Second sound UniSyn Manuale utente

UniSyn

Universal Audio to Synth Interface

User’s Manual

www.secondsound.com

UniSyn Universal Audio to Synth Interface User’s Manual

Congratulaons for purchasing a Second Sound UniSyn Audio to

Synth Interface! Here is a summary of what your UniSyn can do:

• Convert audio from any monophonic source into sine and

low-pass-ltered square or sawtooth waves, oponally pitch-

shied over a ±2 octave range and with semitone resoluon

• Apply envelope modulaon of the built-in Voltage-Controlled

Filter (VCF) with three modulaon depth sengs: no

modulaon, full modulaon, and half depth modulaon

• Convert audio to pitch, envelope, and gate control voltages

(CVs) for controlling analog synths

• Convert audio to MIDI for controlling digital synths

• “Hold” the pitch and envelope of both the internal synth

voices, CV and MIDI using an oponal sustain pedal (not

included)

• Provide a 1v/oct FM CV input for modulang the pitch of the

internal synth voices as well as the CV and MIDI outs

• Provide capability to blend the internal synth mix of sine and

square/sawtooth waves with the dry preamp output

• Provide +24v phantom power according to the IEC 61938

Standard for powering condenser mics

• Provide automac gain control (AGC) over a 50dB range,

yielding opmal preamp gain independent of source signal

level

• Provide an audio preamp output at either +4dBu or -20dBu

• Oponally congure the AGC/preamp as an upward

compressor with 3:1 compression rao and threshold of

-12dBFS, with aack me approaching zero and release me

approaching 2 audio cycles

• Track the fundamental frequency of audio sources as diverse

as voice, guitar, bass guitar, violin, trumpet, saxophone with

minimal conguraon required

UniSyn Universal Audio to Synth Interface User’s Manual

Rear Panel of UniSyn

9V DC

INPUT

PRE OUT

SU STA IN

UniSyn

SYNTH OUT

MADE

IN USA

+ −

A. ¼” SYNTH OUT: Outputs mix of preamp output and internal

synth voices as set by the OUT MIX knob.

B. ¼” SUSTAIN input: Connect normally-open sustain pedal here

(not included) to “hold” the synth voice as well as CV and MIDI

outputs.

C. 9v DC input: Use included 2mm diameter center-negave PSU

or equivalent. PSU must be able to provide minimum 100mA.

D. ¼” PRE OUT: +4dBu or -20dBu preamp output aer automac

gain control (AGC).

E. Combo XLR or balanced/unbalanced ¼” INPUT: Monophonic*

audio input, level can range from mic to line level.

*Note: The UniSyn is designed for monophonic audio inputs,

meaning it is best suited for handling musical input played one

note at a me. It is possible to achieve pleasing eects with some

polyphonic inputs but the UniSyn will always try to interpret the

input as a single note.

On a related note, the UniSyn can only produce a single pitch CV

and a single envelope CV at a me and can only produce one MIDI

note at a me, whose pitch may be modulated due to pitch bends.

UniSyn Universal Audio to Synth Interface User’s Manual

Front Panel of UniSyn

8 9 10

312

-2 OCT +8 OCT

GATE

THRESH

HPF

160Hz

80Hz

OFF

PRE LVL

OVR

-24dBu

OUT AT T

SAW/SQR SINE

HARMONY

-2 OCT +2 OCT

PITCH

CV OUT

ENV GATE

SQR

SAW

NONE

WIDE

MID

Universal

Audio To Synth

Interface

MIDI BEND

WAVE

TRACKING

RICH

FAST

MID

VCF FREQ

FM IN

1V/OCT

COMP

3:1

OFF

WAVE MIX

-INF 0

LEVEL

PHANTOM

POWER

SOURCE

OUT MIX

SYNTH

-1 +1

UniSyn

MIDI OUT

SD CARD

+4dBu

-20dBuOFF

OFF 75%

-10dBu

+8dBu

14 15

17 18 19

Input Condioning Secon

1. +24v Phantom Power Switch: Adjacent LED lights up when

phantom power is turned on. Be sure to turn o phantom

power when using a ¼” cable as it may degrade performance.

2. Preamp Level Selecon Switch: +4dBu or -20dBu

3. High-Pass Filter Selecon Switch: OFF, 80Hz, or 160Hz. The

high-pass lter follows the preamp and is audible in the

preamp out as well as source/synth mix.

UniSyn Universal Audio to Synth Interface User’s Manual

4. 4 LED Level Meter: All three LEDs should be lit at peaks and

top red OVR LED should rarely illuminate, if at all.

5. 3:1 Compression Selecon Switch: Compressor behavior

described in more detail later.

6. Tracking Speed Switch: Use “FAST” for most inputs. Some

very harmonically-rich inputs like bowed violin may exhibit

tracking errors. For such inputs try “MID” or “RICH.”

7. Gate Threshold: Turn clockwise if the UniSyn picks up noise

or if notes sound “glitchy” at the beginning. Turn counter-

clockwise if the UniSyn isn’t picking up note aacks fast

enough.

CV/MIDI Secon

8. Pitch CV: 1v/octave pitch CV output. Output range = 0-8v.

9. Envelope CV: Envelope CV output. Output range = 0-6v.

10. Gate CV: Outputs +5v when note played, 0v otherwise.

Adjacent Red LED is illuminated when gate is OFF.

11. FM CV input: CV input for modulang pitch of the internal

synth voices as well as the CV and MIDI outs. Note that pitch

shi is in discrete semitone steps over a ±2 octave range.

12. MIDI bend: Sets both MIDI bend range and depth of envelope

modulaon of internal VCF. NONE disables MIDI pitch bend

and disables envelope modulaon of VCF; MID enables pitch

bends over ±½ semitone and enables half-range envelope

modulaon of VCF; WIDE enables pitch bends over ±2

semitones and enables full-range envelope modulaon of VCF.

13. MIDI out: ⅛” TRS output, can be converted to 5-pin DIN using

Type B TRS-to-MIDI converter cable (included). MIDI outputs

on Channel 1 (0x0) but this can be changed with an easy

rmware update if desired.

UniSyn Universal Audio to Synth Interface User’s Manual

Internal Synth Secon

14. Harmony Knob: Adjusts the pitch oset of the internal synth

voices, pitch CV and MIDI notes in semitone steps over a ±2

octave range. The harmony knob posion is summed with the

FM CV input.

15. Output Aenuaon Knob: Master volume for SYNTH OUT

16. Wave Selecon Switch: Toggles internal oscillator wave shape

between sawtooth and square.

17. VCF Frequency Knob: Adjusts maximum cuto frequency of

VCF applied to sawtooth and square waves.

Also controls MIDI envelope modulaon type:

Fully CCW: No envelope modulaon

10 O’Clock: Envelope controls Aertouch (Channel Pressure)

12 O’Clock: Envelope controls Mod Wheel CC

2 O’Clock: Envelope controls Breath Controller CC

Fully CW: Envelope controls Expression CC

18. Source/Synth Mix Knob: Adjusts mix of preamp output with

internal synth voice.

19. Wave Mix Knob: Adjusts mix of post-VCF saw/square wave

with sine wave.

SD Card Slot

20. SD Card Slot: This “future proofs” the UniSyn by making

potenal future rmware updates a piece of cake. All you

need is a micro SD card and an updated binary (to be provided

by Second Sound). You save the binary le to your micro SD

card, insert the card in the slot, and power cycle the UniSyn

(remove and apply power). The four LEDs will light up one at a

me to show that the new rmware is being downloaded, and

you can now enjoy your updated rmware!

UniSyn Universal Audio to Synth Interface User’s Manual

Block Diagram of UniSyn Audio to Synth Interface

16/80/160Hz

HPF

PRE

OUT

STM32F

303CB uC

0-50dB

SQR/

SAW

SIN

SYNTH

OUT

6kHz

LPF

-2 to +2

octaves

semitone

steps

XLR/TRS

COMBO

24.576MHz

GATE

THRESH

MIDI

OUT

USART TX

SQR/SAW

PITCH CV

ENV CV

GATE CV

CS4334

STEREO

DAC

VCF

FREQ

VCF MOD/

MIDI BEND

MODE

SUSTAIN

PEDAL

3:1

COMP

HARMONY

The block diagram helps to understand the signal ow inside the

UniSyn. First the AGC is applied to the input signal, boosng it by

a gain from 0-50dB to achieve the opmum preamp output level.

The AGC preamp is followed by a switchable high-pass lter (HPF).

The HPF output drives the preamp output and is the “Source”

signal that gets mixed together with the internal synth signal.

The HPF is followed by a xed 6kHz low-pass lter (LPF), whose

output goes into one of the ADC inputs of the STM32F303CB

microcontroller (uC). The uC generates PITCH, ENV, GATE CV and

MIDI outputs and drives a CS4334 stereo DAC to generate the sine

and square/sawtooth waves. Various inputs to the uC control

gate threshold, 3:1 compression, sustain, VCF frequency, harmony,

MIDI bend mode, and square/saw waveform selecon.

UniSyn Universal Audio to Synth Interface User’s Manual

Quick Start Guide

Here are some basic instrucons to make the most out of your

UniSyn:

Basic Setup

1) Apply power via the included 9v power supply unit (PSU). This

unit can handle 100-240VAC at its input so will work worldwide,

possibly with only an adapter for your local electric socket

required.

2) Connect any audio to the INPUT Neutrik combo jack (XLR or ¼”

balanced or unbalanced).

3) Play your audio source at a comfortable volume and observe

that AGC should automacally adjust to nd the opmum preamp

gain. Try both 3:1 compression and no compression sengs.

4) Adjust the gate threshold so that the gate LED turns on when

no audio is being played. With plucked string instruments like

guitar it may take some tuning to get the gate to dierenate

exactly when a note is being played from the low-level transients

that occur when you mute the strings. Try to set the gate high

enough so that the LED remains on when those quiet transient

events occur.

5) For almost all cases the HPF can be le in its default, “open”

seng (HPF OFF). In some cases more high-pass ltering can

help, for example if you use a contact mic with a handheld

instrument and want to lter out potenal low-frequency knocks

or percussive eects.

Listening to UniSyn Internal Synth Outputs

6) Listen to the main ¼” SYNTH output. To hear the dry + wet

sound, adjust the OUT MIX knob to get the desired mix (fully CCW

for dry, fully CW for wet). Adjust the OUT ATT knob to get the

desired level coming out of the SYNTH output.

UniSyn Universal Audio to Synth Interface User’s Manual

7) Select SAW/SQR waves via the 2-way switch to hear the

dierent waveforms and adjust the WAVE MIX knob to achieve

the desired mix of saw/square + sine waves. Adjust the VCF

FREQ knob to hear its eect on the sawtooth and square waves.

Experiment with the MIDI BEND sengs to observe the eect on

the envelope to VCF modulaon depth.

8) Adjust the TRACKING switch to opmize the frequency tracking

for the audio source chosen. For most cases the FAST seng

works well. There are some instruments with slower aack/decay

and strong harmonics (like bowed strings) which can work beer

with the MID or RICH sengs. As a rule of thumb, if you hear the

UniSyn locking to higher harmonics of the fundamental, try the

MID or RICH seng.

9) Adjust the HARMONY knob to hear the various pitch shi

sengs. Here it is especially useful to mix the dry and wet signals

together so it’s easier to hear what harmony interval is tuned.

Note that the harmony knob is connuous, it does not give you

“clicks” when moving from one harmony to another.

Controlling External Synths Via CV/MIDI

10) Patch the PITCH, GATE and ENV signals out to an analog synth

of your choice and enjoy “playing” that synth with the audio

source of your choice! Note that you can adjust the HARMONY

knob to oset the Pitch CV out in discrete semitone steps over the

enre +/-2v range to accommodate the pitch CV oset of virtually

any analog synth.

11) Connect the MIDI output to the digital synth of your choice

via the included TRS-to-MIDI adapter and a standard MIDI DIN5

cable and enjoy “playing” that synth with the audio source of

your choice. Experiment with the three MIDI BEND opons to

understand how they impact the pitch accuracy and note on/o

behavior using MIDI. Note that the HARMONY knob will pitch

shi the MIDI note so adjust HARMONY to unison if you want

MIDI in unison with your audio input.

UniSyn Universal Audio to Synth Interface User’s Manual

3:1 Compression Curve

‐16

‐14

‐12

‐10

‐8

‐6

‐4

‐2

‐24 ‐22 ‐20 ‐18 ‐16 ‐14 ‐12 ‐10 ‐8 ‐6 ‐4 ‐2 0

OutputLevel(dBFS)

InputLevel(dBFS)

The UniSyn 3:1 compression ulizes upward compression,

meaning the gain is increased as the signal level falls below full

scale according to the compression rao. As the signal level

falls, the gain will increase by a maximum of 8dB before it stops

increasing. The gain reaches this maximum increase of 8dB when

the input level reaches -12dBFS, aer which the output level will

fall linearly as the input level keeps falling.

The compression aack me is nearly zero, chosen so to keep

the input from clipping under all cases. The release me isn’t a

constant, but rather depends on the fundamental frequency of

the audio. Release me is close to two cycles of the detected

fundamental frequency. These compression parameters are

chosen to make the compression as transparent and “musical” as

possible.

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