The WaveFolder
This module has now been discontinued.
So what is the WaveFolder? Well, its a waveshaper. And its fully voltage controllable. That's what makes this one different. It consists of five parts:
1. The Soft Clipper. This is a VCA stage with the added bonus of soft clipping the output when the gain gets over a certain level. Yes, you can do soft clipping with a 3080 OTA, but this circuit clips the output, not the input, so as the VCA gain increases so does the distortion. But if you are feeling wimpy, you can use it as a normal VCA if you want. You can use this to turn triangle waves into warm sounding squarewaves.
2. The Clamper. The next part of the chain is a clamper. This prevents the output from going above or below a preset limit. The limit is voltage controllable and is called the Threshold. Triangle waveforms can be given real beef with this function. A switch or external voltage selects whether the signal is to be clipped below or above the threshold voltage. Use another VCO's output to control the polarity of the clamper. Crazy!
3. The Clipper. What the Clamper bites off, the clipper returns. The Clip Out is the bit that gets chopped by the clamper circuit. So if you put a 5V peak triangle waveform into the Clamper, and set the threshold to be 0V. The Clamper output will give you the top half of the waveform, while the clipper will give you the bottom half. Or vice versa depending on the polarity switch or CV.
4. The Folder. The Wavefolder's fourth section is based around a four quadrant multiplier. Here the Clip out and Clamp out are mixed together. However, the clip output may be added or subtracted from the clamped signal. A pot and an external CV sets the mix ratio and polarity. Again, consider the 5V triangle waveform. With the Fold pot set to 0, you get the plain Clamped signal at the main output. Turn the Fold pot clockwise and the clipped signal will return to create the original signal once more. But keep turning it, and the clipped signal is now bigger then the original. Your triangle becomes a harmonic monster! Now turn the pot the other way. The clipped signal gets subtracted from the clamped signal. You can get full wave rectification, thus your triangle becomes another triangle at twice the frequency. Multiplication. Turn it up further and more harmioncs come in.
5. The Amp. The last stage is a simple x10 amplifier. The wavefolder can clip very accurately down to small levels if you want, so you need a good amplifier to bring it up to a decent level again. However, you can deliberately overload this stage to give you even more mayhem. Great for blowing holes in your next module.
And don't forget the Wavefolder will work with any signal, audio and CV. You can mangle EG outputs, LFOs and, of course, your VCO.
This is what one customer recently wrote about the WaveFolder on the MOTM discussion list:
"I have a wavefolder - it's very different from an "ordinary" filter, it's amazing for processing drum loops,or you can use it as a kind of voltage controlled distortion, or you can stick it over an LFO and use it to process some great filter sweeps - amazing fun..."
The PCB
The PCB is 14.7 cm high and 9.2 cm deep in size. The PCB is double sided, has through plated holes, solder mask both sides and has full component legending. Power is admitted to the board via 0.156" Molex connector, just like the MOTM modules.
The pots I use on this module, and others, are from Omeg. They use specially made pot mounting brackets to ensure a firm connection to the front panel and PCB. They are strong enough to hold the PCB in place without any further support. The PCB has been designed so that it matches the MOTM format.
This photo shows the rear of Dave Hylander's issue one WaveFolder. The four function pots are mounted onto the PCB. The three CV depth pots need to be wired to board. The long thin black ICs are the BA6110 OTAs that were used on the issue 1 design. The OTA used in the new issue board is the CA3280.
Project Downloads
Use 'save as...' button to download and view the file. IE users need to right hand mouse click and then choose 'save as'. Links to schematics are available to purchasers of the PCB or module and will be sent via e-mail when the board(s) are shipped.
Parts lists for US builders
Builders based in North America can now find full parts lists, complete with order codes, for many of the Oakley modules. Larry Hendry has kindly provided the web space for customers to upload parts lists. Go to www.wiseguysynth.com for full details.
MOTM style Front Panels
See Dave Bradley's great service using real MOTM blanks to create perfect MOTM compatible panels for some of the Oakley Modules : www.hotrodmotm.com
Front Panel database
A Schaeffer front panel can be made for the WaveFolder module. The database can be found here: wave.fpd. To read this file you will need a copy of 'Frontplatten designer' from Schaeffer. The program also features on-line ordering, so its now even easier to buy your panels from Scheaffer.
The company are based in Berlin in Germany and will send out panels to anywhere in the world. Delivery to the UK normally takes around ten days. For North American users you can also order your Schaeffer panels from Front Panel Express.
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