Qu-Bit Cascade: Ratcheting envelopes, VCA, compressor and noise generator

19 Feb 2021 by Robin Vincent | Approximate reading time: 2 Minutes

Qu-Bit Cascade · Source: Qu-Bit

Qu-Bit Cascade with Daisy chip · Source: Qu-Bit

Previous Next

Cascade is an over-functioning envelope generator with all sorts of other stuff going on in Qu-Bit’s uniquely baffling and exciting way.

Cascade

The envelopes are the easy bit. Cascade can generate snappy 500 microsecond AD, ASR and ADSR envelopes all the way up to 5 seconds of Attack, 10 seconds of Decay and 5 seconds of Release. It’s triggerable, invertible with control over the output level and also an offset from 0-10v. In AD and ASR modes the Repeats knob can add up to 16 ratcheting repeats set in response to the trigger input. You can also set it to infinite looping if you wish.

Other features include a VCA and compressor mode with virtual sidechain. Ratio is controlled by the Curve knob and threshold by the Repeats knob.

The Gate output is active in response to the trigger input or when compression occurs depending on the mode. The VCA output contains the output of the VCA shaped by the envelope. The Env output is just the envelope shape.

The noise generator or Sound Source mode gives either white noise, a Hi-Hat, Kick or a Hi-Freq Sine wave in response to the incoming triggers.

Another function is the Envelope Follower which pulls the envelope off an incoming audio signal.

As is the case with some other Qu-Bit modules it takes a bit of digging to really unearth what they are all about. They tend to have multiple modes and lots of clever stuff going on which isn’t immediately obvious from a short website description. What is interesting is that most of their recent modules are based on the Daisy ecosystem from Electrosmith but this is the first time (to my knowledge) that Qu-Bit have mentioned it and also suggested that the module is reprogrammable. This could mean that you could turn the Cascade module into something else entirely or tweak the functionality. Not sure exactly what that means yet but it could make Cascade more interesting than it already is.