Melbourne Instruments - NINA

NINA by Melbourne Instruments is a 12-voice analog, polyphonic and multitimbral synthesizer with fully motorized(!) controls.

Finally, realize the true values of your synthesizer, NINA makes it possible!

The motorized knobs jump immediately to the current values (including morphing & modulation values) when changing patches. They can be operated as "infinite" knobs or switches with multiple positions to allow e.g. free or detuned detuning. Furthermore, the felt resistance can be changed, e.g. to create a more intensive playing feel or to define end or zero detuning. The resolution is exceptionally precise with 16000 steps per revolution to map parameter values ultra-accurately.

The sound creation is completely analog and starts with three oscillators, including two analog VCOs (morphable between triangle and sawtooth, crossfadeable to pulse wave) and a wavetable oscillator into which you can load your own wavetables. A classic four-pole transistor ladder filter can either be overdriven wickedly or operated with low noise and "smooth". In addition, there is, among other things, an extensively equipped modulation matrix (16 sources/27 destinations) with LFO, an ultra-fast ADSR envelope and a four-quadrant VCA developed by Melbourne Instruments. A/B patch morphing allows you to create unique sound textures, plus NINA has high-quality on-board FX (delay, chorus, algorithmic reverb with shimmer) based on expandable VST3 algorithms that can be run either in parallel or in series. Since NINA's OS was implemented using a powerful Raspberry Pi 4, there are many hacking and expansion options for the future. On the output side, there is another pair of jacks (3/4) in addition to the stereo sum (with effects), while three Line/CV jacks and a Line/XLR/CV combo jack are available as inputs. The unit is rounded out by a trio of MIDI and three USB jacks.

Features:

• Motorized, recallable, automatable, assignable and robust control panel with high resolution
• 3 oscillators per voice
• 2 analog VCOs, 1 digital wavetable oscillator (user equipable)
  Waveforms of oscillators 1 and 2 can be morphed between triangle, sawtooth and crossfade with the pulse wave
• Sub-Osc for a square wave of VCO 1
• Hard sync of oscillator 2 with VCO 1
• Fine & Course Tune control with up to 8 octaves range
• 96kHz 24bit wavetable oscillator resolution
• Selectable fuzz and noise sources: Pink, White, Oscillator 1 & 2 XOR (fuzz) or external input
• LFO with selectable waveforms, modulable rate and level controls
• Classic 4-pole transistor ladder VCF with
  modulatable resonance and overdrive/low noise option.
• Traditional ADSR envelope as well as four-quadrant VCA developed by Melbourne Instruments
• Extensive modulation matrix (16 sources/27 destinations)
• Morphable modulation settings
• Quick-to-edit MOD mode
• Bipolar (thru zero) MOD intensities
• Patch morphing
• ADSR envelope generators
• ADSR envelopes available as modulation sources
• Unison polyphony (up to 12 voices in unison or polyphonic
• Mono trigger and legato modes
• Selectable polyphonic panning schemes with spin effect
• Multitimbral layers (up to 4 layers for 4 timbres, navigable via MIDI channel and note ranges
• Number of assigned voices per layer user selectable
• Assignable keyboard splits
• Onboard computer and powerful operating system.
• Hackable open-source software running on a powerful Raspberry Pi 4 with Elk Audio OS
• Extensible VST3 effects algorithms.
• Parallel or serial mix modes (Parallel mode preserves analog sound)
• 96kHz 24bit resolution
• Stereo main outputs with effects
• Aux outputs (3 & 4)
• Headphone output
• 3x USB  
• Usable as a USB MIDI and audio device for direct automation and integration with a DAW.
• 3 balanced TRS line or CV inputs
• 1 TRS/XLR combo. Microphone for line/CV input
• CV +/-10 V max. analog gain and offset trimming