hello list,

last saturday i met dieter doepfer and
sibille heller at the musikmesse frankfurt.
it was a very enjoyable meeting and we had
a good communication going on.

i had the chance to test some new modules
and here is what i found:

a137 wave multiplier
--------------------
a very exciting module. it is something like
the opposite of a filter. we used a triangle
wave and added overtones with the a137.
it sounded great, a bit like sync, but also
different. the resulting sounds surely cannot
be created by other a100 modules. we used an
oscilloscope to view the changes in the waveform
and it was really impressive. dieter doepfer
told me that the a137 is his favorite out of
the new modules and this is very understandable.
really great stuff.

a101/3 vactrol 12-stage phaser
------------------------------
the moment i was testing this module, it was
too loud around. another exhibitor tried to
get as much audience as possible by breaking
the actual loudness record ;-)
so i cannot describe the sound very exactly,
but i can say is that it is a very powerful
module. from my first hearing, the vactrols
do a good job. the module acts a lot smoother
than the standard a125. i tried different
feedback loops and was surprised by the changes
in the output signal. this module takes the
usual phaser effect to a whole new level.

a143/1 complex envelope generator
---------------------------------
peter grenader is right, this module kicks ass.
the adjustable threshold for the eod and the
polarizers make this a monster modulation source.
it is much more than just a simple quad module,
but it can still be used as such. now that i've
tried the a143/1, i'd prefer built-in polarizers
(like in the prototype).

a143/2 quad adsr
----------------
a very handy module, nothing much to say about.
dieter doepfer told me that he will add range
switches to the module, just like in the a140.
a very good idea.

a143/3 quad lfo
---------------
pure bread and butter. does what it does.
good value for the money.

a149/2 random digital outs
--------------------------
worked as intended. the prototype was triggered
by the upper section of the a149/1 only. i don't
know whats better, upper section or both sections
maybe a poll

a152 voltage adressed octal s&h/switch
--------------------------------------
my personal highlight. this module will add so
much power to the modular, i think i want at
least two of them, as soon as they are available.
i think about switching different feedback loops
with the vactrol phaser, selecting audio sources
for the vocoder (like dieter doepfer showed me),
toggling between different sample&hold outputs,
cycling through waveforms or filter types and
so on. i'm so happy about this module.
this is exactly what i need.

a197 vu-meter
-------------
looks nice. works as intended.


unfortunately i couldn't test the rest
of the prototypes by myself, but i've been
told that they are working fine.
these are the a101/1 vactrol steiner filter,
a101/2 vactrol lowpass gate (6db lowpass and/or
vca, dieter doepfer told me that he likes the
sound character of the a101/2 very much, it
would sound smooth and very pleasing),
a154 sequencer controller (a must-have for
a155 owners) and a138c polarizing mixer.


looks like we will get some awesome modules
during the next few months.

best wishes


ingo