You are welcome glad to help. I have a large 14u MDLR case and love it but that thing weighs even more than the Doepfer monster case and not as portable since it is made of solid wood. I like how you can stack Doepfer monster cases and daisy chain them together for a massive wall of modular if you want to expand or take just the base Monster case with 300HP of modules to a jam or show. I put my mixers and sequencers in the base monster case and that makes it very easy to control my modular system.

Good point Lugia and I love my Doepfer monster case. Even better than the MDLR case.
Would not hesitate to buy another one and since I buy a lot of modules, really don't want to run out of space.

You are welcome. If you can afford a Doepfer monster base case that is what I would go with. It has 300HP + to have room for larger modules and support utilities. Plus it has a case cover and handles so it is portable. I like Doepfer cases/power and modules. Not expensive but quality and Doepfer pioneered the eurorack format. I am in fact looking at buying another Doepfer monster base case and Doepfer monster case for my future sampler build.

Watch this video from Mylar it will really help you get started!

If you post a link to what you have we can help. What is your budget and goal? Get a large case to start with some utility and support modules. I also highly recommend download the free VCV Rack software and try building a basic modular system with this free software before buying anything.

Looks interesting but I’m leaning toward something like the WMD SSM matrix mixer paired up with a WMD Performance mixer to use with my WMD percussion modules and IME Hertz Donut and Rossum Trident.

Yeah I had bad slow experiences in the past with ordering stuff from Control. Since I am on the west coast here in California and they are in NYC may explain it. I try to order from Patch Werks in Seattle or DM and usually get stuff way faster. Had bad service experience with Control as well they were supposed to send me a replacement cable for one of the modules I bought a while back and never did that!

I have not found a portable drum machine that really sounds as good as modular drums. A friend loaned me his Elektron Rytm MK2 and while it sounds ok and has many nice features not quite the same. I say invest in one drum voice like VPME Quad Drum or Endorphin.es Queen of Pentacles and be done with it. That is my plan for my mobile Doepfer 6u case. Now for modular drums, I love running my Jomox bass drum module through Hexinverter Mutant Hot glue with distortion and compression. Hands down best kick drum bass sound ever!

As a fan of Erica Synths modules, I can vouch for how awesome their filters are since having both their black polivoks and dual vcf filters. I love making them self oscillate and screech plus they can be modulated easily. Filters are one part of the variety and joy of modular besides sequencers for me.

Nice Lugia! Yeah I am finding the advice to buy support modules very helpful. I really only need a couple of oscillators and filters to generate cool tracks with the features of utility modules like matrix mixers, logic modules, and sequential switches! Which is great because it saves me cash as support modules are usually way less expensive than say a complex oscillator for instance.

Cool yeah the ones with great CV control lend best results for me. Also looking at the new Noise Engineering Vice Verga 8 way sequential switch as it does a lot in small space and so far have enjoyed most of my NE modules. Erica Synths Matrix mixer looks awesome but most expensive one same with WMD. Bang for buck looks to be either the Doepfer Matrix mixer or the new Noise Engineering one.

Hi all,

Been busy learning and building my modular system for the past year or so and noticed that one of my racks is missing a good matrix mixer! Now my other rack has a Doepfer sequential switch and 4ms VCA Matrix so that area is covered. But want good change to spice up my MDLR 14 system. What are your favorite matrix mixers for Eurorack and why?

Looking at getting either the WMD Sequential Switch Matrix with expander or the smaller Livestock Electronics Maze. Erica Synths also has one but not sure how good it is? Doepfer Matrix mixer is the affordable one at about $200 and no computer screens just knobs.

Exactly I started with a modest Doepfer A100 Basic system 6u setup and quickly grew to a near full 12u Doepfer monster base and case plus a full MDLR 12u case with dozens of modules a year later. I’ve come now to a good stopping point to focus on my setup and will only buy a module on rare occasions now. Part is to allow myself to master what I have and part is due to being a new home owner with mortgage payments, property taxes and home repairs. Still all good since my studio space is larger and no sound limits.

I used to want these prebuilt modular systems when I first got into modular and had a small Doepfer A100 Basic system but the real joy is mixing different modules from vendors for a truly custom instrument. That’s a lot of the appeal to me anyways.

Indeed I’m a big fan of Schlappi modules. I’m looking forward to Three Eye and Boundary when these come out. Along with IME/Harvestman and Noise Engineering modules, I have my industrial and techno needs met.

My filter wishlist:

Doepfer Wasp
Xaoc Devices Belgrad
Mannequin Three Sisters
Mutable Instruments Blades

What I have now

Rossum Morpheus Z plane filter
Erica Synths Black Polivoks v2
Erica Synths Dual Filter
Doepfer SEM
IME/Harvestman Bionic Lester
Schlappi Engineering Angle Grinder- can be a filter or oscillator.

Yeah Nerdseq would be fun to try out as a different type of sequencer plus you can use a Gameboy joystick controller with it!
I've never used tracker style sequencers most have been XOXO type step sequencers. Erica Synths Black Sequencer looks like another fun one to try out and Endorphin.es Ground Control is finally out now.

Sequences are probably one of the coolest things to me in modular that offer more variety than hardware fixed platform synths.r
I love using VPME Euclidian Circles for tribal drum beats as it is very fun with the flashing lights and creative way of making beats versus a standard sequencer.

Yeah that is the selling point to me on the 1010 Bitbox that it can record and export as Ableton files for reuse easier in DAW.
Looks like multiple samplers would benefit me. Just like having lots of modulation sources and support modules.

I am saving up for Knobcom next year and maybe Superbooth if covid restrictions and vaxx mandates go away.

I still have the Doepfer SEM filter that came with my A100 Basic system and it sounds good.

Rossum filters are great. I have lineaus and evolution. Morgasmatron is also badass. Lineaus and Morgasmatron have changed

Hell yeah! I love my Rossum Morpheus filter so unique and lots of tone shaping options. Also love IME/Harvestman Bionic Lester so many shaping options. Erica Synths filters are great fun for self oscillation purposes and gritty tones.

Now I'd like to get my hands on the XAOC Devices Belgrad filter as well as Intellijel Morgasmatron and Mannequin Three Sisters.

Filters are loads of fun in eurorack land.

Connect a VCO to a VCA. Then try sending an output from your VCA to the mixer and see if sound can be generated.

I definite recommend a larger case and more utilities over a bunch of larger sexy voice modules.
Get the largest case possible and with handles for easy transport. I’m loving my Doepfer monster case as
I won’t run out of room for a long time. MDLR makes really good 14U cases with option for a row of 1u modules.

Utilities are super important. I’m using WMD SSF Toolbox, Mutable Instruments Kinks and Links and tons of modulation now with complex patches. Good attenuators and VCA key as well. I only use one or two voice modules lately with great results. I started with a 6U case that I quickly outgrew. Now with a portable 14u case, I have room for lots of support modules, utilities, as well as the fancy voice modules.

Great advice from Lugia. One piece of advice- get the bigger case but start slowly with only a few modules at a time. That way you can get the right balance of support modules and so forth. I’m using utility modules like WMD SSF Toolbox a lot more in complex patches and they are critical. I use way more modulation now with advanced patching than when I first began. It’s really about cv control I find with modular. I’m using at least 8 LFO per complex patch since many of my modules each have many cv modulation points to tweak.

You’re more than welcome Garfield! I enjoy making videos as it helps me learn over t8me and share with others. I’m hoping to bridge the gap left by DivKid and others who assume an advanced level of mastery with Eurorack.

I’m also looking at Squid Salmple as an option.

Hi all,

Right now I've been using my Elektron Octatrack to sample modular but looking for an in rack solution. So far it seems like 1010 Music Bitbox and Rossum Assimil8r would do what I need to sample cool modular sounds for editing and playback like what my Octratrack does. What are your favorite sampler modules and why did you go with the particular solution? Rossum is very expensive compared to Bitbox so trying to see the pros/cons of both or perhaps consider another module? I just picked up Mutable Instruments Beads which is a granular sampler quite different than to read in an audio source and mangle for recording and playback.

Putting it all together even used the Mutable Instruments Shades and WMD SSF Toolbox utility modules that were not getting much use.

Shades is quite good can be attenuator or inverter and the sheer number of cool modular utilities in WMD SSF Toolbox is superb. I like using invert and the switch for good results in my patches last night.

Thanks and it is super cool that every time I patch, a new discovery takes place. These happy accidents make playing modular a real joy and experiment in music creation for me. I fixed settings on my YT channel so hopefully you all can view the videos now.

You are welcome, I love teaching my lessons learned on modular. I fixed the settings on the video so hopefully now you can view from here. Beads is tons of fun with Rings and Marbles!

Weird I see error on the site. I’ll look into it.

Get a complex oscillator like Instruo CS-l, Rossum Trident or Endorphin.es Furtherrr Generator.

Thanks Garfield.

Yes, I am using iMovie on my Macbook to edit videos to improve content and quality. That makes life way easier and let's me add things not possible otherwise. Youtube is funny it may have been still processing the final version of the video after I uploaded it. Beads is super fun! I have perfect modular ambient machine in Mutable Instruments Beads, Plaits, Rings and Marbles. I want to try the new filter Blades with it in the future.

More tweaking and using Quadrax , Batumi and Marbles for modulation.

Hi @Garfield and everyone check this out

Spent time last night patching Mutable Instruments Beads and had tons of fun. Here is the demo video:

It is a very deep module and tons of fun with Rings and Marbles especially! I now have an infinite tonal palette for ambient music.
I used Mutable Instruments Plaits and Noise Engineering Cursus Iteritas as the audio sources and fed these into Beads and tried various settings for the grain playback. I am still learning it as well as diving deeper into Marbles and Rings. Marbles is quite the complex modulator!

Thanks Garfield. I made a new video with Beads and will upload tomorrow.

Cool deal @Garfield yeah I cannot take vaccines due to allergic reaction. Years ago I had one that put me in the hospital and almost killed me. Masks I can do tests I can do. But not able to vaxx so that rules out stuff for a while longer. No worries I’m having fun at home with modular and trying things out now with Beads such fun with Rings and Marbles for generative ambient music.

One day I'd love to do Superbooth and a European vacation. Right now too many corona vaxx restrictions as an American for me to do much.

I grew up building model airplanes and cars from scratch using kits and glue as well as puzzles and Radio Shack electronics kits to make noises and projects. Eurorack and modular is like an erector/lego set for building music/sound design blocks and the hands on factor appeals greatly to me instead of having an all in one synth box that creates music. Now for travel, my Elektron Analog4 does the job quickly and easily compared to hauling a large case of modular gear around or if I just want to whip out a quick and dirty music track. I am getting into sampler/granular synthesis and picked up Mutable Instruments Beads module (Clouds v2) recently and really having a blast with Plaits into Beads into Rings and using Marbles for LFO/randomness stuff.

Check out IME/Harvestman and Mutable Instrument modules they easily can do dark ambient stuff.
Piston Honda or Plaits would be a good starting point with support modules and a random generator/sequencer. You also want some sort of FX like a good reverb/delay. Under 1300 will be tough to do.

Very cool @GarfieldModular! Would love to see a video live performance of you jamming on your modular setup.

I really love my Rossum Morpheus filter a lot! Also the IME Harvestman Bionic Lester MK2 and Erica Synths Dual VCF are superb filters. The Richter Dual Borg filter kicks modular butt as well. I am a sucker for cool filters! Saving up for the Intellijel Morgasmatron and other filters.

@Lugia,

I love VCV Rack and I used it a lot before buying a modular system. I still use it on occasion to try new items out now that Instruo has placed copies of their expensive yet amazing modules on it. I used it and the videos on YT and picked up the book Patch and Tweak when I got into it. Now that I have half a monster case and 14u case full, have more than enough modules to keep learning and creating music.

Almost like having a mini Elektron Octatrack or Digitakt in one module for sample and loop playback!
How is it for recording modular stuff? Seems like would be a great way to record live performances and dump to a DAW like Ableton for processing into songs.

I love modular sequencers! Having a good trigger sequencer to pair up with the Vector is quite useful. Maybe something like an Eloquencer or WMD Metron would be fun for you to expand. I like clocks as well and Pamela New Workout is fantastic in this area.

Not really. I use Quadrax and Batumi for modulation and have plenty of function generator features in these two modules.

What I recommend is a Doepfer A100 Basic System. That will get you started with a case/power, basic modules and support modules to learn to create music on modular systems. I started that way and it was helpful. Under 2k, get it all and Doepfer modules sound great. Some info:

http://www.doepfer.de/a100s_e.htm#A-100%20Basic%20System%201

I expanded quickly and still use most of my Doepfer modules.

Thanks Garfield, yeah it was a lot of fun. We drank good beer, ate ribs and patched weird sounds on the modular. I’m trying to form a local modular synth group here in Sacramento area of Northern California now that the covid lockdowns have finally ended.