Styled similarly to the flagship Xone:V6 valve rotary DJ mixer, the VF-1's circuitry is an enhanced version of the filters built into Allen & Heath's Xone mixers, and offers three basic 24dB/octave valve filter types: high-pass, band-pass and low-pass. The basic filter types can be combined to create further filter types such as 'notch.'
The Xone VF-1 additionally offers MIDI capability, and also contains an envelope follower and an LFO with both triangle and square wave outputs. A resonance control with automatic limiter circuits enable high levels of resonance to be used without causing the system to overload. One unique feature of the VF-1 module is the inclusion of valve overdrive circuitry, whereby a single control enables the user to dial-in an amount of valve "warmth" while maintaining a constant output level.
Price: 529 € + 0.16 € EC
Filters: three different filter types are provided: high-pass, band-pass and low-pass, which can be selected together to create further types - for example, high-pass and low-pass together create a notch filter. All of the filter controls are "soft switched" to prevent clicks, allowing them to be changed on the fly
Resonance: this control allows the sharpness of the filter to be adjusted from a gentle roll-off for a subtle filter sound, to near oscillation at maximum. Automatic Resonance Control (ARC) monitors the output of the filter and automatically reduces the resonant peaks of high signal levels, thus minimising potentially system-damaging transients.
Mono/stereo: the filter can be configured as a stereo 2-pole (12dB/octave) or a mono 4-pole (24dB/octave) by selecting the Mono switch on the rear panel, without the need to re-patch
Invert Filter: Another rear panel switch sums the inverted filter signal with the non-filtered input signal and routes the remainder to the TRS jack outputs; this can give some unusual and subtle sounds, especially if routed to an effects unit
Valve: as well as the VCA filter the VF-1 also has a valve (tube) input stage with drive control, allowing the signal level through the valve to be progressively increased in order to create strong second harmonics, or taken all the way into clipping. This is a great tool for adding warmth to a mix or for fattening up thin, reedy bass sounds. Automatic gain reduction circuitry maintains a near constant output level as the overdrive control is increased
Envelope Follower: this function with switchable release speed, allows the filter cut-off frequency to be modulated by the intensity of the input signal, and can be used to create some interesting effects with drum loops and bass lines. It can also be switched into the valve overdrive circuits to give intensity modulated overdrive
LFO: the low frequency oscillator with square/triangle waveforms completes the modulation toolbox for the filter system
MIDI: the VF-1 can send and receive MIDI, allowing the filter frequency, filter type, and on/off status to be remotely controlled or saved to a sequencer. It can be configured to operate in several different modes; for instance, to allow it to interface to our MIDI equipped XONE:92 DJ mixer, and another to track the filters to MIDI notes
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Operating Levels
XLR +4dBu Headroom +22dB
Jack 0dBu Headroom +22dB
RCA 0dBU
Headroom +22 dB
Maximum output +26dBu
Frequency Response (20Hz-30KHz)
Line to Main output (0dB) +0/-0dB (Filter OFF)
Distortion at 1KHz +0VU out
THD + Noise (line in 0dB gain) <0.002% (Filter OFF)
Noise Performance (22Hz-22KHz unweighted)
Residual output noise <-100dBu Filter OFF
Filter on <-85dBu (89dB S/N)
Connection Impedances
Line Inputs >9K ohms
Outputs <47 ohms
Filter
Filter 20Hz-20kHz multi-type VCF
System
Power supply Internal Universal input
Power Consumption 14W Max 7W nominal
Soruce: Nuloop
