Comparator

Compares two control voltages and reports which is larger as a gate. Feed it any pair of CV signals — envelopes, LFOs, sequencer rows, a knob against a threshold — and it tells you, moment to moment, how they stack up.

How it works

The Comparator looks at the raw voltages on A and B and fires exactly one of three gates. When the two are within 0.01V of each other they count as equal; otherwise whichever is higher wins. Each active gate sits at 10V, the others at 0V, so the outputs are clean triggers ready to drive anything that listens for a pulse.

Inputs & outputs

• A, B — the two voltages to compare. Order matters: A is the one tested against B.
• GT — high while A is greater than B.
• LT — high while A is less than B.
• EQ — high while the two are essentially equal.

Tips

• Patch a steady voltage into B to turn A into a threshold detector — GT fires the instant A climbs past your set point.
• Cross two LFOs at different rates and tap GT for a slowly shifting, self-generating gate pattern.
• EQ fires only in a hair-thin 0.01V window, so on smoothly moving signals it blips briefly as they cross — useful as a zero-crossing or coincidence trigger.