Pittsburgh Modular is now shipping the Microvolt 3900 analog synthesizer, a new design that they describe as ‘a love letter to the analog monosynth’.
The Microvolt 3900 is patched internally and does not require patch cables to dial in a wide variety of sounds. For deeper experimentation, though, the Microvolt 3900 includes a 39-point patchbay for complete signal routing control. The synth features a four-stage envelope generator, multi-purpose function generator, wide range LFO, chaotic random source, arpeggiator, sequencer, MIDI to CV converter and more.
“Everyone at Pittsburgh Modular has worked their bottoms off to make this our best instrument yet, and it shows,” company founder Richard Nicol told us. “The Microvolt sounds amazing and everyone at Pittsburgh Modular is working diligently to get them in the hands of more musicians.”
They’re currently working on shipping synths pre-ordered directly or through dealers.
Here’s an overview of the Microvolt 3900 from this year’s NAMM Show:
Features:
- Voltage controlled West Coast style wavefolder.
- Switchable harmonically rich sine wave.
- External preamp with independent 30x gain and output level controls.
- Classic Pittsburgh Modular low pass filter with extended resonance.
- Dynamic VCA with standard VCA and dynamic low pass gate modes.
- Variable overdrive on output.
- Multi-mode sequencing arpeggiator.
- Chaotic random CV and gate generator.
- Multi-tasking function generator works as a voltage controlled envelope, LFO, and oscillator.
- Highly tuned ADSR envelope generator.
- 39-point Eurorack format compatible patch bay.
Audio Demos:
Pricing and Availability
The Microvolt 3900 is available to order, priced at US $629.
Love the sound I hear in the demos – sounds liquid
Those chunky blue buttons are neat looking. Pointless comment, to be sure….
Would love to see a semi modular synth with the patchbay on the left
Wow – that demo track is amazing.
There are so many of these semi-modulars on the market with similar price points. It’s hard to choose which one to go with it. Erebus, Mother32, and Neutron, etc.
If you are a beginner, I would go with any of those you mentioned over the one in this article as they have 2 oscillators and I believe the Pittsburgh has only 1.
Mother 32 only has a single VCO. This strikes me as a slightly more flexible sounding 0-coast without the sexy but difficult to decipher Make Noise graphics. That being said the 0-coast is deeper and probably a better value. But to be honest, you should buy the synth that you’re visually and sonically drawn to, rather than shopping for features.
This one wasn’t really on my radar, but it sounds fantastic
I personally want the Neutron and would pick it even if the rest cost the same.
no display, therefore i´m not interested.
and yes, techno is dead.
Trolls are not welcome here.
> Unfamous Musician
i know why.
This seems like a really interesting design to me.
The architecture seems to embrace a lot of so-called ‘West-coast synthesis’ ideas, but I like that the interface is really clean and clear.
It seems like a different perspective on the 0-coast design, with an interface that will immediately make sense to people.
Trolls still are not welcome here.
Trolls are still not welcome here.