Quantizers
 

There are not many quantizers available and so I will list both Eurorack and dot.com formats.

Source and model Price

Width HP

Power ma Notes
Doepfer A-156 £110 8 50 Eurorack
Analogue Systems RS260 £140 6   Eurorack
Analogue Systems RS130 £325 24   Eurorack
Club of the Knobs C958 €230 n/a n/a dot.com-ish
Modcan 55B $450.45 (USD) n/a n/a dot.com-ish
Serge ASR quantizer £1,700      

 

Doepfer A-156 Quantizer

The A-156 is a dual quantizer, Channel 1 is a chromatic quantizer primarily designed to compliment an analogue sequencer (such as the A-155) and channel 2 adds more advanced options including Chromatic, Major and Minor scales plus Scale, Chord and Quint modes that allow further quantization patterns. These modes allow the A-156 to be used as a stand alone arpeggiator providing many arpeggio variations. Each time an input voltage is quantised, a trigger pulse is produced allowing powerful control of the patch especially when used in conjunction with the A-151 Sequential switch. An overall CV input controls transposition of both the quantizers.

Analogue Systems RS260 Voltage Quantizer

Sometimes it would be nice to spend more time playing your sequences than adjusting every knob minutely to keep them in tune. On other occasions, you might want the output from your Sample & Hold to be in semitones (i.e. 'real' notes) rather than totally random pitches. Then there are the occasions when it would be nice to be able to generate glissandos instead of smooth portamento (or 'glide') effects. Fortunately, there is a single device that makes all of these possible. It's a Voltage Quantiser.
A Voltage Quantiser is simply a device that rounds every voltage passing through it up or down to an exact semitone. It does this by making sure that all the output voltages conform to the logarithmic relationship that defines the well-tempered scale for a 1V/oct synthesiser.
So, if the set-up of the knobs on your sequencer is not quite perfect, the quantiser will correct them for you. Similarly, any voltages output by the S&H will be rounded to a semitone, so that every note is random but lies on one of the 12 semitones of the conventional scale. Finally, as far as these three examples go, a smoothly varying voltage such as a slow triangle wave from an LFO or a 'slewed' voltage smoothed by one of the Integrators SLEW modules will be cut up and output in semitone steps.
The RS260 incorporates software that ensures glitch-free transitions between quantised notes. It also offers two operational modes. Free Run shifts the CV every time it changes enough to move from one semitone to another, whereas Gate requires a pulse to tell the device when to determine the next note. Gate is particularly useful because it means that you can clock the output for advanced rhythmic and polyrhythmic effects.

IN USE CV Inputs: V-IN 1 and V-IN 2  Any two voltages in the range 0v to +5v presented to the V-IN 1 and V-IN 2 inputs are summed linearly by an internal mixer. The summed voltage will also lie within the range 0v to +5v, giving a maximum quantised range of 5 octaves.
TRANS (Transpose) IN A voltage applied at TRANS IN will be added to the summed voltages from V-IN 1 and V-IN 2. This will transpose the output up or down allowing you, for example, to transpose all the notes in a sequence passing through the Quantiser.
OFFSET You can apply a fixed transposition (offset) of up to 2 octaves to the output. This is applied at the output so it is not quantised, and is normally used for fine-tuning purposes.
Mode Select Switch  There are two operational modes, selected using the FREE RUN/GATE switch.
FREE RUN In Free Run, the RS260 outputs a new CV every time the mixed input CV changes enough to move from one semitone to another.
GATE In Gated mode, the RS260 requires a pulse to tell the device when to determine the next note.
GATE IN  If the Quantiser is in GATE mode, you must apply a Gate pulse in the range +1v to +20v to this input to cause it to determine the output voltage. The output is determined on the positive-going edge of the pulse, and will be held until the next positive-going pulse is received. The GATE IN LED will light when a suitable pulse is detected at the GATE IN.
TRIG OUT A +10v trigger pulse is output every time the output voltage shifts. In FREE RUN mode the timing of this trigger will be determined by the voltages received at V-IN 1 and V-IN 2. In GATED mode, the output trigger will echo the pulses received at the GATE IN. The TRIG OUT LED will light each time a trigger is output.
You can use this trigger to perform tasks such as clocking a sequencer, or triggering an envelope generator so that each new note is articulated independently of previous notes.
OUT There is a single output that carries the quantised CV.

Analogue Systems RS130

The RS130 will offer four preset scales and memory for one user-defined scale. It will have a range of 63 notes, plus a trigger output generator. There will be gated and "free" modes for a wide range of applications. RS130 Programmable Scale Generator you should study the section of this manual that describes the philosophy and operation of a conventional Quantiser. You will find this in the chapter headed "RS260 QUANTISER". The rest of this chapter will assume that you have already done so, or that you are already fully acquainted with the ideas relating to voltage quantisation. To recap, a Voltage Quantiser is a device that rounds (or " quantises") every voltage passing through it up or down to an exact sernitone. This means that any voltages output by the Quantiser will lie on one of the 12 sernitones of the conventional 'even-tempered' scale.
A "Scale Generator" (or Scale Quantiser) takes this principal one step further: it quantises the signal in such a way that the output conforms to a predetermined musical scale. Examples of such scales are the common 'major' and 'minor' scales.

A programmable scale generator goes further still: while it may include predetermined scales as options, it also allows you to choose the notes that define any required scale. The RS130 is such a device. Like the RS260, the RS130 incorporates software that ensures glitch-free transitions between quantised notes, and offers the same two timing modes. These are "Free Run", in which the output CV shifts every time the input changes enough to move from one note to another, and "Gate", which requires a pulse to tell the device when to determine the next note. But in addition to these, the R130 incorporates no fewer than six quantisation modes, and you must fully understand these if you are to get the best from the module.

Quantiser Mode When this is selected the RS130 will act in the same way as an RS260 Quantiser, quantising the input to an even-tempered semitone (also known as "chromatic") scale.
C Maj Scale Mode With the OFFSET set to zero and no CV applied to the TRANS IN socket, the RS130 will quantise the input to the C major scale. This means that, no matter what voltages you apply to the input, the only notes present at the output will be the 'white' notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, and B.
C Min Scale Mode With the OFFSET set to zero and no CV applied to the TRANS IN socket, the RS130 will quantise the input to the C minor scale. This means that the only notes present at the output will be: C, D, Eb, F, G, Ab, and Bb.
C Maj Arpeggio Mode With the OFFSET set to zero and no CV applied to the TRANS IN socket, the RS130 will quantise the input to the notes of the C major arpeggio. This means that the only notes present at the output will be: C, E, and G.
C Min Arpeggio Mode With the OFFSET set to zero and no CV applied to the TRANS IN socket, the RS130 will quantise the input to the notes of the C minor arpeggio. This means that the only notes present at the output will be: C, Eb,and G.
User Memory (Programmable) Mode The RS130 will quantise the input to any scale that you detemine and save within the module's single non-volatile memory. Note: If you do not understand the musical terms involved - major, minor, and so on - we advise you to acquaint yourself with them. Otherwise , you will not be able to get the best from your PSG .

IN USE
MODE Use the MODE button to step through the Quantisation Modes.
SAVE This is used to SAVE a user-programmed scale (see below: programming the User Memory).
RECORD This is used to RECORD the notes within a user-programmed scale (see below: programming the User Memory).
Mode Select Switch There are timing modes, selected using the FREE RUN/GATE switch..
FREERUN In Free Run, the RS130 outputs a new CV every time the mixed input CV changes enough to move from one note to another. .
GATE In Gated mode, the RS130 requires a pulse to tell the device when to determine the next note.
OFFSET You can apply a fixed transposition (offset) of up to 2V (2 octaves) to the input. You can also use this control to program a scale, but you will then be limited to the 2 octave range it offers. If you wish to program notes across the full 5 octave range of the RS130 you should use a 0V to +5V CV source from another module.
CV Inputs: V-IN 1 and V-IN 2 Any two voltages in the range 0v to +5v presented to the V-IN 1 and V-IN 2 inputs are summed linearly by an internal mixer. The summed voltage will also lie within the range 0v to +5V giving a maximum output range of 5 octaves.
Note: You can use V-IN 2 as a quantised "transposer" that shifts the output according to the voltage presented to it. This allows you to shift each of the preset scales - C maj, C min, and so on - into any key desired. In this way, all 12 major scales, all 12 minor scales, and (using the programmable scale function) all of the£ diminished, augmented and other scales are available to you.
GATE IN If the Quantiser is in GATE mode, you must apply a Gate pulse in the range + 1V to +20V to this input to cause it to determine the next output voltage. The output is determined on the positive-going edge of the pulse, and will be held until the next positive-going pulse is received. The GATE IN LED will light when a suitable pulse is detected at the GATE IN.
TRIGOUT A +10v trigger pulse is output every time the output voltage shifts. In FREE RUN mode the timing of this trigger will be determined by the voltages received at V-IN 1 and V-IN 2. In GATED mode, the output trigger will echo the leading edge of the pulses received at the GATE IN. The TRIG OUT LED will light each time a trigger is output.
You can use this trigger to perform tasks such as clocking a sequencer, or triggering an envelope generator so that each new note is articulated independently of previous notes.
TRANS (transpose) IN Any voltage applied at the TRANS IN input will be added to the quantised output derived from V-IN 1 and V-IN 2. This will transpose the output up or down allowing you, for example, to fine-tune the output to match the tuning of other instruments. Note however that TRANS IN operates after the Quantiser circuit, so any voltage applied here will shift the output by an unquantised amount.
OUT There is a single output that carries the quantised CV.
PROGRAMMING THE USER MEMORY Use the MODE button to select the Quantiser mode. Now use an external voltage source connected to either of the V-IN sockets, or use the OFFSET control, to select the notes in the desired scale.

Club of the Knobs C958 Dual Quantizer

Module C958 is a dual control voltage quantizer. A quantizer converts a continuous control voltage in the range 0..8V into a stepped output voltage in the same voltage range. Normally, 1/12V steps are used to obtain semitone steps.
Quantizer 1 of the C958 has more quantising modes, like major scale, minor scale, major chord, minor chord, fundamental plus fifth and the addition of sixth or seventh if chords are selected. The mode setting of Quantizer 1 is done with three switches. the new rocker switch enables now the same features of Quantizer 1 for Quantizer 2. Otherwise Quantizer 2 works in semitone operation.

 

Modcan 55B Dual Quantizer

Dual Quantizer module. Two discrete circuits, functionally independent and identical.
Converts continuous signal to DC step output voltage conforming to typical musical scales. [Scale listings on their site]
Sample acquisition time better than 2uS (500kHz), resulting in excellent response/ conversion with no audible slew.
Zero Droop design.

Dual Mode operation
Mode 1: Functionally equivalent to a Sample and Hold.
Voltage step will only change with a rising edge pulse or trigger applied to the CLOCK input jack.
Unique design requires no hold capacitor.
Result is zero 'droop' and infinite hold.
Ideal use of mode 1 is in conjunction with a sequencer.
The sequencer gate bus can be used to initiate the sampling of each sequencer step.

Mode 2: No-Clock or free mode.
Voltage step output changes automatically when the input crosses the conversion threshold determined by the scale selected.  This is the mode users will be familiar with when using the MiniWave to quantize. The one difference here is that with each transition a 5ms pulse is output from the PULSE out jack. This provides the ability to trigger envelopes or logic inputs in synch with step changes.

Features
SCALE: Combined 48 scales and chords in 3 banks.
Panel and CV control of scale selection.
Input 0-5V+ @ 100K ohms

TRANSPOSE: Transpose scales in 12 semitone increments.
Not just an offset function but a true key transposition.
Panel and CV control of Transpose.
Input 0-5V+ @ 100K ohms

LEDs: Binary numbering indicates scale selected .

PULSE OUT : 5ms pulse or trigger is output whenever a new step is converted.  Output +5V @ 330 ohms

INVERT: Logic high patched to jack results in scale inversion. Low voltage input converts to high scale step and vice versa. Excellent for adding variation to a static sequence pattern. Input +5V @ 100K ohms

CLOCK Input : Rising edge pulse initiates sample acquisition. Input +5V @ 100K ohms

INPUT: Signal input to be quantized. Input range +/-5V @ 100K ohms

OUTPUT: quantized step output Output range +/-5V @ 330 ohms

Serge ASR Quantiser module (from here)

it contains (from left to Right): VC Timegen Clock, Divide by N Comparator, 3 step Analogue Shift Register (x2), 6 channels Quantizer.

this is a great module for sequencing aplications, and not only:

it can generate arabesque melodies with its two ASR’s that can be chained to form a single 6 channel ASR), using 3 VCO’s. or you could use the ASR’s, clocked at audio rate, as a weird wave processor….

you can further quantize various sequencer channels with the Quantizer, or quantize the outputs of the ASR’s…

with the ‘Divide by N Comp’ you get a comparator, a clock divider up to /31 (with odd and even clock divisions), an audio wave divider to create subharmonics, a staircase wave generator with N steps, (all these with the N defined manually or via VC) a tool to create sharp clocking pulses, etc…

the Quantizer features six channels of quantizing plus two toggle switches, in addition to its gate input jacks, for selection of intervallic step variants (manualy or via VC).

and, of course, the ‘VC Timegen Clock’ that can act as vc lag, vc AD, vc LFO, lowpass VCF, vc-clock source, audio divider, envelope follower, etc…

put all these together for countless more applications….

Another Serge, TKB (from here)

Usually used in conjunction with a sequencer, these modules take a continuously varying voltage and constrain it to equally-tempered steps.  Four scales are available depending on the setting of switches and the state of scale select trigger inputs.  There are 3 quantizers available: the TKB quantizer, a sequencer quantizer, and a standalone quantizer.  The standalone quantizer has seven available independent channels, in other words, you can quantize up to seven sources independently.  The TKB quantizer has four independent channels and four channels dedicated to the A-B-C-D layers of the TKB.  Also, the standalone and TKB quantizers take up 2 inches of panel width, whereas the sequencer quantizers need only one inch.