Music Machines Spec Sheet ------------------------- Synth: Octave CAT Review by: Mike Dvorkin (dvorkinm@pcs.mot.com) Summary: Octave Cat was manufactured by Octave Electronics (surprise) during the late seventies - early eighties. It started as an attempt to copy the famous Arp Odysey and make it better and much cheaper, which resulted in a much more flexible, but less famous duophonic synth (see below for list of features). It is quite different from its Arp parent. Better mod routings have been added, including the real FM. High pass filter was removed. Front panel layout was completely changed. It looked and sounded completely as a different machine, but it did not stop Arp from going to court against the Octave. Octave Cat was quite a competition to the Arp Odysey as it was priced nearly 40% less, but possibly the bad reputation earned by the incident with Arp prevented the Cat from becoming a big seller. Throughout its its production life, Octave Cat went through through some drastic mutations. There are 4 major *standard* versions of this synth: * plain original Octave Cat: Both VCF and VCOs were descrete. The frequency responce was a bit worse compare to the later models (20Hz-20kHz). Soundwise it is much dirtier and grungier. There was no delay control on the LFO, no LFO indicator light. LFO had a narrower range. Some of the models did not have any external control. Cosmetically it had a little bit different color of wood and totally different minimoog-style black knobs (which were later substituted by greyish ugly looking ones). * Cat SRM rev A (you can get the revision from the circuit board; it is nowhere else to be found, but there): This revision had a descrete VCO and non-descrete VCF (SSM2040). It had a better frequency responce (5Hz-27kHz) then the original model and sounded a bit clearer with much better sounding filter. First SRM model was produced around early '79 or so. * Cat SRM rev B: Same as above but with SSM2044 VCF. Sounded a bit different from both rev A and B, but not typical compare to other 2044 based machines. Some people say that knobs are sticking out a bit higher above the front panel surface on this revision, but I am not sure of whether it was a coincidence. * Cat SRM II: Same as above, but with non-descrete VCO (what chip did they use? Anybody?). Sounded pretty close to the SRM rev B. This was the last and the most stable version. There are also a lot of transitional models that have a combination of features. During Cat's production time and shortly after Octave Plateu offered a whole array of modifications including: Filter Mod Ring Modulator External Bass Style Pedal Control Joystick control etc. Soundwise, it is much harder to describe because of the FM on both OSC and VCO. You can say that it is somewhere between the MiniMoog and the Odysey with a little bit of ProOne-ness added :). It is capable of very deep basses as well as really sharp electro sounds. It goes much much deeper then the Odysey, and much crispier then the Mini. I managed to come up with some really lovely pads and string like textures. If you are into nightmarish soundscapes, this machine is for you as it can produce unbelievably deep drones. With resonance all the way up and some FM on the VCF it can emit the most devastating bass sound in the universe. The simultaneous availability of several waveforms makes the FM far more interesting than on any other similar synth (MiniMoog, ProOne, M12), although it takes some time to get used to. Note that different revisions sounded pretty darn different, esp rev 1. Years Made: late 70's early 80's Polyphony: 2 (it can be used in duophonic mode, pretty much like its alleged decendant, Arp Odyssey) Multitimbrality: 1, it is not multitimbral. MIDI: NO MIDI. CV/GATE interface Note on/off: N/A MIDI controllers (aftertouch, CC, etc): N/A Sysex patch dumping: N/A Sysex parameter control: N/A Other external control: CV/Gate: YES. (Engineers at Octave decided to go with a single stereo 1/4'' phone jack to replace 2 mono jacks commonly used separately, one for CV, one for gate signals. There are 2 such jacks on the Cat, one for input and one for output, labled "FROM MASTER" and "TO SLAVE" (?) respectively) NOTE: CV/Fate is unavailable os some models (which models, anybody?), but it can be easiliy modified (there's some discussion on this matter in MM archives). Clock: NO Other CV: YES (there is an input for a pedal) Audio input: YES Proprietary (DCB, etc): Not on standard units. There was a factory modification that added the control of 1 lower octave of voice 1 in duophonic mode to be controlled from the bass pedal. For this very purpose an ugly rectangular connector had to be fitted on the left side of the unit, cutting the wood etc. Programmer: NO Patch storage: NO (unless you use paper and pencil interface :)) Patch dumping (tape, MIDI, etc): NO Voice architecture: 2 VCOs: VCO1: sqr (with pwm), tri, saw, sub Control: Coarse Freq Fine Freq KBD mode (poly/mono/off) Mod 1 amount Mod 1 selector (see below) Mod 2 amount Mod 2 selector (see below) Pwm amount Pwm source selector (see below) Waveform Mixer (Sub, Saw, Tri, Sqr/Pwm) Modulations: MOD 1: switch between different LFO forms and the S&H MOD 2: switch between AR and ADSR eg's and the VCO2 (FM) PWM : LFO SIN wave or DC (constant) VCO2: sqr, saw, sub Control: Fine Freq Sync Mod 1 amount Mod 1 selector (see below) Mod 2 amount Mod 2 selector (see below) Waveform Mixer (Sub, Saw, Tri, Sqr/Pwm) Modulations: MOD 1: switch between different LFO forms and the S&H MOD 2: switch between AR and ADSR eg's and the VCO1 (FM) 1 NOISE SOURCE: It can only be used in 2 ways: - as a sound source routed into the VCF - as a modulator, BUT only when sampled by the S&H. 1 LP VCF: Control: Resonance Frequency Kbd amount Mod 1 amount Mod 1 selector (see below) Mod 2 amount Mod 2 selector (see below) Modulations: MOD 1: switch between different LFO forms and the S&H MOD 2: switch between AR and ADSR eg's and the VCO1 (FM) 1 VCA: Control: Gain/Volume Modulation source (AR/ADSR/Bypass) 2 EG's/Envelopes/Transient Generators: EG1: AR EG2: ADSR Both can be triggered by either keyboard, LFO, or a combination of both 1 LFO Control: Delay Rate NOTE: - When driven from external gate, LFO is retriggered by each gate pulse received. - Multiple waveforms are available simultaneously. 1 Sample and Hold (S&H) Control: Source selector (White noise/osc1) NOTE: S&H rate is the same as LFO rate and adjusted by adusting the LFO rate slider 1 Portamento/Glide: Control: Portamento time slider. NOTE: try it in a poly(duophonic) mode. Here's a a ascii diagram: +-----+ | |----------+-----------------+ F | | | | M | VCO1| | V V +--^--+ | | ext in+-------+ +-------+ F ||sqr,tri +-------+ +------>| | | | M |+------->| MIX 1 |--------->| | | | |saw, sub +---|---+ | VCF |------>| VCA |------> output +-|-------------+ +----->| | | | | +-------------+ | +--->| | | | F | sqr, saw +---|---+ | | +-------+ +-------+ M | +------->| MIX 2 |---+ | V |sub +-------+ | +-----+ +-------+ | | VCO2| | NOISE |-----+ +-----+ +-------+ ^ ^ ^ ^ | | | | +----+----+ +----+----+ +----+----+ +----+----+ | PORTAM/ | | LFO/ | | ADSR | | AR | | GLIDE | | S&H | | | | | +---------+ +---------+ +---------+ +---------+ Sequencer/Arpeggiator: NO, but envelopes can be triggered by the LFO, to achieve a "1-note portamento" effect, that is quite cool if you are using the S&H to modulate things. Keyboard/rack: Keyboard Known problems: Not very solidly built Accessories: There was a plenty of extenal accessories available for this synth (pedals, mod sticks etc) as well as modifications originally offered by the manufacturer. Related synths/gear: Octave Kitten (1-osc version, but has 2 sub octave waveforms, which makes this synth incredibly fat sounding), Arp Odysey (the synth that Cat has supposeably inherited a lot of features from; but THEY ARE VERY DIFFERENT SYNTHS, and IMO Cat sounds MUCH better), Octave (OEI) Voyetra 8 (pretty similar in architecture, but 8 voice polyphonic, better mod routings, fully software controlled and totally bitch to program; there was also a monophonic version of Voyetra 8; but I cannot recall what it was called) Comments: Strengths: Very nice sounding machine with outstanding mod-routings. Mixable waveforms and FM make it a truly powerful tool. So far moderately priced too. Weaknesses: Very flimsy construction. Hard to service (it is quite an adventure to open this baby up). I wish EG and FM modulations could be available simultaneously. LFO & S&H could have a separate rate control. Noise source coul have been used as a modulation source as well, but it was omitted in favour of S&H, which could sample the noise source. Portamento time could have had a better range; it just seems a bit too fast. Lack of an arpegiator is quite apparent too :) Overall: Quite a lovely machine. You'll have loads of fun. It will sure surpass most of the more popular monosynths s.a. ProOne, Arp Odysey and of course our beloved X0X's. It is My favourite non-patchable monosynth after all:)