Learning Modular’s Chris Meyer shared this in-depth demo of the new Synthesis Technology E520 Hyperion Processor, a power multi-effects processor for Eurorack modular synthesizers.
The E520 Hyperion is a mono/stereo in, stereo out effects module, offering delays, chorus, frequency shifting, phaser, pitch shifting, shimmer reverb, voder, spectral effects, vocoder and more.
Topics covered:
00:00 demo of a few of the Presets
00:40 overview
01:12 front panel controls & connections
01:51 audio connections
02:33 Auxiliary output
02:46 menu & navigation overview
03:01 changing Algorithms
03:40 getting back to the Main menu
04:00 editing an Algorithm
04:58 Bypass to unprocessed input
05:07 Feedback & Wet/Dry mix
06:02 live controls
06:35 loading & editing algorithm-specific presets (Page 3)
07:38 external voltage control
08:35 Tap Tempo
09:40 Page 2 settings
10:36 internal LFOs
11:22 High Pass and Low Pass Filters
11:55 saving a Preset
12:46 Top menu
13:04 module-wide Patches
13:32 Preferences (including display options, Input/Output Levels, and Feedback Limiter)
15:17 SD card “whole module” save & load
15:23 UI colors
15:48 Utilities (scope, tuner, and more)
16:07 Dual Mono algorithm
16:15 conclusion
Pricing and Availability
Initial production of the Synthesis Technology E520 Hyperion Processor was funded via a Kickstarter project. The pre-orders are expected to ship this summer, with dealer shipments to follow.
See the Synth Tech site for details.
Looks great but is it ONLY for Euro rack users?
Yes 🙁
It’s also available as a standalone unit in a desktop skiff case.
I’m impressed, but also amused to see so much of what I like in slab synths with patch memory appearing as separate modules. Once it offers an SD card slot, its in the Venn between Eurorack & a synth like an Argon8. Besides, Eurorack is the Kontakt of modulars. You can go “East Coast” easily enough, but the market has mostly spoken.
curious as to what you mean with “eurorack is the kontakt of modulars” – is this about a tendency towards newer modules that are big, comprehensive, and internally consistent but that don’t play as well with other systems/devices? or that eurorack is simply a top format of modular systems? (which seems obvious, but not sure why that’s relevant to assessing this specific module)
Good question. Pardon my hot air here, but I’ve been where you are about it! Far more software instrument developers go for Kontakt than any other format. They may include Reason or Ableton, but NI has the top spot. A full version of Kontakt provides hundreds of additional creative options, some uniquely strange. Check out Soniccouture.
Eurorack is running higher in the marketplace than Moog/5U, partly because “Smaller Is Better” grabs peoples’ liking for novelty, but also because you can (generally) get a more potent system in a smaller box. The Hyperion & Dave Rossum’s Morpheus are good examples. How well a module plays with others is part of the gamble & the fun of it. Read the specs, take your shot.
More independent builders like Wiard can offer custom, fringe one-offs because the Eurorack format is a constant. Subotnick & Buchla had that kind of developmental relationship, like Moog & Carlos. Now its a sub-industry.
I’m not a modular player now, but I had a fun early run with Moogs, Korgs, PAIAs & ARPs, so I mostly understand the appeal. Its not super-cheap (none of this is), but I recently saw a woman with a great rig that had a Motif in the middle, some odd pedals scattered around the edges and an 8- or 9-space Eurorack above. All bases covered!
Spend your main bucks on something a little higher-end first as a base, though. You’ll be happier as you build on it and *don’t* hit so many potholes of bad design or build. Take it from someone who bought some real dead horses as a newbie, oh brother, did I. You probably know a lot of this, but I hope I added a useful component or two.