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We have done a lot of prototypes. We have experimented a lot. We have tried a lot of potentiometers. It is now ready.

Aranea is more than your typical matrix mixer. It is set up as a 5×5 attenuverters matrix.

When a pot is at noon, no signal will pass. Absolutely none. This was our biggest challenge. We ended up ordering custom center detent potentiometers to do just that.

If you turn a knob to the right you will increase its volume with up to a gentle 1.2X amplification. If you turn a knob to the left you will increase the volume while inverting the phase. Useful for DC signals like LFO or envelopes, great in audio patches and specially for feedback work.

Aranea has a main AC / DC switch. A single toggle will switch on or off output DC blocking capacitors for all channels.
When in AC mode, DC blocking will happen at the output. You can still use DC signals at the input to push the audio into the soft limiter built in all outputs.

Bonus trick : when in AC mode, plug the output of a channel back in an input, twist the corresponding knob and you get yourself an oscillator.

When in DC mode, no capacitors are present in the mixer path, allowing use with all kind of slow signals, LFOs, enveloppes, gates, and so on.

Extra outputs can be particularly handy. The exclusive “/” and “\” outputs are the diagonal outs (AI, BII, CIII, DIV, EV and AV, BIV, CIII, DII and EI).

Each output has a limiter kicking at around 14Vpp to keep the gnarliest of feedback loops in check. Also useful as a distortion when the signal is “pushed” or “pulled” in the limiter.