Analogue-sequencer

IS the CV/Gate  going to be  a standard item or is it going to be an optional add-on?

Is CV/Gate going to be available right from the start, or at a later time?

Thanks!

Craig

> IS the CV/Gate  going to be  a standard item or is it going 
> to be an optional add-on?
> 
> Is CV/Gate going to be available right from the start, or at 
> a later time?

The CV/gate interfacing has been one of the prime sources of scope-creep
that have prolonged Cirklon's development period...
The plan up until recently was to include a basic pair of CV/gate outputs as
standard.
The Cirklon CPU has DACs built-in, so it seemed a waste not to use them.
The prototype of that setup left me unconvinced of the value of only 2
channels of CV.
One of the biggest advantages of CV/gate is the improvement in timing
accuracy compared with MIDI.
But with only two channels of CV, you save only 1 or 2ms in latency over
serial MIDI.
You could tune that out with a timing offset, leaving you no advantage over
MIDI and a CV convertor.

The next idea I tried was to use the internal DACs in DMA mode to provide a
CV multiplex.
This provides a low-latency burst of many CV and gate channels, using only a
5 wire connection.
Gate/trigger pulse state-changes are synchronised across all channels.
The receiving device needs to have a small amount of circuitry to
de-multiplex the individual CV/gate signals.
I have been using this setup with my 808/909 drum module, that has 23
individual analogue drum sounds.
( http://www.colinfraser.com/tr909/my909.htm )
It gives me independent accent and trigger control for each drum, with *no
latency*.
The fixed burst period can be tuned out with a fixed offset in the sequencer
engine.
The timing precision is as good as the internal sequencers on a TR606, 808
or 909.

The final option I've been looking at is a board to de-multiplex multiple
CV/gate channels internally.
This would provide perhaps 16 CV and 8 gate outputs directly from the 25 pin
'analogue bus' socket on the rear panel.
Using a standard 25-way D cable, this could be hooked up to a break-out box,
or modular break-out panel, to provide lots of outputs where they will be
used, rather than having a pile of spaghetti spewing from the rear panel.
I am currently laying out a board to do this, with an optional
high-precision DAC (built-in is 12-bits).
This board will also operate in a multiplex mode, to provide more outputs
over fewer wires, with the requirement for remote de-mutiplexing.
Once that board is laid out, tested and priced, I will poll those on the
pre-order list before deciding whether to make the CV interface standard or
optional.

Best regards,
Colin Fraser
Sequentix Music Systems Ltd
http://www.sequentix.com