Noise Engineering is back with still more modules we want – this time, a stereo mixer with some specific desirable extras, and a handy utility for offsets (and other things).
Synthplex is coming to Burbank, California this weekend, and while it isn’t looking like it’ll be a big news show – the supply chain crisis wears on – it is a chance for folks to meet on the synth world’s literal west coast. It’s been hard to hide fandom of Noise Engineering, too. They’ve got some uniquely gnarly distortions, for one – choose your fighter. And their Legio and Versio lines are multitaskers: thanks to the same digital platform under the hood, you can just swap out firmware if you need a VCO instead of a percussion module. It’s not quite as convenient as Mutable Instruments’ modules, some of which have front-panel switches for different functions – and those now live on as After Later. But it still means you get multiple modules for the price of one.
These two also look invaluable.
First, there’s Xer Dualis – oddly, for all the mixers out there, it’s sometimes hard to find usable options. (Bonus points to the Doepfer range.) Add in the current module drought / supply chain issues, and this is a very welcome entry.
Xer Dualis has a bunch of great stuff in 6HP:
- Four channels
- Stereo mixing (or use left input for mono signal; it normals to the right)
- Switch mutes (whew…)
- Clip indicator
- Dedicated level controls
US$170, available next week in black and silver.
(Now, if someone in the comments wants to enlighten me on mixing choices, I’m all ears. Honorable mention for me – most versatile, and with pan pots, Doepfer’s range. Mono mixer with pots, love Bastl’s ABC. Mixing in minimal space but still with pots, 2hp mix. The it’s a drum mixer-but-also-useful-generallly – Erica Drum Mixer Lite, which, bonus, has its own compressor. Cockpit from Endorphin.es is useful, too, with sidechaining and headphone out, plus a 1U version. But, I think you’ll still see why I like this – it just covers so many typical use cases, and still fits in 6HP.)
Sinc Pravus is a quad offset – which finally lets you just easily get a CV signal in the range you need, with dedicated pot and LED.
On the back panel you can configure to +5/+10. Oh, and the channels can be DC-voltage generators with nothing patched to inputs. Input jacks are normaled top to bottom, so it can be a mult, or it can be a mult with different offsets for each out.
US$140, also in black and silver next week.
Anyway, if you’re trying to stay away from buying new gear, let me remind you of the sheer awesomeness that is Noise Engineering’s software range. I’ve put an absurd amount of time now into both their hardware and software.
