Quad Comparators....

Back in (pink with lettering etched in) black

Well that pic above is of some old panels.... but just bringing FSS back out of the ashes (quite literally?) after the workshop where most work is carried out had a blow-out to give you some news:

The good thing is, this whole experience of everything suddenly going dead for months has got me thinking about the whole process.... so here's the new deal:

-PCBs will now be produced by a local service. Sure, I can't oversee the production process, but it means the PCBs are in fact much more reliable and being local, I can nag them if need be.

-Aluminium panels will be cut and etched (or maybe screenprinted) by another local service. This is much better than Schaeffer in Germany (where I have to wait around a month for panels) as it's all better for the local economy and gives a faster turnaround time.

-Acrylic panels, construction and assembly work will still be done by myself.... but in the case of another blow out I'm not put out - all that can be halted are the acrylic panels. Aluminium panels might even be as cheap with a better supplier.

I've had a few emails coming round, which is great, including customer enquiries, stocking enquires from Post Modular (a new upcoming place in London, I'll try and keep people updated by that whenever I get news, sounds like a good place) + Shawn at AH, and perhaps most important of all a journalist from Sound On Sound asking for pics for an upcoming modular synth feature.

So, all in all, after a few old orders have been fulfilled, FSS will be back in business. Working on a batch production routine, I'll be bringing back the modules one by one... so I expect 50 of the DC1 will appear, then 50 of the NPN1, and pretty much cycle round depending on demand, etc.

Prototypes. Way too many prototypes.

So, work has begun on the Future Sound System I prototype. The modular system consists of seven modules (or 18 sections - many modules include several circuits) and is designed to create raw, almost uncontrollable sounds through unique circuitry, some of which is rarely used in normal synthesis electronics.
The below CAD drawing has undergone some transformation after first being drawn up, but the main structure of the system is the same.
As well as the FSSI, new modules are on their way such as the Digital Indecisive Gate, Digital Pulsewidth Modulator and (hopefully) the A-D-D-A Oscillator. All will be revealed soon enough.

FSS Decade Counter DC1 triggering Elektron Machinedrum

FSS Decade Counter DC1 audio processing demo