About one year after releasing the minimoog clone SE-1, STUDIO ELECTRONICS is back to vintage sounds with two outstanding gears : the SE-6, a polyphonic, 6 voices SE-1, and the ATC-1.
The ATC-1 contains 2 VCOs and is fully analog. The most interesting thing is that you can swap the VCF, LFO and envelopes, by changing the internal expansion card; and planned cards are clone VCF, LFO and envelopes of the ARP 2600, Oberheim SEM, Moog Minimoog and ... Roland TB-303 ! Woaw, when you listen to the SE-1's copy of the Minimoog, you should except a killer clone for all those machines ... !
A expansion unit in also planned to use more than one card without swapping it internally, just with a switch button.
The ACT-1 is fully programable, but you have no knobs : just like the Moog Source, you have only one dial wich controls the vales of all buttons (maybe a loss of your remember that when modulating a 303 you use more than one button at at time ... let's hope for midi controls ...)
The price of the unit is 1'390.- DM in Germany, but it's still under development ...
Here are more infos from the analog mailing-list :
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2-space rackmountable mono analog synth "with authentic circuit design" cartridge-based filters, so that you can swap any of the following: Moog, Arp 2600, TB-303 or Oberheim SEM filters. Doesn't say but I assume you get to pick one and have to buy the rest. Membrane-switch front panel, with a big alpha wheel for selecting parameter values. In other words, you wack a function button (say, 'filter cutoff') and then adjust the value with the knob. So in theory you could tweak the parameters in real time, as long as you don't mind tweaking one at a time. 16-bit resolution and extensive MIDI implementation. I would think 16-bit is the resolution of parameter settings. "Optional single rack space programmable multiple-filter catridge holder for realization of complete tonal capabilities" Oscillators: 2, tri/saw/pulse with pwm, combined waveforms too. Osc sync. True VCO, VCA, VCF ... EG: 3 of 'em, ADSR. EG's 1 and 2 control VCF and VCA> EG 3 routable to resonance, osc2 freq, osc2 level, osc1 an 2 pulse width, lfo 1 and 2 depth, lfo 2 rate, xmod amt, noise level. Invertable EG's on 1 and 3. LFO: 2 of them. destinations: pitch, vcf freq, resonance, osc 1 & 2 freq, osc 1 & 2 pulse width, osc2 level, xmod amt, noise level, main volume. LFO waveforms: tri, saw up, saw down, square, noise, s/h MIDI stuff: lots of parameters can be assigned to controllers, including vcf cutoff, eg amounts, resonance, pulse width, lfo rate, xmod amt, etc. Sends sysex and parameter values mapped to controllers. glide an autoglide. Can pick normal glide (from first note to second note) or set to a chosen interval to glide from. config EG's 1 and 3 to work as LFO's sync LFO 2 to midi clock, with different beat divisions external input for messing with audio AFM: osc2 can modulate osc1 freq or vcf cutoff. "Accent: midi controller macro for authentic 303 emulation"cv/gate in and out 512 patches Price of 1 filter cartridge : 75 $ Out late september ... ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sounds rich and very interesting ... but what about the real final price of the gear itself ???