Joranalogue Hainbach Collide 4, an atomic age physics research based synth voice/FX module

Joranalogue Hainbach Collide 4 is a new collaboration module that squeezes his test equipment passion in one unprecedented analog synth voice/FX.

For musicians, an instrument is a creative tool. This includes synthesizers, drum machines, guitars, etc. For producers, this also includes virtual instruments for computers and mobile devices. Some even break with this and turn technical instruments into musical ones.

One of them is Stefan Paul Goetsch, aka Hainbach, who has been enriching the electronic music scene for many years with his fascinating rough sounds from measuring instruments and test equipment. With his AudioThing plugins, you can taste this charm in the DAW for a little money.

Now, many people say, “Software is not hardware.” That’s true. The big things that discourage making music with vintage test equipment are the high entry price, the difficult secondhand market, and the workflow (size and weight). There is now a new, lighter, and convenient way to explore it.

With the Belgian developer Joranalogue, Hainbach has now created a module that brings test equipment technology into the modular world. At Machina Bristonica 2024, they unveiled the Collide 4 quadrature spectral computer module.

Joranalogue Hainbach Collide 4

Collide 4 is not an ordinary module and cannot be compared to any other. It is a truly unique module with an unprecedented concept in modular synthesis.

The Collide 4 module (20HP) builds upon the lock-in amplifier concept and does not try to replicate any vintage circuitry. It’s designed to be a faithful member of the lock-in family.

Joranalogue promises that it has all the features and parameters one would expect from a true lab instrument, carefully tailored for musical use, guided by Hainbach’s extensive experience performing and recording test equipment music.

An Atomic Age Physics Research Instrument Synth

The 20HP module is fully analog and contains a pingable variable bandwidth filter with self-oscillation capabilities. It also has pre- and post-filter gain stages for shaping the signals and a through-zero sine/cosine quadrature oscillator.

Then, the newly developed circuit includes a Hilbert transformer for frequency shifter use and dual ring modulators routed to an output section with built-in lowpass filters.

Joranalogue and Hainbach ensured during development that Collide 4 has plenty of connectivity options on the audio and CV sides to make it as versatile as possible For example, the functions have CV inputs that allow you to animate them.

There are two striking things about Collide 4. First, it is not the umpteenth replica of vintage Synthesizer schematics in Eurorack, and second, it’s more than just a mysterious synth voice.

Collide 4 is also a unique amplifier for audio signals. It offers an amplification control from -20dB to 30 dB, making even quiet signals audible. Patch a kalimba or a microphone like in the Hainbach video in the module input, and your signals will shine in new, rough, mysterious, filthy sound coats. Yes, a kalimba from the nuclear era.

First Impression

At first glance, Collide 4 is a super exciting new module with a mysterious vintage concept for the Eurorack world. The sounds that Joranalogue Hainbach Collide 4 can make are just as strikingly different: very concise and assertive, beautiful filthy to mysterious, distorted, and juicy.

Anyone who wants to get into the world of test equipment music-making without filling their studio with vintage equipment will find this release hard to ignore. The same goes for industrial sound lovers. I see only two dangers: How quickly will you get a second unit or get into the real vintage deal sooner or later?

Joranalogue Collide 4 is available soon for $650/650€.

More information here: Joranalogue

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