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Xaoc Devices JENA Operator's Manual page 3

The leibniz binary subsystem

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It is a good idea to have all your Leibniz mod-
ules connected before mounting them in the
case. Again, pay attention to the markings
on the boards and always connect the rib-
bon cable so that the red stripe matches the
dot mark on the board. For technical reasons,
these dot marks may not always face down.
be careful, as wrong connections may
damage the delicate digital circuits!
All units should be fastened by mounting the
supplied screws before powering up.
mOdule OVerVieW
The main purpose of Jena is to map incom-
ing digital data to some other digital data
through a transfer function selected from
its waveform shape bank. For example, Jena
may be connected in a loopback to a Drezno
module so as to transform input analog wave-
forms to some other output analog wave-
forms via the ADC and DAC sections in Drezno.
Jena allows one to waveshape signals through
the classic table look-up technique: input 8-bit
values are treated as arguments of a function
stored in memory and values read from suc-
cessive locations in memory are passed to the
output (fig. 1). You can also feed a simple saw-
tooth or a triangle wave from your VCO and
it will be transformed into variety of wave-
shapes (from 11 wavetable banks) with the
additional option of through-zero (DX-style)
phase modulation. The shape of the wave may
be also morphed with the panel knob and/or
external CV.
Individual bit outputs on Jena may also be
used to produce interesting signals. There
is a dedicated bank of Walsh functions that
can be used for an unusual twist on additive
synthesis. Also, transforming slow waveforms
to sequences of binary signals using the in-
dividual bit outputs is a great way to create
rhythmic drum patterns. Jena comes with a
special bank of 256 modern drum loops split
to individual voice triggers.
The front panel of Jena (fig. 2) features all the
controls as well as a 1+3 digit LED display.
During normal operation, the display shows
the currently selected bank of shapes or func-
tions
1
as well as the current shape number
within the bank
displayed during operating mode selection.
The endless rotary encoder below the display
3
allows for manual selection of the current
bank or shape. A short press on the encoder
switches between the bank and shape layer. A
small dot on the display indicates which layer
is currently selected for editing. Both the bank
number and shape/function number may be
additionally controlled via the corresponding
bank
4
and shape
-5V to +10V. The voltage values add to the
panel selection. The second knob, phase
sets the initial phase of the waveform which
can also be modulated by external CV via the
phase jack
7
. The range of modulation is -5V
to 5V which corresponds to the phase change
of four full cycles. The blue link button
trols whether the processed input data in Jena
is passed to its Leibniz output (the ribbon cable
connected at the back). When unlinked, the
incoming data is passed through unaffected.
Regardless of the status of the link button, the
processed data is always available from eight
bit outputs jacks
binary gate (5V) signals corresponding to in-
dividual bits (as with the other Leibniz mod-
ules). The cluster of yellow LEDs
the bit outputs' activity. The central red LED
11
indicates whether Jena is operating in the
asynchronous (waveshaper) or synchronous
(oscillator) regime.
3
2
. Additional information is
5
CV inputs that accept
9
in the form of eight
10
indicates
6
,
8
con-

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