FXpansion DCAM Synth Squad Operation Manual - Manual (Page 36)

6
Amber: the next step in divide-down synthesis
Amber’s design builds on the string synthesizer legacy, while retaining crucial elements that made them so special.
Both single and multiple paraphonic envelope behaviour is possible, along with velocity-sensitivity. A formant filter and
three different chorus models are provided for a wide range of sounds.
Because Amber shares the same overall voice, unison and modulation architecture as the other synths in DCAM: Synth
Squad, it has the ability to stack and modulate entire paraphonic voices.
Synth and Ensemble sections
Amber features two sophisticated paraphonic sections within a single synth voice. Each of these sections contains a
paraphonic note-generating stage, followed by polyphonic processing blocks, which are monophonic for each voice. Both
sections are capable of playing all notes on the keyboard simultaneously within a single synth voice – up until a certain
point in the signal flow.
Synth section The paraphonic stage (which features a noise generator) is summed to a single signal
before the polyphonic resonant multimode filter.
Ensemble section The Ensemble section is summed to a single signal before the polyphonic formant filter
and chorus.
Both sections are very similar (the Synth section’s noise generator is the main difference), with their respective
monophonic processing stages defining their character. Optionally, the Synth section can be routed through the Ensemble
section’s formant filter and/or chorus.
Contents of a single Amber voice
A single voice of Amber processes the following audio generation and processing blocks within both paraphonic sections:
• 12 oscillators for each note in the top octave, sub-divided into 8 lower octaves
• 192 envelopes and VCAs, velocity-sensitive
• 384 1-pole tone filters (2 per note for both the Ensemble and Synth sections)
Additionally, it includes all the polyphonic audio blocks – multimode resonant filter, formant filter, chorus and final mixer/
amp.
Therefore, it is very CPU-intensive when running a single voice. Please do not expect to be able to run the same number
of Amber voices on your system as those for Cypher and Strobe!