Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: MOTM

I know that the person asking is pondering a MOTM system, and that such
requests are common. So, why ∗not∗ have such things posted on the site?

Several thoughts:

a) to me, it's like buying guitar strings not attached to a guitar, effects
or an amp. Sure, the strings have their own "sound", but to what degree do
they contribute to the final tone?

b) in theory, pretty much any manufacturer's VCO will sound the same coming
straight out of the outputs. OK: the sine of 'X' may have a few more
partials that are audible than 'Y'. If you want a REALLY clean sine, use a
MOTM-440 VCF. It can track quite well and has <0.15% THD. Or, run the sine
out through a '440. Those 4 poles will attenuate any extra harmonics quite
well.

c) There are some specific cases that ∗more complex∗ audio will sound
∗quite∗ different from 1 VCO to another. Things like linear FM, audio-rate
PWM and hard/soft synch. These types of demo files are more useful, IMHO.

d) how often are raw ouputs used from VCOs in audio tracks? Bueller....?

Usually, some sort of VCF is in the signal path, and more than likely that
is a low-pass filter. So, any additional harmonics present by slight
'wiggles' from 1 VCO to another will "go away" after the audio comes out of
the LPF.

Paul S.