> However I
> found the 136 really hard to
> understand until I got a scope: without one it s virtually

impossible.

It took me a day or two, but I was able to get a good understanding of
the A136 by patching it to a VCO and listening to the results, and
also by patching it to an A170 slew limiter and watching the -/+ LEDs.

There's no doubt that a sillyscope would be very useful, though. I'm
watching that thread carefully, because I haven't found a good,
inexpensive one that I like yet.

> The first op amp in the circuit
> amplifies the incoming signal by about 4.3 times, so anything larger
> than about 2V immediately causes
> the op amp output to saturate just below the voltage supply rails

(+/-

> 12V).

I mentioned this hard clipping of DC voltages back in the "Module
Quirks" thread. I think the fact that its not mentioned in the A136
User's Manual is a very serious ommission. In addition, the
description of how the amplification pot operates is COMPLETELY
BACKWARDS, and the description of the +A and -A pots is erroneous as
well.

I think that it would have been much easier for me to get an
understanding of the A136 if the User's Manual wasn't so poor. This is
definitely a case where Doepfer owes us a correction, and since the
problem can be fixed by updating the online documentation, there's
really no excuse.

> Controlling the 136 s affect on a DC signal must take a lot of

patience!

There's no doubt that the A136 isn't for the faint-of-heart, but after
using it for a while, and noting the approximate knob positions of
various critical values, I don't find it anywhere near as laborious as
it was at first.

Joe