The SoundForce VCF/VCF 6 is a Eurorack interpretation of the Juno 60/106 VCF, VCA and HPF sections. It was built based on the original service manuals documentation using modern components. This module is available in both black and grey background colors.
Most Juno users agree that the Juno 60 and 106 are sounding quite different. This is due to many factors: the different base clock frequency of the DCOs, the different SAW directions (falling vs rising), different packagings of the ICs, etc… Hideki Izuchi also mentioned using “a lot of premium parts” on the 60 and “With the JUNO-106, we just wanted to lower its price, whatever it took.”. That being said if you take a look at the schematics you will find that the topology of the VCF in both synthesizers is exactly the same. In the 60 the VCF was built around the IR3109, which was a custom IC including 4 OTAs. The VCA was built with a BA662, another custom OTA chip. The 106 was built using the 80017A, an IC/PCB module including both the IR3109 as well as the BA662. So basically the 60 chips but in a different package. Those were also mounted vertically to save space on the circuit board. The 80017A was tragically dipped in resin during production that caused most units to loose voices as time passed by. Some modern replacements are available and those have been tested during the making of this module.
As all the original custom ICs are now obsolete and unavailable for purchasing, the popular Texas Instruments LM13700 dual OTA IC was used to recreate the VCF and VCA using modern and widely available parts. All the passives needed have been taken over from the original schematics with some tweaks to adapt this design to the Eurorack format.
Signal flow:
The SoundForce VCF / VCA 6 features a simple 2-input audio mixer, a voltage controlled low pass filter (VCF), a VCA and a high-pass filter with 3 fixed cutoff frequencies plus a bass boost position. The signal flow is: mixer -> VCF -> VCA -> HPF.
The VCF section is a voltage-controlled low pass filter with a selection between 4 poles (24db/octave) or 2 poles (12db/octave). The travel of the FREQ slider has been calibrated to give you the best experience in the original 4 poles mode. FM1 and FM2 CV inputs can be used to modulate the cutoff frequency of the filter. Those CV signals are added to manual position of the FREQ slider. Note that you can invert the polarity of FM1 using a toggle switch. The VOCT input can be used to close the filter more or less based on the pitch of the note played by your musical CV source. It can also be used to “play” the filter when it is self-resonating. The filter will be in tune across about 8 octaves. Self-resonance is occurring when the RES slider is around position 9 or higher. The resonance can be also voltage-controlled using the Q CV input, this signal is added to the manual position of the RES slider. Please note all CV inputs have attenuators expect the VOCT input.
LDC:
LDC stands for “loudness drop compensation”, it is engaged when the switch is in the upper position. This feature avoid the usual input signal loudness drop with high level of resonance. Please note you will need to lower the input signal and/or VCA level to avoid distortion as LDC requires some extra headroom.
VCA:
This section is a “vintage-style” single OTA VCA. There is a manual slider control as well a CV input for the VCA. Both are summed together.
HPF:
The high-pass filter section is a combination of both the Juno 60 and 106 HPFs. Position 0 will give you the bass boost from the 106. Position 1 will not filter at all. From position 2 to 4 will cut progressively more bass and the cut off frequencies are 225 Hz, 339Hz and 720Hz.
Specifications:
– 18HP
– Depth: 38mm (including power connector)
– Power: +12V 91mA, -12V 51mA
– V/OCT, FM1, FM2: input range -5 to 5V
– QCV, ACV: input range 0V to 10V
How much is my shipping?
Shipping is automatically calculated before you submit your payment information. Simply add items to your cart and proceed to the checkout page, where you'll be offered shipping options and their prices. In the UK it's normally around £4 for order values under £150, and free above that. Shipping to mainland EU is typically between £7 and £20, depending on the shipping method and the size and weight of the order.
Do you ship to my country?
Almost certainly - the site will give you an estimate of shipping costs if you add an item to the cart and then enter your country and postcode. If you have specific requirements (such as if you prefer UPS over FedEx, for example) then let us know in advance and we'll try to work something out for you.
Shipping methods
We use a combination of Parcelforce, DPD, Royal Mail and UPS for the UK, and for international orders it's either Royal Mail, UPS, DHL or FedEx depending on where you are in the world. If you have a particular preference then try to let us know BEFORE you order so we can look into it for you. Please note that there may occasionally be additional shipping charges if you live in a remote area, depending on what surcharges are applied by the shipper. We'll get in touch to discuss this with you in such cases.
Dispatch times
For UK orders, we normally dispatch the same working day if we get the order before 15:00. If you have a really urgent situation then of course drop us an email before ordering and we'll always do our absolute best to accommodate you.
For international orders, we normally dispatch the same day if we get the order before 13:00 but again, occasionally it might be the next day before we can send it out, and sometimes FedEx or UPS may come a little earlier than scheduled which would also push an order into the next day.
Shipping times
Since April 2020 the couriers we use have suspended guarantees for shipping times, so even though we're paying them for priority services - 24-48 hours for most of the world - in practice it's often an extra day on top and sometimes it can be longer.
There is absolutely nothing we can do about this unfortunately. If you are outside the UK and it's a life-or-death situation where you absolutely MUST have that passive mult for the next day then... it may be better to find a local supplier.
Saturday shipping
If you're in the UK and you order before 15:30 on a Friday then we can send something for a Saturday delivery (NB: this applies to UK mainland addresses only). The success rate with DPD is about 95% so it's worth a punt most of the time. Please note that if you select Saturday shipping on an order placed earlier in the week, we'll wait until Friday to ship it.
Pre-orders
If a product is listed as a pre-order, it means we've ordered it from the supplier but it's not physically in stock yet. The product listing will include an estimated shipping date based on the best information we have from the supplier, but do bear in mind this is subject to change and is not a guaranteed date.
If you place an order containing a mixture of in-stock and pre-order items, we'll normally hold off on shipping anything until the pre-order item(s) have arrived, rather than splitting it into multiple shipments. If you need the in-stock items sooner, we'd recommend placing separate orders. As always, please get in touch if you have questions.
Product Overview
The SoundForce VCF/VCF 6 is a Eurorack interpretation of the Juno 60/106 VCF, VCA and HPF sections. It was built based on the original service manuals documentation using modern components. This module is available in both black and grey background colors.
Most Juno users agree that the Juno 60 and 106 are sounding quite different. This is due to many factors: the different base clock frequency of the DCOs, the different SAW directions (falling vs rising), different packagings of the ICs, etc… Hideki Izuchi also mentioned using “a lot of premium parts” on the 60 and “With the JUNO-106, we just wanted to lower its price, whatever it took.”. That being said if you take a look at the schematics you will find that the topology of the VCF in both synthesizers is exactly the same. In the 60 the VCF was built around the IR3109, which was a custom IC including 4 OTAs. The VCA was built with a BA662, another custom OTA chip. The 106 was built using the 80017A, an IC/PCB module including both the IR3109 as well as the BA662. So basically the 60 chips but in a different package. Those were also mounted vertically to save space on the circuit board. The 80017A was tragically dipped in resin during production that caused most units to loose voices as time passed by. Some modern replacements are available and those have been tested during the making of this module.
As all the original custom ICs are now obsolete and unavailable for purchasing, the popular Texas Instruments LM13700 dual OTA IC was used to recreate the VCF and VCA using modern and widely available parts. All the passives needed have been taken over from the original schematics with some tweaks to adapt this design to the Eurorack format.
Signal flow:
The SoundForce VCF / VCA 6 features a simple 2-input audio mixer, a voltage controlled low pass filter (VCF), a VCA and a high-pass filter with 3 fixed cutoff frequencies plus a bass boost position. The signal flow is: mixer -> VCF -> VCA -> HPF.
The VCF section is a voltage-controlled low pass filter with a selection between 4 poles (24db/octave) or 2 poles (12db/octave). The travel of the FREQ slider has been calibrated to give you the best experience in the original 4 poles mode. FM1 and FM2 CV inputs can be used to modulate the cutoff frequency of the filter. Those CV signals are added to manual position of the FREQ slider. Note that you can invert the polarity of FM1 using a toggle switch. The VOCT input can be used to close the filter more or less based on the pitch of the note played by your musical CV source. It can also be used to “play” the filter when it is self-resonating. The filter will be in tune across about 8 octaves. Self-resonance is occurring when the RES slider is around position 9 or higher. The resonance can be also voltage-controlled using the Q CV input, this signal is added to the manual position of the RES slider. Please note all CV inputs have attenuators expect the VOCT input.
LDC:
LDC stands for “loudness drop compensation”, it is engaged when the switch is in the upper position. This feature avoid the usual input signal loudness drop with high level of resonance. Please note you will need to lower the input signal and/or VCA level to avoid distortion as LDC requires some extra headroom.
VCA:
This section is a “vintage-style” single OTA VCA. There is a manual slider control as well a CV input for the VCA. Both are summed together.
HPF:
The high-pass filter section is a combination of both the Juno 60 and 106 HPFs. Position 0 will give you the bass boost from the 106. Position 1 will not filter at all. From position 2 to 4 will cut progressively more bass and the cut off frequencies are 225 Hz, 339Hz and 720Hz.
Technical Specs
Shipping Details
How much is my shipping?
Shipping is automatically calculated before you submit your payment information. Simply add items to your cart and proceed to the checkout page, where you'll be offered shipping options and their prices. In the UK it's normally around £4 for order values under £150, and free above that. Shipping to mainland EU is typically between £7 and £20, depending on the shipping method and the size and weight of the order.
Do you ship to my country?
Almost certainly - the site will give you an estimate of shipping costs if you add an item to the cart and then enter your country and postcode. If you have specific requirements (such as if you prefer UPS over FedEx, for example) then let us know in advance and we'll try to work something out for you.
Shipping methods
We use a combination of Parcelforce, DPD, Royal Mail and UPS for the UK, and for international orders it's either Royal Mail, UPS, DHL or FedEx depending on where you are in the world. If you have a particular preference then try to let us know BEFORE you order so we can look into it for you. Please note that there may occasionally be additional shipping charges if you live in a remote area, depending on what surcharges are applied by the shipper. We'll get in touch to discuss this with you in such cases.
Dispatch times
For UK orders, we normally dispatch the same working day if we get the order before 15:00. If you have a really urgent situation then of course drop us an email before ordering and we'll always do our absolute best to accommodate you.
For international orders, we normally dispatch the same day if we get the order before 13:00 but again, occasionally it might be the next day before we can send it out, and sometimes FedEx or UPS may come a little earlier than scheduled which would also push an order into the next day.
Shipping times
Since April 2020 the couriers we use have suspended guarantees for shipping times, so even though we're paying them for priority services - 24-48 hours for most of the world - in practice it's often an extra day on top and sometimes it can be longer.
There is absolutely nothing we can do about this unfortunately. If you are outside the UK and it's a life-or-death situation where you absolutely MUST have that passive mult for the next day then... it may be better to find a local supplier.
Saturday shipping
If you're in the UK and you order before 15:30 on a Friday then we can send something for a Saturday delivery (NB: this applies to UK mainland addresses only). The success rate with DPD is about 95% so it's worth a punt most of the time. Please note that if you select Saturday shipping on an order placed earlier in the week, we'll wait until Friday to ship it.
Pre-orders
If a product is listed as a pre-order, it means we've ordered it from the supplier but it's not physically in stock yet. The product listing will include an estimated shipping date based on the best information we have from the supplier, but do bear in mind this is subject to change and is not a guaranteed date.
If you place an order containing a mixture of in-stock and pre-order items, we'll normally hold off on shipping anything until the pre-order item(s) have arrived, rather than splitting it into multiple shipments. If you need the in-stock items sooner, we'd recommend placing separate orders. As always, please get in touch if you have questions.
