: this highpass never 
can be suppressed completely! So you always have some hipass sizzeling 
in the back of a dark filtered sound.

The possibilities to clip the feedback loop are a quite nice, but to my 
opinion there is not really a large variaty; if you want some really 
interesting, then buy the A136 or A137. What a hell are these for a 
TR-808 or simple triangle sounds!

So, if you do not like the A-121, the undistorted A106 is close to. An 
"unemotional", flat filter. The distortion effects are not bad. But 
should I buy a filtermodule only for distortion  effects?



The A-101 is more vivid than the A-121. It is a littlebit like the A-120 
in comparison to the A-122. It has a good biting resonance and a nice 
bottom for bassy sounds.
But the real weighting argument is the possibility to mix different 
sources by frequency. Where the A-121 offers either hi-, lo-, or 
bandpass from the same signal, the A-101 can get hi-, low- and band pass 
(or mixes of them) from either the same signal or from three different 
signals. There are some real astonishing effects if you mix different 
drumloops by frequency. Not to speak, how cool it is to do this dynamically!
Since the vactrol technology is not really linear every kind of 
distortion or overload of the circuit sounds "round". Like warm tube 
overdrive compared to crude transistor distortion.


So my conclusion (based completely on my private taste!) is: Get the 
A-101...


Florian