Output balancing / other issues with polychain a PEK and desktop Evolver?

[proteus-ix]

There's a desktop Evolver for sale locally and I'm considering grabbing it to have 5 voices of sweet, sweet Daveolution.  (With my OB that would give me 11... Abracadabra!)

But I've heard some polychains are more of a polypain  because it can be difficult to balance the outputs in practice.

Is this the case with the Evolvers?  Any other challenges or concerns to be aware of when trying to polychain these?

[Sacred Synthesis]

The Evolver Desktop has a higher output than the Poly Evolvers, so you'll need to have some means to lower the Desktop's level.

[proteus-ix]

The Evolver Desktop has a higher output than the Poly Evolvers, so you'll need to have some means to lower the Desktop's level.

Um, can you not just turn the volume down?  How do people normally approach this?

[Paul Dither]

How do people normally approach this?

With a mixer.

[proteus-ix]

How do people normally approach this?

With a mixer.

Yeah that was how I assumed - can you not just turn the volume on the DE down?

[Paul Dither]

How do people normally approach this?

With a mixer.

Yeah that was how I assumed - can you not just turn the volume on the DE down?

No, because if you have polychained units, you can't just change a parameter like that on one unit alone. So a mixer is the only way to go—either via a casual mixer or your audio interface.

[proteus-ix]

How do people normally approach this?

With a mixer.

Yeah that was how I assumed - can you not just turn the volume on the DE down?

No, because if you have polychained units, you can't just change a parameter like that on one unit alone. So a mixer is the only way to go—either via a casual mixer or your audio interface.

Ah yeah, I was just thinking for basic level matching, but that makes sense you would want more on the fly control.  The manual says if you're chaining a Rack and Poly you just run the outputs from the poly into the Rack, but I'm guessing the mono is just hotter than both of them.

[Paul Dither]

Ah yeah, I was just thinking for basic level matching, but that makes sense you would want more on the fly control.  The manual says if you're chaining a Rack and Poly you just run the outputs from the poly into the Rack, but I'm guessing the mono is just hotter than both of them.

Yeah, the PER is the only Evolver with a mix input, so that makes a difference. Also, the different output signals are related to the voice number. If each voice of the poly versions would be as loud as the single voice of a Mono Evolver, then you'd end up with clipping much quicker. Hence, more headroom is needed for the poly versions.

[Sacred Synthesis]

The Evolver Desktop has a higher output than the Poly Evolvers, so you'll need to have some means to lower the Desktop's level.

Um, can you not just turn the volume down?  How do people normally approach this?

Sorry, but I thought the mixer solution was obvious.

[proteus-ix]

Ah yeah, I was just thinking for basic level matching, but that makes sense you would want more on the fly control.  The manual says if you're chaining a Rack and Poly you just run the outputs from the poly into the Rack, but I'm guessing the mono is just hotter than both of them.

Yeah, the PER is the only Evolver with a mix input, so that makes a difference.

Ohhhhh, that makes way more sense.

[Sacred Synthesis]

And when running a PEK into a PER, you can adjust the respective volume controls on each instrument to balance their volumes.