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I follow a similar format and prefer modules like mixers and sequencers and controllers on easy access lower row as I make changes on the fly more often than set and forget things like an oscillator in the top row. Some modulation sources like my new Acid Rain Maestro are on lower level next to sequencers and mixers as the Maestro is like a cross between a clock, hex lfo and sequencer that begs to be played live with frequent changes. Such a fun module!

Some more tinnitus (with a subtil reggae beat)

EDITED Dec 23rd 2020, 02:53

Really nice @Rassell!

Happy to, it's a cool crew here and I'm proud to be a part of it @the-erc

I've got a feature request...and hopefully it's easy enough to implement. If we could have a "date created" for builds (ie: the date when the build was started with an empty rack) along with the "last modified" date, that would be a big help in going back thru older builds I've got to clear space. And I'm betting others might want this for the same purpose, too.

@troux -- thanks for organising this! Amazing!

10 minutes should be good @the-erc, track accepted!

I'd love to contribute, although I don't really do "short". This is my personal favourite of my recent jams, although I have recently acquired a Werkstatt-01 and I feel something acidic may be about to happen...

If it's too long I can find a shorter one, but not much shorter.

Sick!

Good point...plus, when you de-case something like that and RE-case and power it in a Eurorack cab, you're actually increasing the cost of that synth because you then have to factor in how much EXTRA it costs per hp for things in your cab. As an example, the Arturia 2 x 88 cab there has a per hp cost of about $2.10. The Quadrantid Swarm streets for $549...but at 41 hp, it will wind up costing $635 and change when the cab space gets factored in.

If it's already in a case of its own...keep it there. It's cheaper and makes more sense.

The risk is actually more to the power supply...but quite often, when power supplies fail, they puke up a lot of overvoltages and other garbage. But if it's a Doepfer PSU3, those are pretty beefy and they're overspecced. Just rearrange your +12V load so that everything's a bit more load-balanced across the busboards...and actually, the evened-out load might be useful to lower other component stresses, such as the busboard filtering caps, etc.

One other thing I'd recommend would be to get one of Konstant Labs' 1 hp PWRchecker modules. They're conveniently sized, plus they do a bit more than just being an indicator that the busses are functional. Very smart little thing...and for US$28, they're a no-brainer if you don't already have some front panel rail voltage indicators.

Wow! I‘d love to be a part of it! Thanks for doing that! Great idea!

Yes youre right, i'll rearrange them on the rails. Is there some risk of damaging modules when coming close to the 2000ma?

Yes, i got the doepfer psu-3 case.

One note here, the Swarm has its own case and power I think, so you could host it separately and save a bunch of space in your rack.

1.85A is pushing it a little. It would be better if you can get that load figure lower, say down around 1.6A. This is easier on the "on the panel" supplies. But if we're talking some sort of heftier internal supply (like the Pitt ones, Doepfer PSU3, etc), this should be OK as those manufacturers tend to build some headroom into their P/Ss. If so, then just take some care to distribute the +12V rails' current load across the distro boards so that one of them isn't bearing the brunt of the current load while the other loafs along.

Careful...the 531 mixer doesn't have CV over levels, but over panning.

This build can't properly support huge modules, either. You need to sort out how to get the modules down in size so that you can make something usable here. One example would be the use of the SND/RTNs...you can get the same basic functionality out of a Ladik A-520 and P-520, with the sole difference being that you'd have to control your I/O levels on the stompboxes themselves. But as for the space difference...that would half that, and the COST...$78 sounds WAAAAAAY better than $500!

One other thing: you'll probably find that you'll hate having your control surfaces on the top row. In that position, you'll have patchcables all over them and they'll be a PITA to work. Bring them to the bottom row, then all you have in the way will be the 2s to/from patches.

Thanks for answer here.. So basically how close can i go to 2000MA? Would around 1850 be safe and no problem?

EDITED Dec 22nd 2020, 21:37

I believe in you @Lugia

Another couple of cabs I'd thumbs-up based on their power supplies would be ones from Erica and Pittsburgh. In the latter case (no pun intended), those are Monorocket designs, and Monorocket was always known for MASSIVE power overspeccing. The Pitt cabs are no exception. And the Erica stuff also goes overboard on amperage...even their 1 x 84 skiffs sport 1.25A 12V rails!

Might be a bit of a wait...between my accident this past spring and dealing with Covid-19 (ten day quarantine...feh), I would've expected the refit of the studio to be done had none of that happened. Set me back months, really...

Now I'm thinking, I wonder if we can get a @Lugia track out of this 🤔🤔🤔

Great!

Sounds great! Still enough time, at least for me, to build an exclusive for you 😉 👍

It'd be nice to get this done before EOY @zuggamasta, so maybe the 28th or 29th if that's doable? Archive pieces are accepted if that's a tight timeframe.

Big honor to be on your list.
What is your deadline/eta so we can take some preparations?

@wishbonebrewery I can relate, but I also have some somewhat clean files in the archive ;)
Just not named well, or named at all.

EDITED Dec 22nd 2020, 19:21

Everything you've posted so far's been rad @wishbonebrewery, WradioPhonik would fit in just fine!!

You mean I have to make a coherent, completed track and not delete the .wav file after uploading to Youtube?!

I've been working on live acid jams (@mylarmelodies has been a big inspo there) and dreaming about playing out post-Covid, hopefully should have something to share soon.

Thanks @troux.
Next project will be quite different. As always, I'm anxious to hear what you come up with in the future.

Also, listening to this again for the first time in a bit, great tune @farkas

Track #1 down, thanks @farkas! Now, who's next? 🙌

EDITED Dec 22nd 2020, 17:09

Sounds great. I would definitely buy that. Thanks for thinking of us ragtag bunch of lunatics. :)
Here's a link to one of my tracks if you would like to submit it:
https://ciernyvlk.bandcamp.com/track/drowning-in-positivity

Happy holidays to everyone!

I was thinking the other day about all the great tunes folks've posted here this year and how it's been a sort of a lifeline in this crazy time, and thought we should put together a Best Of ModularGrid comp for 2020, so I mentioned it to a friend running a small net label (https://communitymodularelectronic.bandcamp.com/music) and he loved the idea. If there's some interest here too I'd be happy to put it together and celebrate everybody's journeys in this crazy time. So! If you like the idea and want to contribute a track let me know! Since it's a netlabel and will be on bandcamp I think we can include anybody who wants to be a part of it, but if you submit a longer tune submit a shorter one too as backup, in case everybody wants to do a 17+ minute drone that is 🤣

So, here's looking at you @Exposure, @defragmenteur, @Rassell, @mowse, @sacguy71, @funbun, @aphew_goodman, @zuggamasta, @farkas, @yalivec, @GarfieldModular, @mog00, @wishbonebrewery, @the-erc, @cyberneticOhm, and anyone else I'm forgetting...

Thank you loads for all your thoghts to my system! @lugia I would love to invite you to my house for a couple of drinks and talk to you about modular gear and music :-) Thanks for all of your tips!

Happy Hollidays to all of you!

Hello all. I am building my first Eurorack rig based around a Minibrute 2S and a 6U Rackbrute. I will make techno with occasional excursions into other genres. My goals are:

1. To augment the Minibrute's voices (the Swarm and Indian Drum)
2. To get my outboard effects into the system (the 4 SND/RTNs)
3. Have a good filter

I plan to use the ES-8 to connect to VCV Rack. I can get EGs and LFOs there. I was thinking the VCAs might be redundant with the mixer has volume CV, but it might be good to create a voice and send that to one channel of the mixer?

Also I have all the drum boxes and samples I need for percussion.

Thank you.

Juan FTW! Quite a thing to compare ones own work to, though...it's almost like being a beginning modern-day poet, but having to 1:1 compare your work with Shakespeare's sonnets!
-- Lugia

Well I really only intended to compare to Shakespeare's kick drum, as it were...

Hi Lugia,

Thanks a lot for that stockhausen link, will check with them, seems they are located here in Germany, so should be easy for me then :-)

Thank you and kind regards, Garfield.

Fun piece @defragmenteur, I could almost see myself at a basement gig in the midwest, let's say 2008, with you giving us all tinnitus. Now where'd I leave my tallboy... 🤔

Listened to this again the other day @Exposure, really good work, hopefully we hear more soon.

I have been pretty lucky so far with my 14u MDLR case that has dual 85w power supplies. I have a lot of larger power hungry modules as well like Rossum Mob of Emus. Funny thing is that the Patchwerks tech told me that a customer had issues running that module in his case but it powered up fine in my larger case.

It should be out there somewhere. Have you tried looking for a used copy via Amazon? I often find that 'difficult to find stuff' turns up there routinely...you just have to be careful to avoid the collector-dealer types so that you don't wind up paying twice the price.

As for "Kontakte", there's actually TWO versions of it...and you can get both via the Stockhausen-Verlag website. Their editions are more expensive than others, but the MASSIVE liner notes (by Da Man Hisself!) on every work in the series is well worth the cost. Anyway, there's a version that's ONLY the electronics, and the other with piano and percussion. Both are 100% worth having. http://www.stockhausen-verlag.com/

Ought to be just fine. You're nowhere close to the limits on the -12 and 5V rails, and only the +12V one is pushing it a bit. But as senor-bling mentioned, Dieter overspecced those power supplies. Even with an inrush, it should handle that like a champ. One thing I would suggest, though, is to try and balance that +12V load as evenly as possible across all three of your busboards. That should give you some leeway on power-up as well.

Juan FTW! Quite a thing to compare ones own work to, though...it's almost like being a beginning modern-day poet, but having to 1:1 compare your work with Shakespeare's sonnets!

Maths is worth the wait, especially as a complex modulation source for the Rainmaker. Maybe poke around on eBay, or the FS listings here or on Muff Wiggler.

Yeah, the Double Helix is actually a good way to get into Buchla-esque territory. Like most complex VCOs, it's got a bunch of useful functions behind the panel, and ample points on front to mess with it. I also like the gate-like setup on the right side, where you can alter dynamics along with timbre via envelopes or just plain pulse signals.

Oh don't get me wrong -- it's a great mix, and everything comes through very well. In a sense, it's quite old school, like before the "rules" of techno were quite so ossified. I mean, compare any modern techno record to this :

A few small changes to make the rack ready to go again. Took a Dreadbox mix/vca that was still laying on the shelf and added a Shades clone (Shades serves to attenuate 3 individual hpt audio signals from Quadnix and A-110 that go to the outboard mixer and multi track recorder. Moved the Intellijel mixups to upper row for better acces to the knobs as they are no longer shaded by wires. Workflow upper row is Marbles to Plaits and Rings, Plaits split for direct out to outboard mixer. Plaits and Rings (both odd and even) Intellijel Mixup and Mixup stereo out to uBurst in L + R. Stereo from uBurst to 2nd Mixup that functions as simple stereo out to multitrack recorder.

Ah the kick, yes, you're right. I probably went with a softer kick because of the drone origin.

Also, I'm still having a bit of trouble mixing the kick drums, it usually gets lost in the lower frequencies and I have a hard time making it cut through the bass, so using a softer kick with shorter decay time made the mixing a bit easier. Then I also added some EQ in the DAW to remove some frequencies and make it fit better with the rest of the sounds.

Overall I think it sounds better than in my other mixes, though it doesn't sound strong enough for a proper techno track. Yeah, that's something I'm still working on and needs some improvements.

The short answer is: you should be on the safe side with those values.

The Doepfer PSU3s are pretty good and you should be able to run them close to their specified limits. The problem is, that you can't rely 100% on the power consumption specs of your modules here on modulargrid. Most should be close to their actual power consumption. But there's no way to tell how these values were measured, really. Some modules show a significant spike in consumption on power up, most will draw varying amounts of power depending on how they're being used. Has the manufacturer (or user) who added the module here entered the peak value or some average? Or just some random best guess? You can't know for sure without doing your own measurements. So the recommendation of not exceeding a maximum of 80% of the PSU spec also serves as a cushion against too optimistic module consumption specs. Again, it's a recommendation and no hard and fast rule.

EDITED Dec 21st 2020, 11:22

It's time for me to thank @dadacore (grazie!), @ODEC and @freddybarbentane for the flawless transactions.

Hi,

So ive read at different kind of forums etc that you shouldnt go more than 80% of the total PSU power, in my case I have a Doepfer PSU-3 wich have maximum at: (+12 V / 2000 mA, -12 V / 1200 mA, +5 V / 4000 mA, 100 - 230 V), and 3x bus boards

My current set up draws this down below according to MG - My question is, is this safe and will cause not problem?

Power Consumption: 1754 mA +12V | 729 mA -12V | 270 mA 5V

Thanks for answer!