RS 500 510:Power supplies:Bob Williams
2003-04-23 by piperplaysynth
I thought I would throw a couple of of comments into the ring to add to the current postings. Firstly... the RS500E filter. I have not played around much with this yet, but I am glad I have one. This is not an A.S. design but a copy of the old EMS filter made under licence (as is the RS510E). The filter is an "oddball" - it is from a synth which is famous for making "Beeps Boings and Whizzes" rather than screaming fat lead sounds or powerful bass sounds. I described it in an earlier posting as "Quirky" - and it certainly is! As you move the "Response" (resonance) control clockwise, the body of the sound tends to reduce in volume as if it was passed through a limiter within the filter until the feedback starts (this happens at about two thirds of the travel of the knob). If you base a judgement on the filter by just this - then you may be missing out on some fun because, if you bombard it with control voltages and try adjusting the Freq and responce controls, the filter is capable of a surprising range of results. In a nutshell - Not the first choice for a filter but if you want to add something which will reach the parts that the other filters cannot, this is it. Power supplies.... A non tech head rule of thumb. Don't connect more than three oscillators to one power supply amongst your other modules (they use more power than many other modules). Add the ocasional jack multiple to a group of modules. They don't need power and will therefore improve the safety margin for the power supply(s). After all, they are just as important as any other module ;-) If you are moving your more power hungry modules around, why not send A.S. an email with your intentions and see whether you are O.K. to do it? Bob Williams.... I can second Peters comment about Bob Williams and his attention to detail/quality etc. Having talked with Bob on many occasions I know that he will not rest until his products are as good as can be. With Bob, synths are as much a passion as with any of us. Hope this is useful to someone D