Back catalogue: All genres

Notes: MCV4 is a budget-priced MIDI-to-CV-Interface to control vintage monophonic synthesizers via MIDI. MCV4 is provided with 4 analogue control voltage outputs (CV1...4) and one Gate/Trigger output.

These are the most important MCV4 features:
4 analogue control voltages CV1...CV4
Voltage range for CV1...4: 0...+5V, 8 Bit resolution (equivalent to 1/4 semitone resolution)
CV1 for pitch control (normally VCO CV)
CV2...4 for voltage control of other functions (e.g. VCF frequency, loudness, modulation)

MIDI control of CV1..4:
CV1: note on/off with pitch-bend, 1V/octave characteristic
CV2 monophic after-touch
CV3 velocity and/or volumen (controller #7)
CV4 velocity and/or any controller (setting of the controller number via learn button)

Pitch-bend is used for CV1 generation with 1/4 semitone resolution
Gate output type can be selected via jumper inside the device between voltage trigger (+5V or power supply voltage) and S-trigger (switched trigger)
MIDI channel and reference note for CV1=0V adjustable via learn button
Different assign modes for CV1 (highest note, last note, reference note)
Retrigger on/off while playing legato
Gate/trigger polarity normal/inverted
Two 1/4" stereo jack sockets for CV1/2 and CV3/4
1/4" mono jack socket for gate/trigger
Learn button with LED for adjusting MIDI channel, reference note for CV1, controller for CV4
Optical display of gate/trigger via LED
MIDI-In, MIDI-Thru
Non-volatile memory for parameter settings
Stable metal case (about 95x75x35 mm, 1mm sheet steel)

External AC adapter for power supply
AC adapter for 230V AC and European type of mains connector is included within Europe
7...12V/100mA DC required, DC connector with 5.5 mm outer diameter and 2.1 or 2.5 mm inner diameter, polarity: plus = center, minus = ring

*** Adapters for other parts of the world have to be purchased separately. ***

Suitable accessories:

MCV4 special cable (1/4" stereo jack plug -> 2 x 1/4" mono jack plug, length about 90cm, also called "insert cable")

MIDI channel, reference note for CV1 (this is the MIDI note corresponding to 0V of CV1 and thus the lowest possible note of the analogue synthesizer connected to MCV4) and the controller no. for CV4 are adjusted via learn function. For this, the learn button must be pressed and the required MIDI messages sent from the MIDI controlling device (MIDI synthesizer, keyboard, sequencer ...). The other parameters (retrigger, trigger polarity, assign mode ...) are adjusted in learn mode via program-change messages.
The Hz/V mode available in the predecessor model MCV1 is not available with the MCV4 because of the many problems occurring with the non-linear Hz/V characteristic. But some synthesizers normally using Hz/V can be controlled with V/Oct (e.g. Korg MS10/MS20, details you may find in the MCV4 user's guide).

If you want to use all 4 analogue control voltages, you need 2 special cables with a stereo 1/4" jack plug on one end (MCV4 side) and two mono 1/4" jack plugs on the other (synthesizer side). Cables like this can be purchase elsewhere. If you need it, it is recommended to order it together with the MCV4.

Review: The 1975 have been marking their last ten years in the game with a series of special releases, tenth anniversary reissues and merchandise as well as some epic main stage performances at the likes of Leeds and Reading. Now they have put together this bumper collection of their greatest singles from over the last 10 years between 2013 and 2023. It comes on five individual 7"s in one boxset with a booklet and has all the tunes in that fans would expect from 'It's Not Living (If It's Not With You)' to 'If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)' via 'Give Yourself A Try.'

Review: ABBA's long awaited new, eponymous box-set, spanning over 10 LPs and CDs, finally hits our shelves. Celebrating the Swedish foursome's 9 albums over the course of 3-4 decades, every one of your favourite sparkly, spangly hits make an appearance here, including 'Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!', 'Fernando', and 'Lay All Your Love On Me'. This collection also harkens to an exclusive picture disc bundle, one to watch out for!

Review: A new special edition of The Beatles' Revolver comes courtesy of Apple, the original label on which the fab four released some of their most seminal works. Featuring a new mix and master by Giles Martin and Sam Okell, this version contains yet another 100-page book with a foreword by Paul McCartney and an unlikely essay by Questlove of The Roots.

Review: This superbly timed and forever festive three-LP set showcases seasonal funk sounds from 1966 to 970. Holiday fan or not, these tracks, which are mostly original compositions, capture James Brown at the height of his career and rival his best grooves from the era. Packed with bonus tracks and insightful liner notes by Alan Leeds - Brown's former publicist and tour manager - the set offers an unparalleled glimpse into his festive yet funky brilliance and has been mastered and cut by the legendary Kevin Gray. Perfect for anyone who deserves an early dose of timeless, soulful holiday cheer.

Review: American singer Eva Cassidy released Nighbird posthumously in November 2015. It came 19 years after her death and was recorded at the Washington club Plus Alley in 1996. Some of the tunes had already been released as part of a live album the same year but for this album the recordings have been remixed and remastered from the original tape. It has some big jazz standards such as 'It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)' and 'Fever' as well as eight tunes that were previously unheard at the time. An exceptional record from one of the best female jazz singers of all-time.

Review: If you type ELO into Google today the first suggestion is Elon Musk. Sure, he might have cracked, to some extent at least, the mass-marketed electric car, and all the best to him in the space race. Nevertheless, it's disputable whether or not he was ever quite the visionary Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, and Bev Bevan were in the early-mid-1970s. The undisputed heyday of Electric Light Orchestra, fourth album Eldorado was arguably at the peak of their creative force. Already having firmly established their sound - a surreal hybrid of bar rock, soul, blues, and grand strings - this record really sees them explore the possibilities of that abstract brew. Better yet, ears were open enough at the time to ensure they didn't languish in obscurity, sole reserve of the obsessives or deliberately contrary listeners, and instead claimed a spot in the upper echelons of British pop at the time.

Review: Few artists in electronic music are as legendary as Laurent Garnier. It is only right then that he finally makes his entry into the equally titanic and influential Fabric Presents series. His mix is a real doozy that here gets the full deluxe edition treatment and comes on 4 x12"s with a hefty booklet. The House Odyssey mix opens with afro house from South African producer Mr. Blase, leading into vibrant cuts from Cape Verde to Chicago. Newer faces like Culoe De Song, Neinzer, and Tal Fussman join stalwarts DJ Spen, DJ Lady D and Mike Dunn. The Rhythmic Resonance mix delivers high-impact techno moments from Red Axes, John Tejada, Electric Rescue, and more. Garnier's UK-focused Into The Low-End session includes Skrillex, MC GQ and more and all in all offers up a diverse mastery, from luminous house to bass-heavy techno.

Review: Star Trek has been on a tumultuous ride over the years. To paraphrase Wayne Campbell, of Wayne's World fame, in many ways The Next Generation was superior to the original series, but will always struggle to match the recognition of its source material. More recent shows in the franchise looked to expand the viewer base, following in the wake of the saga's modern films, but in doing so kind of lost the friendly, campish mild peril we love this universe for. Star Trek: Into Darkness was a case in point - it's not fun, it's not light, it's not particularly thoughtful. As a movie, it lives up to the promise of darkness. In terms of how this translates onto the score, expect seriously moody and atmospheric big screen compositions, rather than the jaunty soundtracks that once defined this institution.

Review: RECOMMENDED
If 2020, and the coronavirus pandemic, did anything good for music it was forcing a long overdue reevaluation of the role technology plays. Video games had a bumper year, and it didn't take long for the historic relationship between computer entertainment and contemporary musical compositions to start finding favour with content-starved editorial teams.

They say there's no turning back, ever, and as such the smart money is on albums like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice not just becoming more commonplace, but taken more seriously going forward. Soundtrack to Activision's critically acclaimed video game of the same name, in which players take on the role of a shinobi in feudal Japan, as you'd expect it's a deeply atmospheric collection that invokes misty mountaintops, shadows dancing off bamboo and patient heroics. An OST equal to any major movie.

Review: The Boston-based band The Post Pop Space Rock Be Bop Gospel Tabernacle Chorus and Orchestra was led by Webster Lewis and this album was recorded live in Oslo, Norway, in 1971. The original album was released in 1972 and this expanded edition includes previously unreleased songs, unseen photos and the full backstory of the historic concert. It is a rather rare recording that showcases spiritual and soul jazz at its finest and blends instrumental and vocal tracks for a unique, eclectic sound that has made it highly sought after. Newly transferred from the master tapes, it offers improved sound quality and is a must-buy for jazz cats.

Review: Certified 8xPlatinum and ranked at number eight in the highest selling albums of the 21st century, 2003's Meteora saw nu-metal legends Linkin Park attempt (and very much succeed) to make lightning strike in the same place twice with their now iconic follow up to their 2000 12xPlatinum selling debut Hybrid Theory. Launching the "Because Sound Matters One-Step" series with new high-fidelity remasters of their first three albums, these audiophile reissues arrive in newly designed slipcases, complete with elaborate details of the audio processing stages. Pressed to 180-gram standard black vinyl with all 3000 copies numbered, rediscover a genre-staple with some of the band's biggest hits remastered to their fullest sonic potential yet, including 'Numb', 'Faint', 'Breaking The Habit', and, 'Somewhere I Belong'. Never has the veteran production of Terry Date and his seamless ability to fuse the band's warring metallic and hip-hop centric identities, felt so prominent and clear, while the passing of frontman Chester Bennington in 2017 shrouds his lyrical honesty and vulnerable cadence in harrowing retrospectivity.

Review: The Certified 12xPlatinum Grammy Award winning seminal debut album from nu-metal heavyweights Linkin Park is set to receive a brand-new limited reissue (along with 2003's Meteora and 2007's Minutes to Midnight) on what has been dubbed the "One Step" remasters. These high-quality audiophile pressings launch the new "Because Sound Matters One-Step" series, with each release providing details of the audio sourcing process; all housed in newly designed slipcases. Pressed on 180-gram black vinyl, numbered and limited to 3,000 copies, mark our words when we say you've never heard the genre-defining hits such as 'One Step Closer', 'Papercut', 'Crawling', or, 'In The End', with this level of clarity and fidelity, while the band's effortless fusion of metal, hip-hop, alternative rock and turntable wizardry, emboldened by the legendary production guru Terry Date, has rarely radiated such towering sonic warmth. Above all, the vulnerable lyricism and cathartic cadence of late, great lead vocalist Chester Bennington looms large and poignant.

Review: "What was amazing about Liska's music was that, unlike most other composers, he didn't attempt to go with the mood of the film and milk the emotions but listened to the rhythm of the movie itself. Especially in an animated film, this helped to greatly enhance the sense of the picture's pace and drama. He was able to discover rhythms in films that even their authors weren't aware of." Jan Svankmajer, whose 90th birthday coincides with the release of this compilation, clearly holds Zdenek Liska in high regard. Respectively, a director and his regular composer-collaborator, the Czech artists worked on ten short films together. The original recordings of music for three of those have survived on tape - Don Juan (Don sajn), Leonardo's Diary (Leonard?v denik) and Jabberwocky (evahlav aneb sati?ky Slam?neho Huberta). Now here they are in all their surreal, folk-ish, playful, comedic and, at times, library-style glory.

Review: .Originally released in 2009, Crack The Skye would serve as the fourth full-length and creative rebirth of sludge-indebted alternative metal behemoths Mastodon. Inspired by the suicide of drummer Brann Dailor's sister in their youth, the album takes cues from prog classics such as Pink Floyd's Animals and King Crimson's In The Court Of The Crimson King to craft a monolithic sonic journey spread across seven tracks. With their later material taking on a more instantaneous approach to composition, whilst coming off the back of the harsh dynamics of 2004's Leviathan and 2006's Blood Mountain, the mercurial middle point the band found themselves on this LP emboldened them to add Dailor as a third lead vocalist, providing a melodious fulcrum between the snarl of bassist Troy Sanders and nasal croon of guitarist Brent Hinds. A hallucinogenic, astral projecting prog epic in the search for peace accumulated through unprocessed grief, the project has been held near and dear to the hearts of the band and their fanbase in the fifteen years since initial release and now celebrates such a milestone with this definitive boxset. Spread across gold vinyl 2xLP with a bonus blu-ray, poster, magnet sheet and 12-page booklet.

Review: This is a stone-cold classic from the legendary and late MF Doom that gets s deceiving special Japanese Edition reissue for its 20th anniversary, complete with fresh artwork by Sam Rodriguez. This one has long been revered for its inventive production, sharp wordplay and food-themed metaphors which blend humour with incisive social commentary as Doom explores themes of vice, violence and jealousy with playful yet profound storytelling. Tracks like 'Beef Rapp' critique conflict glorification, 'Hoe Cakes' examines indulgence and 'One Beer' delves into escapism and ego. With its witty, layered narratives and textbook beats, this one is a brilliant fusion of satire and social insight.

Review: When it was first released, George Michael's Older was something of a shock to those who were used to his chart-topping hits of yore. Certainly, 1990's Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 was a mature and expansive album from one of pop's brightest talents, but six years later Older took a moodier turn on tracks like 'Jesus To A Child' and 'Spinning The Wheel'. There are of course some big bangers too, from the slinky funk of 'Fastlove' to 'Star People', but this was a turning point in Michael's career which finally delivered the creative freedom he'd always so vically called out for. This expansive special edition of the album comes with additional edits, remixes and unreleased tracks to complete the picture for a landmark slice of British pop music.

Review: Razat has made an art form of distortion and saturation. The latter is what lends its name to this new eight-tracker on Saturate. After a fuzzy and textural opener the tumbling and brilliantly fluid rhythms of 'Overdrive' get you to the heart of the dance then 'Clipping' lurches backward and forwards on low-end oscillations and 'Bit Crush' closes the a-side with eye-watering hiss and fizz over crunchy drum slaps. Two further tunes on the flip find Razart manipulating sound and bass in his own unique way with two remixes adding extra bite to an already very useful EP.

Review: Originally released in 1977 (the year of punk's simultaneous birth and more notably, death), (I'm) Stranded has gone on to become, not only one of the most vital pieces of OG Aussie punk, but commonly considered as one of the quintessential early blueprints for an entire generation of artists. Staying on course and not even wading into the creative differences that would soon loom large over each subsequent follow up, this box set arrives as a joint collaboration between L.A. garage rock label In The Red, Universal Music Australia and spearheaded by Feel Presents and The Saints founder Ed Kuepper (later Laughing Clowns), who collectively deliver the original LP remastered for the time in four decades, along with never-before-pressed-to-wax bonus discs of a five-song live performance from Paddington Town Hall in Sydney in 1977, the band's full set from the Hope & Anchor Front Row Festival, London November 1977, all three tracks from the 1977 This Perfect Day 12" and all four tracks from 1977's 1-2-3-4 double 7" single, as well as the previously unreleased 1976 demo mix of the (I'm) Stranded LP. Also boasting a 28 page 12" x 12" photo essay of the band covering their origins from 1973 through the end of '77, authorised band history, an 8" x 10" 1976 promo photo, and sticker, this is fan service and an album celebratory box set done right.

Review: The aptly titled Morbid Metal offers up the ultimate fan service to devout worshippers of Swiss industrial black metal legends Samael, who whilst nowadays are renowned for their uniquely oppressive and mechanical machinations, began life in a far more primitive, traditional sense. Spread out across 5 x 7" picture disc EPs, the box set collates all of the band's recorded output preceding their 1991 debut full-length Worship Him, including Into The Infernal Storm Of Evil (Demo recorded in March 1988), Macabre Operetta (Rehearsal recorded in May 1988), Medieval Prophecy (7" EP recorded in October 1988), From The Dark To Black (Promo recorded in 1989), and Morbid Metal (Live in Rotterdam in 1992), while also featuring a 120-page hardcover book including a new in-depth interview with mastermind Vorphalack as well as liner notes, unseen pictures, a patch and a hand-numbered certificate. Strictly limited to 500 copies, this collection provides a rare glimpse at the origins of one of the most vital purveyors of underground metallic extremity.

Review: While the Cavalera brothers would become renowned for their work with Sepultura, many will admit to having little reservations about jumping ship to Soulfly when the time came. With frontman Max Cavalera's penchant for ferocious thrash riffage, husking growls and tribal infusions, this later project would bolster some of the most vicious thrash-punk both sides of the millennium. 'The Soul Remains Insane' compiles all four studio albums, released between 1998 to 2004, along with a bonus LP of b-sides, rarities and unreleased tracks. A book with rare interviews offering insight into each record is also included, making this 4 album/1 compilation, 5xLP collection a true spectacle of fan service to behold.

Review: This movie from 1997 was, at the time, hailed as one of the greatest LGBT films of its era. That has not diminished in the years since and it is still much-loved flick that rightly solidified Wong Kar-wai's reputation and earned him Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival. It's a classic that explores the sorrow of love-lost and identity struggles amidst Hong Kong's 1997 handover and the film's evocative soundtrack heightens the whole narrative. It features Caetano Veloso's 'Cucurrucucu Paloma' and Astor Piazzolla's 'Tango Apasionado' and perfectly underscores the emotional journey of lovers played by Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung, all set against the backdrop of Argentina. With handpicked live recordings, this beloved soundtrack remains a poignant complement to the film's exploration of heartbreak and self-discovery.