LZX Factors, a Gen3 Triple Four Quadrant Multiplier

I’m sure this is going to bring some joy to a few people on here, especially when it lets them get their rotation shoes on :wink:

PS. I couldn’t find any info anywhere else but I’m sure it’s coming really soon.

7 Likes

Thanks. This looks like the module I was hoping for next. I’ve been feeling a lack of Gen3 video-rate gain control lately. :wink:

Now I’m wondering where the ModularGrid info comes from. Has this module been demoed somewhere yet?

1 Like

I believe it was on an LZX twitch stream, but I don’t see that particular stream saved anywhere.

2 Likes

From the modulargrid changelog:

  • Wednesday August 16, 23:01 by brownshoesonly
  • Wednesday August 16, 04:09 by brownshoesonly
  • Wednesday August 16, 04:08 by brownshoesonly
  • Jul 7th, 20:43 by brownshoesonly (this one was unlisted)

So it seems pretty from-the-horses-mouth to me.

1 Like

Ok, that removes all doubt. Thanks.

Here’s a comment (& a link directly to it) by Lars, almost exactly a month ago, about Factors & some of it’s potential uses.

“The underlying function is “full wave rectifier”. It means splitting a signal into two, inverting one half and then summing the results. Absolute Value function, linear colorizers and solarizers (like Cortex, Stairs, etc) all are different implementations of rectifiers. Kind of like how “chorus, phaser, delay, reverb” all are temporal displacement functoins under the hood. A 4q multiplier like Factors can be used as a rectifier in combo with a comparator. Keychain + Factors for example could give you a hard inverter switch for rectification around a variable threshold.”

Here’s an invite link to the LZX Discord server, it’s good for 30 days, if you’re not already on there.

1 Like

Thanks for the additional information and the invite.

1 Like

Here’s a few more quotes from Lars about Factors in the LZX Discord’s General channel, with time stamps:

21/07/2023 19:26
it’s a 4q multiplier with the inputs biased around grey level. so you could think of it like a “contrast modulator/inverter” as opposed to a “brightness modulator/inverter” when used with RGB signals. when used with ramps it inverts around the center point so things flip around the center of the screen.

21/07/2023 19:28
2 biggest uses are as RGB image inverter/VCA, and as a multiplier for unipolar vectors (ramps) that won’t need any level shifting before or after the module.

Question from Meudiademorte 21/07/2023 20:12
Is the module bipolar like cadets? Just asking because of vector synthesis use. With cadet multipliers I can’t get a centered zoom without scaling the ramps to ±1.

Reply from Lreatorlars 21/07/2023 20:15
The scaling to +/-1V and then back to 0-1V all happens internally.
So you can patch 0-1V ramps in, 0-1V ramps out, but still modulate/invert at the center point.

21/07/2023 20:16
I would call it a “4 quadrant modulator for unipolar signals” rather than a “4 quadrant multiplier” in the strict sense.

1 Like

From the LZX Video Synth Community page:

“This one’s got a trick to it, which is that the main IO path has unipolar to bipolar to unipolar level shifting integrated. So you’d want to patch your bipolar input to the CV, and your unipolar input to IN. It makes it easy to modulate unipolar signals like RGB and Ramps in 4 quadrants. Handy for modulating IQ with 1V oscillators too!”

“The output is biased at 0.5V/gray, so it’s not not ideal for IQ processing with Swatch. The rotator/polar to cartesian modules are still coming to fill that niche, and that’s all part of Chromagnon at the moment.”

“And the controls give you enough range to take unipolar in and gain it up to +/-1V. This is all very nice with 1V VCO and Ramp waveforms. With ramps, grey level represents the center of the shape/screen.”

3 Likes

Now available on the LZX site!

5 Likes