Wednesday, February 4, 2015

STG Soundlabs Sea Devils Filter Demo

Play MP3 clip: STG_Sea_Devils_Filter_Demo.mp3

During my last visit to Schneidersladen in Berlin I scored a very nice module from the bargain bin: An STG Soundlabs Sea Devils Filter. It is a three pole (18dB slope) diode ladder lowpass filter with signal input, ouput, 3 filter CV inputs (one with attenuator) and resonance CV. While testing this module at Schneiders I was really impressed by its character. It is both fat and vintage sounding as well as really precise in its response to external CV modulation. It reacts gorgeously to sequencer lines, envelopes and LFOs. It does however get quite growly with audio-rate filter CV modulation. Anyway, with low resonance you get a monolithic, huge sounding bottom end. Cranking up the resonance results in wonderfully "plucky" sounds, and as soon as resonance reaches self-oscillation you end up in creamy & bubbly acidic musical territory. This filter has so many sweet spots it's a real pleasure to use. Build quality is excellent. The knobs are large and sturdy and have a firm yet smooth action. I can say I am really happy I got this module.


STG Soundlabs Sea Devils Filter

For this demo I took my trusted MFB Kraftzwerg's 3 VCOs, tuned them two octaves apart and pitch-modulated them with MFB Megazwerg's 4-step CV sequencer. This sequence is getting some random transposition via Doepfer A-149-1. The 3 VCOs were then fed into the Sea Devils' input. To modulate the Sea Devils' filter cutoff frequency I used a mix of different CV sources: Electro Harmonix 8-Step Sequencer, Doepfer A-140 ADSR Envelope, Doepfer A-171-2 VC Slew Processor plus some manual tweaking. The Sea Devils' output was then fed through the MFB Megazwerg's delay. No other FX or EQ'ing was used.
In the beginning resonance ("response") is set to zero. I gradually turn up the resonance until the filter starts self oscillating at the end of the demo.