SSL is known for modifying computer chips into odd musical uses… I’ve been curious about the FX Modulator, as it applies the same concept to studio effects, using a Spin Semiconductor at its base.
The spin semiconductor fv-1 is a “complete reverb solution in a single ic” per the manufacturer’s website. How is using it for a reverb processor an “odd musical use” of a “computer chip”?
What is compelling about the FX Modulator, however, is the patch points on the dial: There’s control voltage for nearly every setting, with no menu diving, just a select dial for each effect and send any voltage or sound into three parameters and feedback inserts…I’ve never encountered a reverb unit similar to it.
It’s not that unique of a concept. The Tiptop Audio Z-DSP has a similar concept, as does the Make Noise Erbe-Verb (named after its co-developer, Tom Erbe of Soundhack fame), both of which are available in Eurorack format. The Z-DSP even uses the Spin Semiconductor FZ-1 chip, and it has been around long enough to have two hardware editions.
