Hi. I got a chance to listen to the Plan B State Variable Vactrol
Filter yesterday when I was visiting the R&D Department at Plan B's
spacious and well-appointed corporate headquarters (cleverly
disguised to look like Peter Grenader's kitchen)

The version I saw was obviously a prototype (no front panel, Peter
was holding the two boards in his hand while he turned the pots)
In addition to Lowpass, its got highpass, variable bandwidth
bandpass and allpass outputs. I especially liked the lowpass and
allpass modes. The filter has a really fat sound with some of the
nicest sounding resonance and distortion I've ever heard: it can
sound dirty and yet smooth at the same time. It also has that
peculiar ringing sound you get from Vactrols that I have tried but
never managed to get any other way. This thing is definitely on my
shopping list

I also got a chance to hear the model 15 oscilators and the sound of
the sine waves and the fm seems to be very similar to the way I
remember the Bucla's oscilators sounding, and is quite different
from the Doepfer and Analog Systems stuff I have now. The sound of
the oscilators through the vactrol filter was very nice. I've got
two of these things on order. Yes, its been a bit of a wait, but I
think it will be worth it.

By the way, lest you think that the vast corporate tentacles of PLAN
B, INC. are behind this meassage: I'm not an actor, and I'm not on
Plan B's payroll, I've met Peter a grand total of two times. Just
reporting what I saw and heard.

K

--- In Doepfer_a100@yahoogroups.com , "Steve R" <steve@s...> wrote:
> July 29 2005
>
>
> Electro-Acoustic Research (EAR) is a consortium of modular synth
> designers based in southern California.
>. . . . .
> To mark this occasion, each manufacturer is announcing the release
of
> the following modules:
>
> Plan B -
>
> Model 12 State Variable Vactrol Filter
> Model 13 Dual Timbral Gates
> Model 17 Event Timer
>