In a small rural town close to Antwerp, Belgium we find a team of passionate engineers dedicated pushing the boundaries of analogue circuitry, designing 21st century synthesizers.
The brand offers a novel series of high quality Eurorack music synthesizer modules with a utilitarian aesthetic providing versatility and precision.
All of their products are designed and manufactured in Belgium, keeping in mind their commitment to the art of analogue whilst designing functional tools to create sound.
At Joranalogue Audio Design they like to work efficiently, the team consists of four employees which are;
Joran van Gremberghe, Boris Uytterhaegen, Frits Jacobs, Wim Verheyen.
Joran has founded the company in 2017 during his side hustle of repairing old synthesizers he found that multiple people came to him asking for the same eurorack module over and over. After giving it some consideration he decided to develop his first utility module which resulted in Switch 4.
From here he developed some of his most iconic modules such as an envelope named Contour 1 and later the utility Select 2. The innovative design of Compare 2, that was released later, highlights the vision of the company that’s on a mission to create unique analogue circuitry. This module is a comparator, which is not a common utility to use and can normally be found in analogue testing equipment.
The Sine Community has been provided a unique insight into the manufacturing process and we had the opportunity to document, record and publish the journey from start to finish including the development and design stages.
Every module starts with an idea, Joran van Gremberghe advises, according to him it is a matter of choosing and putting effort into the right idea that fits the philosophy of the company. There are plenty of concepts he continues, but with limited time on hand and only releasing a product after it is fully developed this means that we have to pick the cherries.
Due to the fact that the modules are all analogue there is no second chance and the module has to be fully functional prior to going into production. The development and design stages are therefore very intensive and time consuming. Everything is done in-house, from aesthetic design to the design of the circuitry and component purchasing.
In Joran’s own words, the utilitarian design of the modules is part of the business. If you have ever owned a Joranalogue Audio Design module you surely have admired the intrinsic design of their modules. It simply does not need an explanation, as you can see from the architecture on the PCB board to the printing on the face plates that they mean business.
Simple aesthetics with a complex analog design behind it. The first time I got to know Joran he was obsessed with potentiometers. The quality of them, the size and how they are designed and what that means for the longevity of them. You know he has put a lot of time into getting it right, don’t take our word for it, just try one of the potentiometers on your module. No sideways motion, no wiggle just a solid performance by doing what it’s made for.
In the video on our website we can see Frits Jacobs testing a series of Step 8 modules by Joranalogue Audio Design. Every module is individually inspected prior to leaving the office by a person to ensure you receive a fully working module. There’s always a chance something doesn’t work out, and when it comes to warranty Joranalogue has one of the best warranties in the industry.
