Studio Electronics announces SE-3X three-voice paraphonic synthesizer

Three + Four = Heaven. The SE-3X: a three-voice paraphonic synth with four discrete, classic hardware filters.

Seen where the sound of success was heard, the SE-1(X)’s popularity with hitmakers, film composers and sound designers has spanned decades, and the 'X never quite rode off into the sunset. Now, it's blazing back with software sweetening and sweeping hardware refinements — innovations worthy of 30 years of rack time… and your time. Built attractively, built solidly, bringing you the bump 'n' thump and higher frequency clarity and warmth that has been the secret weapon of legends. Complete ‘3X software for ‘1X users is available as a Flash ROM chip upgrade.

The SE-1 was Studio Electronics’ first original product. We had spent several years adding MIDI, doing mods, and rack-mounting older synths. By 1991, we were ready to create our own product. Based largely on the MiniMoog, but incorporating many features from other classic Analog synths, it stored 255 patches and had extensive MIDI control; quickly it greased & boomed the bottom and wormed its way to the top on a multitude of hit records, soundtracks, video games, and touring racks.

After making it for 10 years or so and getting a lot of customer requests, we decided a major update was in order. The original ROM chip that held the operating system was full, so we designed a new CPU board, using a much larger Flash chip which enabled updating the OS over MIDI. Other standouts included 4 banks of 128 ROM patches, 4 RAM banks, an upsized battery-backed SRAM chip made that possible, and a CV generator boost to produce smoother envelopes and LFOs; the pot reading was greatly improved as well, making that vital programming aspect much faster and smoother.

We continued to sell them for another 10 years...

In 2020, we got a request from one of our top dealers and good friends, Lewis Chiodo at Awave, to make a second special '1X model for him. In addition to the custom hardware he wanted—2 extra VCFs—he wondered if we could include some potent software updates too. At first I declined, since I hadn't been working with the Motorola (now Freescale) chip that ran it for several years, added to that, my development system for it didn't work anymore. After some persuasion however, I decided to try. Progress was painfully slow at first, but I was eventually able to put it all together, with the usual optimistic and determined circuit-bending assist from Greg St. Regis.

New Features

Software:Paraphonic Mode: for easy and electric 3X chords and colors.
Front Panel control for Oscillator Mix.
Front Panel control for Oscillator 2 & 3 Fine Tune.
LFO Gate from our BOOMSTAR / MIDIMINI V30
OMEGA / SE-02 Envelope routines in addition to the original linear & magical quasi-exponential Envelopes.
Exponential Glide routine from the OMEGA and '1X Linear Glide.
New Front Panel Screen Jumps & Shortcuts.
Hardware:Two fuzz modes: 70s & 90s. Front panel switchable.
RESONANT FILTER COLLECTION: 24 dB MINI, 24 dB ARP, 24dB, 6dB, “Mix Mode” JUNO/JUPITER. SEM remains the built-in filter. Front panel switchable.
For more information: https://www.studioelectronics.com/pr...ckmount/SE-3X/









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