XAOC Devices PRAGA Voltage Controlled Stereo Mixer (20HP) - Nearly New

Full Description

Unipolar & Bipolar Modes

The XAOC Devices PRAGA can be switched between Unipolar and Bipolar modes. Unipolar is designed for unipolar CVs that are usually found in envelope generators. In this mode, the attenuator knob controls offsets to the incoming CV, which allows the dynamic response to CV to be retained, regardless of the position of the attenuator. With the attenuators at their maximum, a CV of 8V opens the channels to 0dB, whilst closing the attenuators allows you to silence the channels to -85dB. CVs above 8V are well tolerated, however, the gain response is strongly tempered above 0dB, only offering up to +3dB to reduce distortion. This affects the sound in a way similar to dynamic compression. Lowering the attenuators diminishes the effect, eventually bringing it down to a non-compressed operation.

Bipolar mode is designed for use with bipolar CVs which are typically found in LFOs. In this mode, the PRAGA's attenuators act by scaling the CV together with an internally generated offset voltage. The depth of the amplitude modulation (in dB) decreases as the channel is lowered. The response is optimized for CVs in the range of -5V to +5V, whereby a fully-open attenuator offers 0dB at +5V, whilst at the minimum setting will offer -56dB of attenuation with no modulation. Higher amplitudes of the CV are well tolerated, but the response is strongly compressed above 0dB.

Equipped With Auxillary Outputs

The XAOC Devices PRAGA Voltage Controlled Stereo Mixer is equipped with two aux send outputs, and two pairs of stereo aux return sockets. These allow you to patch two send effects in and out of the PRAGA. A dedicated bipolar aux knob is present in each channel. This gives you complete manual control of the sends. Turned the knob to the left or right of the central position results in the signal being sent to either aux channel A or aux channel B respectively. Sends are post-fader only, as they are derived from the VCA out signals.

Expandability Through Chaining

Chaining multiple PRAGA units together provides you with a cascaded sub-mix setup, such that the content of the mix bus of all upstream units is injected 1:1 into the mix bus of every subsequent unit appearing at its stereo sum outputs. The chaining headers at the back of the module should be connected with a 6-pin ribbon cable so that the out header of the preceding unit goes into the in header of the following unit.

Pan Control & Clickless Channel Muting

The PRAGA allows you to mute channels and control the pan of each channel. Muting is simple. By simply pressing the active/mode button, the corresponding channel will be silenced. This state is indicated by the deactivation of the corresponding LED. Clickless action is achieved by introducing a fade-out of a few-milliseconds to near -90dB. Pressing the button again brings the channel back through a similar clickless fade-in and reactivates the LED. The muting operation can be controlled remotely through the expander pins at the back of the PRAGA.

Panning can be achieved both manually or via CV control. The pan knobs act as offsets to the pan input CVs which are expected in the range of -5V to +5V. The response of the combined controls provides equal loudness in a near-field monitoring setup. However, as channel gain approaches 0dB, the response is slightly compressed so as to prevent an increase in overall loudness.

Features

• Intuitive volume control behaviour
• Voltage control over volume and pan
• Dedicated modes for unipolar and bipolar voltage control over volume
• DC-coupled signal path
• Channel level indicators
• Two auxillary sends with stereo returns
• Clickless channel muting

Specifications

• Module Format: Eurorack
• Width: 20HP
• Protection: Backward/Reverse Power
• Current Draw: +210mA / -180mA