Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

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Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by HideawayStudio » Mon May 01, 2017 2:42 pm

Not exactly a synth but I recently blew the dust off the prototype of a somewhat complex and exotic (to say the least!) analog phaser I originally designed for Jean-Michel Jarre a few years ago and decided to share a quick test recording...

The Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser is one of only a very small handful ever built.

Image
Image

On a huge custom pcb in a custom laser cut aluminium rackmount chassis it comprises of three 4-stage phaser blocks similar to the Small Stone with tube pre-amp and post amps and three ECC83 tube buffers between each phaser running on a regulated HT supply. The phaser blocks are combined in an unusual series/parallel arrangement each with their own variable regen paths. Each phaser block is modulated by one phase of a triple phase LFO generator thus allowing the phase spread to be set between each phaser block anything from all three on top of one another for a huge plunging effect to being 120 degrees out for a swirly effect. There are variable controls for the LFO offset, depth, rate and spread as well as a variable regeneration level (heard being turned up in the first minute of the demo).

https://soundcloud.com/hideaway-studio/ ... -in-action

The stuttering effect heard later in the demo is where the spread control is being set to a new position thus allowing the phasers to realign and commence on new phase spread angles.

Very frustratingly they were so expensive to build I doubt I will be making any more :|

PS : Just for the heck of it the source synth was a little Evolution EVS-1!
PPS: The recording was made via a delay to add a little stereo spread.

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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by Bitexion » Mon May 01, 2017 3:01 pm

I guess that makes it pretty ultra rare, then :) Does JMJ use it or did you never finish it for him?

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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by HideawayStudio » Mon May 01, 2017 3:07 pm

Bitexion wrote:I guess that makes it pretty ultra rare, then :) Does JMJ use it or did you never finish it for him?
Yes.. you can make them out in the rack to the left of his SSL desk above his two Digidesign boxes.
Last edited by HideawayStudio on Sun May 07, 2017 12:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by Ashe37 » Mon May 01, 2017 5:35 pm

wow the sheen of it is amazing...

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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by Bitexion » Mon May 01, 2017 6:09 pm

I'd say Jarre knows how to keep his gear in tip top shape. Is there even a speck of dust in that studio? :D

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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by HideawayStudio » Mon May 01, 2017 7:10 pm

Bitexion wrote:I'd say Jarre knows how to keep his gear in tip top shape. Is there even a speck of dust in that studio? :D
Oh heck yes.. I've been there and there is lots of dust.. and interestingly, quite a lot of surface rust and water damage too.. it seems the infamous Docklands literally left its mark on a lot of JM's gear!

But I think JM is quite fond of the marks time has left on his beloved instruments - and who can blame him - they've literally been all the way round the world with him!!

His very long time tech, Patrick Pelamorgues, looks after it all.. nice chap.

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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by Bitexion » Mon May 01, 2017 10:10 pm

I'm surprised any of the Docklands gear survived after those two shows. It was literally pouring rain for both days.
Amazing concert footage and CD though.
Last edited by Bitexion on Tue May 02, 2017 2:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by ppg_wavecomputer » Mon May 01, 2017 11:14 pm

Bitexion wrote:I'm surprised any of the Docklands gear survived worked after those two shows. It was literally pouring rain for both days.
Amazing concert footage and CD though.
Once upon a time, Michel Geiss told me his ARP 2500 was soaked with rain...

The phaser sounds fairly impressive and quite unlike the usual suspects (i. e. Mutron Biphase or Roland PH-830).

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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by Bitexion » Tue May 02, 2017 7:44 pm

I remember from the VHS footage of Docklands they had tried to cover all the instruments with big umbrellas and plastic sheet "tents" but the keys were still dripping. Assume they were air dried for a couple weeks afterward.

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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by Mooger5 » Thu May 04, 2017 1:31 pm

I listened to the demo the other day for about an hour and cycling through the other two demos as well. I must say that phaser sounds perfect. Couldn´t find any flaws. Is it possible to overdrive the valves?

The Chroma was a real attention grabber too. Harmonically rich, and powerful at the same time!
A serious contender for best sounding analog synth ever (at least that particular restored unit).
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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by HideawayStudio » Sat May 06, 2017 8:23 pm

Mooger5 wrote:I listened to the demo the other day for about an hour and cycling through the other two demos as well. I must say that phaser sounds perfect. Couldn´t find any flaws. Is it possible to overdrive the valves?
There is gentle tube non-linearity to have but not wild overdrive. The tube B+ to all 6 triodes is around 200V (ie its not a low voltage "starved plate" design) and actually require a fair amount of signal to push them into distortion.

With the phaser enabled, if you push white noise into it and crank up the input gain control you get a very similar curious bubbling water effect as you get on the Small Stone which is quite cool. Most of these artefacts are from the OTA stages but the unit also runs with a tube in line even in bypass mode so it is possible to impart some more obvious tube overdrive if required. The inputs and outputs are balanced.

Its not exactly quiet though - with so much regeneration rattling around three phaser blocks tapped in series/parallel its not really surprising. The tube stages are pretty quiet in comparison with regulated HT and heater rails.

Incidentally - there was a matching Dual Tube Hybrid Filter I designed with 9 CV control channels:

https://soundcloud.com/hideaway-studio/ ... -in-action
The Chroma was a real attention grabber too. Harmonically rich, and powerful at the same time!
A serious contender for best sounding analog synth ever (at least that particular restored unit).
I adore the Chroma and I've worked on several now. I like it even over Prophet 5 and Memorymoog - easily one of my favourite vintage polysynths. Add CC+ and a Chromatrol patch editor to it and its a beast. With its unique bite and unusually flexible architecture it is capable of generating a wide range of complex evolving textures and one I consider to be extremely underrated - a complex and remarkably flexible 16 oscillator beast with a character all of its own!

I've been adjusting the poly pressure sensor which is very nice feature on the Chroma...

https://soundcloud.com/hideaway-studio/ ... ch-filters

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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by Bitexion » Sun May 07, 2017 12:13 pm

Haha just out of curiosity I looked for rhodes chroma on ebay.

First item, 9,900 USD.
Second item 7,780 USD.
Fridge Magnet 10 USD

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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by HideawayStudio » Sun May 07, 2017 5:13 pm

Bitexion wrote:Haha just out of curiosity I looked for rhodes chroma on ebay.

First item, 9,900 USD.
Second item 7,780 USD.
Fridge Magnet 10 USD
The Fridge Magnets sound amazing! 8-)

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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by pelican » Sun May 07, 2017 9:15 pm

damn, nice phaser...sounds amazing

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Re: Uber Rare Triple Tube Hybrid Phaser In Action (JMJ)

Post by Mooger5 » Mon May 08, 2017 10:41 pm

HideawayStudio wrote: There is gentle tube non-linearity to have but not wild overdrive. The tube B+ to all 6 triodes is around 200V (ie its not a low voltage "starved plate" design) and actually require a fair amount of signal to push them into distortion.

With the phaser enabled, if you push white noise into it and crank up the input gain control you get a very similar curious bubbling water effect as you get on the Small Stone which is quite cool. Most of these artefacts are from the OTA stages but the unit also runs with a tube in line even in bypass mode so it is possible to impart some more obvious tube overdrive if required. The inputs and outputs are balanced.
What was the goal of a high B+ for unity gain stages? More headroom, better linearity? I´ve seen on preamps as low as 12V. A single secondary powering up the plates and the heaters :D

Image
The curves seem linear under 100V. Linear curves, what :shock:
Its not exactly quiet though - with so much regeneration rattling around three phaser blocks tapped in series/parallel its not really surprising. The tube stages are pretty quiet in comparison with regulated HT and heater rails.
Are the heaters supplies AC, or DC unregulated? I don´t notice any noise or hum. Sounds pretty clean to me!

The EQ sounds nice as well.

And the Chroma has poly aftertouch on top of it all! What a fine synth, all these years under the radar. Thanks for sharing.
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