Remaking The Maplin 5600 Synthesiser

The Maplin 5600s is a rare vintage stereo synthesizer which is packed with features: it has 4 VCO's, 1 LFO, 3 audio Mixers, 2 CV controlled mixers, 2 Transient envelopes, 1 Trapezoid envelope, 2 24db filters, 2 VCAs, 2 Ring modulators, 2 Audio in modules, Pan controls, Joystick and more.

Finding one might be hard in 2022, but an intrepid Derek Walker has recreated one and documented his process on his blog - as well as offering all the resources to build your own. There are many workarounds, use of the Raspberry Pi for recording functions, and a lengthy section on what he calls 'Hindsight Engineering'. What a phenominal project!

Find all the information here: bygonebytes - Maplin 5600 Synthesiser

Here's a demo of an original unit (albeit the S version):

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