Future Sound Systems Releases OSC2, 3 Analog Oscillator Meet A Deep Recombination Engine

April 10, 2020 Synth Anatomy Eurorack, Hardware, News 0

Future Sound Systems has released the OSC2, a new analog module that has three 3340-based oscillators that can be manipulated/combined using an innovation recombination engine.

At Superbooth 19 Finlay of Future Sound Systems presented the Recombination Engine, a unique triple analog voltage-controlled oscillator for Eurorack that uses a novel wave-splicing technique. Good news, the module is available now and yes, it’s another analog 3340 based oscillator but with a completely different and interesting approach. It features three oscillators that are built around a new generation of CEM 3340 VCO chips with better tracking and linearity across the frequency spectrum which is necessary for this new technique. The three VCOs are divided into three arrangements: a master, a positive-slave and negative-slave. The final output of these three oscillators can fond in the Glue section.

The master oscillator can be found in the new Scissor section, an important part of the new Recombination engine. In this, you can switch between the positive & negative DNA oscillators which are dependent on the positive or negative state of the Scissor square-wave. In each DNA VCO, you can mix three different waveforms together: Sinusoidal, triangle and ramp waveforms that go through an SSI2164-based VCA section. The mixed outputs of which are switched between at the Glue section in accordance to the Scissor.

Well, that’s not all you can do in the OSC2 Recombination Engine. It also offers switchable linear or exponential frequency modulation (FM). Both DNA oscillators’ (positive, negative) VCA sections are accessible through the mix outputs, with the level controls operating in a similar fashion to those found on our Cyclical Engine VCO module. At 12 o’clock, each waveform is modulated at full-scale by the applicable positive or negative state of the Scissor VCO’s square-wave. At 5 o’clock, each waveform flows through its VCA at full scale. Meanwhile, each waveform is available pre-VCA at the Raw Outputs.

As part of the Scissor section, three modulation busses can be switched on and off. In this section, you can find a unique PW Skew function that ties the PWM bus of the Scissor VCO to the frequency busses of the DNA VCOs. More in detail:

This means that, if the positive region of the Scissor VCO’s square-wave is elongated as the pulsewidth is increased, the frequency of the Positive DNA VCO is decreased, so that the positive portion of the Glue waveform becomes “stretched out”. The opposite happens to the negative portion of the Glue waveform in this instance, so becomes condensed.

According to the developer, this effect can be used or creating formant-type timbres at the Glue output, so quite unique timbres. CV Lock ties the exponential frequency bus of the Scissor oscillator to the two DNA VCOs which is a handy function for creating more classic subtractive synth sounds with a triple oscillator stack. Sync Lock resets the Positive DNA to the positive portion of the Scissor VCO’s square-wave, and resets the Negative DNA to the Scissor’s negative portion. There is also a switch in the Scissor section to shift the entirety of the OSC2 between low and audible frequency ranges.

At first glance, Future Sound Systems’ new analog 32HP module is a very complex and versatile oscillator with a lot of functions. Not the simplest oscillator to be honest, but one that even offers new ideas with the best-known CEM 3340. Divkid’s new introduction video shows many interesting patch ideas and how deep it goes.