Noise Engineering Debuts Alia

US Brings Basimilus, Manis, and all-new Debel voices to a swappable oscillator platform 24/10/23

Noise Engineering has announced Alia, a new oscillator platform module. They say that, with Alia, the team brings back Basimilus and Manis, two of their beloved synth voices. Alia also launched with a whole new synth voice, Debel Iteritas Alia, described as a unique hybrid take on phase modulation and additive synthesis.

Here's more details direct from Noise Engineering...

The previous incarnation of the Iteritas modules was discontinued a few months ago when the processor it was built on was end-of-lifed. "We lived in fear of that development for years, but we didn't have a viable alternative. We had been thinking about a way off of that processor for some time, but when the part was EOLed, we got motivated. It was a long time before we were confident we could make it work, though," said Kris Kaiser, Doer of Many Things at Noise Engineering.

The revamped Basimilus Iteritas Alia and Manis Iteritas Alia have a near identical sound to the originals, and a few added features. "When we had to discontinue the BIA and the Manis, quite a few customers reached out asking us to bring them back," says Markus Cancilla, Noise Engineering's Chief of Destruction. "The new Alia platform allowed us to bring back our old favorites with a few improvements, and experiment with entirely new concepts, too."

The platform concept will be a familiar feature to Noise Engineering's customers. The Versio lineup introduced the idea of swappable firmware to the Noise Engineering ecosystem in 2020, and now has 9 different FX firmwares now available for the platform. Legio followed as a smaller platform in 6HP now with four firmwares. Alia follows suit, launching with three firmwares available and even more on the way, according to NE. As with the existing Versio and Legio platforms, firmware is free for Alia owners and swappable at any time from their Customer Portal. The team expects to offer hot swappable overlays for the different Alia firmwares in the near future.

Along with the return of the BIA and the Manis, the Debel Iteritas Alia is a completely new synth voice based around an additive phase-modulation architecture. Debel continues Noise Engineering's reputation for putting a huge amount of timbral range behind a small number of parameters, and bringing new ideas in synthesis to an easy-to-navigate interface. It uses a few different configurations of four-operator PM with each operator comprising four oscillators. Traditional FM sounds are easy to create, but can be instantly brought into entirely new territory with the tweak of a parameter or some external CV. Also in line with Noise Engineering's ethos of not taking themselves too seriously, Debel features Taco, Nacho, and Diablo modes. "The name and the panel have about a million inside jokes," said Stephen McCaul, Chief Noisemaker.

All three firmwares are available as paneled modules, so customers can choose the panel they prefer, but still try out everything the new Alia platform has to offer. Basimilus Iteritas Alia, Manis Iteritas Alia, and Debel Iteritas Alia are available now at https://noiseengineering.us and at retailers globally.

About Noise Engineering
Noise Engineering became a full-time job for husband-and-wife founders Stephen McCaul and Kris Kaiser when they abandoned their careers in games and academia to make musical gadgets. Since then, they have grown to seven employees and have expanded their hardware lineup in both Eurorack and 5U formats, as well as software plugins. The team strives to make inspiring tools for artists and to build community around their products with outreach, support, and education initiatives.

Pricing and Availability:
Basimilus Iteritas Alia, Manis Iteritas Alia, and Debel Iteritas Alia: In stock in black and silver. Shipping from Noise Engineering and retailers starting October 26th, 2023; MSRP US$385

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