I have completed my version 2 of the emulator that adds some missing patch bay inputs, as well as adds additional inputs and outputs that don’t exist in the Solar 42 hardware.
The manual states the drones are neither V/oct nor linear, but I have nothing to match against, so I don’t know how to make changes to better emulate the hardware. I opted to keep using through zero linear FM for my emulator drones.
The big important change to version 2 is the new polyphonic V/Oct send/return inserts for all 8 voices (26 oscillators!). By default the sends are patched directly to the returns, but you can break that connection and insert polyphonic quantizers to very easily get standard tuning. I have also changed the design a bit so that all VCOs are tuned to the standard C4, and all pitch manipulation is done via CV so it can be quantized.
Tuning by ear is an important philosophy behind the design of the Solar 42. But as @purf demonstrated, not everyone wants to take the time to tune all those oscillators by ear. @k-chaffin - I’m thinking you in particular might be interested in these changes. “Out of the box” the emulator sticks to the Solar 42 philosophy, but it doesn’t take much effort to break out and use more modern work flows.
Here are a pair of very different example patches using the emulator, of which the second demonstrates how to use a quantizer with the emulator.
The sonic possibilities are extensive with the Solar 42. I challenge anyone to see what they can do, patching anything they want into the patch bay, but sending everything through the emulator, and only using effects after the emulator left/right filter outputs. And if you take up the challenge, please post what you have done here, or at least add a link.