Specifications

NN-19 SAMPLER
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The Filter Section
Filters are used for shaping the overall timbre of the sound. The filter in NN-19 is
a multimode filter with five filter types.
Filter Mode
With this selector you can set the filter to operate as one of five different types of
filter. These are as follows:
D 24 dB Lowpass (LP 24)
Lowpass filters lets low frequencies pass and cuts out the high frequencies.
This filter type has a fairly steep roll-off curve (24dB/Octave). Many classic
synthesizers (Minimoog/Prophet 5 etc.) used this filter type.
D 12 dB Lowpass (LP 12)
This type of lowpass filter is also widely used in classic analog synthesizers
(Oberheim, TB-303 etc.). It has a gentler slope (12 dB/Octave), leaving
more of the harmonics in the filtered sound compared to the LP 24 filter.
D Bandpass (BP 12)
A bandpass filter cuts both high and low frequencies, while midrange fre-
quencies are not affected. Each slope in this filter type has a 12 dB/Octave
roll-off.
D High-Pass (HP12)
A highpass filter is the opposite of a lowpass filter, cutting out the lower fre-
quencies and letting the high frequencies pass. The HP filter slope has a 12
dB/Octave roll-off.
D Notch
A notch filter (or band reject filter) could be described as the opposite of a
bandpass filter. It cuts off frequencies in a narrow midrange band, letting the
frequencies below and above through.
Filter Frequency
The Filter Frequency parameter (often referred to as “cutoff”) determines which
area of the frequency spectrum the filter will operate in. For a lowpass filter, the
frequency parameter could be described as governing the “opening” and “clos-
ing” of the filter. If the Filter Freq is set to zero, none or only the very lowest fre-
quencies are heard, if set to maximum, all frequencies in the waveform are heard.
Gradually changing the Filter Frequency produces the classic synthesizer filter
“sweep” sound.
! Note that the Filter Frequency parameter is usually controlled by
the Filter Envelope (see “Envelope Section” below) as well. Chang-
ing the Filter Frequency with the Freq slider may therefore not pro-
duce the expected result.
Resonance
The filter resonance parameter (sometimes called Q) is used to set the Filter
characteristic, or quality. For lowpass filters, raising the filter Res value will em-
phasize the frequencies around the set filter frequency. This produces a gener-
ally thinner sound, but with a sharper, more pronounced filter frequency
“sweep”. The higher the resonance value, the more resonant the sound be-
comes until it produces a whistling or ringing sound. If you set a high value for
the Res parameter and then vary the filter frequency, this will produce a very dis-
tinct sweep, with the ringing sound being very evident at certain frequencies.
• For the highpass filter, the Res parameter operates just like for the lowpass
filters.
• When you use the Bandpass or Notch filter, the Resonance setting adjusts
the width of the band. When you raise the Resonance, the band where fre-
quencies are let through (Bandpass), or cut (Notch) will become narrower.
Generally, the Notch filter produces more musical results using low reso-
nance settings.