CubuSynth from Portugal introduces Engine, a dual analog oscillator supercharged with wavefolding, FM, and controllable chaos modulation Premiere for a new Eurorack company. CubuSynth is a young company consisting of a German developer/musician and his girlfriend, “partner in crime,” both based in Portugal. Classic modules like a mixer, dual VCA, or ADSR envelope are the first attempts to gain a foothold in the market. Yes, classic modules to start with. The latest module is called Engine and is Cubusynth’s biggest and most comprehensive module to date. It could well be the module that will ensure the breakthrough for the young company. The feature list reads very excitingly.
CubuSynth Engine Engine is a new dual analog VCO (24HP) based on the classic 3340 chip with all four classic waveforms and dedicated waveform outputs. However, it is not a “more of the same 3340” oscillator. CubuSynth has come up with some wild ideas and transported the core into wild fields. It can work as a complex FM oscillator or as two independent VCOs. Each engine analog oscillator comes with four different waveshapes. Then, you can apply per oscillator a wavefolder allowing you to shape the oscillator in different directions. Plus, there is pulse-width modulation, linear and exponential frequency modulation. All controllable with dedicated potentiometers. There is also a switch for soft or hard sync on both oscillators. This gives you an impressive number of shaping options to add harmonic content to the oscillators. But that’s not all the engine offers. CubuSynth has created a unique chaos engine circuit that creates semi-random voltages. This gives you wild, complex internal normalized modulations. The mighty chaos engine can be controlled with the large central knob or via an external clock input. There is also an order slider that changes the way how the chaos engine interacts. You can compare it to combining two oscillators with a chaos modulator. Here, however, cleverly packaged so that both elements harmonize together. Connectivity Connection side, you find individual waveform outputs on each oscillator side, CV inputs for linear/exponential FM, PWM, sync, folder as well as two 1/V oct inputs. According to the developer, they track stable over up to 10 octaves. At first glance a wild dual oscillator with an exciting feature set. While it sounds like another complex oscillator, it offers some things that others don’t have. Especially the possibility to experiment with the build-in chaos modulator. Used correctly it could generate some exciting organic results. CubuSynth Engine is available now for 399 |
