New semi-modular synthesizer

[ocs]

Hello,

I'm glad to announce that the OCS-2 synthesizer is ready!

OCS-2 is a digital, semi-modular, analogue style synthesizer.
Small, but very powerful and flexible, it provides an incredible sound quality.
Dedicated to knob addicts, this synthesizer is full of features that define its own unique sound.



Why is it so special?

First, the sound quality is impressive. This is not a cheap 8 or 16 bits synthesizer : it implements state of the art audio synthesis algorithms.
OCS-2 provides a lot more than a modern dual oscillator monosynth. There are a lot of unique features :

30 control knobs
Few atypical waveforms with incredible fat sound
LFO that can continuously change waveform
A CV generator with different algorithms to generate random to rythmic modulation
4 audio effects
A very powerful digital connection matrix
A light sensor to control sound with hand gesture
Software customization
Very compact
Eurorack compatible (50HP)
Incredible sound quality

What is inside?

2 VCO providing 15 different waveforms
1 VCF : multi-mode, including a 24db/octave low pass resonant filter
1 VCA
1 ADSR
3 LFO : 2 with configurable waveform, 1 with CV frequency control
1 custom CV generator with 4 algorithms : Attack Release, dual LFO, Random, Step
1 audio effects processor with 4 effects : Distortion, Delay, Bitcrush, Waveshaper
1 ring modulator
1 CV controlled mixer for VCO1 and VCO2
2 octaves keyboard with portamento
1 digital matrix to connect signals to modulation faders
1 stereo line-IN with envelope follower and gate control
1 MIDI input : note / velocity / pitch bend / modulation wheel / control change
3 analogue CV IN and 1 GATE IN
1 light sensor


Find more informations the website:
nozoïd



Cyrille Henry / Nozoïd

[Nelson Baboon]

LOL. I like the looks of this. I can't listen right now, but I'll take a listen to some of the audio on your site later.

I'm actually thrilled by the fact that it's digital. I think that digital is the future of modular/semi-modular, and really opens things up.

I might just have enough cash left if I like the attitude of the demos...

[Nelson Baboon]

I'm insane. Just ordered using a credit card. Damn.

[tim gueguen]

Looks like a cousin to the Pocket Operators.

[Fiddlestickz]

Very nice sound.

[Ushijima]

Really impressive

[rozzbud]

It sounds incredible for a digital synth.

[a100user]

Sounds great and good price.

[mome rath]

looks/sounds rad

hope you sell billions !

[Nelson Baboon]

Mine should be arriving in a few days. I'll certainly post my impressions in this thread.

[hairbow]

After the 0-Coast I was hoping for something more interesting than an east coast synth with nothing new to offer

[Nelson Baboon]

After the 0-Coast I was hoping for something more interesting than an east coast synth with nothing new to offer

the 0-coast is new because of the "small rugged steel enclosure"?

[orangehexagon]

After the 0-Coast I was hoping for something more interesting than an east coast synth with nothing new to offer

the 0-coast is just as east coast as the OCS-2. make noise just presents the parameters differently and put some funky graphics on the panel to make you think it's more unique than it really is.

not to discredit the 0-coast, it's an awesome piece of gear and has some cool features, but it's not revolutionary or as special as a lot of people make it out to be.

the 0-coast and the OCS-2 are both subtractive synths... if you can't coax something interesting out of the OCS-2, then maybe it's your imagination that's not interesting.

[orangehexagon]

also, with the light sensor and the fact that it's easily hackable / open source...

i gotta say this is more interested than the 0-coast

[hairbow]

After the 0-Coast I was hoping for something more interesting than an east coast synth with nothing new to offer

the 0-coast is just as east coast as the OCS-2. make noise just presents the parameters differently and put some funky graphics on the panel to make you think it's more unique than it really is.

not to discredit the 0-coast, it's an awesome piece of gear and has some cool features, but it's not revolutionary or as special as a lot of people make it out to be.

the 0-coast and the OCS-2 are both subtractive synths... if you can't coax something interesting out of the OCS-2, then maybe it's your imagination that's not interesting.

low pass gate, loopable envelopes, wave folding ... all of that is in the 0-coast and is not present in the OSC2.

[Nelson Baboon]

After the 0-Coast I was hoping for something more interesting than an east coast synth with nothing new to offer

the 0-coast is just as east coast as the OCS-2. make noise just presents the parameters differently and put some funky graphics on the panel to make you think it's more unique than it really is.

not to discredit the 0-coast, it's an awesome piece of gear and has some cool features, but it's not revolutionary or as special as a lot of people make it out to be.

the 0-coast and the OCS-2 are both subtractive synths... if you can't coax something interesting out of the OCS-2, then maybe it's your imagination that's not interesting.

low pass gate, loopable envelopes, wave folding ... all of that is in the 0-coast and is not present in the OSC2.

oooooh - those were just invented? Cool.you, of course have used the ocs-2, and have had experience with the actual workflow, and sound, and its various features. I'm jealous - I ordered on the first day it was available, and mine won't be here for a few days.

[orangehexagon]

After the 0-Coast I was hoping for something more interesting than an east coast synth with nothing new to offer

the 0-coast is just as east coast as the OCS-2. make noise just presents the parameters differently and put some funky graphics on the panel to make you think it's more unique than it really is.

not to discredit the 0-coast, it's an awesome piece of gear and has some cool features, but it's not revolutionary or as special as a lot of people make it out to be.

the 0-coast and the OCS-2 are both subtractive synths... if you can't coax something interesting out of the OCS-2, then maybe it's your imagination that's not interesting.

low pass gate, loopable envelopes, wave folding ... all of that is in the 0-coast and is not present in the OSC2.

The OSC-2 has waveshaping. Wave folding is one variety of a waveshaper.

A low pass gate is nothing more than a filter, envelope, and vca combo.

With it's open source software, you could easily introduce looping envelopes plus much much much more!

[orangehexagon]

ocs looking forward to trying one out in person sometime. From the looks of the documentation and the demos, this seems ace. congrats!

[NewNewRon]

I'm insane. Just ordered using a credit card. Damn.

You're not insane.

[Nelson Baboon]

wow - looks like the package has already made it to San Francisco, so I should be receiving it on Tuesday or Wednesday (if usps is slow about it).

[estin]

wow, this thing sounds amazing. Was not expecting what I heard in the demo. Amazing synth for drones

[Nelson Baboon]

i've spent a couple of hours with it these evening.

very rough impressions.

The sound is strong and industrial. I think that someone who bought this to make melodic music, and/or pretty sounds, would get frustrated.

While I'm sure someone could disabuse me of this comparison, the one that comes to mind is the polygamist. strong sound, but not precise enough in the traditional sense to do the traditional synth thing, but very directed and great for more noise/experimental timbral exploration. It has much more precision, however, than your usual noise box, and therefore it is easier to make patches on the border of tonal and chaotic, and vary that.

the filter has character, I think. I played a synth through it and it certainly added character. the synth has a fine filter itself (modal 001) but the filter on this is stronger, the resonance get more gnarly, and I really liked the combo.

because of its compact nature, it is definitely a rtfm affair. Thus far I'm finding the logic of the commands to be rather easy, and I don't think I'll be needing to consult the manual too much in the future. But the manual is awful. Much of this is that the author doesn't speak English well, and that's fine. On the other hand, it is logical enough that I've been figuring stuff out despite this.

I've spent just a fraction of the time necessary to learn this as an instrument. But thus far I am rather confident that I will use it somewhat frequently in my music.

I'm not someone who prefers synths because they are analog. I'm very pleased with the sound of this. does it sound analog? does it sound digital? I don't know how to answer that - you could definitely convince me that it's analog, judging from the way that the filter shapes the sound. But I don't care. I think it sounds great. Emphasis again on the warning to those who want to play melodic stuff on it.

the sound seems to go very well with external fx in varying amounts, or dry. (well, I've been using its delay effect)

[DougD]

Thanks for the review Nelson. Intriguing sound, it has an EML sort of vibe.

[Nelson Baboon]

I'll also say that I LOVE the way it distorts. Now, it's digital, and (not sure) I may have gotten it to distort in that bad digital way once or twice, but I was too hell bent on getting it to freak out to really pay much attention.

but what I really like is that at times it sounds like it's playing through a distortion pedal or something. I had to check - is this sound coming from me overdriving the mixer? Is it coming from something else? No - it was the ocs, and at times it sounded like it was directly communicating with my speakers - that kind of distortion that seems to make stuff shake in weird ways. I'm not sure at this point what gets me there - is it resonance, modulation of the oscillators, internal level staging, magic? I'm really looking forward to more time spent with this.

In the cold light of day, the kind of sound that seems to come easily on it (which will be very useful for me) is industrial type repeated patterns. I haven't succeeded yet in devising patches with modulation that evolve over time, but I think that this is a matter of technique, and I'll be working more with that. Right now I have it set up right in front of the fenix, which I'm using to modulate it.

hey - I didn't see this in the manuals, or elsewhere - hoping I missed it, or that this can be added. Can the various functions be modulated by midi controllers? that would be nice, and preclude setting the modulations up in the matrix (which is admittedly pretty benign, but if controlling from a midi sequencer, the more direct control would be very nice here)

[Hans-g]

seems interesting