Elka Synthex? #28

New issue

Open

opened 2026-10-12 13:55:30 +00:00 by bcox · 0 comments

bcox commented

2026-10-12 13:55:30 +00:00

Owner

Elka Synthex?

Filled in on 2026-10-12 at Ben's asking, who filed it with the line above and no more. Everything below is from recollection, with no manual read; issue #20's list was wrong in several places for the same reason, so read the manuals first and correct this. The recommendation is Claude's and is Ben's to accept or not.

Recommendation: a new instrument. It passes the rule of 2026-10-12 (#26): made from about 1981 to 1985, and a reissue, if the one announced comes to anything, does not shut it out. It is no setting of mini-JP or mini-JX, which it resembles in outline: another maker, another oscillator and another filter.

The instrument, as recalled

Elka Synthex (1981), designed by Mario Maggi. Eight voices, 61 keys.
Oscillators. Two for each voice, digitally controlled and so stable: a triangle, a sawtooth, a pulse and a pulse whose width is modulated, at several footages, with a transpose in semitones. Sync, ring modulation, and each oscillator able to modulate the other's pulse width. Noise.
Filter. One chip a voice (recalled as the CEM 3320, the Prophet-5's) arranged as a multimode filter: a 24 dB low-pass, two band-passes and a high-pass.
Envelopes. Two ADSRs. LFOs. One on the panel with several shapes and a delay, to the oscillators, the pulse widths, the filter and the amplifier; a second on the joystick.
Chorus, in three modes, which is a good part of what it is known for.
Keyboard. Split and double, four voices a side, each with its own sound; portamento and glissando; a joystick.
Also. A four-track sequencer, 40 factory sounds and 40 of the player's, and MIDI on later ones. No velocity as built.

What is already here to build on

engine/analog_vco.h for the oscillators, or engine/ramp_oscillator.h if its DCOs turn out to be a counter and a ramp as Roland's are.
Zones, sounds and engine/seats.h for split and double, as the JX and the Jupiters have them.
The Jupiters' two-stage filter (engine/state_variable_filter.h twice) for the modes, until the real arrangement of the chip's four stages is read.
engine/effects.h's chorus, with the Synthex's three modes as figures, as the Juno's are.

To find out and to decide

The filter's modes, and how they are made of the one chip. A four-pole loop with other outputs than the low-pass would belong in engine/four_pole_filter.h, beside the two it has.
The ring modulator: of what, and analogue or a gate as ARP's and Korg's are.
The chorus's lines, rates and depths, from its schematic.
Its sequencer goes to #56 to be mined. Its factory sounds are data in a memory and are not shipped (rule 4).
Its name.

> Elka Synthex? Filled in on 2026-10-12 at Ben's asking, who filed it with the line above and no more. **Everything below is from recollection, with no manual read**; issue #20's list was wrong in several places for the same reason, so read the manuals first and correct this. The recommendation is Claude's and is Ben's to accept or not. **Recommendation: a new instrument.** It passes the rule of 2026-10-12 (#26): made from about 1981 to 1985, and a reissue, if the one announced comes to anything, does not shut it out. It is no setting of mini-JP or mini-JX, which it resembles in outline: another maker, another oscillator and another filter. ## The instrument, as recalled - **Elka Synthex** (1981), designed by Mario Maggi. Eight voices, 61 keys. - **Oscillators.** Two for each voice, digitally controlled and so stable: a triangle, a sawtooth, a pulse and a pulse whose width is modulated, at several footages, with a transpose in semitones. Sync, ring modulation, and each oscillator able to modulate the other's pulse width. Noise. - **Filter.** One chip a voice (recalled as the CEM 3320, the Prophet-5's) arranged as a multimode filter: a 24 dB low-pass, two band-passes and a high-pass. - **Envelopes.** Two ADSRs. **LFOs.** One on the panel with several shapes and a delay, to the oscillators, the pulse widths, the filter and the amplifier; a second on the joystick. - **Chorus**, in three modes, which is a good part of what it is known for. - **Keyboard.** Split and double, four voices a side, each with its own sound; portamento and glissando; a joystick. - **Also.** A four-track sequencer, 40 factory sounds and 40 of the player's, and MIDI on later ones. No velocity as built. ## What is already here to build on - `engine/analog_vco.h` for the oscillators, or `engine/ramp_oscillator.h` if its DCOs turn out to be a counter and a ramp as Roland's are. - Zones, sounds and `engine/seats.h` for split and double, as the JX and the Jupiters have them. - The Jupiters' two-stage filter (`engine/state_variable_filter.h` twice) for the modes, until the real arrangement of the chip's four stages is read. - `engine/effects.h`'s chorus, with the Synthex's three modes as figures, as the Juno's are. ## To find out and to decide - **The filter's modes**, and how they are made of the one chip. A four-pole loop with other outputs than the low-pass would belong in `engine/four_pole_filter.h`, beside the two it has. - **The ring modulator**: of what, and analogue or a gate as ARP's and Korg's are. - **The chorus's lines, rates and depths**, from its schematic. - Its sequencer goes to #56 to be mined. Its factory sounds are data in a memory and are not shipped (rule 4). - **Its name.**

No labels

No milestone

No project

No assignees

1 participant

Notifications

Due date

The due date is invalid or out of range. Please use the format "yyyy-mm-dd".

No due date set.

Dependencies

No dependencies set.

Reference

bcox/mini-800#28

No description provided.

Rows
Columns