Peavey Paradox

Version 1.00 software. Updated from version 1.00. Total knob-fest. I think I counted 45 knobs but that was 10 years ago. A knob for everything means if you know anything about subtractive synthesis this synth is very easy to use. To store a patch press the STORE button, twiddle the dial and press the EXECUTE button.

The presets on mine are complex and bold (not to my taste) but really do the job. They demonstrate the massive sledgehammer of a monosynth very well. Had the Paradox gone into production the presets would have sold it well.

I have the earlier dark-purple prototype with a tube in it which has no manual. According to the other reviewer there is a manual but I really don't think it needs one.

super-gnarly and massive and can make lovely little analogue drums and smooth analogue bass fodder

TUNING- Tunes itself for a bit every time you turn it on and whenever the VCA is totally closed. One summer I spent hours twiddling over a giant arpeggio on a very hot day without letting it stop to tune and it went massively out of tune.

OSCILLATOR SECTION-
VCO 1 - Analogue VCO that does saw, triangle and pulse. Knob for octave up and down and knob for pulse width. Push button for selecting wave.
VCO 2 - Analogue VCO that does saw, triangle and pulse. Knob for octave up and down and knob for pulse width. Push button for selecting wave. Knob for coarse tune. Knob for fine tune. Push button to turn tracking on and off.
SUB - Digital 16bit sine wave with knobs for octave, coarse and fine tune. Push button to turn tracking on and off. By all accounts massive and analogue (I have a theory that peoples brains think lower bit depths sound more analogue). The sub doesn't go through the filter (probably a design consideration born of the fact it is digital and the rest of the OSC/FILTER stuff is analogue) this is cool because you can do filter stuff independantly of SUB stuff. The modulation section is so flexible yo can get each oscillator in a different timezone if you catch my drift. Besides, a sine wave through a filter just sounds like a volume control and you can route the VCF contour to the SUB level so it can sound like its moving as one anyway if you want.
EXTERNAL INPUT - Level knob
NOISE - Level knob

MODULATION SECTION-
On top of the rackmount part of the synth (the synth is a 1u rack with 4 buttons on. The knobs are on a seperate low-profile "remote control") they have screen printed one of those diagrams that show you how the elements of the synth are hooked up together. Instead of lines with arrows connecting the elements, each element just has arrows going out in different directions and not actually hooking up with anything.
In the modulation section you get four knobs (A, B, C, and D) each with a selector button underneath. Press one of the selector buttons or twiddle one of the amount knobs and the two line display shows you a FROM value, a TO value, and an amount along with a letter (A, B, C, or D) eg from SUB pitch to VCO pitch (yay FM), from AUXILLIARY ENVELOPE to SUB pitch (atonal d'n'b bassline that feels like bashing your head against a wall in slow motion on acid). The secret the other reviewer left out is that these are not merely four modulation slots, I like to call them modulation "windows" as the knob or button will immediatley let you fondle the last modulation that was edited with the knob or button in question but all available modulation possibilities are in effect SIMULTANEOUSLY. You can also SUM and MULTIPLY modulations eg VCO pitch modulated by (SUB * (LFO * ADSR)).

FILTER- Analogue filter. Push button selects between 2-pole, 4-pole, high pass and band pass. The filter has its own ADSR that has a push button so you can reverse it, RSDA. Cutoff knob, envelope amount velocity sensitivity, Q, keyboard tracking (all knobs).

LFO- Two identical LFOS can be routed to a bunch of different stuff. Attack knob and rate knob. Push button for waveform. Sync push button select between rate knob and rate knob reset and all divisions of the ARPEGGIATOR CLOCK between 1/4 and 1/32T (with or without reset).

VCA- ADSR with a level at the end and a velocity level over that. All knobular. can be routed to stuff other than VCA for simpler sounds.

AUXILLIARY ENVELOPE- All knob DelayADSR.

S&H- Rate knob and sync button like on the LFOS.

ARP- syncable to int clock or midi/reset. up, down, up/down*2, rnd. this is the clock source for LFO and S&H

ANTENNA- routable antenna sticking out

RIBBON CONTROLLER- along the bottom edge of the knob box

Massive monosynth. You can do most of the routings you can think of. You can modulate the two analogue oscillators with 4 things at once each and the sub with 2 things at once and you can S&H noise and LFOs and multiply it all together. One time I got a single note on this thing sounding like a primitive yet mutated drum machine thing.

If you don't want to do all that stuff the bread and butter stuff is all there. Liquidy analogue basses of smoothness, TB type sounds, wierd/lame/cheesy/good instrument emulations (if your into that kind of thing) nice fake strings. pretty much everything if your okay with 1 note (perhaps you own a sampler).

Hasn't failed me apart from the tuning thing but that was an extreme day long arpeggio. I wouldn't use it to gig because there are only about twelve in the world if you count both prototypes. The other guy said 4 but I think that is only counting the non-tube later red version.

Peavey would get minus points for support because they didn't have the cods to build and sell the Paradox. They just stuck to metal guitars, budget amps and revolutionary gospel themed mixers.

If it were lost I would have to get myself written into Richard James' will because he is one of the few people with a replacement.

The Paradox is a unique synthesiser that under a proper synth brand could have been as big as its genuine 16bit sub. 1 note goes a long way with this much modulation.

BONUS- You can cascade paradi under one knob box for more notes. If it had gone into production 16 note- polyphony would have set you back about $32,000. As it is, if you assassinated and robbed all the paradox owners you would only be able to manage 12 note poly.

email plezdrum@hotmail.com if you want a sample of the goodness or photo proof that I have it and that it exists. Other Paradox samples on the web are lame and don't do it justice. I don't want to sell my paradox

Very easy to use. No need for manual. In fact, I have not looked at it yet. Layout is great and encourages tweaking. The presets sound great. Editing, naming, and saving patches is a breeze.

Monophonic Analog. 1U rackmount with desktop controller.
2 Vcos, Subbass, 2 Lfos, 1 S/H, VCF (4 pole low pass, 2 pole LP, bandpass, and highpass), VCA, 1 assignable Aux envelope, assignable ribbon controller, assignable antenna, 4 modulation routing sections, arpeggiator. This thing is loaded with features. Every setting can be saved patch by patch. It has 120 Ram/120 Rom patches.

It's a beautiful analog beast. Mello juno basses, Moog leads and basses, decent sync. The subbass is off the charts. The pulse width is superb. Great for crazy sound fx too!
hear for yourself: http://www.geocities.com/reactionoid/

This thing is sturdy and made of metal. It's craftsman ship is immpecable.

N/A. this synth never went past the prototype stage. there are only 4 in existence.

This is an awesome synth. Check out my website to read and hear more:
http://www.geocities.com/reactionoid/
Sign the petition to get this back on the peavey production lines!