When Technosaurus launched the Selector in 1996, they created something that would become one of the rarest modular synthesizer systems in the world—a Swiss-made analog beast that arrived just as the modular synth renaissance was beginning to take hold among serious sound designers and experimental musicians.
The Selector is a fully modular analog system built around voltage-controlled oscillators, filters, and envelope generators that you patch together with cables to create your sound. The standard configuration includes three VCOs that generate sawtooth, sine, square, and triangle waves with hard sync capabilities for creating rich overtones, plus dual multimode filters with 12dB and 24dB lowpass modes alongside highpass, bandpass, and notch options. You get dual envelope generators offering both ADSR and DADSR shapes with attack times as fast as 70 microseconds, two VCAs for amplitude control with built-in inverters for stereo effects, and four LFOs that can run at audio rates. What really sets the Selector apart are its triple resonators—essentially three-band parametric equalizers with voltage-controlled center frequencies ranging from 32Hz to 8kHz and adjustable Q factors that can push into self-oscillation. The system delivers a claimed 100dB dynamic range and -90dB noise floor with a 20kHz ceiling, specs that rival many digital systems of that era. A MIDI-to-CV converter with eight analog outputs lets you integrate it into keyboard-based studios, and the Selector comes in multiple sizes from compact to the massive System D with six oscillators, three octal subharmonic oscillators, and four LFOs.
The Selector earned respect among modular enthusiasts for its clarity of design and educational value—each module is clearly delineated and straightforward to understand, making it an excellent entry point for learning modular synthesis while remaining capable of producing genuinely impressive and complex sounds. Its East Coast architecture and Swiss engineering have made surviving units highly sought after by collectors and working musicians alike.
