Doepfer Dark Time Analog Sequencer occ.

Dark Time is an 2 x8 steps analog sequencer with CV/Gate, USB and Midi interface. It is planned in the first place as an add-on for the Dark Energy but may be used even in combination with other Midi, USB or CV/Gate equipment too.

Features overview

• • two rows with 8 controls each
  • for each step:
    • – rotary control (same knob type as Dark Energy)
    • – red LED
    • – three-position switch On/Off/Skip
      • On = trigger signal is active for this step
      • Off = no trigger for this step
      • Skip = step is skipped
    • – three-position switch Stop/Continue/Jump
      • Stop = sequence stops here
      • Continue = sequence continues
      • Jump/Reset:
        • If only one of the 16 toggle switches is in the Jump position a Reset is carried out (i.e. sequence jumps to stage 1)
        • If two or more of the switches are in the Jump position the sequence jumps to the next step with the switch in the Jump position and then continues from this position (until another step with the switch in the Jump position is reached and then the same procedure is carried out again)
  • several operating modes:
    • 1×16 (i.e. the two rows are daisy-chained)
    • 2×8 (i.e. both rows run in parallel)
    • 1-8 Combi (lower row set individual gate lenght of the upper row)
  • several running directions:
    • forward
    • backward
    • random
  • CV scaling: 1V/Octave standard (note: not suitable to control devices with Hz/V scale !)
  • several voltage / tuning ranges: 1V, 2V, 5V (corresponding to 1/2/5 octaves)
  • gate voltage 0/+5V (please refer to the remarks below concerning devices with S-Trigger or Korg MS10/MS20)
  • for units manufactured later than early 2012 (from serial number 120240) the output voltage for Gate/Clock/Reset/Start-Stop can be set to +12V by means of an internal jumper (the corresponding interface boards are marked V2/2011 or V3/2012). The following document describes the modification procedure in detail: Dark_Time_12V_Gate.pdf.
  • quantization on/off/custom scale  (custom scale not yet available in the first firmware version)
    when quantization is “off” the resolution is still 10 bit (i.e. 1024 steps over the full rotating range of each potentiometer), from this the term “quantization off” is not fully correct, with quantization “on” the resolution is 13/25/61 steps for 1/2/5 octaves
  • transpose via switch (-1/0/+1 octave), Midi/USB or external CV input
  • timing control, selected by a three position switch:
    • internal via built-in clock oscillator with frequency and pulsewidth controls
    • external via Midi/USB
    • external via analog clock/start/stop
  • analog interface for CV/gate/clock/Start-Stop (inputs and outputs, 3.5 mm miniature jack sockets)
  • Midi interface
  • USB interface (power supply via USB is not possible)

• optically adapted to Dark Energy (same knobs, same depth and height, same wooden side plates and so on)
• Powered via external power supply (12 AC/min. 400mA) for 230V
• powering the device via USB is not possible, because the analog circuits require a dual voltage (+/-12V).