Doepfer Pre-MusikMesse 2013 Announcements

Dieter Doepfer made a few announcements today about the upcoming new modules and about the MusikMesse 2013, that will be held from the 10th to the 13th of April 2013 in Frankfurt, Germany.

I'm looking most forward to the new A-157 Mini Schaltwerk prototypes, i cant wait until the are finished.:
Doepfer stated that they " ...will hopefully show the "large" version of the trigger sequencer A-157/miniature Schaltwerk (8 rows with 16 steps each).
The 8x16 button/LED board is ready but I cannot guarantee that the controller board will be also ready for the Musikmesse."

One of the earlier
A-190-5 prototypes

They will also show the prototype of the new version of the A-190-5 Polyphonic USB/Midi-to-CV/Gate Interface (with LCD) and the A-190-8 USB/Midi-to-Sync Interface at the Musikmesse in Frankfurt.

These modules will be available about summer 2013. 

The other news:

The small version of the multiple A-180 is available in April 2013 (2 HP only, name: A-180-2)

The module A-171-2 (licensed copy of the Serge/CGS VCS) will be available about end of April or early in May 2013.
(It will be interesting to see how the Serge's new deal with TipTop works out - expect a surge of Serge for your Eurorack this year /PP)

A-171-2 Serge
Slew Limiter
prototype

The re-designed A-130 (linear VCA) is now delivered with a precision VCA circuit (SSM2164) instead of the CA3080).
The new A-130 is DC-coupled.

The re-designed A-131 (exponential VCA) is now delivered also with an improved VCA circuit (high end THAT VCA circuit instead of the CA3080).
The new A-131 is also DC-coupled.

The A-135 will be available from about May 2013 in a revised version with DC coupling of the signals and single outputs, i.e. it can be used also as 4 separate linear VCAs with manual gain, CV in with attenuator and signal in with attenuator.
Because of the DC coupling it can be used also for modulation signal processing (i.e. voltage controlled mixing of control signals).

So, a lot of updates, can't wait to see the first pictures of the A-157 combo coming from MusikMesse.
Are you going to MusikMesse this year and want to contribute pictures to PatchPierre.Net?
Feel free to contact me via the comments, email or Twitter, thanks in advance!

New Doepfer Re-Designs Due to CA3080 Shortage

After the unplanned re-design of the Dark Energy (due to the unavailability of the CEM3394 chip ) there now seem to be more re-designs of Doepfer Modules coming up.

This time the problem is the availability of CA3080 (and 3080E) chips.
The CA3080 (datasheet PDF) is a 2MHz Operational Trans-conductance Amplifier (OTA), which is used in quite a few Doepfer (and other brands) modules and there seems to be no direct replacement equivalent.
The original chip itself hasn't been produced since 1975 and the wafers have all been used up a couple of years ago, according to some sources.

No-one seems to have decent stock anymore, and there was a buying craze when it went out of production.

That does mean that some Doepfer modules have to be re-designed in the near future because of this obsolete integrated circuit ( like the A-107, A-116, A-127, A-130, A-131, A-132-1, A-141, A-142-1, A-147, A-171). 

This will take a lot of precious time for Doepfer that would otherwise be spent on manufacturing new modules.

Sadly these re-designs will not have any obvious benefit for the customers.

Doepfer A-131 Demos by Raul Pena

Raul Pena (from http://raulsworldofsynths.com/) has released four more new demo-videos, this time involving the A-130/A-131 Voltage Controlled Amplifiers.

Video 1: Doepfer A-131 VCA Intro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MivzVdpz5Dg

" Introduction to the features of the Doepfer A131 EXP VCA.Short demonstration of Tremolo.Sound and Video by Raul Pena. "

Video 2: Processing CV with Doepfer A131 EXP VCA Part One

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIdWbrbkSD8

" Demonstration of Doepfer A131 EXP VCA for processing CV. From the manual "For audio signals, you would normally use the exponential VCA (A-131), and for control voltages, the linear VCA (A-130). It doesn't always have to be that way, though." "The old versions of A-130/131 (those with CEM3381/CEM3382) are not able to process slowly varying control voltages (AC coupled in/outputs). Sound and Video by Raul Pena. "

A-130 + A-131 Voltage Controlled Amplifiers

A Voltage Controlled Amplifier ( VCA or variable-gain amplifier) is an electronic amplifier that varies its gain depending on an incoming control voltage (or CV).
It is one of the most basic building blocks for a modular synthesizer.
Find more on this on Wikipedia.
Modules A-130 and A-131 are very simple VCA's that can be found in most basic Doepfer systems.

For audio signals, you would normally use the exponential VCA (A-131), and for control voltages the linear VCA (A-130), but it doesn't always have to be that way, though.

The amount of amplification of the VCAs is determined by the voltage at the CV input and the position of the gain control, which sets the overall gain in the system.
The VCA has two audio inputs, each with an attenuator.
They are amplified by the combination of the gain and the two CV controls.

Remark:
The old versions of A-130/131 (those with CEM3381/CEM3382, which are actually 2 VCA's on one chip*) are not able to process slowly varying control voltages (AC coupled in/output).
The newer versions of A-130/131 (those with CA3080) are able to process even slowly varying control voltages (DC coupled in/outputs).

*it might be worth investigating these a bit more for a future DIY treatment