Design Goals

So, I plan to design a modular synthesizer. Let’s try to be sane, keep all the voltages safe and be slightly compatible with Eurorack, even though there doesn’t seem to be much of a standard.

Electrical specs

• -5V to 5V
• 1V/oct
• Fed by -12V/ground/+12V
• Should be operable by drunks:
  • Indefinite short-times for outputs
  • All inputs are -5v to 5v tolerant
• All connectors are mono 3.5mm jacks
• DIN MIDI-jacks
• USB B-plugs for USB
• 6.35 TS un-balanced or XLR balanced outputs for audio.

Philosophy

There is first of all no reason to being a purist. Nothing wrong with solving things in a ‘modern’ fashion, with a bunch of microcontrollers and DSPs and so.

However, one of the major points is to learn things about analog electronics, and the old-skool way of doing it. So, a few rules which I will try to stick to:

1. Use discrete components where possible.
2. Avoid digital solutions or non-jellybean components where possible.
3. Don’t build things without thoroughly explaining what is going on.
4. Don’t copy designs, only be inspired by old designs.