Synthor System 8 digital modular system announced by Percussa – UPDATE
Percussa Synthor System 8 · Source: https://www.facebook.com/percussacom/photos/pcb.1158532817577426/1158532547577453/?type=3&theater
Percussa Synthor System 8 · Source: https://www.facebook.com/percussacom/photos/pcb.1158532817577426/1158532547577453/?type=3&theater
Percussa Synthor System 8 · Source: https://www.facebook.com/percussacom/photos/pcb.1158532817577426/1158532547577453/?type=3&theater
Percussa Synthor System 8 · Source: https://www.facebook.com/percussacom/photos/pcb.1158532817577426/1158532547577453/?type=3&theater
Percussa AudioCubes · Source: https://www.facebook.com/percussacom/photos/a.927725033991540.1073741827.927724907324886/927724990658211/?type=3&theater
Percussa are the makers of the strange AudioCubes system. You put these cubes next to each other and they wirelessly link up and synthesise and modulate each other. At Knobcon back in October they demonstrated the Percussa REMOTE and the Synthor software for controlling and sequencing the AudioCubes. Now with the Synthor System 8 they are going one step further and completing the system with the Percussa ENGINE – a digital hardware synthesis module.
Synthor System 8
They’ve been teasing an image of the module around the internet for a few days, and I guess they couldn’t contain themselves any longer. Percussa have finally released details of the Synthor System 8 via Facebook. It’s still a bit of a tease though because the images look like renders to me and there’s no videos or demonstrations to be had. If you want to see it and hear it, you’ll have to go along to booth #4823 at NAMM from Thursday.
So how does it all fit together? What you are seeing in the images is the REMOTE controller on the desktop with the ENGINE hardware mounted behind via the side panels. The ENGINE replaces the need for the computer and is a self-contained digital synthesizer. The AudioCubes act as synthesis modules and modulators and you can patch them together wirelessly purely through placement and orientation. The REMOTE is a wireless base station for the AudioCubes and controller for the software. The Synthor software is now running on the hardware and can be upgraded and expanded via SD memory cards.
The Percussa ENGINE is a quad core cortex A17 chip turning at 1.8GHz running Linux Kernel v4. It features 64-bit parallel DSP processing and sports a 1600×480 pixel wide format colour LVDS display. There’s also MIDI In/Out/Thru, card slot and USB ports. The audio outputs in 6 channels up to 192kHz and has a stereo input for sampling.
The Synthor System 8 supports 8 AudioCubes but can support 16 when upgraded.
The AudioCubes technology has been road tested and proven as a workable performance technology for some years. The addition of the REMOTE and the ENGINE takes it directions that I’m not sure it has to go. But in moving away from the computer, it becomes somehow untethered and perhaps more intuitive.
I would love to see it in action, but it looks like we’ll have to wait until the demo’s start arriving from the NAMM show. Until then we just have these smart looking but rather dull and lifeless images. Which is a shame because the AudioCubes are always so visual, dynamic and alive!
Percussa AudioCubes
More information on the Percussa Facebook page.
Video from NAMM:
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- Percussa AudioCubes: https://www.facebook.com/percussacom/photos/a.927725033991540.1073741827.927724907324886/927724990658211/?type=3&theater
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