I don't have Florian's extensive knowledge about so many vocoders but I do think that the A129 would have been pushed into another whole class had the resonance of the filters been adjustable. It would have increased the versatility of the system considerably - for non "vocoder" uses. But I do like my A129 system (I have all the parts :-))

David

www.movingisliving.co.uk

Sent from my iPhone

> On 23 Jul 2015, at 16:27, Florian Anwander fanwander@... 1 < Doepfer_a100@yahoogroups.com > wrote:
>
> I owned a MAM VF-11, a A-129 System and a Roland SVC-325. I sold them
> all, and own now an Electrix WarpFactory, a Alesis Metavox and the
> NordModular. All three are digital
>
> I have to say: for any standard voice orientated vocoding, I would use
> always a digital vocoder. They sound not only way better. No, they are
> miles ahead. What the Electrix does is incredible. Price on ebay is
> between 170 and 230 Euros.
>
> If I would want an analogue vocoder again, then only because digital
> vocoders have a timelag, which annoys if you use percussive sounds for
> the modulator.
>
>
> The other argument for an analogue vocoder would be its patchability. I
> really appreciated the A-129-2 as VC filterbank. Also the 129-1 as
> frequency selective envelope follower is nice, but a A-119 with a
> multimode filter does usually a better job.
>
> But I always missed other features on the A-129 system. For instance I
> do find the fixed centerfrequencies of the filterbands as very limiting.
> They are trimmed to hit the typical resonance frequencies of vocals. And
> even worse: they are trimmed to hit the typical resonance frequencies of
> german vocals. I once wanted to use the voice of a turkish speaker, but
> turkish vocals are much darker than german ones. The vocoding with the
> A-129 was disappointing. I don't blame Dieter for it, but it is
> something that should be kept in mind, if someone designs a new vocoder.
>
> What I would want is a vocoder with VC-Bandpasses in the analysis and
> synthesis section. The center frequency of each band should be
> adjustable in a certain range, it should be possible to shift the center
> frequencies of the whole bank and also one could adjust the spread of
> the bands. Also I'd like to have the resonance adjustable.
>
> So I doubt that a "simple vocoder" on analog basis does make sense. The
> recent three auctions for an Alesis Metavox here were between 45 and 109
> Euros (and the Metavox sounds at a least as good as the MAM or a Korg
> VC10). Beat that price with analogue gear.
>
> If someone ever will build an analog vocoder, then it should be more
> sophisticated than the A-129.
>
> Just my 2cts.
>
> Florian
>
>
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