Bus Sync?

[houndington]

I just bought a Malekko Voltage Block, to perform clocked/stepped CV changes to modules. I'm currently syncing my vector to my DAW, using a ES8, and then mult that to sync the Voltage Block.

I was wondering if it's possible for a future firmware release to add Bus Sync to the Vector, so it could use the power bus to sync, like Malekko's Varigate 8+ can do with the Voltage Block?

[justin3am]

Varigate8+, Voltage Block, as well as some Make Noise and Expert Sleepers modules use a system called 'Select Bus' (I think it was originally spec'd by Macro Machines or Mungo?) which can be used to not only send/receive clock but also initiate patch changes and some other neat stuff. They are basically using MIDI (or messages which are formatted similar to MIDI) to communicate between modules, from what I understand.

I think it would be cool if this were possible with Vector but I don't think it would happen with a firmware update. At least that is the impression I got when I spoke with Jim about it. It's still something I would be very excited to see, even if it would require the use of an extra header or something.

[jim]

As Justin mentions, that would require a significant hardware change. I haven't looked at Select Bus closely, but if it is MIDI (or any kind of serial protocol) then that means using a pair of UART pins, and I don't think there are even any of those available on the Vector's MCU. Also: though MIDI Sync is great in general, I would always chose to use DIN sync first -- and thus the STG Sync Bus pins on the back of the Vector.

Cheers,
Jim