Top News: Die italienische Analog-Schmiede GRP stellt den GRP A4 vor

• Envelope Generator 1
  • Multi Stage Loopable Env (Attack, Hold, Decay, Sustain Lev, Sustain Time-Only in Loop On, Release); Gate Source Selection (Keyboard, S&H, ExtIn/ Step Seq); independent EG Amt for 24 dB LP Filter and 12 dB State Variable Filter, both w. user’s selectable EG polarity.
  • EG time goes from 1msec to 60 sec.
  • LED: red = EG under Gate sources; blue = EG under Step Sequencer control;
  • Loop Envelope: loop from Attack to Release, w. Sustain Time selectable.
  • Loop Mode Switch:
    • Loop Off: EG as standard AHDSR, no Sustain Time.
    • Gate: EG loops from A to S (w. Sustain Time max 60”) as long as Gate is On.
    • Auto: EG full loop, from A to R; independent from Gate.
• Envelope Generator 2
  • Same as EG 1, without Hold segment.
• Voltage Controlled Low Frequency 1
  • Frequency (from very low to 2500 Hz); Waveform (sine, ramp, triangle, saw, square w. variable pulse); FM Amt (exp, w. phase normal/rev); FM Sources (Key, EG1, EG2, LFO2, Seq A, B, A+B, S&H, Aft, ModW, EnvFoll); Sync (Off, Gate, Seq, MIDI – dividing factor selectable from internal MIDI Interface); Shaping LFO out (from: Off, EG1, EG2, Lfo2, SeqA, B, A+B, S&H, Aft, ModW, EnvFoll).
  • LFO act as modulation buss for auxiliary sources: EG1, EG2, S&H, Noise, VCO2, EnvFoll. The aux source can be amplitude modulated with the Shaping Select.
• Voltage Controlled Low Frequency 2
  • Frequency; Freq Range (Low-Mid-High); Waveform (Triangle, Square); Shaping Select (Off, Aft, ModW).
  • Independent Send Modulations for: VCO 1, 2, 3 freq; PWM 1, 2, 3; VCF 24/12 Cutoff; VCA Level.
• Sample & Hold
  • Frequency; Frequency Source (Int, VCLFO1); LED (red = Internal, blue = VCLFO1); S&H Source (Pink Noise, White Noise, VCLFO 1, LFO 2, VCO 1, 2, 3); Glide.
  • The S&H Clock can be routed to EG firing; there are three options: Off – no routing; Gate – the S&H clock is ANDed with keyb/ext/manual Gate; Auto – EGs always fired from S&H.
• Tuning/MIDI
  • Master Tune; Portamento Time; Bend Amount; VCO 1 Portamento On/Off, VCO 1, Bend On/Off; Hold On/Off; A440 On/Off; Retrig On/Off; Manual Gate.
  • MIDI Interface: MIDI Channel Select; Keyboard Off Octave Offset; External CV In Octave Offset; MIDI Clock Divider on LFO Reset.
  • A4 receives: MIDI Note On/Off, Bend, Modulation, Aftertouch, Key Velocity, Expression Pedal, Damper.
• Step Sequencer
  • User’s configurable Mode Select 8×2 or 16×1.
  • Clock Source: Int, VCLFO1, Ext, MIDI.
  • Clock Divider on all Clock Sources; dividing factor MIDI: 1/1, ¼, 1/4t, 1/8, 1/8t, 1/16; dividing factor TTL: 1/1, /2, /4, /16, /32.
  • Sequencer Mode: FW, BW, FW/BW, PNDL, ALT, RND, TRG.
  • CV Seq Clock: A, Off, B on internal Clock.
  • VCO Seq Enable: VCO 1, 2, 3, Off/A/B/A+B
  • VCF Seq Enable: 24dB Off/A/B/A+B; 12dB Off/A/B/A+B.
  • Step Repeat: Off, x2, x3, x4.
  • Permutations: n,n+1; n, n+1, n; n, n, n+1, n.
  • Loop On/Off.
  • Hold On/Off.
  • Manual Controls: Reset/Step Advance, Run/Stop, Continue
  • Pulse Width (legato/staccato) on Internal & MIDI Clock.
  • Row A & B Parameters: Glide Amt; Range (x2, x4, x8); Quantizer On/Off.
  • Step Parameters: LED; Step Value; Gate On/Off; Step Mode (End, Skip, Normal).
• Connections
  • Audio: Mono Out; Phones Out; Left/24dB Out; Right/12 dB Out; Audio External In.
  • Filter: CV In 24 dB; CV In 12 dB.
  • Amplifer: CV In VCA.
  • Synth Control: CV In; Gate In.
  • External Modulation Buss: Ext 1/AftT; Ext 2/ModW.
  • Sequencer Connections: Row A/B/A+B CV Out; Row A/B/A+B Gate Out; Run/Stop In; Continue In; Loop On/Off In; Clock Input; Clock Output; CV In Clock Modulation.

Sobald wir eines der ersten Serienmodelle bekommen, folgt selbstverständlich ein ausführlicher Test.

Leider sind auch beim GRP A4 wieder ausschließlich Vorbestellungen möglich, da auch hier wieder nur eine limitierte Anzahl von Geräten gebaut werden wird. Interessenten sollten sich bitte direkt über die GRP-Webseite an den Hersteller wenden.
Nach unserer Erfahrung ist auch die mechanische Qualität und Verarbeitung der GRP Produkte über jeden Zweifel erhaben. Nur bei Lieferzeiten hat man sich gerne mal verschätzt. Also nicht nervös werden, wenn das Gerät mal nicht ganz pünktlich am Start ist. 

GRP hat auf einigen You-Tube Videos den GRP A4 ausführlich vorgestellt. Die entsprechenden Links finden Sie im Anhang zu diesem Artikel.