My First Doepfer Filter

[stoooooo]

Hi

Im on the very brink of orderring the start of my first modular. Im going with Doepfer for now, just 10 or 15 basic modules and a big case!

I just can't decide which filters to get to start off with......

I like the Buchla style LP/gate - I like the sound of Buchlas and it acts as a VCA as a bonus.

I thought I liked the idea of the MS20 xtreme filter but having heard a few samples Im not 100% sure - maybe a bit cold and hard sounding.

I have now just realised that the diode ladder filter (A102) is based on EMS VCS3 - which is another synth I love the sound of (but not sure that its the EMS filter I like particularly).

Also Im not too keen on having a Curtis chip filter - nothing against them but I have access to synths with a Curtis filter so I want something different.

But a multimode filter would be useful also.....

So I'd really like any opinions and recomendations on the various Doepfer filters.

As a rule my sonic tastes don't go much beyond 1973 and I make funk music.

Ta

Stoooooo

[Cat-A-Tonic]

I'm a Frac guy so far, so I don't have any direct experience with Euro filters.

I can't see any reason why your filter considerations should stop with Doepfer.

A-101-1 looks like a really nice vactrol riff on the classic Steiner filter.
It is a very unique multimode because the filter type jacks are inputs instead of outputs.
From my understanding, this allows it to be used as sort of a frequency-dependent interpolating scanner.

A-105 SSM filter is supposedly quite good for bass.

A-108 looks neat as a multi-slope output moogish filter.

A-106-6 looks neat for its many outputs and if you like the Oberheim sound.

A-124 Wasp filter has always looked nice to me.

Other manufacturers also have some great filters available.
Makenoise - Quad Multi Mode Gates.
Malekko/Wiard - Boogie & Borg
Harvestman - Polyvoks
Bubblesound...
STG...

The list goes on.
Filter choices are a personal choice like flavors of icecream.
Good luck in your quest.

[ndkent]

There is certainly quite a choice of filters out there in Eurorack format. You really have to decide on a feature set - mainly I guess if you want a multimode or not. There are some other lesser factors. Filters before Curtis and SSM ones rarely had voltage controlled resonance on the filter (not that you couldn't patch some in by using a VCA and possibly an inverter), so it's left out on the majority of filters.

Though there is certainly a grey area in between, I've noticed some filters seem designed from the onset to be intentionally easily pushed to be dirty/distorty since some people are after that characteristic. A number are designed that way and it's useful to remember filters do sound different as the same input signal gets hotter.

One way to go about deciding is to choose a classic filter sound that you know and like and then ask what's out there. It's easier then to get people's opinions based on something existing on what you like.

The LPG gate is a very useful addition though it's not really going to take the place of a steeper filter or fast responding good s/n ratio vca.

I know you could mellow out the Xtreme MS-20 one, but it is a sort of riff on pushing and adding to a MS-20 style filter which isn't that much of a classic funk sound.

The EMS one is an interesting slightly "acid" sound, Analogue Systems builds a closer more featured copy though it's also wider and needs an adaptor cable for Doepfer. There is also a TB-303 style filter from Doepfer.

The Steiner style one is maybe a bit esoteric and unusual.

SSM made chips before Curtis. Their filter sounds smoother and more Moog-like than the Curtis ones.

Not be confused, a SEM (vintage Oberheim style) might be a good choice.

Obviously a Moog like filter is THE classic filter. The A-120 was Doepfer's initial filter and gets some criticism, mostly because it doesn't so easily overdrive in a good way like a good Moog filter does. The A-108 is a sort of expanded idea based on the Moog design. Not perfect but certainly not bad.

[cerebrosis]

im digging the 101-2 lpg alot. its really meaty sounding and has res, something alot of lpgs lack. it can get in to buchla bongo territory but not as nice sounding as the plan b (but you dont have to worry about PG) for it but the doepfer does have a thicker sound.

the 101-1 looks nice as does the SEM filter but i have no expierience with either.

[Per]

I have the filters you mentioned in my modular. In my opinion, there are two great Doepfer filters, the LPG that has a nice organic classic modular sound, derived from the original Buchla. The second is the Steiner, that is sweet and mellow and opens up for different treatment of HP BP and LP signals, as well as many other applications.
For the moogish sound, the moog filter is the best. Pretty close, with warm dirt, is the AS LP filter, useable with a a special cable for the power supply.
Per