# xaoc Devices — Sopot - [Manual PDF](../../manuals/DocFractaosEN-V1.5.pdf) --- [Manual PDF](manual.pdf) # Kaona Fractaos Cheat Sheet ## What it is **Fractaos** is a **4-voice polyphonic, multitimbral fractal oscillator** for Eurorack. Each voice contains: - **2 oscillators**: driver + follower - **1 ADSR envelope** - **1 resonant fractal filter** It supports: - **Polyphonic MIDI** - **4x CV/Gate voice input** - **Drone mode** - **Multitimbral mode** with different presets per voice --- ## Quick Start ### Basic patch 1. Patch **Out L / Out R** to your mixer/audio interface. 2. Send notes via: - **TRS Type-B MIDI**, or - **1V/oct + Trig** per voice 3. Set: - **Fractal Type** = main sound source - **Primitive Type** = modulation shape - **Morph** = blend/interaction between the two - **Texture** = resonant/fractal filter character - **Spread** = detune 4. Use **Loop / Trig / Morph(FM) / Spread / Chaos** switches to choose what the primitive modulates. 5. Short-press encoder for **ADSR**, long-press for **Save/Load/Setup/Multi**. --- ## Core Sound Concept Fractaos is not a wavetable or sample oscillator. It generates **fractal curves in real time**. ### Main ingredients - **Driver fractal** = main oscillator shape - **Primitive fractal** = secondary fractal that modulates the main one - **Morph** = complex blend between main and primitive behavior - **Spread** = detune relationship - **Texture** = fractal filter/resonance/formant extraction - **Speed / Amount** = internal primitive-derived modulation source --- ## Performance Tips ### Great starter settings - **Clean tonal patch** - Geometric fractal for both main + primitive - Low to medium **Chaos** - Medium **Depth** - Low **Texture** - Small **Spread** - **Animated pad/drone** - Main fractal = one of the **Texture** types - Slow **Speed** - Medium/high **Amount** - More **Texture** - Use **Drone mode** - **Metallic / FM-like** - Enable **Morph(FM)** only - Set **Loop OFF, Trig OFF, Spread OFF, Chaos OFF** - Use **Amount** around/above center - **Percussion** - Main fractal = **Kick/Tom/Snare/HiHat/Cymbal** - Trigger with gate/MIDI notes - Use **Depth** for decay/tail - Use **Chaos** for hit variation --- ## Controls Reference ## Knobs / Potentiometers ### Fractal section - **Fractal Type** - Selects main fractal - Accesses all main algorithms: - **14 geometric** - **6 textures** - **5 drum models** - Main fractal only can use textures/drums - **Primitive Type** - Selects secondary modulation fractal - **Geometric fractals only** - No texture or drum primitives - **Chaos** - Chaos amount for main fractal - Quantized in steps depending on fractal - **Primitive Chaos** - Chaos for primitive fractal - **Depth** - Recursion/detail density of main fractal - Changes in steps - **Not CV modulatable** - **Primitive Depth** - Recursion/detail density of primitive ### Interaction / modulation - **Morph** - Blend and interaction between driver and follower - Not just a simple crossfade - **Spread** - **Normal mode:** detune between driver and follower - **Drone mode:** oscillator spacing / chord selection - **Texture** - Controls fractal filter behavior, resonance, formants, micro-detuning, filter intensity - **Speed** - Primitive-derived LFO speed - Range: **0.001 Hz to 12 Hz** - Exponential response - **Amount** - Primitive/LFO modulation amount - Also affects texture intensity - In simplified FM mode: - **0–50%** = internal feedback - **50% center** = neutral - **50–100%** = primitive modulates main frequency ### Pitch/output - **Pitch** - Global pitch transpose - About **±2 octaves** - **Out L** - Left output level - **Out R** - Right output level --- ## Switches / Buttons ### Modulation switches - **Loop** - ON = looping LFO - OFF = one-shot if Trig ON, otherwise inactive except special modes - **Trig** - Retriggers primitive/LFO from each note - With Loop OFF: one-shot per note - With Loop ON: loops while note held - **Morph (FM)** - Enables LFO modulation of Morph - Special role in simplified FM mode - **Spread** - Enables LFO modulation of Spread/detune - **Chaos** - Enables LFO modulation of main Chaos ### Mode/navigation - **Drone** - Enables continuous drone mode - LED indicates status - **PREV / NEXT** - Menu navigation - From main screen: - **PREV** = jump to LOAD - **NEXT** = jump to MULTI - **Encoder (turn + push)** - Navigate screens and edit values - **Short press on main screen** = ADSR - **Long press on main screen** = preset/menu screens - **Long press** also exits LOAD/MULTI back to main screen --- ## Special Mode: Simplified FM Use this exact switch combo: - **Loop OFF** - **Trig OFF** - **Morph ON** - **Spread OFF** - **Chaos OFF** Behavior: - **Amount 0–50%**: self-feedback / sharper tone - **Center**: neutral - **Amount 50–100%**: primitive modulates frequency of main fractal Notes: - FM does **not** work on **Texture** or **Drum** main fractals - FM is limited in high register to preserve sound quality --- ## Fractal Types Summary ### Geometric fractals Usable as **main or primitive**. More tonal/stable. - Mandelbrot - Julia - Cantor - Sierpinski - Dragon - Rule30 - Lorenz - Hénon - Rössler - Logistic - Collatz - Hilbert - Fibonacci - Koch ### Texture fractals **Main only**. More noisy/atmospheric/pad-like. - Cloud - Storm - Aliasing - String - Ensemble - Cluster ### Drum fractals **Main only**. Real-time synthesized percussion models. - Kick - Tom - Snare - HiHat - Cymbal Notes: - **Morph** can blend drum attacks with a geometric primitive - **FM has no effect on Drum curves** --- ## ADSR Envelope Shared settings across all 4 voices, though each voice has its own envelope instance. ### Parameters - **Attack:** **1 ms to 8 s** - **Decay:** up to **8 s** - **Sustain:** held level - **Release:** up to **12 s** - **Curve:** linear / exponential / logarithmic ### Access - **Short press encoder** from main screen ### Important behavior If **Sustain = 0**, Release still works if the note is released before decay completes. --- ## Drone Mode Enable with **Drone** button. ### What changes - Sound is continuous; no normal ADSR triggering - All **8 oscillators** run simultaneously - Spread becomes special: - controls unison / spread / chords ### Spread behavior in Drone mode #### Zone 1: **0–0.02** - Full unison #### Zone 2: **0.02–0.50** - Linear spread from unison to **+1 octave** - Oscillator 0 stays anchored - Oscillator 7 reaches +1 octave at 0.50 #### Zone 3: **0.50–1.00** Scans through **13 chord/microtuning sets**: - Unison cluster - Maj triad spread - Min triad spread - Sus4 / Fifths - Major 7th - Minor 7th - Add 9 - Add 11 - Add 13 - Just intonation - 7-limit flavor - 19-TET slice - BP subset ### In normal mode - Spread simply detunes follower vs driver, up to **+1 octave** --- ## Presets ### Storage - Presets are **.frk** files on SD card - EEPROM auto-saves: - MIDI settings - ADSR settings - MULTI configuration ### SAVE - Long-press encoder from main screen - SAVE appears first - Encoder selects characters - NEXT moves cursor - When **confirm** is shown, press encoder to save ### LOAD - Short click from SAVE screen - Encoder scrolls presets - Presets apply immediately for auditioning - In LOAD mode, **physical knobs/CVs do not control sound** - Use arrow guidance on screen to match panel to preset - Long press returns to main/LIVE operation ### LIVE option - Restores current manual panel state and previous envelope - Exits preset override --- ## MULTI Mode Each of 4 voices can load a different preset or remain LIVE. ### Access - From main screen, **NEXT** - Or click forward from LOAD ### Behavior - Each voice can have: - its own preset - its own MIDI channel - its own volume ### Important - If two voices share the same MIDI channel in MULTI, conflicting voices are forced to **LIVE** and shown in red ### Spread in MULTI - **Non-Drone:** Spread knob affects **LIVE voices only**; preset voices keep stored Spread - **Drone:** global Spread controls **all 8 oscillators**, including preset voices ### Exit logic - MULTI stays active until no preset voices remain - To fully return to LIVE: - set preset voices back to **LIVE**, or - make channel assignments collapse back as desired --- ## MIDI / Settings ### Polyphonic mode - All voices share one MIDI channel - Default: **MIDI channel 1** ### Multitimbral mode - Each voice can use its own MIDI channel ### MIDI velocity - Default = **YES** - Can be disabled for simple note on/off behavior ### MIDI aftertouch - Adds internal timbral movement/organic drift - Not pitch modulation - Depends heavily on selected fractal/settings --- # Jack Reference ## Audio Outputs - **Out L** — stereo left audio output - Voltage range: **not specified in manual** - **Out R** — stereo right audio output - Voltage range: **not specified in manual** --- ## MIDI - **TRS Type-B MIDI In** - Voltage range: **N/A digital MIDI** --- ## Per-voice pitch/gate inputs - **4 × 1 V/oct inputs** - One per voice - Standard pitch CV - Voltage range: **not specified in manual** - **4 × Trig inputs** - One per voice - Triggers/gates each voice - Voltage range: **not specified in manual** --- ## CV Inputs with attenuators There are **8 CV inputs**, each with its own attenuator. ### Bipolar CV inputs These accept **-5 V to +5 V**: - **Texture CV**: **-5 V to +5 V** - **Pitch CV**: **-5 V to +5 V** - **Spread CV**: **-5 V to +5 V** - **Morph CV**: **-5 V to +5 V** ### Unipolar CV inputs These accept **0 V to +5 V**: - **Speed CV**: **0 V to +5 V** - **Amount CV**: **0 V to +5 V** - **F-Chaos CV**: **0 V to +5 V** - **P-Chaos CV**: **0 V to +5 V** --- # Control Summary Table ## Knobs - Fractal Type - Primitive Type - Chaos - Primitive Chaos - Depth - Primitive Depth - Morph - Spread - Texture - Speed - Amount - Pitch - Out L - Out R ## Switches / Buttons - Loop - Trig - Morph (FM) - Spread - Chaos - Drone - PREV - NEXT - Encoder push ## Other hardware - TFT screen - Rear SD card - Rear micro-USB for updates --- ## What is and isn’t CV controllable ### CV controllable - Texture - Pitch - Spread - Morph - Speed - Amount - Fractal Chaos - Primitive Chaos ### Not CV controllable - **Depth** - **Primitive Depth** - Fractal Type - Primitive Type - Output levels - Most menu functions --- ## Best-use mental model Think of Fractaos as: - a **polyphonic dual-oscillator voice engine** - where both oscillators are **fractal generators** - and the second fractal acts as a **modulator / animator / FM source / envelope source** - with **Texture** adding a resonant spectral sculpting layer --- ## Fast workflow ### For poly synth duties - Use geometric fractals - Low chaos - moderate morph - low spread - shape via ADSR ### For drones - Engage Drone - choose a Texture or harmonic geometric fractal - turn Spread into chord zone - slow Speed + medium Amount - increase Texture carefully ### For experimental/percussive - Try Rule30, Lorenz, Hénon, Collatz - or use Drum curves - modulate Chaos and Morph - use Trig mode for note-synced movement --- [Generated With Eurorack Processor](https://github.com/nstarke/eurorack-processor)