Synthesis Technology E352 Cloud Terrarium (Certified Pre-Owned)

From the manufacturer:

The Synthesis Technology E352 combines the latest 200MHz 32-bit ARM DSP with SynthTech's Cloud and Morphing algorithms found in the legendary E340 Cloud Generator and the E350 Morphing Terrarium.

Some important features:

• User-defined wavetables loaded via microSD card
• Color 240 x 320 TFT LCD display
• Grayhill mil-spec optical encoder for data entry
• 16-bit wavetables (versus 8-bit for the E350) for 5x lower noise & THD
• Contains all 192 of the original E350 wavetables
• LFO mode, variable Glitch Energy and other added features

VCO Architecture

The E352 has a single VCO, but 2 seperate audio outputs. The outputs are determined by the VCO Mode setting. They do not necessarily have to be the same pitch (Detuning Mode).

The VCO is based upon a unique implementation of wavetable synthesis using 256 fixed-sample-length tables of 16-bit values. Each bank in memory consists of 64 wavetables, in an 8x8 array (like a chessboard). Our proprietary DSP algorithms then allow either smooth or 'glitched' morphing between the wavetables in various ways. The E352 comes with 3 factory banks (192 total waves) and internal FLASH memory to hold 26 user-defined banks. This allows over 1,650 individual wavetables to be accessible. The free, cross-platform WaveEdit program is used to generate and import WAV files to user Banks.

Each VCO has 3 CV inputs (called Parameters or PARMs) which the VCO mode assigns to functions within that algorithm. In addition, there is a hard SYNC input, and the FM can be set to exponential or 3 ranges of TZFM (Thru-Zero FM).

Color LCD/Navigation

Everyone hates 'menu-diving', us included. That's why we focused on making the most 'shallow' menu system possible. Everything is just 1 or 2 clicks away. No endless screens and pages to remember. The encoder is a mil-spec Grayhill optical encoder with a 25yr typical life. And if it ever needs replacing, it's on a easy to access cable assembly.

The color LCD lets you customize the color scheme with 64 different colors to pick from.

There are several included 'visual aids' that can be displayed on the LCD:

• Each of the VCO output waves/noise modes, updated 20FPS
• Lissajous figures
• Real-time FFT spectra of the audio output when in the 2-op FM mode
• Graphical maps of the X and Y PARM CVs
• Interesting 'Eye Candy' effects

User Wavetables and Patch Storage

You can load your own sets of wavetables using the uSD card interface. The uSD card is NOT REQUIRED to run the E352. It is also used for firmware updates. The free application WaveEdit is used to format the wave data and bank data into the proper format used inside the E352.

The E352 has internal non-volatile memory for storing both User wavetables/Banks and for Patches. A 'Patch' stores the menu settings. There are 8 Patches available, and a Patch can be quickly recalled for live performances.

VCO Modes

Although the E352 excels at smooth morphing between wavetables (first introduced in the E350 Morphing Terrarium in 2010), traditional VCO waves such as saws, pure sines, and filtered noise (using a 4-pole resonant lowpass ladder filter) can be selected. Thru-zero, linear FM (in 3 ranges) can be used on not just triangle waves (as in an analog VCO) but with ANY waveshape or any wavetable. Here are all the different modes.

• Morphing - Use 3 CVs to select where in the 8x8 bank of wavetables the output is generated. This is the E350's mode.
• Morph + Phase Shifting - used when mixing with another VCO (or driving laser galvos). Audio-rate modulation generates classic PM tones. Wavetable morphing plus a voltage-controlled phase shifter.
• Morph + Wavefolder - can you wavefold a wavetable? Sure you can...now.
• Cloud Generator - this is an improved E340 mode. Not just saws or sines, but can 'cloud' any wavetable. A 'cloud' is a set of detuned copies (the 'supersaw' effect)
• Morphing Cloud Generator - combination of Cloud + Morph modes.
• 2op FM - 2 operator Yamaha FM. Not limited to just sine waves, you can use wavetables as well.
• Noise - 6 types of noise plus a resonant, Moog-style ladder filter
• Sample Player - a 'lo-fi' sample player that treats the selected Bank as 1 giant WAV sample, with separate Start and Length points under voltage control.