Sequential unveils Trigon-6 6-Voice Polyphonic Analog Synth, The Last Synth Dave Smith Contributed To
Sequential unveils the Trigon-6, Dave Smith’s final synth: “We believe it continues his legacy”. The Six-voice analogue polysynth is designed to be “an ideal mix of portability and power”
When he demised earlier this year, Sequential’s Dave Smith was mourned both in the synth community and beyond. However, it turns out that he had one final design to share with us: the Trigon-6.
Sequential has introduced the Trigon-6, a new 6-voice analog synth that features the company’s take on the classic Moog 3-VCO-plus-ladder-filter tone, in a modern polyphonic instrument design.
“Dave Smith was very excited about the Trigon-6 and we believe it continues his legacy as a synth creator,” says Sequential CEO David Gibbons, confirming that this was the last synth that Smith contributed to.
The six-voice Trigon-6 offers three newly-designed discrete voltage-controlled oscillators per voice, and simultaneously selectable waveshapes (triangle, sawtooth, reverse sawtooth, and variable-width pulse). Beyond this there’s a two- and four-pole ladder filter design with feedback and drive, and analogue voltage-controlled amplifiers.
“Our new VCOs and filters give the Trigon-6 a tremendous amount of warmth and presence,” notes Gibbons. “The classic, big, punchy analog ladder filter tone is all here — but with some unique enhancements of our own. The addition of drive and feedback allow for a wider palette of sounds than is typical, while still retaining the ability to dial back the aggression to achieve sweet, creamy tones just as easily.”
With the Trigon-6, Sequential has created a trio of 6-voice polysynths, each inspired by the work of a different ’70s/’80s synth maker:
- The Prophet-6 is Sequential’s modern take on the classic Prophet-5 sound, combining the Prophet-5 synth voice with modern effects and performance features.
- The OB-6 takes the classic Tom Oberheim sound — with its true voltage-controlled oscillators, 2-pole filter, and amplifiers — and adds modern enhancements, such as studio-quality effects, a polyphonic step sequencer, an arpeggiator, and more; and
- The Trigon-6 is Sequential’s take on the classic Moog sound, featuring a 4-pole ladder filter design, with feedback and drive, along with a dual effects section, polyphonic step sequencer, arpeggiator and more.
Modulation sources include filter envelope and oscillator 3 (both with bi-polar control), while destinations include oscillator 1, 2, and 3 frequency, oscillator 1, 2, and 3 pulse width, low-pass filter cutoff and feedback.
There’s also a 24-bit/48kHz dual digital effects section that features reverbs, modelled digital and analogue delays, chorus, flanger, phase shifter and ring modulation. If you want to maintain a fully analogue signal path, true bypass is your friend, and you can also make use of the fully analogue stereo distortion.
Other features include a multimode arpeggiator and a polyphonic step sequencer that offers up to 64 steps and up to six notes per step. The full-size, four-octave Fatar semi-weighted keyboard is velocity-sensitive and responds to aftertouch.
To ensure a truly intuitive programming experience, the Trigon-6 has a knob-per-function design and keeps you away from any menu diving. You can toggle between preset and live panel modes, the latter of which switches the synth into a ‘what you see is what you hear’ configuration.
Audio Demos:
The Sequential Trigon-6 is available to pre-order, with a street price of about $3,500. Find out more on the Sequential website.
Specifications:
OSCILLATORS
- Three discrete VCOs per voice
- Simultaneously selectable wave shapes: triangle, sawtooth, reverse sawtooth, and variable-width pulse
- Pulse width per oscillator
- Hard sync: oscillator 1 syncs to oscillator 2
- Keyboard tracking on/off (oscillator 3)
- Oscillator feedback and drive controls for increased signal saturation
- White Noise source
- Keyboard pitch tracking on/off
LOW-PASS FILTER
- Switchable two/four-pole, discrete, resonant, low-pass, ladder filter per voice
- Filter can be driven into self-oscillation with the Resonance control
- Bi-polar filter envelope amount
- Velocity modulation of envelope amount
- Keyboard tracking: off, half, full
FILTER ENVELOPE
- Four-stage (ADSR) envelope generator
- Velocity modulation of envelope amount
AMPLIFIER ENVELOPE
- Four-stage (ADSR) envelope generator
- Velocity modulation of envelope amount
LOW FREQUENCY OSCILLATOR
- Five wave shapes: sine, sawtooth, reverse sawtooth, square, and random (sample and hold)
- LFO sync
- Initial amount
- Mod destinations: oscillator 1 frequency, oscillator 2 frequency, oscillator 3 frequency, oscillator 1 pulse width, oscillator 2 pulse width, oscillator 3 pulse width, filter cutoff, amp (VCA)
POLY MOD
- Sources: oscillator 3 (bi-polar) and filter envelope (bi-polar)
- Destinations: oscillator 1 frequency, oscillator 2 frequency, oscillator 3 frequency, oscillator 1 pulse width, oscillator 2 pulse width, filter cutoff, feedback amount
VINTAGE KNOB
- Recreates vintage synth characteristics by adding voice-to voice variations in component behavior
AFTERTOUCH
- Source: channel (mono) aftertouch with bi-polar amount
- Destinations: Destinations: oscillator 1 frequency, oscillator 2 frequency, oscillator 3 frequency, LFO amount, amplifier envelope amount, filter envelope amount, FX mix A, FX mix B
CLOCK
- Master clock with tap tempo
- BPM control and display
- MIDI clock sync
ARPEGGIATOR
- Selectable note value: 16th note, 8th note triplet, 8th note, dotted 8th note, quarter note
- One, two, or three octave range
- Up, down, up/down, random, and assign modes
SEQUENCER
- Polyphonic step sequencer with up to 64 steps and rests
EFFECTS
- Stereo analog distortion
- Dual, 24-bit, 48 kHz digital effects, including: reverb (room, hall, plate, spring), delay (full bandwidth digital delay and emulated bucket brigade), chorus, flanger, phase shifter, and ring modulator
- Delay sync
- True bypass maintains fully analog signal path when digital effects are off
PERFORMANCE CONTROLS
- Full-sized, semi-weighted, 4-octave keyboard with velocity and aftertouch
- Backlit pitch and mod wheels
- Spring-loaded pitch wheel with selectable range per program (1 to 12 semitones up and down)
- Transpose controls for an 8-octave range
- Hold switch latches held notes on
- Polyphonic portamento
- Unison (monophonic) mode with configurable voice count, from one to all six voices, chord memory, and key modes
- Preset switch: when on, the front panel is live — what you see is what you hear
PATCH MEMORY
- 500 user and 500 factory programs in 10 banks of 100 programs each
- Direct program access, including single-button access to the current set of 10 programs
IN/OUT
- Left/mono and right audio outputs (2 x 1/4” phone jack)
- Headphone output (stereo, 1/4” phone jack)
- MIDI in, out, and thru ports
- USB for bidirectional MIDI communication
- Filter cutoff expression pedal input
- Volume expression pedal input
- Sustain footswitch input
- Sequencer start/stop footswitch input
POWER
- IEC AC power inlet for internal power supply
- Operates worldwide on voltages between 100 and 240 volts at 50 to 60 Hz; 30 watts maximum power consumption
PHYSICAL SPECS
- 31.8” L x 12.7” W x 4.6 / H (80.7 cm x 32.3 cm x 11.7 cm)
- 20 lbs (9.5 kg)
- Maple end panel
