FAQ
200e ELECTRIC MUSIC BOX


Can I add 200e series modules to my existing 200?

Yes, but with limitations. Form factors and power supplies are identical, but without the 201e cabinet (or some serious modification of your present cabinet), you will not enjoy the preset manager or firmware download features. Nor will the internal MIDI bus be enabled.

Can I add the 225e to my present system?

Yes. The 225e is a MIDI interface that may add considerable flexibility to your 200. The preset manager is a part of this module and can be used to save your MIDI setups. But without a 201e cabinet (or modification of your present cabinet), it will not function with other 200e modules. The MIDI Interface will work fine, except for the four internal MIDI busses.

Can I add 200 series modules to my 201e cabinet?

In general, yes. There are some physical constraints, and occasional power supply restrictions. Consult us for details on specific modules.

What is the resolution of the 200e's ADC's and DAC's?

There are many data converters in the various modules. They vary in speed (from 10 to 500 ksps) and resolution (from 6 to 16 bits). Their characteristics are selected to enable accurate representation of underlying perceptual parameters.

What forms of payment do you accept?

Checks drawn on a U.S.bank, international or domestic money orders, certified checks, wire transfers, and small unmarked bills are all acceptable. We do not honor credit cards or paypal.

What is the delivery time for 200e systems?

Currently, we're running three months from order date to delivery. This will undoubtedly change, but we'll keep this slot updated.

Are new 200e modules going to be produced?

Occasionally. Recent additions are the 223e Tactile Input Port, the 296e Spectral Processor, and the 267e Uncertainty Source / Dual Filter. All are described in the Modules section.

How does the 225e remember the patch cord routings?

It doesn't; only knob settings and switch positions are stored. Sorry if we gave the wrong impression. However, the model 210e Router can store and recall interconnection data for a small number of patches.

You refer to the 200e as an analog system. But your oscillators use digital techniques. What gives?

The common meaning of these terms (analog vs. digital) stems from historical association between user environment and supportive circuitry.

An analog synthesizer is one that uses analog elements, such as knobs and wires, for user interaction.

Now, production costs favor digital circuitry, and the proliferation of samplers demands it. The user interface has become digital for the sake of economy. A single switch can accomplish many functions; multi-level menus, data selectors, and LCDs provide a compact and cheap-to-build facility. These systems do not consider the user interface to be of paramount importance. Parallel access is impossible, alternative interconnection improbable, performance is dependent on MIDI controllers connected with preconceived notions on what each aspect of the controller should accomplish.

Now things have changed. It costs practically nothing to convert between digital and analog respresentations. The designer can provide the user with whatever interface he likes, and proceed to design circuitry that efficiently implements the desired functionality. The user need never know the circuit design, and should not be able to readily discern its premises.

We define the 200e synthesizer as analog. By that, we are describing the aspect that the user contacts as analog. The underlying circuitry is a hybrid mix, constantly flowing from one domain to the other - not even predictable from one module to the next - always designed for uncompromising performance - never for adherence to a design style.

For those who can benefit from further discussion, we shall present some of the design considerations that were used in designing circuitry for a few of the 200e modules. First, we'll consider the 225e MIDI Interface. This gadget has a single digital input (MIDI) located on the back of the system. On the front you'll find 20 analog signals, decoded with 20 digital to analog decoders (DACs). Inside the box are velocity conversion tables (digital) polyphonic logic (digital), assignment directories (digital), and other logic, all tasks best performed digitally. Outside the box - it's strictly an analog world.

Let's look at one additional module, the 292e Quad Dynamics Manager. This one has compelling reasons for digital control paths and analog signal paths. Digital control paths because of the necessity for patch storage and retrieval; analog signal paths for the following two reasons:
  1. The enormous dynamic range and extremely low distortion that characterize this module demand specialized analog circuitry.

  2. The peculiar non-linear combination of lowpass and amplitude functions also calls for analog circuitry. A digital implementation would have been possible, but far more complex and demonstrating no advantage.
The design approach used in the 292e is similar to that used in several of the 200e series modules. We employ digital techniques for control structures because of the ease of storing and retrieving presets; we use analog techniques in signal chains for optimal dynamic range and to satisfy various perceptual requirements. And, importantly, the user encounters an analog environment.

Do you provide operations manuals?

Yes, in the form of notes that accompany each module plus a system overview.

Are firmware updates possible?

Yes. A USB Memory Card and a MAC computer can download new versions from our website. There is no charge for firmware updates.

Why did you introduce version 30 firmware, with its general incompatibility with earlier firmware.?

It was the right thing to do. The earlier versions (designed 6 years ago by a sporadic collection of programmers) could not accommodate the latest designs. The code loaders could not handle large programs (such as exist for the 251e and the 296e), bus traffic was such that there were occasionally unresolved data conflicts, code loaders were not immune to crashing, and preset storage space was limited.

We took care of these problems, by rewriting the code loaders for each module to handle vastly larger programs, eliminating bus contention, upgrading the speed and memory capacity of the preset managers, making the code loaders immune to accidental (or intentional) erasure, and increasing the capacity of the memory cards.

But not without a price. The preset managers' c.p.u.'s need to be replaced with new models, and patches have to be rewritten. Bringing old firmware up to date is a chore. And you can't mix earlier versions with version 30.

So prepare yourself for consistent operation and new functionality.


Why do you have separate interconnection schemes for control voltages and audio signals?

There are several reasons for maintaining this distinction:
  1. The wires required are specialized in purpose. Signal wires must be shielded, while control voltage connections need no shielding. We chose to employ 1/8" plugs for their compactness and banana plugs for their stackability.

  2. Modules can be optimized for performance in their domain of destiny. As a simple example, the parameters that characterize a good mixer are dissimilar to those that make a good control voltage summer. There are definite compromises made in the design of modules that serve both functions.

  3. The interconnections are different. Signals work best with exponential input pots, low output impedances and lots of headroom. Control voltages work best with bidirectional input multipliers, asymmetric output impedances, and no headroom. By choosing yet a different scheme for conveying timing information, a single pulse connection can carry both sustain and transient information, and have both inputs and outputs indefinitely paralleled.

  4. It is a simple matter to provide both sorts of inputs to those parameters that make sensible use of signal as well as control voltages. For example, our oscillators use both f.m. inputs (with exponential attenuators) and control voltage inputs (with linear, bidirectional, multiplying c.v. inputs).

  5. There's the matter of deciphering the intent and action of a patch. When the signal paths are easily differentiated from the structural aspects, such decoding is immensely simplified.

  6. With microcomputers serving to store patches, the differentiation is essential. Audio signals stay in the signal domain, while control voltages are digitized and stored as parts of presets.