Stereo starts
inside the voice.
Build spacious pads, moving textures and layered sounds with stereo at the source. Vibes carries left and right through its oscillators, filters and amps, then into stereo FX. Two complete filter paths per voice give you room to shape how the sound develops.
One voice. Two channels. At every stage.
Three stereo oscillators feed the mixer. From there, two parallel filter and amp paths each process left and right. Shape their tone and dynamics separately, then bring them together at the summing stage: left with left, right with right. The result feeds the part’s stereo FX stack.
The light pulses illustrate the routing. They do not represent a measured audio signal.
A simplified view of the voice architecture. The matrix offers 26 sources and 56 destinations, including oscillator and filter outputs as modulation sources. The shared voice pool, part effects and global mixer are shown below.
Binaural sound.
One possibility within full stereo.
Route OSC 1 left and OSC 2 right, each through its own filter and amplifier path. Start with matching sounds, then introduce differences in tuning, phase and modulation to create binaural width and movement within a single Vibes voice, before effects.
This patch uses one part. There is no need to layer two parts or pair separate voices to give left and right their own synthesis paths.
Then explore other arrangements. Spread each oscillator across both channels, combine different sound sources, or shape stereo signals through both filter paths. The full stereo architecture gives you room to choose.
What that gives you when you play.
The architecture matters because it gives you more ways to build the sound itself.
Stereo character, before the effects.
Work with the space in a stereo oscillator or sample, then shape both channels through the voice. A patch can have width before you add chorus, delay or reverb. Use the effects for the character and atmosphere you want.
Two textures inside one voice.
Send your oscillators through different filter paths. Give one path a sharp attack and let the other build more slowly, using their separate amp envelopes through the matrix. Both paths carry left and right, so you can layer their tone and dynamics in stereo.
Your stereo samples have room to breathe.
Bring a stereo sample into OSC 3 and keep a two-channel signal path through filtering and amplitude shaping. Combine it with the Wavetable, Algorithm or Resonator sources in OSC 1 and OSC 2 to build a patch around its character.
Four parts. Each with its own space.
Build a performance from four independent sounds. Give each part its own stereo FX chain, then bring the parts together in the digital mixer. Two additional send/return stacks let parts share effects while keeping their own processing.
A shared pool of 24 stereo voices.
Parts A–D draw voices from one shared pool as needed. You can use a part for a chord, another for a melody and another for a bass line, within the available polyphony. Each block in the diagram represents a part, not a single voice.
Individual character. Shared atmosphere.
FX A–D shape their respective parts. FX 1 and FX 2 receive sends from mixer input channels, so several parts can share a delay or reverb. All six stacks offer up to 10 effect slots, processed in order, within the stereo signal path.
Simplified synth-part overview. The drum engine and external audio inputs are omitted for clarity; they can also use the mixer FX sends. Based on the Vibes Owner’s Manual v1.1, pp. 17, 20, 35 and 69.
A closer look at full stereo.
Where does the stereo signal begin?
In the voice itself. OSC 1, OSC 2 and OSC 3 feed a stereo mixer, followed by two stereo filter and amp paths. The part effects receive the stereo output of that voice. Stereo processing is built into the synthesis path.
Are Filter A and Filter B the left and right channels?
Each filter path processes both channels. A and B are two parallel paths for shaping the sound, each with its own filter and amp. At the voice output, their left channels are added together and their right channels are added together.
How many stereo voices can I play?
Vibes has a pool of up to 24 stereo voices shared dynamically across four parts. Each voice already contains left and right channels. Unison uses multiple voices per note, and available polyphony depends on the patch and processing load.
Will every patch sound wide?
The stereo architecture gives you the capability; your sources and patch settings determine the result. A focused sound can stay centred. A stereo source can carry width through the voice, even with the FX bypassed.
Hear what you could make with it.
The diagrams show the possibilities. The sound is what matters. Explore the official Vibes demos, then take a closer look at the instrument, its full specifications and buying options.