Soundmachines designer Davide Mancini let us know the details on his new portable modular analog synthesizer design, the NS1nanaosynth.

Mancini describes the NS1nanosynth as ‘A powerful, deep and hacker-­friendly blend of a real analog modular synthesizer and an Arduino platform’.

Here’s a diagram of the NS1nanosynth’s architecture:

The NS1nanosynth offers the core features of a modular synth:

a saw core thermally stabilized v/oct VCO,

a 12db lowpass and bandpass VCF,

two LFOs,

one loopable ADSR envelope,

a standard VCA,

two twistable attenuators,

two pot controllers, and

more than a dozen “micro” modules, like mixers, mul@ples, sample and hold, sum/sub blocks, inverters, logic or, and, nand, analog dividers, clock dividers, fixed voltage generators and several ‘sensor blocks’.

In addition to the analog elements, the NS1nanosynth features an Arduino Leonardo – a standard processor with native USB connectivity, which gives the tiny modular USB MIDI support and more.

Here’s a preview of the NS1nanosynth in action, sequenced via USB MIDI:

The NS1nanosynth is expected to be available by the end of October, 2015, for US $219 and 180€+VAT. Additional accessories, including a metal case and experimenter kit, are also planned.