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interesting

ok I just finished building a case - they are not a lot cheaper - the expensive bits are the rails and the power - 9u/84hp costs me a bit more than 200€ (rails, threaded nuts and power) and a 9u/104hp costs about 100 more (needs extra power and I tend to use inserts not nuts) - of which the wood for the case is about 10€ - the bigger the case you build the more you save!

I would go for a 6u / 104hp case - the 1u row costs as much as a 3u row to install and can hold no where near the functionality

vcas are one of those things - you only know you have too few when you run out - depends entirely on how you patch - some people use no vcas - some use 10 per voice

you already have an envelope generator - Maths - although maybe a basic adsr one is a good idea if you are intending to use a keyboard

why is veils better than a cloned version - in this case it was cost - 1 veils is cheaper than 2 of the 2 channel clones

the mutable clones should sound the same and use the same (or extremely similar components) BOM and firmware are publically available as appropriate for all modules (probably not beads yet) - I can't comment on build quality (and it may differ wildly)

in general clones (and we're really just talking Mutable Instruments here) are less ergonomic - as they have been shrunk - this may be seen as an advantage if you are in the cram as much as possible into as small a case as possible crowd - or you only have a few hp left in your case (time to get a new one - you did start saving as soon as you got the previous case, didn't you?)

size is really the only excuse for buying clones - mostly they don't save that much money - maybe 50 €/$/£ or so - which in the big scheme of things is not a great deal - especially when looking at a case that costs 4k to fill - maybe it helps to think of it as - Hi Emilie, thanks for creating this fantastic module that i will use for many many hours and get great enjoyment from - here's a few glasses of chardonnay to celebrate - or whatever it is that she likes to drink

really if comes down to where you want your money, that you earned, to go:

do you want it to go to the original designer? - thanks for putting in the hard work

or to some guy who worked out how to make the pcb a bit smaller and order pcbas and panels from China

remember MI are built in France - a first world country - where wages and taxes are significantly higher than in China

utilities - I have no idea either - it really depends on you and how you patch - when planning a rack I usually try to think:

sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities

as a single sound source can be multed to multiple sound modifiers and used with different vcas and envelopes to create different timbres and rhythms which then need mixing

or it may have multiple outputs that can be mixed before being sent to a single filter/vca etc

or you may have more modulation inputs than outputs - mult the outputs, modify them and mix them using utility modules before sending them to the inputs - lots of related but different modulation - for relatively little cost

it must be noted that a sound source in this case could be multiple vcos, sound modifiers could be multi-channel and multi-purpose, modulation sources could be multi-channel etc etc etc

as a starter set of utilities - links, kinks, veils and shades cover a lot of territory in not that much space, you get:

2 buffered mults - useful for copying v/oct signals (anything else won't notice a bit of droop so use passives) one of which can also be used as a 2channel mixer or a precision adder (for transposition)
a 3 way mixer
a rectifier - this modifies a waveform by inverting all of it, inverting just the negative portion, or setting the negative portion to 0
basic logic - send 2 gates in get and and or out
sample and hold - send a trigger in to freeze the input at the output - send a copy of a sequence to this with a different gate pattern than the original to create a 2nd melody line - add these 2 together using a precision adder to get a 3rd, higher note
noise - a noise generator that is normalised to the sample and hold input
4 channels of vca - which are actually amplifiers and not attenuators! which can be mixed together - no idea what else - only got an original
a 3 channel attenuverting mixer that can be used as a precision adder and can generate an offset

that is hard to beat in 24hp - it is almost definite that you will need all these functions sooner or later

EDITED Apr 4th 2021, 23:29

I just bought an ACL Dual VCA from @NSOTB and I am very satisfied. The shipping was super fast, the condition of the module is great and also the packaging was good.

Thanks Garfield,

The sound around 5:40 is the kick bass drum from the Noise Engineering Basimilus Iteritas Alter! One of the best modules around since it can generate lots of various tones from kick drums to cymbals to acid bass lines. I sequence it with Winter Modular Eloquencer that is my favorite modular sequencer in my setups thus far. Sorry about my voice it was muffled and I need to fix that in future videos. I ordered the Doepfer A-100PMS12sw [PSU3] Monster case that should give me another 672HP of space to move my modules from my Doepfer 6U case to this one and free up the base case for more sequencers, mixers, effects and utilities of course. However the Mackie FX on the external mixer are really quite fantastic so those work well plus the FX in my rack. I like to create submixes and subsequences to spice patches up quite a bit.

Hi Jingo,

Thank you for this fantastic track and Happy Easter to you too! :-)

Wow, that kick sound, that's a serious heavy and good one, wooo-ho-hoooo! How did you create that one?

I love those ping kind of sounds you made through out the music, nice piece of sound. Ha, ha, and those Science Fiction sounds around 2:00+ are fun as well!

Thank you very much for sharing this with us and I wish we had 6 or 12 times a year Easter, can't wait for next year Easter, I hope you come up with something like that then as well. :-D Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

Oh lovely jam this one! A nice kind of mellow-ambient track. The over 8 minutes were not an issue at all, I rather felt this could be longer, keep going on and on, oh fantastic!

Thanks a lot for this lovely Easter present :-) Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Sacguy71,

Long time haven't heard from you! Were you busy with your new studio setup? Is your studio called "Cathedral Studios"? :-)

New monster case arrives? Which one did you order? The A-100PMS9 or PMS12 :-) ? One of those would nicely fit on top of your A-100PMB monster case.

Around 5:40 that beat sound, what exactly is that? I mean how did you create that, sounds pretty cool. One little feedback, your voice's volume is a bit too low compared to your music so unless one changes the volume up and down every time when you speak, it's difficult to hear you.

It's nice to hear and see from you again in your new studio. Thank you very much for sharing and kind regards, Garfield.

you have quite a reasonable amount of modulation in the case already - I would head for utilities - a matrix mixer for mixing modulation sources together in different ratios seems like a good idea to me! - or even better the 4ms VCAM - voltage controlled matrix mixer with mutes or the instruo lion

maybe a bit of background...

what are you going to use this with and what are you hoping to achieve?

1U section will also have some Visible Signals modules.

Anyone that would like to sell me a tiptop mantis?

This module is NOT available anymore.
I had communicated with two emails with the seller, decided to purchase one and the first problem encountered was that his website was broken. It was supposed to send me an email password and it never did so I could not create my account.

I emailed the site owner about this and from that point on he refused to communicate.
Then at the same time he was supposed to ship them, Feb 28th, instead he gives me a full refund with no explanation or communication.

Would NOT recommend wasting your money with this guy because he can’t deliver!
Very frustrating purchase experience!

It is a complete system, but perhaps a more experienced eye could immediately understand if some modulation or some other usefulness can be added. For example. And suggest what...

EDITED Apr 4th 2021, 18:17

Hi Jim,
Thanks for getting back about this!

Ok, so here’s my scaled-down version:

I kept the Dust of Time, Beads, Maths and Chaos modules and added the Marbles instead of permutation, because I think it does actually look more interesting (knowing that I won't know until I really touched it).

I also exchanged the veils etc. clones for the real thing - could you explain what exactly makes them better? Is it the build or sound quality?

I’m still somewhat confused about the utility modules… like, how many I’ll need for what. And I’m uncertain if I have enough VCAs and whether I need an envelope generator.

About case, I am planning to build my own, so that should come much cheaper.

Quick answer :
I have a MiniBrute 2S and a Keystep, for now that are the sequencers and keys/pads.

Newest version of this rack :
https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_1531584.jpg?1617557269

EDITED Apr 4th 2021, 17:28

@wishbonebrewery thanks a lot :)

Sounding good :)

Hey fellow wigglers :),

Happy Easter. I hope you all are doing well. It´s been some time since I wiggled my modular. In these dark time which sorround us I got nearly no spare time to turn knobs and so on. So I used this really day off to sneak away to my modules.

This piece of sounds/music somehow shows how I feel: dark with some sparks of hope here and there.

Here we go, stay healthy, try to stay happy!

EDITED Apr 4th 2021, 16:59

All good suggestions, Soundstage is sounding good on @troux work, feels to open up the mix.

I've kinda had my eye on that PanMix cos you can CV it for Pan and Level @ThunderSound the ever-growing wishlist needs pruning regularly, its kinda slowly shrinking but shows growth-spurts after a prune, feeding it regularly with ModularGrid doesn't help!

A patch that started out very incoherent, took me ages to find the sweet spot in tuning the STO to the Even VCO, got the 2hp Tune in the same scale as the 2hp ARP, glad I persisted with this as it was proper wonky.
No filters were used in this just the STO's Shape control and the DannySound Timbre on wave-folding duty.
Newest module in the rack is the Pr0k Clap, Hats come from Patching Panda Hatz, incidental percussion and Bass drum come from ADDAC103. A bit of Monsoon Clouds Reverb on the slow notes and and Erica Pico DSP on the twinkly Arp parts. Extra percussion came from the Roland TR-09.
Soz for the occasional crackle, thats my crappy soundcard.

Cheers for listening to over 8 minutes!

Thanks Garfield!

I also found the PanMix from Happy Nerding, maybe that is another option, that is 6 channels mixing, seems to suit the situation better.
(and my wish list is growing again, but I can delete some from the list maybe with this one).

EDITED Apr 4th 2021, 15:45

When you're playing with it now what do you find is missing? That'll help us know where to nudge.

Soundstage or a Jumble Henge or a Nearness plus some attenuators could do a lot of work for you. I have the first and the last and they're both really nice modules.

Quick question: what are you sequencing/playing with here?

DOT for Euclidean, LL8 for more of a fixed structure, I may end up using the Burst for more Twinkly synth bits rather than percussion.
Yeah I watched that Mylar YT, Percall does look lots of fun.
Rosie looks nice for a bit of end of line Reverb to tie things together.
MixZ sounds interesting, though would obviously couple best with load of other Tiptop modules.

I know the following is not about panning each percussion module, only the last option is about this I think (hexmix).
But you could use the stereo mixers to the Rosie Return stereo set.
Problem is that there are not many input channels in most mixers.
BTW dot / ll8 and Burst seems like nice combinations.

Already thought about the Befaco - Percall (on my wish list)?

MylarMelodies has a 'suggested systems' techno machine item on YT.
There he is using the Befaco Percall partly as mixer.
I am also changing very slowly evolving to a percussion rack, but my budget has been slashed this year (because I am in between jobs now).
My 'optimal' stereo set would be 4 Percalls to a Doepfer A138S stereo mixer, but that is very expensive.

(Title: How to make a TINY live techno modular synth in only 62HP.)

Another option (see my "end game" rack) :

Rosie + pico DSP
combined with 1 or more of the following:
Axys (on my wish list)
X-Pan (on my wish list)
A-138S
I have a A-138N for each (Rosie) channel.
and a A-138S between the Pico DSP and the Rosie (stereo return input).
But I do not know if this would be possible with the hex modules.

another option :
MixZ tiptop (combined with TipTop drum modules) (on my wish list)
There it is possible to bus audio, instead of the need for cables.

Or going to 'real mixers' like HexMix / Hexpander / Hex VCA combinations. (also on my wish list)
like you said yourself.

EDITED Apr 4th 2021, 14:21

Bit by bit I am edging towards having a row specifically for percussion and I'm interested in what other people have for Mixing and Panning etc.
I'm currently a little bit short of Mixing capability having sold the Intellijel Mixup I had and I'm considering the next step in mixing.
At the moment I have:
Most of the percussion sources going via a WMD/SSF Quad Atten then into a Omsonic UPE (Universal Panning Expander) so I can tweak levels and Pan, I do like a bit of Reverb on Hatz so mostly send its outs separate to the UPE.

I fancy eventually upgrading the Mixing to a Befaco Hexmix with the STMix feeding it, though it would seem a waste to use up all the Hexmix channels with panning mono percussion sounds around so alongside the UPE I may get a Doepfer A-138s Mini Stereo Mixer.

But how would YOU do it??

Tips on this idea ?

I really like the Chromatic series, I have purchased some already.
Thinking about making a stand alone set from mainly chromatic modules.
But I have some uncertainties regarding this composition.

1) I have a feeling I can not put the Percal to its full potential .
2) there are 2 modules I am not sure enough to have 2 copies: Ataxia and Euphoria

Do you have any thoughts on that ?

EDITED Apr 4th 2021, 12:33

thanks!

I did a quick jam with base case and new mixer.

Once my new monster case arrives, I will add rest of modules in one place to have complex patches create cool tunes.
I plan to put my Doepfer 6u modules in the monster case on the way once it arrives and then use base case for mixers and sequencers. I also put my 14 U MDLR case in the same area so lets me create some fun patches in one spot.

Hi Gabe

you could try copying the rack Lugia made and then making a bare bones version that you think might work and post it back to check it will at least make sounds - possibly start with only 1 voice maybe a slightly less expensive case...

mantis case

a sound source (dust of time), 1 modulation source (Maths), 1 sound modifier (beads), a way to play (I'd go for marbles over permutation and expander), and a way to listen (the 4ms thing)

add in a bunch of almost essential utilities - not necessarily these modules, but covering the same functionality - links, kinks, shades, veils (I'd get a real one though not the clones)

play with that for a while and then think about how you want to move forwards - do you want to move towards a more complex voice, or a second voice

if by 3rd row you mean the bottom one - it is mostly modulation sources and utilities - modulation sources are needed so that you don't need to constantly tweak the knobs yourself like a deranged crackhead - you can patch these modules to do this for you - utilities increase the ways of patching so instead of patching modulation source to modulation input you patch via utilitiy modules which enable you to multiply, modify and merge them into more interesting waveforms - for example as an envelope closes an lfo is mixed into the signal to produce tremolo this is fed to the cv in of a vca and the effect is applied to the audio being sent through the vca

Thanks GarfieldM for your comment. I checked both and plugged it on another busboard, but it still doesn't work properly… :•(

Depends on your needs and budget. I started with a Korg SQ-1 sequencer with my first modular setup then progressed to in rack sequencers. Korg is ok but I much prefer my Eurorack sequencers like Eloquencer, Metron and Stillson Hammer now. I just ordered a new Doepfer 12U Monster case to stack on my Doepfer monster base case and reorganize my modular setup now that I have larger studio space. I probably will wait to end of year to order new mixers, sequencer and few more drum/voice modules plus more utilities like attenuator/attenueverts and so forth. One thing that I learned was to order the BIGGEST case and power you can afford as a beginner as you will quickly grow. I still have my 6u cases to throw a few modules in for jams in town once Covid ends and portable 14U MDLR case but that case is HEAVY and needs a tray to cart around.

Hello everyone! my system above all for ambient experimental drone and industrial music is expanding and I would like some advice for the final upgrade! I don't know if an ornament crime, an envelope adsr, still modulations..(stages) a vca? happy for some advice!

EDITED Apr 3rd 2021, 17:36

Hi , this is Fabio from Italy.
I. am experiencing an issue with VCA A 135-2 but , as I’m new to modular world , I don’t know if is an issue or is normal….
If I have an oscillator with an high frequency , while in channel1 , 2 and 3 everything is ok and the “gate” is closed properly , on channel 4 I can hear the “original” wave in background….not so much….but I can hear it….
same oscillator , same cables , same VCA settings ,in channel 4 I can hear more.
That doesn’t happens if I go out from individual output on channel 4.
If the note is not high pitch , then there’s basicly no difference between channels….
Is this becouse of summing channels , so 1 go in 2 , 2 in 3 ecc , so 4 is more noisy? I can see that the noise raises even if I raise volume from other channels , even if nothing il plugged in....
All jumpers are in factory settings , I checked the schematics , so it should work 1 on 1 , 2 on 2 ecc
Has the unit some problems? ( I’m still in time to give it back….)
I can deal with it , (maybe I’m still not into “modular tollerance… :-) ) but i want to veryfy if the unit is ok…
I post a video , is in Italian but the Issue is clear.

Hi Garfield

I see why you were shocked then!

Jim

Wow, thanks so much for getting back about this so quickly and in such depth!
tbh this is a lot to take in... I'm trying to get a grip on row 3 but it's a bit hard to clearly see what's doing what since I lack the experience to really be able to tell what these modules will do in practice. (I'm digging through them right now, just to figure out what they do ... bear with me ...)
Because atm I really have to limit my spending to 3k but also because it might be better to start off smaller and see what I will actually use in practice, is there a way to boil this down into a 'light' version that costs around 3k...? what would be the essential modules?
thanks again!

EDITED Apr 3rd 2021, 00:08

Hi Jim,

The only one 8 Multi I have, I bought that one for Euro 42.35 (including VAT) and guess from whom?

From Erica Synths' their website-shop. If I knew at that time that it was such a good offer and that they were going to be sold out and that it is such a good multiple, I would straight away have bought some more...

Dealers had the opportunity to buy at a reduced price this and other modules from Erica Synths as well, hence my reaction that the price is far too high. Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Baltergeist,

Nice experimental jam! :-) There are lots of fun sounds to be discovered here!

Thank you very much for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

The fix for DC crud: linear power supplies. Now, with the Intellijel cabs, you've got to deal with the internal switching supply, and there's not a lot you can do there. BUT...you might consider replacing the Meanwell "brick", which is ALSO a switching supply. Reason is, if you've already got crud coming into the cab from that brick, this can then screw majorly with the noise factor of the Intellijel TPS unit in the case.

With my AE system, I use a Tektronix PS281, but this is probably a bit underpowered for the Intellijel's needs. Instead, the next model up (the PS282, as shown here: g~gAAOSwTOxfoFD0" target="_blank">https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tektronix-PS282-DC-Power-Supply-5A-18V-TW10205/402528809979?epid=1117948359&hash=item5db89633fbg~gAAOSwTOxfoFD0 ) can deliver up to 18VDC at 5A. And if you need more current, you can parallel two of these easily, as they have tracking link connections that lets one supply control the second. Price on the one listed is a bit steep (you should be able to find these under $200), but they provide dead-quiet DC on output...very little junk on that DC feed to cause the TPS to get noisier.

Much love to all the talented artists who were a part of this. I got to speak with a lot of super cool people putting this together.
Thanks and enjoy!

https://communitymodularelectronic.bandcamp.com/album/acid-exploration-2-a-compilation-cme-025

@Lugia 321 is a good idea. I'm having difficulty finding any Happy Nerding OUTs...
-- merzky_shoom

Try Analogue Haven. Their site currently lists this as "in stock". https://www.analoguehaven.com/happynerding/out/

@Lugia 321 is a good idea. I'm having difficulty finding any Happy Nerding OUTs, any other alternatives with 2 stereo ins you might recommend? I do like the idea of having 1/4" outputs rather than needing to convert with a 1/8" splitter or 2 1/8" to 1/4" cables.

Wow that Ground Control looks pretty freakin amazing. It's not cheap though. You could get two SQ-64s for that price and still have $100 left over. After a week of getting familiar with the Rene, I am actually thinking to keep my pre-order for the SQ-64. I believe there is probably not a lot of overlap. The Rene is an amazing instrument, and I have had so much fun just messing with it's up front features, but it's definitely not a traditional sequencer and I have a need for one.

got the batumi and love it,havent looked into firmware,how do you apply it to the batumi?

Batumi has a USB port. Download the zip file and follow the instructions in the readme file.

-- defragmenteur

thanks,might beworth trying out

Release is in 6 hours. Taking submissions all the way up until the end.

I used my Morphagene for the first time in ages on this one, ran a PO12 into it, and everything is loosely synced to it. Otherwise, the usual suspects are at play - Plumbutter, double Double Knots, Tetrax into Cocoquantus, and Mother-32.

The shop in Greece indeed still sells them but at what price...? Wow!

Hi Garfield - I just checked the synthesizer.gr link and they seem 'reasonable', how much were they before?

EDITED Apr 2nd 2021, 10:16

if you want to find the least noisy power supplies then look towards modular video synthesis - virtually all lzx modules up til this point are very susceptible to noise and up to much higher frequencies (MHz instead of KHz) - you can literaly see the noise on the video output - small blocks appear that shouldn't be there for example

the PSUs that are generally recommended for video are the Doepfer PSU3 and the TipTop studio bus - and Malekko used to do one, but have discoontinued it I think

of the power supplies I have:

The PSU in the Mantis is very similar to the studio bus and works perfectly well for video

The Befaco Excalibus also appears to do a great job

Frequency Central PSUs introduce noise - for me - horrible - but are perfectly fine for audio

Haven't tried the meanwell in my Bastl Marton case for video - may give it a quick go next time I re-arrange things - which could be within the next couple of months

From all accounts the Intellijel ones are not suitable for video

Regarding outputs - I live in europe so don't bother with one - the only reason I would get one is if I needed balanced ouputs - which I don't - and I use an es8 as an audio interface anyway - current output patch is master out of tex-mix into streams for compression into 2 multiples - each one patched to es8 (usb to iphone), a unity mixer (to create a mono mix for sensory translator) and attenuators to go to speakers (so I can reduce the volume without impacting the audio reactivity)

got the batumi and love it,havent looked into firmware,how do you apply it to the batumi?

Batumi has a USB port. Download the zip file and follow the instructions in the readme file.