Hampshire Electronics (The) Vulcan is a new 8-voice analog polyphonic Synthesizer housed in a Eurorack module for under 500€.
Almost exactly three years ago, I reported on the British developer Hampshire Electronics and The Vulcan. This is an 8-voice analog polysynth for Eurorack with patch storage.
The project has been further developed over the past few years, and Hampshire Electronics has now released the final version, which is still called Vulcan but without the “The”.
Hampshire Electronics Vulcan
Vulcan is an 8-voice analog polysynth for Eurorack with MIDI and patch memory. The features are the same as in the 2022 version. However, the design has been updated and is now more streamlined and visually appealing.
A complete patch matrix has been added, with eight independent CV/gate inputs and dedicated patch points for FM, VCF, and VCA for each voice, enabling deep modulation and complex sounds.
Since I already included all the details in the original 2022 article in long form, here is a summary:
- 56HP synth voice
- flexible routing: 8 voice polysynth (1 OSC + 1 sub + filter) or 4-voice with 2x OSCs + 2x subs + 2 x filters per voice
- 1 oscillator per voice with controls for: level, pulse width, waveform select (triangle, saw, square, tri/saw blend), detuning, and FM
- 1 sub-oscillator per voice
- Filter per voice with its own filter and resonance, or twinned by setting OSC2 level to zero to share a single filter path.
- 3 LFOs with 12 destinations (very probably digital)
- dedicated VCF and VCA envelopes (very probably digital)
- FM, VCA, and VCF modulation per voice
- storage for 99 presets
- TRS-A/TRS-B MIDI and CV/Gate per voice
A really great idea, and it’s impressive how the developer managed to pack everything into a relatively compact interface.
The initial sound demos sound very good. The price is also quite reasonable, especially considering it’s hand-built in the UK.
Hampshire Electronics Vulcan is available now for 453,95€ including tax.
Article from December 14, 2022
Polyphony and Eurorack are not easy tasks. In most cases, you work with monophonic patches because it is easier and faster to implement. If you want to go the polyphonic route, you need a large number of modules, many cables… and of course a correspondingly high budget.
On the other side, the workflow in polyphony is significantly more complicated and cumbersome. If you want to adjust a poly patch, you have to change the parameters of each module individually. But there are new modules from some manufacturers that try to make polyphony in modular easier.
Like the polyphonic modules from Doepfer, the Knobula Poly Cinematic/ Chord Pilot, or the EMI M800-R2. The British boutique manufacturer Hampshire Electronics is now bringing analog polyphony to the Eurorack in the form of a “compact module.”
Original Info
The Vulcan is an upcoming polyphonic analog Synthesizer for Eurorack, switchable between dual-oscillator mode with 4 voices and single-oscillator mode with 8 voices.
It’s very exciting how the developer stuffed an 8-voice poly synth into a pretty “compact” module. It offers everything you expect from a polysynth.
It features two multi-wave oscillators, each with dedicated level and pulse-width controls. Each oscillator also includes independent sub-basses and filters. On the modulation side, the Vulcan has two ADSR envelopes (VCA and filter) and three multi-wave LFOs assignable to 10 destinations. This can be done using a small matrix-style interface.
There is also a MIDI input via a mini-jack and a tuning option. The output signal is mono. A bit of a shame, stereo would certainly have been more exciting but it definitely needs a different circuit design.
Also neat on this module is that you can store your patches in one of 99 preset slots. So you can call up your voice settings again and again. Presets in the modular, uuh hopefully we don’t invoke the evil spirits.
The module has no CV/Gate inputs or options to modulate parameters with CV. I hope there will be an expander that makes this possible; otherwise, the whole thing makes little sense to me. Without CV options, it would lose the “modular” charm and workflow.
Hampshire Electronics (The) Vulcan First Impression
Polyphony in modular is not an easy game. With such a module, you could save yourself a lot of patch cables and simply create polyphonic sounds.
I love the idea of having a big poly voice module in a compact module, but only without losing the CV connectivity. Hopefully, they will be an expander or so.
Hampshire Electronics The Vulca will be available soon. Price TBA, but the developer tries to achieve a reasonable price for the module.
More information will follow here: Hampshire Electronics
Thank you.
I’m a big fan of Hampshire Electronics and have several modules in my rack. I hope they put some cv patch points in before delivering it.
But I will certainly consider getting one.
Please add a block diagram of the signal part. It would help me understand.
It’s an analog synth voice. You know one, you know them all; From osc all the way to vca, with envelopes and lfos on the sidelines.
you comment on an comment that is 3 years old 😉