What does the VCF IL level initial do exactly?

[tjjohn61@yahoo.co.uk]

First of all, this is the best Soft Synth available. Why buy a MiniMg when this does twice as much? I know all synths are different, but this one does just about all. I won't mention a competitor, but there are some nice FM synths out there that can do a fantastic job, but I prefer the old school synths. They have the deepest and most vibrant sounds, and Arturia has done the best job of re-creating that unique sound.

And do you think old style rock and rollers could ever figure out how to operate an FM synth? How many of those guys have computer science degrees? Exactly, less than half a dozen, at least those who are still alive. I've demo'ed all the Arturia synths and the CS-80 is my favorite, so I bought it.

I just have one question, what does the IL Level in the Filter section do exactly? Sometimes it does something, sometimes it doesn't, even when the hpf and lpf are on. I read the manual, which is satisfactory but doesn't do a great job. My ears tell me what is happening, but my logical part of the brain is confused.

There there is the touch response initial level, which affects everthing, then there is the the brill and reso sliders, which affects everthing, so everything affects everything else and nothing is simple. There must be some kind of logic behind the design of this synth.

The thick sounds are incredible, and the front panel is great too. The only shortcoming is the arpeggiator, which should be brought up to the standard of the Jupiter series.

Thanks again Arturia, for making these synthesizers for the masses available...any hint next of what's next?

[Niccolo]

Thank you very much for your compliments!
The IL parameter of the CS-80 is in fact the Initial Level of the filter envelope. The envelope is not a classical ADSR one: in the attack stage, the filters cutoff frequencies will begin at a negative level called IL (below the normal cutoff frequency) and go to a positive Attack Level (AL) (above the normal cutoffs). The sustain level of this envelope is always 0, so you have the normal frequencies for the HPF and LPF filters. Also, during the release stage (after you release the key) the envelope goes back to the IL level (so the Initial Level is also the Final Level)



You should't confuse that with the "Touch response - initial - brilliance" slider, which conditions how much the velocity will affect the filters' frequencies. There is one such slider for each of the two synthesis lines. On the other hand, the main "brill" slider, as you said, affects everything, and is a handy way of moving the frequencies of all 4 filters at the same time.

I hope these few explanations will help!

[tjjohn61@yahoo.co.uk]

Thanks for your explanation Niccolo, it really helped me understand how that particular envelope works. It is a bit different from other synths I've seen, but then the CS-80 is pretty unique. The diagram was very useful too.

Best wishes,

tjjohn61