Propagate

Gate/Trigger Delay PWM Tone Gen/Converter

The fourth installment of the Steady State Fate Euro-rack line. Propagate is a pimped out analog gate/trigger delay with a dual personality. Propagate works as both a traditional gate delay (LO mode) and an audio rate delay (HI mode), permitting Propagate to behave as a quad PWM tone generator. Just drive the input with a VCO or self patch to create wild PWM tones and glitch noise!
Gate, trigger and other fast attack signals are delayed before converting into a smoothly variable pulse width. The delay and gate length (SPACE) are both voltage controllable – greatly enhancing the power and capability of the device through automation.

The Delay Stages

Propagate consists of four independent delay stages that provide an input, DELAY control w/CV jack, Speed Mode switch, SPACE control w/CV jack and an output with LED indicator. The delays can be used individually or cascaded if a patch cable is not inserted into the input jacks. The output from the previous stage is normaled to the following stage – permitting the signals to propagate through each delay, from top to bottom. This feature allows creation of longer delays, longer gate lengths, timed/multi-tiered events, sequences, trills and in audio mode a slew of quad PWM tones. All individually or collectively voltage controlled.

MASTER CV

All VC parameters of the delay stages can be controlled by the relevant MASTER CV simultaneously, eliminating the need for using multiple patch cables. The Master CV sums with the individual CV, therefore all of the individual DELAY and SPACE parameters can be separately voltage controlled at the same time as MASTER CV via the individual CV inputs.

SUM

In addition to the individual outputs, Propagate features a novel SUM jack that is used to output the pulse train of delayed signals. Always connected to the delay stages, SUM can be used alone or in conjunction with the individual outputs for a number of functions. These include gating envelopes while controlling other synched events, combining gates for longer pulse durations, sequences and trills, as a quad PWM output and more. A blue LED indicator flashes with every pulse.

TRIG

The Manual Trigger is hardwired to the #1 delay stage input. The trigger signal is combined with whatever is present at the input with a discrete OR gate. Use the trigger to initiate a sequence or other event like a self patched feedback loop, or as a general purpose trigger for your modular system.

ENABLE

Propagate is enabled ON by default. A gate signal can be used to turn Propagate's delay engines on or off when a gate signal is applied to the Enable jack. A hi gate is on, low is off. An LED is provided for visual feedback.

MIX IN

Another novel feature, this input is used to pass or combine an external signal like a clock, random gate or other gate related signal with the SUM output. If Propagate is inactive or not producing a signal, SUM will simply pass whatever is going though the MIX IN. Otherwise the MIX IN signal is logically OR'd with Propagate's SUM output. Logical OR simply outputs a gate hi when both or either signals is high and a gate low when both signals are low. An LED is provided for visual feedback of the input signal.

Audio Rate Delay

This is a completely new concept that extends the traditional gate delay into the audio range. The output is a series of high speed pulses that can be shifted with the delay controls to affect pitch and PWM tones with the space controls. Each stage can output a single pulse or they can be combined via the SUM output or externally to produce up to to a quad pulsed waveform with independent PWM for each pulse. This allows for a huge variety of glitch and harmonic rich tones and very complex waveforms when the signals are mixed externally with the ability to invert and attenuate some of the outputs. That being said, the SUM output alone is already capable of a rich array of tones. Add voltage control and you're in serious business! The bandwidth of each delay is roughly 10Hz – 5kHz. Higher and lower pitched waveforms are possible when the pulses are combined and manipulated.

Infinitely Expandable!

Yes, that's right – using the included expansion cable, an indefinite number of Propagate modules can be chained together for huge delays, sequences and ridiculously complex pulsed waveform generation.
Every subsequent Propagate in the chain connects a normal (that can be broken) to the last delay of the previous module. Expanding also combines the previous SUM pulse train with the following module's SUM output. Huge matrix delays and complex rhythmic events are possible without the restrictions of quantized divisions.
We leave it up to the user's imagination to realize the full potential of expansion.

Technical stuff:
Reverse polarity protected.
Rohs and ce compliant.
width: 14hp.
Depth: 23mm with power.
current draw:
Quiescent: +49ma, -34ma
Average: +67ma, -34ma
Peaks @ (full blast): +85ma, -34ma

Nominal signals:
DELAY- LO: ~20ms to ~ 4.5s (~12s max with CV), HI: ~200us to ~ 100ms (~300ms max with CV)
SPACE – LO: ~5ms to ~3s (

https://steadystatefate.com/products/propagate