Something in defence of the A 100
2002-02-25 by Roel Steverink
Hi all, I want to say something in defence of this mighty system! As you all could read I began with basic system 2 (with A 190). Modular synthesis was new to me. I was always used to the fixed and prefixed ways from the manufacturer in analog synths. Getting in a position where you actually can penetrate into the heart of the system by cv was totally new. As I'm not a technician of some sort, it took me quit a time to get into it. I think others here on the list know what I'm talking about. I surfed the internet for tutorials and advice, looked in books and so on. But from the start I seem to had golden fingers, cause I couldn't believe me ears what sounds came out of it, just by trying. All sorts of sounds I got out of it, even bouncing sounds. Allen Strange's book as really opened up this new world and I began to understand who thinks worked. When it comes to sound, it's arbitary, it's one's taste. I have several old analogs around me and I very well know the sounds of roland, moog, korg and teisco f.e. To my ears the a 110 standard VCO delivers the goods, all four of the waveforms, just becombine sine and triangle and a great bass sound emerges out of you speakers! The A 120 LPF is also warm and full of character. O yes, some users had strange reactions with waveforms on this filter. This happens with a sine and triangle. If you tweak the filter after 5, then the sound goes away, pops up again and stays in the background at position 10, same goes for the triangle. I read in the Stranges' book that this normal, due to the frequency of the sine and triangle waves! The A 121 Multimode is a very strong one looking at it's possibilities. I made a patch where I used a A 148 and triggered the frequency, also several waveforms from the LFO, all of sudden, I was amazed when I turned the frequency knob of multimode and discovered that along the whole scale the sound changed drastically!!! Every milimeter I shifted the know a new sound popped up. The variety was incredible: from deep drops, sizzling noise to metal like and even bird twittering. This filter self resonates with true power! A 115 Audio Divider plug in the cv of the filter and in no time you have the brightest and deepest sparklings. Just wondered: you only can input square waves which are divided into four. How can you extent the range in sounds? Maby putting it through the multi mode! Really difficult ones are the Wavefrom processor and Distortion/waveshaper. I patched the A 116 many results, but the expected drastic changes do not appear. Same goes for the A 136, Doepfer promises in the manual that you even get constantly changes waveforms. Any one know how to do it??? The only drawback for me are some of the cables. The grey ones. I have three cables which won't make proper contact with the CV of the A 110. I noticed that other users have the same problem. I have so far no problems with the red and blue ones (O, I love these colours!!!). By the wya red are 80 cm and the blue 1.20 cm. No other problems did I encounter and I'm very happy with my system, now building up row four! I think I have room for meaby 8 rows. That the benefit if you have little space left, this system fits in nicely. Believe me I wanted a big modular, but I haven't got the space for it. I'm on a tight budget too and I'm glad the prices are so low, so I can afford them. For me it's a dream come true and I thank Doepfer for giving a lot of people this opportunity to own and use a real modular!!! Happy sound hunting, Roel. PS Yes, let it rain with the A 100. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]