Now hear this – something new from the house of Vaux – not to mention the next step in the evolution of our empire of tiny, light driven noise toys, designed to exist somewhere within the intersection of the lands of fun and profit.

So what is it? Well, it’s obviously an optical synthesizer. And its obviously related to our other synth, the Eyecillator. In fact, its actually three Eyecillators on one board. However, unlike the Eyecillator, instead of using some wacky phone ringer chip to add extra chirpy-ness we went another route – in this case eschewing a traditional mixer section in favor of a CMOS-based pseudo ring-mod chip, heavily inspired by Korg’s MS synths and (probably even moreso) the world of Tom Bugs. The sound is… thud-like.

So dig – the first two Eyecillators are modulated together. Then, that output is modulated by another Eyecillator. The result – a quite angry mixture of square waves, rage and chaos. And we all love those, right? And if you don’t, hey, there’s a cute penguin on the back to make up for the shortcomings. And everyone loves cute. Everyone. There’s probably a video somewhere on this listing for those who actually like to see and hear things before throwing money at it. Hopefully said demonstration lives up to my florid prose.

Ordering

Price for a fully-assembled unit is $59, including shipping and handling. Keep in mind that each one of these is lovingly built by hand and while we’ve spared no expense on quality, we have spared expenses on marketing, packaging, merchandising and other general business necessities. In other words, don’t expect a neat box with a glossy zine promoting other products or an interactive DVD where you can compare models, etc. We went this way intentionally in order to provide you, the public, with an affordable, quality little synth without up-selling you on the fluff. What can I say, we’re practical weirdos who stand behind an honest product and would rather not subject you to a sales pitch. End of commercial.

Also, we may eventually offer just the circuit board for those DIY fiends out there. Will keep you posted.

Also also, these ship priority mail from Ithaca, New York. If you’re ordering international, I’ll do everything I can do provide a tracking number for you. Just please don’t ask me to mark this as a gift of something. Paying for violin lessons gets a little tricky when you’re also paying a fine for mail fraud.

Media

Additional Info:

• Power is 9v center tip negative and compatible with most guitar pedal power supplies. I use a 1Spot when building because they’re cheap and reliable. There’s undoubtedly better supplies out there, but that one works.

• As with all audio electronics that have exposed circuitry as part of their design, I in no way am responsible for electrocution, injury, loss of life, etc. due to misuse of this product, act of angry deity, etc. I trust that you’ll do the right thing in the end and not do something foolish like lick this or perform in the bathtub or something, but hey, gotta cover my backside.

• At the moment, I’m really not about making some sort of external case for these guys. That would be more work for me and more money for you. If you really need an enclosure, drop me a line and we’ll figure out a good way to sandwich this between some plexiglass or something.

• Also, there’s no control voltage output. Two thoughts on that – 1.) way too many things have CV these days – not everything needs to be incorporated into some sort of giant control net – just enjoy this for what it is as opposed to what it can do for something else. And 2.) If you really really really need CV, I’m sure there’s at least a few pins you could tap to modify this. Part of the whole open circuit design was done to inspire folks to modify and expand on these guys. Let me know if you need a nudge to get started if you want to go this route – happy to help.

• Finally, as with all our products, this one comes with our usual blanket, all-encompassing, non-expiring, totally transferrable “if we can fix it, we will” guarantee. I build solid and stand behind my wares, but in the event that something happens, I’d like to think I have your back. Just don’t do something asinine like melt it into a block of styrofoam or douse it in lucite. That might complicate things. Just frame that one and put it on your wall. Whatever you did, the story is worth more than the object.

• Finally finally, if any questions come up, either regarding casing, modifications, bulk orders for your class or scout troop, distribution to your chain of synth stores, booking a workshop in your hometown, etcetcetc, please feel free to get in touch. We’re people persons – honest!