LZX Industries 2021-2022 Product Roadmap

I’m curious about the Spritechild, I can’t find much info on google about the SSE, what exactly are its functions?

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This sounds kind of bonkers. In maybe both senses, as the real-time applications sound great whereas a stop-motion-like workflow sounds absolutely maddening to me, personally. But flexibility to different preferences/possibilities would be super.

One thing I know I have been doing a lot lately using Coge (the VJ software I have) is use audio reactivity to control position in clip, like I gather one can do with short animations in Memory Palace (I don’t have one). But, as long as I encode in HAP format, Coge can handle quite long video clips, scanning through them at will. By shifting the audio sensitivity and, especially, the start and end points within the clip, you can create a lot of dynamism with just a single clip. It is really almost like granular synthesis for video. Would love to get that functionality — especially easier modulation of start/end points — into the modular world.

Maybe this is more a “Player” thing than a “Codex” thing? But being able to do this with both clips and live samples would be really, really cool.

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Yes!! This and a random position trigger would be amazing. Favorite part about r_e_c_u_r

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looks great and am especially looking forward to the DIY bits!!!

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So excited about all of this! Hope the cases come towards the front of production as well! Great job!

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There’s a thread that’s the equivalant of this one on the Facebook LZX community group page. Lars said LZX are happy to receive any feedback on what people want to see offered by them in the coming year or 3. For now the plan is a 52HP beginner’s case and a 204HP case. My suggestion was to double the 204HP option but folding it over so it’ll be an ideal 4 row touring case for instance.

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Thank you for posting here @creatorlars and sharing this with us.
Super much excite! Starting a savings for all the tings!
Covidiot sounds great, been wanting to have a vidiot in the eurorack rather than to the side.
So many other things sounds amazing too!
:grinning: :vulcan_salute:

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After spending some time with this, I realize I’d love to hear more about the new power options.

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Just saw this. I’m hoping that the Transceiver can do HDMI input and output simultaneously? If it can’t, I guess one way would be a big improvement anyway.

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Yes, like TBC2, the Transceiver would be a compact, complete HDMI based system core (syncgen + HDMI to RGB decoder + RGB to HDMI encoder.) So in the scope of the new lineup, minimal digital IO in the absence of analog video IO, would be an option from the start.

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OK, lets go over the power options.

First, a note: a big thing with our new catalog is the presence of OEM options. These sit in a kind of “pro user/modder” space, where we hope to offer a larger variety of components that aren’t full retail modules, but also aren’t DIY assembly kits. So, akin to installing a new hard drive in your PC, or a replacement part for your appliance, or upgrading the rotors on your drone. So we plan to open up a lot of our inventory of sub assemblies and replacement parts to you, in this way.

And a secondary note: from the perspective of the retail modules and cases, there’s nothing new you need to worry about. Your EuroRack cases will host the new modules and the new cases will host your old modules.

That said, retail modules will now all come with a “12VDC/EuroRack To LZX Rear Power Entry PCB” installed on the rear. This is effectively a small +/-1A +/-5V power supply using some high efficiency switchers + ultra low noise LDOs (TPS7A47 series from TI) that we’ve been developing for a couple years. All modules will power off either 12V DC barrel or EuroRack power, with this assembly installed.

There are a few reasons this is relevant:

– All modules now run off analog +/-5V power rails natively. If you remove the “12VDC/EuroRack To LZX Rear Power Entry PCB” assembly, or build a DIY module that excludes it, then you can supply +/-5V power directly via a Molex MiniFIT-4 power cable that looks like this:
image

– If you socket a “12VDC/EuroRack To LZX Rear Power Entry PCB” into a “Molex MiniFIT Power Distribution Bus,” you now have a modular +/-5V LZX power supply that powers off of either a DC wall-wart or a EuroRack power supply.

For DIYers and OEM modders, a new option is to run the modules off a +/-5V power supply only (either with your own linear +/-5V supply, or the “12VDC/EuroRack To LZX Rear Power Entry PCB” socketed on the “Molex MiniFIT Power Distribution Bus”.) This should be a positive move for the development of the community as a whole, as most modern video ICs or high precision analog parts are designed for +/.-5V rails. So as native power goes, it’s a much better fit for a video synthesizer (or hi fi audio device) than EuroRack’s +/-12V standard. For those of you building huge DIY systems, you can save some cash and gain some performance at the same time, by moving to +/-5V power on new builds.

One thing I don’t know yet, is if modules will be available fully assembled without the rear power entry board, as an OEM assembly. That may cause some issues/confusion with retail.

All this will make a bit more sense if I can show you some shots of the boards and connectors in place. I asked Jonah to snap a screenshot of the 3D model and will add to this post when I get it.

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How about a minimal eurorack module that would have a barrel connector on the front and one of those molex distribution sockets on the back? That way you could plug a beefier power supply into a case to power these modules?

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Thanks for the thorough reply! Haven’t quite wrapped my ahead around it all yet, but looking forward to seeing how it comes together.

One question: when you say…

retail modules will now all come with a “12VDC/EuroRack To LZX Rear Power Entry PCB” installed on the rear.

…does that mean the continuing modules from before (Memory Palace and other Orions, for instance) will begin to feature these as well? Or just new designs?

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It will depend on the module. Most modules from the past few years have hi fidelity +/-5V power entry already integrated, or in the case of Memory Palace or Chromagnon, we want those to remain native 12V entry because they have integrated internal power supplies/controllers. The difference here is we are externalizing our typical power entry circuit onto a separate assembly. Then we can build that one assembly in larger quantities, which helps keep the cost down on those expensive LDOs. And it also enables the +/-5V native approach, which some will find exciting.

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The “Molex MiniFIT Power Distro Board” will have a EuroRack frontpanel option for sure, if that’s where you want to mount the power supply. For 12V DC distribution, we have a DC distro module that’s 4HP and will be coming out with TBC2.

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Here are the renders I mentioned, of what one of our new module assemblies will look like with and without the rear power board:



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That’s pretty cool. So there’s a cutout on the power board that lets the molex connector poke through? Am I interpreting it right? So with the power board on the module, you could power it with any one of the three(!) power connections?

So there’s a cutout on the power board that lets the molex connector poke through?

Yes. But this is just for clearance reasons (see below.)

Am I interpreting it right? So with the power board on the module, you could power it with any one of the three(!) power connections?

Not quite – with the PCB installed, access to the Molex header is physically blocked. That’s so you don’t accidentally install the power board + an external 5V supply at the same time.

With the PCB installed, you can use either Euro or +12VDC to power directly. The power entry board itself is a small PSU that takes 12V input, switches that to +/-5.5V, then drops that to +/-5V across the two RF grade LDOs. This mockup is using an old part, the DC barrel should be right angled. This is why we have a half-height PCB here, is because it gives you room to plug cables in, parallel with the module’s front.

The Euro and +12V inputs are OR’ed thru big schottky diodes – so it would be “safe” to accidentally have both connected at once. That’s not something I wanted to do to those pretty +/-5V precision rails in the intermediary connector (hence the requirement for blocking the Molex connector with the rear PCB in place.)

Without the PCB installed, you can connect +/-5V directly to the Molex connector.

(This is just a first prototype, obviously!)

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Is the Pendulum still in production?

I don’t believe so but I pm’d you a link to a new one.

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