DOEPFER Dark Energy II Owner's Manual
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DOEPFER Dark Energy II Owner's Manual

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Dark Energy II
Owners Manual
DOEPFER MUSIKELEKTRONIK GmbH

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Summary of Contents for DOEPFER Dark Energy II

  • Page 1 Dark Energy II Owners Manual DOEPFER MUSIKELEKTRONIK GmbH...
  • Page 2 Never use the instrument in the immediate proximity of electronic devices (e.g. monitors, power supplies, computers) as these interferences could cause malfunctions within Dark Energy II and corrupt memory data.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Dark Energy II Owners Manual Content: 1. Introduction 3.4. Linking / Stacking of several 1.1. Preface…………………………..4 Dark Energy II…………………… 25 1.2. Preparations……………………... 5 3.5. Modifications…………………….. 25 1.3. Check it out………………………. 6 3.6. Firmware Update ……………..25 2. Overview……………………………………. 8 4. Nuts and Bolts of Soundgeneration………………………….

  • Page 4: Introduction

    Dark Energy II. Doepfer says „thank you!“ First of all we would like to thank you for purchasing Dark Energy II! We really appreciate your choice and promise you an extraordinary support throughout, including useful information, easy service, and innovative product development.

  • Page 5: Preparations

    Connections: To run Dark Energy II, you do not necessarily need all its built-in sockets. For a basic setup, you will need just the ones pictured below. Make use of the additional connection terminals and you will expand Dark Energy II‘s sonic potential a great deal.

  • Page 6: Check It Out

    Energy II. Important: Use this power adaptor only or an equivalent one with exactly the same specs! A power supply via USB is not possible since the internal analog circuits of Dark Energy II run at +/-12V. If two or more units are running in parallel, each unit needs its own power supply with wall wart. Should need and demand be, we might take offering a bigger wall wart with several power outlets into consideration.
  • Page 7 Introduction Dark EnerGy II DOEPFER As soon as the power adaptor has been plugged in, Dark Energy II will power up. The LEDs in both LFO sections will now light up and alternate between red and green. The LED on the back panel will flash inter- mittently for about two seconds and then stay lit permanently. First contact: Turn the volume control of your amp / mixer fully off BEFORE powering Dark Energy II up. Turn up the volu- me control of your mixer / amp slowly and play a key on your keyboard.

  • Page 8: Overview

    Dark EnerGy II 2. Overview The layout of Dark Energy II is that of a classic monophonic modular synthesizer. Its signal path is hard- wired internally, thus Dark Energy II is very compact and easy to use. The most important modulation routings can be set via toggle switches, additional sockets take or deliver control voltages and allow the connection with external modulation sources.
  • Page 9 Overview Dark EnerGy II DOEPFER DOEPFER DARK ENERGY II ANALOG SYNTHESIZER Outputs 12V AC (Audio Out) 800mA Gate Learn Midi In Powersupply (12VAC, 800mA) CV outputs (for MIDI via USB) CV1: controlled by MIDI note messages, 1V/octave, 0...+5V (internally routed to the VCO frequency input) MIDI input CV2: controlled by MIDI pitchbend data (centered approx.

  • Page 10: Functions

    Dark EnerGy II Functions DOEPFER 3. Functions In this section, we will explore all of Dark Energy II‘s modules and functions in detail. We will also have a closer look at the way the modules interact, and finally at MIDI. 3.1. Signal path Envelope Gate Signal Generator (ADSR) Envelope Control Voltage...
  • Page 11 Dark EnerGy II Functions DOEPFER...

  • Page 12: The Modules

    3.2. The Modules 3.2.1. VCO The VCO, or alternatively the external audio input, is the source of Dark Energy II‘s sonic „crude material“. The VCO produces the basic waveforms triangular, sawtooth, and square wave with variable pulsewidth. The module has modulation inputs for frequency (pitch) and pulsewidth. The frequency range covers approx.
  • Page 13 You do not have to scale or tune anything. In case you want to use Dark Enery without MIDI but connected to a CV/Gate sequencer or a Doepfer A-100 modular synthesizer, you can make use of Dark Energy II‘s CV inputs. The VCO F socket features an external CV input for VCO frequency (tuning). As soon as you plug a cable in, the VCO´s pitch is gover-...

  • Page 14: Vcf

    Dark EnerGy II Functions DOEPFER 3.2.2. VCF Filters are a very important tool on every analog synthesizer. Filters modify sounds by rejecting some frequencies while allowing others to pass in order to tweak the harmonic spectrum of a sound. There are different types of filters. Each one rejects different frequency ranges and therefor has a different effect on...
  • Page 15 LFO2, envelope (ADSR) and no source (off). Controlling the cutoff frequency by the ADSR is one of the most common applications as it imitates the typical timbral characteristics of most acoustic instruments from bright- to dull-sounding. Of course, Dark Energy II‘s envelope generator allows many more ways of shaping timbre.

  • Page 16: Vca

    VCA via a gate signal and ADSR control voltage. Of course you can use the external input and the VCO in parallel. This way you may add a second VCO (e.g. Doepfer A-110, controlled from the CV1 socket) or a noise generator (e.g.

  • Page 17: Adsr

    3.2.4. ADSR Dark Energy II‘s envelope generator (or „ADSR“) produces a sequence of four control voltages every time a key on a connected keyboard is depressed, or when Dark Energy II generates or receives a MIDI note-on command or a gate signal. The envelope´s control voltages are used to give the sound a dynamic shape. The envelope produces four parameters:...

  • Page 18: Lfo1 And Lfo2

    Internal jumpers deliver the non-inverted signal of LFO1 or the ADSR control voltage at this socket. You can configure this jumper to your needs, but please keep in mind that opening Dark Energy II‘s casing needs some basic skills in handiwork. If you feel unable to do this, please get in touch with Doepfer anytime (du- ring office hours, preferably).

  • Page 19: Usb/Midi Interface

    DOEPFER 3.3. USB/MIDI Interface 3.3.1. Connection / MIDI channel Quite likely, you want to play your Dark Energy II via MIDI - there are two easy ways to do so: • MIDI via USB or • the „traditional“ MIDI-connection via DIN socket. • USB: To hook up Dark Energy II in your MIDI-setup via USB, simply connect the included USB cable with Dark Energy II and with an unused USB port on your Mac or Windows PC.

  • Page 20: Midi To Cv Interface

    You have encountered the reference tone before when you selected the MIDI channel - it was the MIDI note that set Dark Energy II‘s pitch CV1 to 0 Volts and thus became the lowest key of Dark Energy II‘s key range.

  • Page 21: Learn-Mode / Midi-Functions

    In case of an incoming note event in learn mode, the note number and the channel of the event will be ta- ken as the new reference tone and MIDI channel of Dark Energy II. The reference key will be the MIDI note number that is assigned to 0V CV1 output.
  • Page 22 Dark Energy II unit to a different value. • „Stack note“ means that Dark Energy II will sort out the note event that is used by Dark Energy II to generate CV1. The note event in question will not be transmitted to the (internal) MIDI Thru output of the interface.
  • Page 23 #19 to #21 (resp. #18 to #20). In this case, the arpeggiator starts playing in the corresponding playback mode (please see below and chart on page 21). When Dark Energy II receives prgm-change command #14 resp. #15 (key assign mode ”highest”), the arpeggiator stopps. You see – there is no dedicaded ”start/stop” function. • Tempo of the arpeggio can be determined by Dark Energy II itself or synced to an external MIDI device. • Direction is defined by the order in which the keys have been played on the keyboard. • Playback Mode: – Note: Enables the arpeggiator. Set to „on“, a key has to be depressed to become part of the arpeggio.

  • Page 24: Reset

    (e.g. MIDI channel, reference note, cont- roller # for CV4, key assign mode) or if they are out of alignment. If your Dark Energy II seems to behave in strange ways and you do not know how to solve the problem, resetting the device may help as the values of all parameters will be restored after the reset.

  • Page 25: Dark Energy Ii

    Stack Mode (p. 19, 20) drives several Dark Energies like one single polyphonic instrument. Every unit plays one voice. Since the casing of Dark Energy II is too tightly-packed, it has no MIDI-THRU socket but an in- ternal link connector. Holes in the sides of the box give access to these connectors as soon as the wooden cheeks have been removed.

  • Page 26: Nuts And Bolts Of

    These are most useful in sound synthesis as they each offer a rich but different har- monic spectrum, and therefore they sound very different from each other. That is why Dark Energy II makes use of them. Less useful waveforms (sine, spaced sawtooth, graphically editable waveforms) will not be discussed here, let alone, used.
  • Page 27 Dark EnerGy II DOEPFER Nuts and Bolts of Sound Generation 100% The symmetrical pulse wave (or “square wave”, pulsewidth = 50 %) contains odd harmonics only (see Fig.). An asymmetrical pulsewave (often simply called “pulse wave”) contains all harmon- ics with their amplitudes depending on the pulsewidth. The more the pulsewidth deviates from the symmetrical 50 %, the stronger the higher harmonics will influence the sound, i.e.
  • Page 28 1,000 Hz would be suppressed completely). In reality, this transition is not aprupt but continuous, depend- ing on the filter’s slope. For musical purposes, a high-quality filter would have a slope of 24 dB/octave or 12 dB/octave. The latter are very useful for special applications (usually for Charakteristics of a lowpass filter high pass, band pass, and notch). Dark Energy II uses a 12 dB/octave multimode filter which offers lot’s of sonic capabilities. A further filter parameter is resonance (or emphasis). If the filter has an adjustable resonance, fre- quencies around the cutoff point can be emphasized. The filter will become more of a band pass with an underlying low pass. For musical applications it is very important that the filter resonance is adjust- able.
  • Page 29 Dark EnerGy II DOEPFER Nuts and Bolts of Sound Generation instead of the VCO for special applications. You guessed it - Dark Energy II’s filter is also capable of self-oscil- lating and thus creating a whole lot of typical synthesizer sounds. Resonance There are several ways to control the filter’s cutoff frequency.
  • Page 30 An LFO is a Low Frequency Oscillator which generates continuous control voltages over a wide range. It can produce several waveforms. Both LFOs of Dark Energy II produce triangular and square waveforms. The latter can be used for “trills” in modulation, while the former creates a continuous “up and down” modu- lation. The LFOs can be used as modulation sources for all of Dark Energy II’s crucial parameters. Interaction The following figure shows the interaction of all the components mentioned above. It shows the audio signal path (shaded) with oscillator (“crude sound”, “pitch”), filter (“timbre”) and amplifier (“loudness”). In addition...

  • Page 31: Addendum

    D-82166 Gräfelfing / Deutschland EG Conformity Für das als Doepfer Musikelektronik GmbH „Dark Energy II“ bezeichnete Produkt wird hiermit bestätigt, dass es den Schutzanforderungen entspricht, die in der Richtlinie 89/336/FWG des Rates zur Angleichung der Rechtsvorschriften der Mitgliedsstatten über die elektromagnetische Verträglichkeit festgelegt sind. Es entspricht außerdem den Vorschriften des Gesetzes über die elektromagnetische Verträglichkeit von Geräten (EMVG) vom 30.
  • Page 32 Dark Energy II doepfer Musikelektronik gmbh...

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