BKLD-25-A / MADE TO ORDER / Shop: BAIKAL Hybrid Desktop Synthesizer
BKLD-24-A / MADE TO ORDER
BKLD-22-B / Apr 17, 2022 / SOLD OUT
BKLD-22-A / Apr 1, 2022 / SOLD OUT
The BAIKAL is a hybrid monophonic desktop synthesizer that offers the best of both analog and digital worlds.
It is designed in two halves — the main circuit board is all digital, generating various sound sources, mixing and treatment options, envelopes, LFOs, and a 16-step sequencer and arpeggiator. It is equipped with an 16-line by 2-character LCD display, an encoder pot to navigate through parameters/pages shown on the display, four pots to modify the synthesis parameters, and six push buttons to cycle between groups of related pages, to switch between the synthesis pages and the sequencer/system pages, and to load and recall presets.
The all analog LP2 filter plus delay board forms the second half of the BAIKAL. It combines a raw OTA-C 2-pole filter with a classic lo-fi delay. It contains the voltage-controlled filter and amplifier, and has the ability to treat external audio.
The two digital oscillators are playable over a 11-octave range with a wide variety of waveforms, each with variable waveshaping parameters. You get basic square, sawtooth, pulse, triangle and filtered noise, a set of eight wavetables and trans-waves ranging from slap bass and bowed cello, through digital PPG-style sounds to tone-bar organs and male voice. In addition, you have a user wavetable option, so you can download your own creations via MIDI SysEx dump.
The BAIKAL is really compact (LxWxH 96x133x44mm), fits neatly on a desktop, can be powered by a 9V adaptor, features standard MIDI I/O and 6,35mm audio I/O sockets, and it can store many presets. Its innards are easy to navigate via a simple-yet-effective user interface consisting of the rotary encoder, the four rotary controls whose functions are linked to the four parameters currently displayed on the LCD display, and the yet described set of six push buttons with associated LED readouts to let you move between the various menus.
ADDITIONAL BAIKAL SPECS
- acryl housing, glossy black, LxWxH 96x133x44mm
- DC 9V center positive input (rear panel)
- no external power supply unit included
- on/off switch (right side panel)
- Midi input (rear panel)
- Midi output (rear panel)
- 6,35mm Line-level mono audio output (rear panel)
- 6,35mm Line-level mono audio input (rear panel)
- 512kB memory chip
- high quality parts
- full aluminum anodized knobs on every pot
- all electronic parts soldered by hand
- all parts RoHS compliant
See the detailed user manual here.
The BAIKAL is based on the Shruthi synthesizer. PCB and firmware originally designed by Émilie Gillet under Creative Commons cc-by-sa 3.0 license.