Doepfer A-110-3 Triangle Thru Zero VCO Specifications

The Doepfer A-110-3 Triangle Thru Zero VCO is the second Thru-Zero module that Doepfer is releasing ( after the A-110-4 Quadrature Thru-Zero VCO )

This module was first shown in November 2014 ( read HERE ), and now there's an official release right before NAMM2016.

The A-110-3 is a Thru Zero VCO with triangle core. The term "Thru-Zero" means that even "negative" frequencies are generated. But this a bit a misleading term as negative frequencies do not really exist. "Negative" means in this connection simply that the triangle wave will stop when the linear control voltage reaches 0V and continue with the opposite direction as the linear control voltage becomes negative and vice versa.

The module has two control sections: linear and a exponential. The exponential section consists of the XTune control, the 1V/Oct input and the XFM input with the corresponding attenuator XFM. The exponential control voltage is the sum of these three voltages. 

The linear section consists of the LFrq control and the LFM input with the corresponding attenuator LFM. The linear control voltage is the sum of these two voltages. A dual color LED is used to display the polarity of the linear control voltage. The pitch of the outputs is determined by the control voltages of both sections. The linear section is used to control the pitch in a linear manner. 

When the LFrq control (LFrq means Linear Frequency Control) is fully CW the module works like a normal VCO and the pitch is then controlled by the exponential section with the manual Tune control XTune and the exponential frequency control inputs 1V/Oct and XFM. 1V/Oct is used to control the pitch by a 1V/Oct CV source (e.g. sequencer or Midi/USB-to-CV interface). XFM is used to apply an exponential frequency modulation with adjustable depth (e.g. from an LFO or another VCO). 

As the LFrq control is turned counterclockwise starting from the fully CW position the frequency is lowered in a linear manner until the triangle wave (nearly) stops at the center position of LFrq (provided that no LFM signal is present). As the LFrq control is moved from the center towards the CCW position the wave starts again but into reverse direction and the LED changes it's color. When the fully CCW position of LFrq is reached the module works again like a normal VCO. 

But much more exciting is the usage of the LFM input to modify the linear control voltage by an external control voltage (typically another VCO). Linear modulation by another oscillator using the thru zero feature generates audio spectra than cannot be obtained from an oscillator without the thru zero function. The reason is that a "normal" VCO will simply stop as the linear control voltage becomes zero or negative. But a thru zero VCO will start again with "negative" frequencies as the the linear control voltage becomes negative.

Internal waveshapers are used to generate the additional waveforms sawtooth an rectangle.

Price: around Euro 150.00
Date of delivery: spring 2016 (standard version)

Source: Doepfer.com