Vostok2020 Analogue Solutions 1



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Introduction
Congratulations on buying the Vostok synthesiser. Vostok is part of the Analogue Solutions
range of analogue music equipment. Vostok is a highly versatile electronic musical instrument. It
combines all the often needed music electronic circuitry to make a powerful music synthesiser in
one compact module.

No compromise has been made with the construction of Vostok. Cheaper options in have not
been used

• Full rugged steel/aluminium/wood case - no plastic mouldings

• Good quality smooth potentiometers, fully sealed against dust
• Good quality knobs
• Solid construction
• Very simple to use - no menus or manual diving required
• Wonderful pin matrix
• Stable analogue oscillators (not too stable though! Need character!)
• Designed, built, tested and assembled in the UK
• True retro analogue voice and modulation circuits.

Why Do I need this synth? What’s So Special?

Vostok has that great vintage analogue sound that Analogue Solutions products are renowned
for having. The circuits are real analogue circuits. No trickery or playing with words.
When we say ‘real analogue’ we mean that the entire audio path, including the reverb, and all
modulation are entirely analogue, using circuits based on awesome sounding vintage 1970s
designs. Their circuits are not locked down by CPUs. Controls are not quantised and read by
CPUs. With the exception of the essential digital elements (that is MIDI conversion, sequencer
control), Vostok really is analogue and the sound benefit is immediately apparent!
We get many good comments about how good Analogue Solutions products sound. How
wonderful, warm and full of character they are.
The synth has been designed by Tom Carpenter, a musician and a big fan of electronic music.
He knows how to program a synth and what should be expected. It was not designed by an
engineer or steered by committee or men/women/etc in suits. Design wasn’t constrained in order to
bring maximum profit to share holders! So, the modulation choices and range of sounds they
produced have all been carefully thought out and quickly give you those sounds you want: huge
bass, synth leads, percussion, effects, modular style sounds.
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Safety Instructions

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE USING:

• Only use the correct power adaptor; 24V DC 0.75A.
• Never handle the adaptor with wet hands.
• Never excessively bend the adaptor cable or get it trapped or place heavy objects on it. If the
adaptor cable becomes damaged, replace the adaptor.
• Ensure the unit is disconnected from the mains before moving or cleaning.
• Always disconnect the unit from the mains if there is lightning in your area.
• Ensure the unit is on a stable surface, and never place heavy objects on top of it.
• Never allow young children, hippies or animals to operate the unit or adaptor.
• Do not use excessive force when using the controls or inserting cables to the
connectors.
• The unit should not be operated in the rain, near water, or at a foam party, and should not be
exposed to moisture.
• If the unit is brought from a cold environment to a warm one, the unit should be left to reach
the ambient temperature.
• Keep away from heat sources, such as radiators, ovens, heaters, jet exhaust etc.
• Keep away from kale.
• Never allow it to get wet. Do not operate it near water, like pools, sinks,
bathrooms etc.
• Do not place beverages on or near it, and certainly not in it.
• Never open the case or attempt to make repairs. Refer any servicing to qualified
service personnel.

PREVENTING DAMAGE TO OTHER CONNECTED DEVICES

This synth has a very high dynamic range. It is capable of produce loud signals of very high and
sub-sonic frequencies that could blow inadequate speakers if played too loud. It is recommended
that input levels to external equipment (mixers, amps etc.) are kept low when first connected, and
then slowly increased to a useable level.

MAINTENANCE INSTRUCTIONS
Any cleaning of the synth case should be done with a clean lint-free cloth. 

DO NOT USE SOLVENTS OR CLEANERS, as this will deteriorate the exterior appearance of the
equipment. Do not use a car wash or jet wash to clean this synth.

PLACE
Place the synth soundly on a stable surface so it cannot fall off or over, causing it or yourself
injury.

POWER
The unit needs a 24V DC regulated adaptor, minimum 0.75A.
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The Manual
This manual doesn’t aim to teach you about synthesis - what it is, how it works, and how to do
it. We’ll describe the functions briefly, and expand on anything unusual. It is up to you to self
educate yourself about synths in general, how to patch, what to patch. Fundamentally the
methodology of creating a sound on this is the same as with say a Eurorack. With the internet and
YouTube full of ‘how to’ videos and text, it seems pointless for me to repeat it all here.

CIRCUITS IN DETAIL

Here follows details on the sockets and controls, with brief simplified explanations of what the
circuits do. We have not gone into technical details on how or exactly what each circuit does but
tried to explain each control's function and effect.

Anyone who has used synthesisers before should be familiar with the terms used and therefore
be able to predict their behaviour and how they affect the sound. The best way to learn how to use
Vostok is to go straight ahead and play with it. Reading of this manual may only be necessary for
finer operational detail.

There are many many web resources and books available if you need actual tuition or
explanation of how functions like LFO, ADSR, etc work or can be used.

EXPERIMENT!

Please don’t just jump right in with emails on day one to Analogue Solutions on what to turn or
to flick. This synth is a journey of discovery. You will take the occasional wrong turn, but you will
take many exhilarating turns also, and each destination will be nirvana. Life is all about the journey.
So experience and play.

CRAZY OR SUBTLE?

This synth is ‘perfect’ for those weird other worldly sound (think VCS3!!). It also does heavy crazy
stuff. However, Vostok can do ‘normal’ and subtle. It is a great tool for sounds design of all types.

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Panel Overview

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Features

MIDI to CV Converter with Velocity CV.

Transposable MIDI note sequencer.

3 Oscillators with Saw, Square, Pulse Width.

Sub Oscillators.

Ring Modulation.

2 VC LFOs with Saw, reverse Saw, Square, Triangle.

CV / Gate step sequencer.

Moving coil signal meter.

Joystick controller.

2 Envelope generators each with repeat feature.

White noise.

Sample and hold.

Unity gain mixer.

Multi-mode VCF.

VCA.

Pin matrix!

Spring Reverb (3 real springs!)

Rear panel jack patch point.

Optional rack mount.

All analogue voice & modulation circuits.

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MIDI to CV Converter / MIDI Note

Sequencer
This block serves two purposes.

THE MIDI CONVERTER

1/ A MIDI to CV converter.

This converts MIDI notes to the voltages needed to change the

pitch of the VCOs and trigger the envelopes (in a typical patch).

Pitch CV is 1V/Octave.

The Gate voltage is +5V.

VEL is MIDI velocity CV.

MIDI In and Thru do what you would expect.

To change MIDI channel simply press MIDI CHAN whilst playing a

few notes.

The new change is set (and stored) as the channel or the last
MIDI message received.

THE NOTE SEQUENCER

The Note sequencer is a simple yet highly effective note loop

sequencer. The sequencer will record and store the last MIDI note
received. It stores 16 notes in total, and will then loop round and
overwrite starting from the beginning.

Each time a new MIDI note is played (to the MIDI In socket) the
sequencer stores the note and advances the sequencer one step.

The sequencer is always listening for new notes and will store
them as they come in, into the 16 note loop - even whilst the
sequencer is running. However it will ignore input notes when
Transpose is on.

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ENTERING NOTES

Simply play a string of 16 MIDI notes to set up your sequencer.

PLAYBACK AND SYNC / NOTE0 OUT / CLOCK IN

To play back the sequencer you simply apply a clock or gate signal to the Note Seq Clock input.

This can be from an LFO, MIDI Gate, or from some external source.

It is a simple matter to sync to your external MIDI sequencer or DAW. Patch NOTE0 to NOTE SEQ
CLOCK. Each time MIDI Note 0 is played, a clock/gate signal is sent out of the jack. You need to
program a string of short notes a 16th apart into your sequencer.

The note length needs to be shorter than the step, so use 32nd notes. You are effectively
programming your own clock signal using DAW.

Of course it doesn’t have to be a rigid string of 16ths. You can create a rhythm, mute, solo, apply
swing and other timing effects from within your DAW.

Note0 can of course also be used to sync the CV sequencer too, or simply use as a gate signal to
trigger one of the envelopes.

Note0 can also be programmed into hardware sequencers and most MIDI drum machines.

TRANSPOSE

It is possible to transpose the Note sequencer using MIDI Notes. Simply press Note Seq
Transpose - now any key your press will transpose the sequence up or down. Press middle C to
cancel the transposition. Press Transpose button to exit transpose mode.

Whilst in Transpose mode you cannot enter new notes into the sequencer. This makes it a handy
‘note lock’ workaround - to stop accidentally entering new notes.

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Voltage Controlled Oscillators

The three analogue VCOs are basically identical. Most of

the controls are straight forward: Tune, Pulse Width, Level.

Glide is like portamento - to allow note to slowly bend up or

down to the next new note.

SUBS

Oscillators 1 and 2 have Sub-Osc outputs. These are

square wave outputs that are 1,2 and 3 octaves below the
main Saw and Square outputs.

Typically use Sub-Osc mixed with the VCO outputs to really

beef up the sound.

Note on pitch scaling: The VCOs have been calibrated with

MIDI Pitch CV patched to each VCO’s pitch CV input using
the pin matrix, with 10K resistor pins. If you use 0 Ohm pins
or other pin values, or use patch cables, this could affect
pitch scaling. So if normal music temperament is needed,
use 10K pins. If you are making crazy sounds, then don’t
worry.

Note on glide: Adding resistance between the CV source

and the pitch CV input can add a little extra portamento.

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Ring Modulation

Ring Mods are great for metallic and general crazy sounds. To use patch a VCO into each of the
two inputs. Play around with VCO pitch.

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Voltage Controlled Low Frequency Oscillators

Two VC LFOs - each with Sawtooth, Inverse Sawtooth, Square

and Triangle waves.

Frequency and Level controls do what you expect, whilst the

two toggle switches select the waveform for the control to their
left.

The frequency can be voltage controlled using the CV input.

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CV / Gate Sequencer

This is an eight step analogue CV

sequencer. It loops around eight
steps.

RESET
A gate or voltage into here will
reset the sequencer back to step
1.

CLOCK
Clock Input! Use LFO Square, or
NOTE0 from the MIDI Converter
to sync the sequencer.

CV
Control Voltage Out.

GATE
Gate out - patch to envelopes
(typically.)

FLIPPED GATE
This is a secondary gate output.
It goes high when the normal
gate above is low. They do the
opposite to each other. Really
good for doing syncopated style
rhythms (or, ‘riddims’.)

STEP
This push button is used to
manually advance the sequencer.

GATE ON/OFF
Use this push button to program the Gate pattern. To program in first disable any sync so the
sequencer is not running.

To toggle on / off the gate for the active step, press this button. The LED will show whether Gate
is on or off for this step.

Press Step to advance to the next step and change the gate again should you wish.

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A440Hz Tuner
There is a ‘hidden’ bonus feature that utilises the CV Sequencer Flipped Gate output. If you hold
the Gate/Prog button whilst powering up - the sequencer enters tune mode. The Flipped Gate out
will output a 440Hz tone instead of gate. The sequencer is will be disabled.

This is used so you can tune the VCOs.

Some basic patching and set-up is needed.

You’d need to have the MIDI converter patch to the VCOs.

Centre the VCO Tune controls.

Then press middle A on your controller keyboard.

The three VCOs will be playing something close to A.

Use the A440Hz tone as a guide to manual adjust the VCO Tune controls to get them lined up
with the test tone.

It’s a handy bonus feature.

To exit this mode just cycle the power.

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Signal Meter

The meter is more for CV than audio. The moving coil signal meter isn’t
something you really need. I would doubt a musician would ever feel
the need to actually measure a voltage with a meter. It’s really there
because it looks so cool.

Note: the meter is not calibrated with precision. Use as a guide only.
Bear in mind the inertia of the needed! Range is approximately 0-10V

The signal meter is fed from the Mixer output.

Audio signals typically have a much lower average voltage than CVs so
with audio signals you will not see too much needle movement.

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Joystick

The joystick controller is for real time control!

Patch the X and Y outputs where ever you wish!

TWO SUGGESTIONS

Ring Mod: patch the X and Y to two VCO pitches - and have these VCOs patched to the Ring
Mod.

Or try, Patch X to Filter HPF CV, and Y to LPF CV. Balance the VCF Cut-off controls and add just
the right about of Resonance - and you will get human vowel type sounds!

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Spring Reverb

The reverb is a real analogue mechanical spring reverb. The unit actually has three springs in
there!

The controls in this block are self-explanatory.

Usually the spring would go on the end of your signal chain as a standard effect. But also be
creative - for example - patch between the VCO output and the VCF input.

Spring reverbs are relatively noisy compared with digital reverbs. On the input side, try and keep
your levels as high as possible.

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External

These sockets allow you to patch signal into or out of the matrix panel, or to send a signal to the
rear panel jack.

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Envelope Generators

ADSR controls, and level do what you expect!

LEVEL

The level control gives zero output in the centre

position.

If you start to turn to the left you actually get an

inverted EG signal.

USING REPEAT

The EG can act as a LFO with programmable wave

shape.

For repeat to work, you must -

Turn it on with the toggle switch.

Apply a gate signal to the trigger input jack.

Sustain must be set quite low.

Then Attack and Decay set the shape and speed of

the repeats.

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Sample And Hold

Look this one up! But a typical use is to get random voltages.

Patch Noise out to S+H CV in.

Patch LFO Square to S+H Clock in.

And you get your random voltage at the S+H CV out socket.

You’ll need to get the levels right for Noise and LFO Square, and start
off with S+H Slew at zero.

Noise
White noise generator!

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Mixer
Six input audio (or CV, but not both at once!) mono mixer.

There are two outputs. Normal (positive) and inverted (negative). Inverted output flips the
waveform.

The positive output is hard wired to the Signal Meter.

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MultiMode Voltage Controlled Filter / VCA

This is a multimode 12db diode ladder filter similar to that found in the 1970s Korg MS20.

The top filter is High Pass, the lower one is Low Pass. As they are in series they can be set up to
act also as a Band Pass filter.

The MS20 filter is unusual in that the intensity of Resonance is partially dependent on the input
signal level. It’s very easy for the Resonance to go into self-oscillation, and also for signals to
distort - both of which are normally actually a good thing! The filter is very unusual and has a lot of
character.

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The VCA is placed in the same block on the panel, but is separate and would need to be patch in.

VCF CONTROLS

The VCF controls are all standard. The two VCFs have their own Cut-off, Resonance (Q) and CV
Level controls.

VCA INITIAL

This sends a static CV to the VCA CV input. It allows the VCA to be opened without necessarily
patching in the usual EG etc, or to have it partially open.

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Matrix Panel

PATCHING

Patching using matrix pins is essentially no different than using patch cables. So if you know how
to patch up a synth using cables, you can do it with pins also.

Just be careful - the pins can bend if you are careless. We have been handling these pins for over
10 years and we don’t bend them. But you could if you are careless.

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APPROACH

As mentioned the approached taken is just the same as with cables. Think about your signal flow.
Add a pin at a time.

You can do entire patches using just pins, or just cables. However, the best patches will probably
require using some of each.

Just as with any modular, not every connection you make will necessarily sound great! So keep
working at that patch.

Sometimes weird and unexpected things will happen! It’s impossible to make an analogue
patchable synth 100% ‘perfect’ - but that’s why you bough this right? Analogue means character,
happy accidents, interesting sounds!

CO-ORDINATES

You will find by many of the jack sockets have labels such as ‘Y6’.

These are co-ordinates showing where this jack is on the matrix panel.

In this case, Y6 refers to Noise output.

PINS SUMMARY

Shorting pins (short ones).

Advantages : cheaper!

Disadvantages: some signals won’t mix too well using these.

Resistor pins (long ones).

Advantages: usually mix signals better!

Disadvantages: they are very expensive since they are custom made for Analogue Solutions.

It is best to generally use the short ‘zero ohm’ shorting pins, for no other reason that these are the
lower cost of the two types, so you’re likely to have more of them.

The matrix itself isn’t buffered, however most of the circuit ins and outs are. You can usually split
any signal with no problem.

Most signals will mix into an input with no problem. However, if you do find odd things going on,
like pitch or signals dropping a little when multiple pins go to the same destination, use a 10K
resistor pin (long handled pins). This usually improves buffering.

And once again, just like patch cables, some patches won’t seem to do exactly what you expect
(or hope). That’s not to say the patch won’t sound good, just maybe a little odd in some way. It’s
impossible to design an analogue modular synth where every single patch, out of the millions
possible, are totally predictable, like it would be in a software synth. But then that’s the point of
this synth isn’t it? Right? Analogue synths give you those happy accidents and quirky sound
artefacts that you couldn’t possibly intentionally have created.

With all those (good!) caveats out of the way, for the most part your patching will give you the
predictable results you’re planning.

Note: Pin colours supplied may vary to what you see in photos and video.

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Pin Patch LED system

Each circuit destination you patch up using the pins will light up. There will be a LED inside the
jack socket of the signal destination. This can help you see where the signal you patched in has
gone.

This is for pin patching only.

The LED brightness is wholly dependent on the source signal. If it is too low, then the LED will not
light.

Also, it is not really about peak voltage but average voltage. So a fast moving LFO, though strong
as a modulation signal, on average might be too weak to show the LED.

However, we are proud of being able to provide this cool feature - and believe me it wasn’t easy
to do this in an entirely analogue set-up. (This kind of thing is super easy to do on a digital synth!)

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Patch Details: __________________________________________________________________________

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No Signal?
There are many settings that can kill the sound! Vostok is immensely flexible making an
insanely wide range of sounds, many of which can give you no output due to extreme filtering.

GENERAL THINGS-

Do you have audio going into the synth’s mixer?

Is your MIDI connected correctly?
Are you triggering the EGs correctly?
Main volume up?
Leads all OK (double check! Assume nothing)?
Have you patched CV to the VCA level?
Check all the basic stuff first - this usually covers most problems.
Don’t assume Vostok is the fault - it could be your external gear/set-up - or simply incorrect front
panel settings.

Vostok is extremely versatile and has a very wide range of possible sounds.

Some settings will result in no sound!

For example, no CV to the VCA level means no sound comes out of the VCA,
VCA EG Attack turned too high might mean no sound.
Ensure the Volume control is up!

Carefully work through your patch. You can tap the audio signal by routing various stages direct
to your mixer.

Also check the following…

• Your mixing desk / monitoring equipment is on and working correctly.

• Check the synth is switched on and that the power adaptor is functioning correctly. Check
you are using the correct mains adaptor.
• Check it is connected to your monitoring equipment correctly and that the cable is not
faulty.
• Ensure the output volume is high enough.
• Certain extreme filter settings may filter out all of the signal or produce low level signals. Try
adjusting the filter cut-off.
• Ensure EGs are being triggered.

Don’t instantly assume the synth is at fault - we have had dozens of instances where problems
turn out to be faulty and intermittent leads, incorrect settings in DAW and audio cards, mixer
busses set wrong etc. We have heard all manor of crazy and silly mistakes. Many ‘Doh!’ moments.

You can always plug the VCO outputs directly into your external audio mixer (watch levels aren’t
too high!) and this will give you confidence power is OK.

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Specification

Weight:

4.5Kg

Boxed weight 5Kg

Size:

450mm wide
145mm deep
305mm high

With optional rack ears, it is 7U high.

Power:

24V DC regulated
750mA
2.1mm plug
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Warranty
The synth comes with a 1 year (from purchase date) back to base warranty, (i.e.
customer must arrange and pay for carriage to and from Analogue Solutions or the dealer
from which purchased).

This warranty shall not apply where the product has been subject to alteration, misuse
accident, neglect (such as extremes of temperature and/or moisture) or to wear resulting
from normal use.

At the sole discretion of Analogue Solutions, the warranty is deemed to be void should the
unit be or considered to have been opened or any other modifications or tampering be
carried out by unauthorised parties.

CE COMPLIANCE
This unit complies with EU Directives 73/23/EEC and 89/336/EEC.
Standards: EN55103-1, EN55103-2, EN60065