Re:what is best SEM to order with patch panel or midi to CV
2009-10-30 by nicholas kent
> > > ideally I want to make a two voice --what should I buy > > > > http://www.audiomidi.com/Synthesizer-Expander-Module-with-MIDI-to- > CV-Panel-P12455.aspx > > > > http://www.audiomidi.com/Synthesizer-Expander-Module-with-Patch- > Panel-P12454.aspx > > > > > > > > thanks in advance > > David Considering this is a modular forum I think the MIDI to CV panel version would be the least popular of the 3 choices available. But you do have an interesting and tricky question given you want to eventually make a two voice. Do you already have a MIDI to CV interface? That's obviously and important piece of info though some people don't use a keyboard by choice (though by you asking this question I'm pretty sure you aren't one) and some rare people have a native CV keyboard already and don't use MIDI, but that's rare. I assume you want to play duophonically, you know, have 2 different keys play 2 different notes one to a SEM rather than have 2 voices in unison? For two voices in unison the answers is fairly simple, get one of each. Right now I'm not reading about Tom Oberheim having a polyphonic strategy for his new SEMs. Some monophonic units have a switchable feature that counts voices in polyphony by some means so you could make several mono instruments behave respond like a poly instrument when properly configured. But I'm not seeing that reading the specs. Maybe someone who has a new SEM has found it. So if I'm correct and Tom is taking things a step at a time rather than having a bigger plan I see the following possibilities. A) right now one could build a MAX patch or similar custom program on a computer to turn a polyphonic line into multiple MIDI channels in real time. There might be something hardware or software to do that but I don't know of one. One could also get an external MIDI to CV interface that does multiple channels. The ones that do will have a mode for polyphony. I actually have a seemingly very rare 1980s JL Cooper 8 voice MIDI to CV unit that seems to have been designed partly or mostly for Oberheim 8 Voice owners and I guess people with many monosynths. Given there are not that many I doubt many units were built or sold though obviously someone bought my second hand unit. B) Tom Oberheim might release an update to his midi to cv that does some sort of skipping, if I'm assuming correctly that his doesn't now and there are no hardware limitations that stop him. C) Tom Oberheim or some third party releases a poly hardware solution. Maybe a chassis for SEMs with additional hardware? Maybe a 4th version with master features? nick