Doepfer Dark Energy II - Manual (Page 13)

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Dark EnerGy II DOEPFER Functions
• PWM Source switch
This switch selects the source of the square wave‘s pulsewidth modulation. The switch toggles between
LFO2, envelope (ADSR), and no source (off). The ADSR generates a „one shot“ pulsewidth modulation,
LFO2 produces a periodic and continuous modulation. „Low“ LFO2 frequency settings will result in „spaci-
ous“ and „lush“ textures which are very useful for huge pad sounds. If LFO2 runs at audio frequency (high),
the VCO will generate noisy textures that will be quite different sonically from FM effects.
• Waveform switch (saw / off / clipped and inverted saw)
Apart from the square wave, the VCO also generates two different sawtooth waves. The sum of the square
wave signal and the saw waveform, selected by the waveform switch, is fed into the input of the filter. To
disable the square wave, turn the PW-control fully clockwise or fully counter-clockwise and shut off PWM
by turning the PWM control fully counter-clockwise. Now only the selected sawtooth wave will be audible,
depending on the setting of the waveform switch.
To disable the VCO completely, set the waveform switch into off-position, turn the PW control fully clockwi-
se or counter-clockwise, and the PWM control fully counter-clockwise. Use this setting if, for example, you
want to feed an external audio signal into the filter of Dark Energy II.
• VCO F Input
Usually, the VCO´s internal pitch CV input is connected with the output CV1 of the built-in MIDI/USB in-
terface. This VCO input uses the standard 1volt / octave scaling which is common with most other analog
synthesizers. This allows you to play Dark Energy II just like any other keyboard instrument with tempered
tuning resp. tuned chromatically. You do not have to scale or tune anything.
In case you want to use Dark Enery without MIDI but connected to a CV/Gate sequencer or a Doepfer
A-100 modular synthesizer, you can make use of Dark Energy II‘s CV inputs. The VCO F socket features
an external CV input for VCO frequency (tuning). As soon as you plug a cable in, the VCO´s pitch is gover-
ned by this input. Please bear in mind that this socket is not normalized. This means that the connection
between the MIDI/USB interface and the VCO will not be interrupted when a cable is plugged in. The ex-
ternal CV will be added to the value produced by the MIDI/USB interface. This is very useful e.g. for trans-
posing a sequence which is played on an A-155 step sequencer to a different key in realtime, using a MIDI/
USB keyboard.
Instead of a CV/Gate sequencer or a keyboard, you may also use any other suitable CV or even audio
signals as a modulation source.
• VCO PW Input
If you wish to control the pulsewidth of the square wave using an external CV, use this input socket. A range
of 5 Volts covers the entire modulation range.
If an external control voltage does not comply with the specifications of Dark Energy II‘s CV inputs (VCO
F, VCO PW, VCF F, VCA A, ext. Audio) because it is too high or too low, please use an external attenuator
(e.g. Doepfer A-183-1) or amplifier (e.g. Doepfer A-183-3). These additional modules can easily be housed
in a Doepfer A-100 Minicase.