midiphy has announced the availability of its zetaSID expandable modular synth voice for Eurorack, which provides near-perfect emulation of the Commodore 64’s revered SID chip, using the MIDIbox SID synthesis engine at its core.
The unit can handle up to six stereo voices with MIDI control, and features six LFOs, dual envelopes, quad wave sequencers, eight modulation paths with dozens of sources, algorithmic operations, and an extensive trigger matrix.
It comes with one hundred curated patches in its ROM bank, or of course a user’s own ideas can be created.
A single zetaSID module retails for around €200 (other currencies will vary), or it can be bought as a pair, a nexusMIDI expander added, or four zetaSIDs joined together.
Features
- One of the world’s most powerful SID sound engines: based on MIDIbox SID, offering six LFOs, eight modulation paths, two envelopes (with delay, multi-stage attack, decay, and release phases, plus envelope curve shape control), four integrated wave sequencers to animate patch sound progression over time, three independent oscillator arpeggiators, and a powerful 24×14 event trigger matrix for vast sound design options within the Lead sound engine.
- Alternatively, the Drum sound engine with up to 16 different parallel instruments per zetaSID is available. Percussive sounds can be created from 19 parametric drum algorithms, ranging from bass drums to toms, snares, claps, and classic C64 sound effects, capturing the joy and fun of percussion sounds from that era.
- Rack-space-saving 4HP minimalism with an intuitive graphical UI featuring fluid visualization of oscillator outputs, arpeggio patterns, filter curves, and more.
- Integrated ROM bank with 100 great-sounding preset patches.
- State-of-the-art SID sound chip emulation for noise-free sounds faithful to the original chip output from the 1980s.
- Stereo sound engine design: link two zetaSIDs via phybus for a true stereo instrument voice. Most patches take advantage of the engine’s stereo capabilities.
- Stereo voice polychaining: chain up to twelve zetaSID modules in a phybus instrument cluster for six polyphonic stereo voices.
- Multi-SID unison mode: link multiple zetaSIDs and individually detune them for an incredibly fat unison sound.
- User interface expansion: use phybus UI cooperation to adjust different sections of the same patch on multiple zetaSIDs simultaneously, e.g. work on filter, oscillators, and LFOs on different modules at the same time. This lets you extend the user interface of a single unit significantly and assign different configuration duties to different zetaSIDs.
- Integrated advanced per-oscillator arpeggiators with individually configurable and syncable clock speeds and powerful arpeggio parameters for classic chiptune sounds: from slow arp sequences to high-speed multi-octave performances.
- Integrated quad wave sequencer: based on an original C64 sound generation technique called “wavetables” (unrelated to modern wavetable synthesis), this allows step-wise modulation of SID patch parameters with a multitude of options, e.g. fine-grained adjustments of oscillator pitches over time using absolute or relative sequencer values for each step. Four wave sequencers per patch with individually configurable playback speeds are available.
- Optional MIDI expansion: use nexusMIDI to expand your zetaSID instrument cluster with additional MIDI ports and free up the integrated CV input ports for additional modulation sources from your eurorack system.
- Patch virtual cords between your midiphy modules using phybus. This reduces cable clutter and allows for total recall (a microSD card is required to save/recall sessions).
- Limited compatibility with existing community MBSID v2 Lead and Drum patches (without sequencer), which can be stored and loaded in their original SysEx file format (a microSD card is required to save/load patches).
Technical Data
- width: 4 HP
- depth: 30 mm (with cables)
- panel: high-quality milled aluminium front panel (no PCB material)
- power connector: standard eurorack +/–12V 10-pin IDC
- power consumption: +12V: 120mA | –12V: 15mA | 5V: 0mA/not required
- storage (optional): microSD card 10/A1 or faster; FAT32 format
- physical inputs: CV in (–5V to +5V or 0 to 10V configurable) / gate in
- physical outputs: audio output (eurorack-level audio)
- phybus inputs: MIDI in 1, 2 / note gate / drum trig 1–4 / note pitch, LFO1 depth, filter cutoff
- phybus outputs: MIDI out
- maximum instrument cluster size: 12 zetaSID units (6 stereo voices)
- maximum phybus network size: 16 modules
- maximum total phybus cable length: 150 cm
