SonicProjects OP-X User Manual

SonicProjects

OP-X

MANUAL

www.sonicprojects.ch

Introduction

Congratulations on the purchase of the SonicProjects OP-X!

The technical structure of this synth ist quite unique. The enigine is based on
six totally independent voices which correspond to the voice boards of the
original godfather. There's no voice cloning used to achieve polyphony as it is
usually the case in vst instruments. Like in the real analog hardware, each
voice is built separatly, each voice has its own signal path and each voice
differs slightly in its parameter settings and sound - as it is present too in the
original. This imperfectness was one of the main reasons for the organic and
lively character of the old faithfull original.

Although this is a great thing for some sounds (especially pads), it's not so
great for others (brass, fm, ...). While you had to tune the voice cards of the
original by trimpot adjustments, the voices of the op-x can be tuned by the
touch of four global buttons - separatly for oscillators, filters, envelopes and
portamento times. The original did just provide an autotune button, which
tuned the oscillators. The rest was influenced by temperature and aging
processes.

With the the op-x, you get total control over the tuning - as you might have
wished it from any analog synth of the past - without missing the organic
feeling. You can mix tuned oscillators, detuned filters etc. There are no limits.
Even the spread knob, which effects a continuous and proportinal detuning,
can be used for polyphonic sounds, also in combination with the knob detune.

We call this concept Separate Voice Design (SVD).

You can learn more about it on this site which includes a lot of audio clips:

http://www.sonicprojects.ch/obx/separatevoicedesign.html

A welcome consequence of the separate voice design is the presence of
stereo pan controls for each voice. This popular feature of old analog synths
allows mind blowing real stereo without deluting chorus or delay effects. As
every other parameter, the pans can be automated as well.

With cross modulation, oscillator synchronisation, sine based frequency
modulation, ring modulation, filterenvelope modulation and noise, the op-x'
potential for experimental and disharminic sounds is enormous. Especially the
combination of fm and ring modulation is a sonic bomb.

A further thought had to go to the filter. The old SEM filter was highly
appreciated because it didn't loose gain or thickness in high resonance
settings and had an extraordinary precious balanced sound and great depth.
The filter of the op-x is specially designed and tries to copy this character as
good as possible.

Installation

Doubleclick the installer and follow the instructions.

The installer will look for the shared vst plugins folder. You can also browse
your computer for the vst plugins folder manually. The plugin will be installed in
a subfolder named „SonicProjects“. The installer will also create a folder
named „SonicProjects“ in your start menu. You will find the pdf manual and
the uninstaller there.

Note: You need a vst host to run the plugin. It can't be run standalone. If you
don't have a one then have a look at our dedicated site where we have listed
some tested and recommended free vst hosts including short guides:

http://www.sonicprojects.ch/obx/freevsthost.html

After first loading in your host you have to enter your personal id and key data
to unlock the plugin. After successful unlocking the plugin loads, but still
without sound. You have to reload the plugin now. From now on it will work.

If the key data was not entered correctly nothing happens when you click on
„enter key“. Be sure to enter the whole line containing name AND four digits id
number in the „User ID“ field:

Use copy and paste for the license key to avoid typing mistakes. If you have
problems with the reg window disappearing then deactivate „always on top“ for
your plugin window. You can alternatively load the plugin first by clicking on
„try demo“ and then enter your data by clicking on the blue window.

Remove the plugin:

Use the uninstaller in the „SonicProjects“ folder in the start menu.

License and copyright

The plugins are bound to the registered user. It's not allowed to pass them on
to third persons. Each plugin contains a hiddden serial that allows to identify
and trace the original user in case of irregular distribution.

The voice LEDs

These LEDs indicate voice activity. Each voice has its propriate LED. That
means, when a voice is receiving trigger data to play, its propriate LED shines.
In unisono mode, all six LEDs are glowing at the same time. The original has
this LEDs too, but mounted on the individual voice boards in the inside of the
device. With their help, you could see that a voice was working correctly.

The MANUAL section:

VOLUME

Master volume. Its setting is stored with the preset.

TUNER

The individually and slightly detuned voices can be tuned here. Read the intro
for comprehensive info on the voice tuning.

OSC

Tunes the oscillators. In released state, each voice is slightly and individually
detuned as it would be on startup in the original.

FILT

Tunes the filters. In released state, the filter cutoff of every voice is slightly
different, as it is the case in every original device that is not freshly serviced.

ENV

Tunes the attack and decay times of the filter envelopes. In released mode,
the attack and release time of every voices' filter envelope is slightly different.
This gives organic life to pad and sweep sounds.

The fourth element of the op-x' tuning capabilities is located in the addidional
functions section below the filters section: the portamento detuner "Port DET".
See "PORTAMENTO" or "ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS SECTION".

SPREAD

Spreads the oscillator tuning of the voices - good for fattening up unisono
sounds, but also usable for more controlled detune of polyphonic sounds.

The CONTROL section

PORTAMENTO

Also called "glide" sometimes. Makes the pitch change continuosly between
the notes. Short settings in unisono sounds makes the sound "squeak". The
function also works in polyphonic mode. The portamento can be detuned with
"Porta DET" in the additional functions section (beyond filters section). In
released "Porta DET" mode, the portamento times of each voice are equal. In
pushed mode, the times vary from voice to voice which was typical for the
original. The sonic result in solo sound is a special sort of "depth" while gliding.

UNISON

Stacks all six voices for fat solo sounds. L in the levers section activates legato
mode if needed (last note priority, pitch returns to hold note, no retrigger). Use
the spread knob or release the osc tune knob to fatten up the sound.

OSC 2 DETUNE

Fine tuning for oscillator 2. This is used to produce beats when both oscillators
are on. This results in a fat sound.

The MODULATION section

This is the section where the main LFO is controlled and routed to the desired
modulation aims. For the modulation lever, there's a separate and independent
sine LFO (rate control above leavers). If wished, the modulation lever can be
switched back to the main LFO as it is in the original device (ADDITIONAL
FUNCTIONS SECTION, "Wheel LFO").

RATE

Regulates the LFO rate. The response is logarithmical. If the LFO is
synchronized to song tempo (which can be done in the ADDITIONAL
FUNCTIONS section with the LFO button, III for triolic behaviour), the knob will
react in three big steps (multiplied by the song tempo).

The waveforms: All three waveforms can be chosen at the same time. For the
reason of problem free vst automation, it were done without "radio button"
switching behaviour. To jump from one waveform to another, the old one has
to be released and the new one pushed. This might be a bit ardous on one
hand, but on the other and it allows mixing various waves.

SINE

Switches on the sine wave of the LFO.

SQUARE

Switches on the square wave of the LFO.

S/H

Switches on the sample & hold wave of the LFO. Technically explained, white
noise is "sampled" with the speed of the LFO rate. This results in a random
step wave.

FREQUENCY DEPTH

Regulates the modulation intensity of the LFO to the oscillators and the filter.
The response of this knob is specially designed. In the first quarter, you have
double logarithmic response which allows to make finest adjustments in very
low modulation settings, e.g. for almoust imperceptible oscillator vibrato. The
rest of the scale does react linear for fast changes.

OSC 1

Switches the above regulated LFO output to oscillator 1 pitch.

OSC 2

Switches the above regulated LFO output to oscillator 2 pitch.

FILTER

Switches the above regulated LFO output to the filter cutoff. The influence
amount is dependent on the filter cutoff. Low cutoff settings result in lower LFO
influence. This is again a behaviour copied from the original.

PULSE WIDTH DEPTH

Regulates the modulation intensity of the LFO output to the pulse width of the
oscillators' pulse waves. Its influence is added to the "WIDTH" setting in the
oscillators section.

OSC 1

Switches the above regulated LFO output to oscillator 1 pulse width.

OSC 2

Switches the above regulated LFO output to oscillator 2 pulse width.

The OSCILLATORS section

PITCH 1

Sets the pitch of oscillator 1 in four octave steps.

The waveforms:

Other than in the original both waveforms can be switched on at the same
time. This is again for problem free VST automation. Both waves activated
results in pulse wave (the same as squ pushed only). However, both buttons

released results in a SINE wave. This is designed for yamaha type FM.

SAW

Switches on the saw wave of oscillator 1

SQU

Switches on the pulse wave of oscillator 1

SINE

The SINE wave will be activated when both buttons are released.

WIDTH

Manual regulation of the pulse width of both pulse waves. Modulations for each
pulse wave are added individually.

PITCH 2

Sets the pitch of oscillator 2 in semitones. The range is five octaves and three
semi tones. If sync is on, the sync spectrum can be controlled with this knob.

SAW

Switches on the saw wave of oscillator 2

SQU

Switches on the pulse wave of oscillator 2

SINE

The SINE wave will be activated when both buttons are released.

X-MD

Cross modulation. This is sort of a simple frequency modulation between
oscillator 1 and oscillator 2. The result is a disharmonic spectrum. The sound
is determinate by the selected waves, the relation of the oscillators frequencies
to each other and the modulation amount (regulatable in the ADDITIONAL
KNOBS SECTION with "X-Md", just above the keyboard . In most cases, the
pitch knob of oscillator 2 is used to regulate this. If the frequency of oscillator is
modulated (by LFO or filter envelope - described later), the sound will change
dynamically over time. If you want to hear only the FM output on its own just
switch off oscillator 2.

For yamaha type FM, release the wave buttons (both) for the SINE wave to
become active. For a little bit more presence, the wave of oscillator 2 can be
switched to SQU (Pulse). For even more clearness, the activation of ring
modulation (ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS section, "RING") is recommended.

In the ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS section, there is a special function to give
some additional movement to crossmod sounds: When you switch on the
"ENV" button, the modulation depth is influenced by the amp envelope. (The
same can be done with ring modulation - see later).

SYNC

Hard sync. Oscillator 2 is synchronized by oscillator 1. Everytime the oscillator
1 wave amplitude crosses zero, the oscillator 2 wave amplitude is being set to
zero too. The sonic result is the well known and famous sync sound with rich
harmonics. As it is with cross modulation, changes of the oscillator 2 pitch
results in changes in the spectrum. The whole thing gets interesting too if
oscillator 2 is modulated.