Fwd: AW: [Doepfer_a100] doepfer's answer about the jumpers/switches issue.
2003-06-11 by Bakis Sirros
--- Dieter Doepfer <hardware@doepfer.de> wrote: > From: "Dieter Doepfer" <hardware@doepfer.de> > To: "Bakis Sirros" <synth_freak_2000@yahoo.com> > Subject: AW: [Doepfer_a100] info from doepfer about > the development of the A107 and the A154. > Date: Wed, 11 Jun 2003 10:59:40 +0200 > > > -----Urspr�ngliche Nachricht----- > > Von: dasfonk@web.de [mailto:dasfonk@web.de] > > Gesendet: Mittwoch, 11. Juni 2003 00:39 > > An: Doepfer_a100@yahoogroups.com > > Betreff: Re: [Doepfer_a100] info from doepfer > about the development of > > the A107 and the A154. > > > > > > hi, > > > > I�d rather like to see jumpers, so I can modify > the A-154 and have my > > own special unique custom version ;-) > > Seriously, folks: I don�t see the point why > Doepfer use jumpers so > > often. Adding a switch isn�t that expensive and > the users will > > appreciate this. It makes a huge difference if you > can just hit a rocker > > switch or if you have to unscrew your module from > the case, re-position > > the jumper and mount the module back in the case. > > It is always a problem to decide which > functions/parameters of a module will > be available as controls at the front panel. For > jumpers it is obviously to > the user that they could be replaced by switches at > the front panel. But > thats not the whole truth. There are a lot of other > "hidden" functions that > could be available as front panel controls too that > have no jumpers on the > pc board. The first modules we designed had no or > only a few jumpers. But > this does not mean that these modules do not contain > "hidden" features. For > newer modules we decided to add jumpers as they are > extras withouts costs > (the few cent will not change the final price) and > enable the user to add > functions that are not available for the standard > module as - from our point > of view - they are not that important. But of course > it is a question of > taste if a certain function makes sense. > > If you are an electronic engineer and look at the > schematics of a module you > will find a lot of possible functions that could be > added as controls at the > front panel. E.g. you could short circuit or turn > off certain electronic > parts to modify the behaviour of a circuit, replace > fixed resistors by > potentiometers, add inputs and outputs and many > more. But you have to find > out which control element is worth to be available > at the front panel. > > E.g. for nearly each filter it would be possible to > add outputs (e.g. each > filter stage) or inputs (feeding the audio signal to > another point of the > circuit). For an ADSR you could add a lot of outputs > that e.g. tell you the > duration of the attack or decay stage. One could add > an bypass switch to > each audio or CV processing module (we discussed > this as we started the > A-100 but decided to omit the bypass function as the > shining examples from > Moog and others did not have this feature). > > You can start an endless discussion which > features/inputs/outputs/controls > make sense for a certain module. But we as a > manufacturer have to find the > compromise between > features/price/controllability/width/date of > availability > and many other parameters. It will never be able to > satisfy all users and I > know that we have to live with that problem. This is > why I think that > something like the DIY page is a good idea (.... OK, > I know the momentary > stage if far from beeing useful but it is still a > non-official page and only > made known to the Yahoo group). > > Regards > Dieter Doepfer > > > ===== synthfreak(parallel worlds) athens-greece [Doepfer_a100] group owner __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM). http://calendar.yahoo.com