Voyetra 8

An analog

Voyetra 8 PCB boards

polyphonic synth designed by Carmine Bonanno and manufactured by Octave-Plateau from 1981 - 1985. The synth voice design (based on integrated circuits from Curtis and SSM) produced a rich orchestral sound that is still sought after by musicians today. The unit was packaged as a rack-mount synthesizer module (Voyetra 8) controlled by a remote keyboard (VPK-5).  This revolutionary design preceded the keyboard-less synths of later years that were controlled by external MIDI keyboard controllers.  The Voyetra 8 was a huge step up from Octave's previous Cat monophonic synth and its variants.  First demonstrated at the NAMM show in 1981 with shipments beginning in 1982, the Voyetra 8 was Octave-Plateau's last hardware synth before transforming into a software company under the name Voyetra Technologies in 1986.

Voyetra 8 Rear Panel Jack Bay

Architecture

VPK-5 Keyboard

The most notable feature of the Voyetra 8 was its packaging -- it was the first synthesizer in a rackmount configuration using a remote keyboard (VPK-5) which connected to the main unit via a standard XLR mic cable.  The VPK-5 included a programmable joystick and was pressure and velocity sensitive. It could also be used to control several Voyetra-8 modules simultaneously. The Voyetra 8 module provided a versatile keyboard mode that could be set to play 8 voices polyphonically with one patch across the keyboard, or two patches each with 4 voices using a variable split on the keyboard, or two patches layered with 4 voices, or 4/8 voices all layered as a super-fat mono synthesizer.

Voyetra 8

The voice design was based on the Cat architecture, with two VCOs, a low pass VCF, VCA, LFOs, and two envelope generators.  A sophisticated matrix routing system allowed complex combinations of controllers and audio paths. VCO1 could be synced to VCO2. A built-in arpeggiator and sequencer could be used to create complex patterns. The VCOs, VCFs, routing circuitry, computer controller, etc. were each contained on separate cards inside the rack box, so repairing a faulty unit was an easy process of swapping the card.  (It also led, later on, to collectors raiding non-working units for their voice cards to repair other units.)  Patch memory consisted of 100 patches and 100 "steps", which were split-layer combinations.  A Step allowed the user to choose from among several voice allocation algorithms, and envelope modes in which the envelope generators behaved differently in relation to when keys were struck or released.

Because of limited panel space on the rack chassis, editing was a rather cumbersome process through the front panel.  In order to fit all of the functions, the controls used a "paged" concept whereby each knob and switch controlled different parameters depending on which of 14 pages was selected.  Visibility was via three two-digit LED displays, and some parameters had to be entered as hexadecimal values.  Experienced performers kept a printed page and parameter map to guide them through the process. The company eventually released a software voice editor for the IBM PC that made programming much simpler by providing all of the parameters on the computer screen and saving the settings on disk memory.

Revisions

Four basic revisions were produced.  The first batch of units are designated Rev1; these were hand-assembled and had significant reliability problems.  Likely few if any remain in service.  The first production units are designated Rev2.  Rev3 were the first units to have MIDI  capability and have a different back panel from the earlier units.  Because they were more rugged than the 5 pin MIDI connectors used by other manufacturers, Octave decided to use 3-pin XLR connectors for the MIDI interface, which made it necessary to use a special XLR to 5 pin MIDI cable to connect with other synthesizers.  Rev4 have the most complete MIDI implementation; only Rev4 units can respond to MIDI pitch wheel, mod wheel, and aftertouch messages, and most software patch editors will only work with Rev4 systems.

During the production run, Octave upgraded many Rev1 and Rev2 units to later specs at the factory.  Further, after the production run ended, a cottage industry arose of techs doing upgrades of earlier revision units to Rev3 and Rev4 specs using spare parts.  There were a lot of "hybrid" units created that have mixes of earlier and later revision hardware.  One thing to watch out for is Rev3 units that have had Rev4 operating system ROMs installed.  These will identify as Rev4 systems, but without a Rev4 digital logic board they cannot route MIDI pitch/mod and aftertouch messages. 

Production Run and Status

It is unclear how many Voyetra 8's were manufactured, but estimates from company employees are in the range of a few thousand units, with the last ones being produced in 1985.  Remaining units are quite valuable in the collector market, although it takes a dedicated owner to keep one running. 

At the same time that the Voyetra 8 was being designed, Octave prototyped a companion monophonic model called the Voyetra One.  This was also a rackmount synth playable via the VPK-5 keyboard and was intended to primarily serve as a programmer for the Voyetra 8.  Once the decision was made to provide a software editor on the IBM PC, the Voyetra One was no longer necessary and never went into production. 

In 1986, Octave-Plateau changed its name to Voyetra Technologies and became a music software company with it's Sequencer Plus product line.  In 1996, the company acquired Turtle Beach and changed its name to Voyetra Turtle Beach. In 2014, the company went public and changed its name to Turtle Beach Corporation. It currently trades on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol HEAR.