Fenix I & III (and a Roland CR 78)

video:

The Fenix III sequencer has a very useful clock divider (left of photo). The Roland CR 78 needs a 48 pulse per measure clock to sync. The Fenix clock divider needed a bit of tweaking but worked.

Here is the unedited video:

Fenix 1 & 3 - sequence two

Synton Fenix 1 & 3.
All sounds are from the Fenix 1.
The F3 is purely a sequencer (on steroids).

Synton Fenix 1 - VCOs, EGs & VCAs

I though I'd upload some pics & a brief description of the VCOs, envelope
generators & VCAs of the Synton Fenix 1.

First the oscillators:

There are three VCOs. The first is the most complex with no fewer than 7 CV ins.
CV 1 is fixed to 1v/oct. We also have a CV2, PWM , sync source  & sync level input.
There is also a CV in for FM, and a CV to control the phase of the sub-oscillators.
The sub oscillators are both square an octave & 2 octs down..... great for some deep bass.

 There are 5 audio outs. - sine, square, ramp (reverse) and I've mentioned the square subs already.
The bottom dial is a phase shifter. - allows you to un-sync the phase of the sub-oscillators for added vibrato or to thicken up the sounds if mixed with other waveforms.

VCOs 2 & 3 are simplier. They have square and sawtooth waveforms with individual outs & four CV inputs
------------------------------------------

The VCAs are pretty standard:
Each have an audio  & CV input, and one out.

 The envelope generators are very different to your standard fare. EG 1 is described as a APDSR.

What's the P stand for?
P = Peak Hold.... this is a time control where the envelope is held between the attack and decay phases. (In EG2 the Peak Time is only active if the decay-release switch is set to the decay position)
In EG1 & EG2 the top pot sets the length of Peak Time.

From what I can decipher, EG1 can actually be used as TWO separate envelopes:
Top: A(P)DR.
Bottom:  a simple AD

EG 2 is like nothing I have seen before.
Firstly it has three outputs & there is no sustain control.
It has a switch which allows you to select between a APD envelope or APR envelope. We have pots for the attack time and peak hold time, plus a knob and a CV input for the Decay/Release time.

So it looks like the EG2 can be broken up into 3 separate envelopes:
EG2(a) = 1 which is the APR or APD (depends on the switch setting)
EG2(b) = 1 + 2 {a combination of EG2(a) + EG2(c)}
EG2(c) = 2 which is a APD envelope.

Goodness gracious me !!! :-)

EG3 is also very unusual.

Again, there are 3 outputs.
The upper one is your envelope.
The lower two are outs for gates (positive & Neg).

The envelope itself  has only decay & delay settings.
It behaves like a simple AD envelope with a sharp attack (immediate)

The Delay knob is a time delay. It delays the start of the envelope.
The delay will also delay the gate outputs relative to the gate inputs.

Fenix 1 & 3 - Sequence 1

The first pairing up of these two beasts.

Here is the full unedited version of the video

Fenix 1 filter section

I'd thought I'd upload a pic of the filters in the Fenix 1.  As discussed earlier, there are 3 and they are all different.

VCF1 and VCF2 are the simpliest. They both have a single audio input and two Cv inputs
CV2 in both is a variable input with a corresponding pot.  CV 1 is fixed to 1v/oct - to be used for filter tracking Both have 12dB/octave LP; 12dB/oct HP, and BP and there are three controls plus 3 outputs for each.

VCF 3 is more complicated. there are 3 audio inputs with their own pots (a mixer)
The LP filter has outputs for both 12dB/oct and 24dB/oct 
Again there are  two Cv inputs.CV 1 is fixed to 1v/oct. CV 2 is variable.

Synton Fenix 1 - Filter modulation

A first test of a Synton Fenix I.

This has the serial No 18. She was built on Feb 10, 1998 for CW.
I'm very very lucky to find this (esp in Australia) as these are no longer produced.
These puppies are pretty rare. I understand that that only 75 exist.
I'm hoping she will intergrate well with my Serge, Driscol & NLC synths.

The Fenix uses the standard 1V/Oct for pitch.
Audio levels are 4V peak to peak.
Control volatges are  -4/+4 or 0-8 Volts.

One of the really nice things about its design is the seperation between
the knobs & the patch points. A common problem with my Serge is that mass of interconnecting
cables hiding access to the knobs.
The Fenix has a nice clean organised design
Audio outputs are green, CV outputs are blue, and all inputs are black.
Nice & simple.

In the video I'm using just three modules (excluding the mixer):
VCO 1 - sine,square,ramp (& sub-oscillator 1 (a square wave 1 oct down) and sub-oscillator 2 )
VCF 3 - A low-pass filter. It has both 12db & 24db slopes plus 3 audio inputs.
LFO 1 - +ve triangle & square.

You can download the audio here:
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/zj8654iunihcqwh/Fenix_1_stereo-filter_modulation.wav

Another thing I like about the fenix is that every module is different.
Every VCO, LFO & filter is unique within the system.
There are 3 VCOs, 3 LFOs, 3 filters, four VCAs, 5 mixers, 3 EGs, 2 Ring modulators, etc etc.
Wow.

Everything is sequenced by a Doepfer Dark Time.

Links
http://m.matrixsynth.com/2007/05/mystery-synth-used-by-coil.html
http://www.audiopaap.com/
http://www.dutchsynth.nl/Fenix1.html
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb99/articles/syntonfenix883.htm
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPjt83IaFT-8xk006gCVurA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-8nJkrmeCA