Clipping LED always on

[decoder303]

Hello,

I've just received a Desktop Evolver and it seems to have a problem with the clipping LED, it's always on, no matter if a sound is played or not. I've checked on some youtube videos only and read the manual and this isn't right it seems.
I've checked the settings and turned the inputs to 0db (there isn't anything plugged in) and browsed through all the patches. The sound seems to be ok, since I've just newly received the Evolver and don't have any experience with how the patches should sound like, it's difficult to say if everything is ok, some sound clean, others gritty/distorted, but I guess that's one of the things the evolver is known for.
So I've also tried to program a patch from scratch, with lower gain staging, only one VCO etc and the LED is just always lid.
The seller of course doesn't know about any problem and hasn't been of any help, so I hope that maybe somebody here could give a hint on what to check or what the problem might be. Even if the evolver seems to work flawless, it's of course a bit irritating if the clipping LED shows clipping.. The OS is 3.0 / 3.5 as far as I could check. The Evolver came with an Adapter which isn't original, I've checked and compared for correct specs before plugging it in, and it is correct apart of one thing, the Evolver says 13-15V DC 500mA center positive, while the adapter only has 12V, so I wonder if this might cause the clipping LED be lid? An adapter with 15V is already ordered..

I would appreciate some help / thoughts!

Thank you!

[Soundquest]

decoder303,

Not by my desktop unit now to simulate, but make sure VCA is not set too high.  I'll check it this weekend to see what else might be overdriving.    I use mine as a polychained 5th voice for the PEK.  It's intrinsic volume output is higher than the PEK.   Congrats on your purchase btw

[Manbird]

Hello,

I've just received a Desktop Evolver and it seems to have a problem with the clipping LED, it's always on, no matter if a sound is played or not. I've checked on some youtube videos only and read the manual and this isn't right it seems.
I've checked the settings and turned the inputs to 0db (there isn't anything plugged in) and browsed through all the patches. The sound seems to be ok, since I've just newly received the Evolver and don't have any experience with how the patches should sound like, it's difficult to say if everything is ok, some sound clean, others gritty/distorted, but I guess that's one of the things the evolver is known for.
So I've also tried to program a patch from scratch, with lower gain staging, only one VCO etc and the LED is just always lid.
The seller of course doesn't know about any problem and hasn't been of any help, so I hope that maybe somebody here could give a hint on what to check or what the problem might be. Even if the evolver seems to work flawless, it's of course a bit irritating if the clipping LED shows clipping.. The OS is 3.0 / 3.5 as far as I could check. The Evolver came with an Adapter which isn't original, I've checked and compared for correct specs before plugging it in, and it is correct apart of one thing, the Evolver says 13-15V DC 500mA center positive, while the adapter only has 12V, so I wonder if this might cause the clipping LED be lid? An adapter with 15V is already ordered..

I would appreciate some help / thoughts!

Thank you!

Also, it's always worth noting that Sequential support are a great port of call. They'll help troubleshoot their products, whether a particular bit of kit is still in production or not.

[decoder303]

decoder303,

Not by my desktop unit now to simulate, but make sure VCA is not set too high.  I'll check it this weekend to see what else might be overdriving.    I use mine as a polychained 5th voice for the PEK.  It's intrinsic volume output is higher than the PEK.   Congrats on your purchase btw

Thank you for the hint, I've had some time in the evening and it seems that OSC 3 has a problem. I've created an init patch (cutoff max, res 0, env all 0 except sustain max, all modulation sources 0 etc).. comparing the waveforms between osc 3 and 4, they don't sound nothing alike, osc 3 is very distorted (at low level), some waveforms don't even sound bad, others completely broken but they are all distorted..
Also found a 15V 500mA center positive adapter and it doesn't make a difference.. that's a real bummer.. dunno what to do now, but I guess I'll return it to the seller, it wasn't cheap and a repair, if even possible, is gonna add quite some costs..

[decoder303]

Hello,

I've just received a Desktop Evolver and it seems to have a problem with the clipping LED, it's always on, no matter if a sound is played or not. I've checked on some youtube videos only and read the manual and this isn't right it seems.
I've checked the settings and turned the inputs to 0db (there isn't anything plugged in) and browsed through all the patches. The sound seems to be ok, since I've just newly received the Evolver and don't have any experience with how the patches should sound like, it's difficult to say if everything is ok, some sound clean, others gritty/distorted, but I guess that's one of the things the evolver is known for.
So I've also tried to program a patch from scratch, with lower gain staging, only one VCO etc and the LED is just always lid.
The seller of course doesn't know about any problem and hasn't been of any help, so I hope that maybe somebody here could give a hint on what to check or what the problem might be. Even if the evolver seems to work flawless, it's of course a bit irritating if the clipping LED shows clipping.. The OS is 3.0 / 3.5 as far as I could check. The Evolver came with an Adapter which isn't original, I've checked and compared for correct specs before plugging it in, and it is correct apart of one thing, the Evolver says 13-15V DC 500mA center positive, while the adapter only has 12V, so I wonder if this might cause the clipping LED be lid? An adapter with 15V is already ordered..

I would appreciate some help / thoughts!

Thank you!

Also, it's always worth noting that Sequential support are a great port of call. They'll help troubleshoot their products, whether a particular bit of kit is still in production or not.

Thank you, I'll try to contact them

[Soundquest]

 Taken as a whole, sound like you are on the verge of overloading constantly and certain tweaks (like a different osc level), get you just above or below.  I guess all I'm saying is that it might not be a bad osc 3 "too".   Hate to risk sounding overly simple, but I assume you are looking at amp outputs options upstream from the clip. 

[decoder303]

Taken as a whole, sound like you are on the verge of overloading constantly and certain tweaks (like a different osc level), get you just above or below.  I guess all I'm saying is that it might not be a bad osc 3 "too".   Hate to risk sounding overly simple, but I assume you are looking at amp outputs options upstream from the clip.

I've spent some more hours with it now, it's quite a complex little thing and that there isn't a "real" factory reset doesn't help much. So I also uploaded the factory patches and tbh, half of them sound broken, no mattern if they should sound like they do or not lol
So I also purchased a soundbank as reference to compare different patches to the demo on youtube, and the sound seems to be ok, at least the patches sounded the same as on the demo, no distortion or anything. The problem with the clipping led is consistant though.
As soon as I plug the adapter cable in, the clip led is active, no matter if sound is playing or not and without anything plugged into the inputs, it's just permanently on, acting more like a second power on led than anything else. This can't be like it should be, it is active on all 3.0 factory patches, it is also active on the soundbank I bought (are you sequenced) and there isn't any clipping led in the demo video on these patches. And as mentioned, there hasn't to be anything going on at all..
I've checked levels starting from the 4 OSC levels, set them to 30, amp to 50, level 50, no modulations going on etc, and it doesn't change anything. If it would be just the LED, ok, but that voltage must come from somewhere to make it lid and I am worried that another component is slowly failing..

Support also already got back to me but only linked to a service center which has an hourly rate of 69 EUR pre tax, which would end up with at least 200 extra costs for me then I guess..

[Soundquest]

With amp envelope set all the way up, my desktop clips much of the time.  Turn it half way down.  Then make sure you don't have distortion or tuned feedback on.   That will cause the distorted sounds you described earlier.   Not sure what else it would be.

[decoder303]

With amp envelope set all the way up, my desktop clips much of the time.  Turn it half way down.  Then make sure you don't have distortion or tuned feedback on.   That will cause the distorted sounds you described earlier.   Not sure what else it would be.

As mentioned, the LED is lid as soon as the Evolver gets turned on, without any sound playing, no input signals, just plugging the adapter cable in, it instantly turns on, as if it's a power indicator. It's also lid on all patches, factory 3.0 patches and also throughout the mentioned "are you sequenced" soundbank (comparing these patches there isn't any clipping on any of the patches demoed in the video either).
So independent of any setting/the sound, it isn't a normal behaviour that a clipping LED is on without any signal in the signal path, just straight after turning the synth on, no sequencer running, no midi signal, nothing plugged into the inputs etc..

If the service notes/schematic would be available it might be a relatively easy fix but without documentation no joy..

[Jilsk]

With amp envelope set all the way up, my desktop clips much of the time.  Turn it half way down.  Then make sure you don't have distortion or tuned feedback on.   That will cause the distorted sounds you described earlier.   Not sure what else it would be.

As mentioned, the LED is lid as soon as the Evolver gets turned on, without any sound playing, no input signals, just plugging the adapter cable in, it instantly turns on, as if it's a power indicator. It's also lid on all patches, factory 3.0 patches and also throughout the mentioned "are you sequenced" soundbank (comparing these patches there isn't any clipping on any of the patches demoed in the video either).
So independent of any setting/the sound, it isn't a normal behaviour that a clipping LED is on without any signal in the signal path, just straight after turning the synth on, no sequencer running, no midi signal, nothing plugged into the inputs etc..

If the service notes/schematic would be available it might be a relatively easy fix but without documentation no joy..

Hello there.

I am interested to see if you ended up returning your Evolver Desktop unit or if you have resolved this issue. I am having the same problem with mine. The Clip indicator is always lit for every patch. I will reach out to Sequential customer service, but I wanted to see if I could get some answers here first. Thanks!

[decoder303]

With amp envelope set all the way up, my desktop clips much of the time.  Turn it half way down.  Then make sure you don't have distortion or tuned feedback on.   That will cause the distorted sounds you described earlier.   Not sure what else it would be.

As mentioned, the LED is lid as soon as the Evolver gets turned on, without any sound playing, no input signals, just plugging the adapter cable in, it instantly turns on, as if it's a power indicator. It's also lid on all patches, factory 3.0 patches and also throughout the mentioned "are you sequenced" soundbank (comparing these patches there isn't any clipping on any of the patches demoed in the video either).
So independent of any setting/the sound, it isn't a normal behaviour that a clipping LED is on without any signal in the signal path, just straight after turning the synth on, no sequencer running, no midi signal, nothing plugged into the inputs etc..

If the service notes/schematic would be available it might be a relatively easy fix but without documentation no joy..

Hello there.

I am interested to see if you ended up returning your Evolver Desktop unit or if you have resolved this issue. I am having the same problem with mine. The Clip indicator is always lit for every patch. I will reach out to Sequential customer service, but I wanted to see if I could get some answers here first. Thanks!

Hey, sadly no, I am living with it since the sound is ok and everything is working alright for now. Support hasn't been of great help except linking me to a service center, but I am not willing to pay that rate to fix a LED as long as the synth itself works.. wish there'd still be a chance to get service notes for synths like back in the days, at least for synths which are discontinued since more than a decade..