Synth-diy-test

I always used linear VCOs in my designs in the 1970s.   I think the key to them, at least then, was they were accurate.  Exponential convertors weren't really that good back then.
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From: Synth-diy <synth-diy-bounces@synth-diy.org> on behalf of Adam (synthDIY) <synthdiy@adambaby.com>
Sent: 16 March 2026 22:11
To: Roman Sowa <modular@go2.pl>
Cc: synth-diy@synth-diy.org <synth-diy@synth-diy.org>
Subject: Re: [sdiy] Linear response VCOs?



On 17 Mar 2026, at 02:01, Roman Sowa via Synth-diy <synth-diy@synth-diy.org> wrote:

who needs 8 or 10 octave continuous tuning range anyway?
No analog synth has more than 5 and today most popular is 3-4.
That means smaller range is enough and you can add octave switch as separate control to cover all frequencies of interesrt. Just like a knob doing that in any synth basicaly.
And octave switch in DAC controled Hz/V VCO is just switching the resistance on the way from DAMC to VCO core. This is also exactly how it was done in vintage linear VCO synths like MS20 and many more.


Agree.
Musically, in any given piece, many instruments are active in just the range of an octave or two.
The most characterful-sounding synths I have here are linear and are limited to about 4 octaves or less via Hz/volt external control (Korg 700, Roland SH-2000, TB303!)

A