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The tuning knobs don't have much resistance so a slight touch can knock the oscillator out of tune, but I haven't noticed a slight detune or anything when both are tuned to A. I do make a lot of dissonant music though, so "close enough" is usually fine for me. Haha.
I don't have the Strong Zero VCO Core installed. Mine is still all analog, and I've found that it's a well-built and stable module. As with anything in Euro, YMMV.

it does indeed...

it's also half the size

but is it half as enjoyable to play with?

I've had good luck with the Furthrrr Generator. Tuning is a little fiddly, but not too bad. It's fairly stable once tuned.
-- farkas

Thanks for the reply. When the tuner LEDs on both sides say that they are tuned to A are both oscillators sounding identically tuned or can you hear a slight detune between them? Or is it more of a "close enough" type situation, or is it just fiddly to actually get the lights to indicate that its actually tuned to A.

I've had good luck with the Furthrrr Generator. Tuning is a little fiddly, but not too bad. It's fairly stable once tuned.

compared to elements, atom it costs half

Ok, thanks at all. What is BOM. Jim have u some links to share or a module name to search here? Thanks

edit: ok BOM intend the bill of materials... ok, i was actually referring to full diy kits for the elements. I miss the desire to make the shopping list.

ah good you worked out BOM yourself!

personally I've got a full size elements on my DIY backlog - it's number 11 of 12 in order - making the shopping list is a lot easier than it appears to be and a useful skill to have in synth diy - it can reduce costs considerably in the long run - buy larger quantitites of common components etc

https://pushermanproductions.com/product/full-kit-antumbra-atom-v1-2/

but maybe available elsewhere

yes, I think Atom is too tiny to control. Good idea Quarks, i didn't know it.
unobtainable, however, in Europe...

EDITED May 29th 2021, 09:28

what sort of music do you intend to make?

do you already have the 19" rack?
do you have more than 9u free? whilst you may see this dream rack as 'end game' there's a very good chance it won't be - and you are not planning in room for possible expansion

you don't need 3 uZeus rack warts - just 2 and 1 of the boost power supplies - also saves 4hp
personally I would try to go with a power supply that will power all three rows from a single power supply - there are plenty to choose from - and if possible avoid the rack warts all together - may involve drilling holes in the 19" - I'd drill the holes and use a couple of befaco excalibuses to power this rack myself - this would save 12 hp!

'reasonably' well balanced - things I would try to do though:

get a midi interface with more channels - befaco do a reasonbaly, priced one that has 8 outs in 6hp iic

swap both the intellijel quad vca and veils for new veils - which will save 4hp - remember these are mixers too and that they can be used for cv as well as audio and as input modules - they have +20dB of gain - so you can probably drop the input module

you have quite a few 2hp modules - which can be great, but, they appear to be in places where they might be awkward to use and make using other modules difficult - getting a couple in the first row is probably a good idea - so you can determine if you actually like them before getting more

rene is quite a big module in this size case imo - but it may be the feature module that you want, idk

I'm not sure that you need to have 4 modulation sources - I would rather have fewer and have interesting ways of multing/modifying/mixing them rather than a lot of different ones - I'd grab a kinks (immediately whilst they may still be available) and a matrix mixer, possibly 2 - probably in place of stages and contour 1 - although I do really like stages - so I would probably try to keep this - maths I would definitely keep - download the illustrated supplement and work your way through it a few times - it's a great modular learning resource

I would seriously think out your mixing - it doesn't make a lot of sense to me - especially the 'end of chain' audio mixing xpan and the addac? you could probably find a better solution for that in a single module

I'd also consider replacing the dual fx with a fx aid xl - smaller and more versatile!

The Antumbra Atom looks cool and maybe if I had been very familiar with Elements I would have been happy with it. But I got the Atom first and I admit it was totally opaque to me. Sold it, got an original MI Elements instead. I think I might get along with something the size of Michigan Synth Works Quarks (https://www.modulargrid.net/e/michigan-synth-works-quarks-). The layout makes more sense and the knob size is a little more finger friendly.

Ok, thanks at all. What is BOM. Jim have u some links to share or a module name to search here? Thanks

edit: ok BOM intend the bill of materials... ok, i was actually referring to full diy kits for the elements. I miss the desire to make the shopping list.

what do you think of the Antumbra Atom? I have read that Plonk is also similar to Elements (obviously with its macro differences). So let me explain: I am assembling an auxiliary rack to my main one in which I have inserted effects modules, drums and I would like to insert a second complete synth module to always be controlled with beatstep pro since I have the possibility to manage two synths at the same time. Here the extra rack:
https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_1583445.jpg?1622279223

EDITED May 29th 2021, 09:07

link to actual rack!!!

I don't know about the size etc - that's something that you'd have to work out for yourself - do you like trimmers instead of pots and poor ergonomics?

DIY is definitely possible - but I wouldn't recommend it as a first smd or even first mutable DIY

I would take a look at amazing synth and work out a path to building one and remember you'll also need a discovery board or similar to program it

However, I see that there are some pcba versions (smd pre-soldered) available - I would go for one of these - should be not much more difficult than the prok drum modules you have built already - it's probably just panel furniture and headers that need to be soldered and then calibration

If you consider DIYing it.. do yourself a favor and check the BOM first, a lot of Mutable clones have problems with chip availability

Hi,
I know that exists clones of MI Elements also a little bit compact. Do u know something else about these? Do you say it can be worth it? Also in DIY will not a problem (I'm back from prok modules, nice experience).
Thanks
FB

Thanks so much!

Hehe, I suppose my hands are small enough that hasn't happened, but it can be a bit tricky getting into the denser sections of cables. I like to make a sketch first to keep track of things and then patch it like putting together a puzzle.

My drums are all electronic from a combination of Roland and Alesis kits.

Hello,

How accurate are the tuners of the Endorphin.es Furthrrrr Generator? I noticed in one video I saw that when he tried to match both oscillators exactly by using the tuners they did not seems to exactly match up.

Settled into a nice evening jam session with no plan or expectations. Found my way here.

EDITED May 29th 2021, 05:11

Hi, I'm planning on building a Eurorack in a standard 19" rack. Given there are so many modules, different functions, and use-cases, I feel like I might have missed some critical components. I have a Moog Grandmother I plan on playing together with this, as well as integrating this to Cubase, and control certain triggers and sequences from the DAW. I plan on starting with (buying) row 1 (upper 84 HP), and expand as I get used to things and save up some more money. Therefore, row 1 is the most important to begin with. So, what do you think about the setup?

EDITED May 29th 2021, 00:09

wow @Lugia so you met him before? What is he like as a person? I like that he makes killer beats with a minimal setup as lugging 20U of modular is not easy as I get older. With a good trigger sequencer and some delay/reverb and few percussion modules, I am getting pretty decent techno results. That said, as I dig deeper into eurorack/modular, I am really enjoying creating weird ambient stuff. Last night was a fun adventure tweaking Hertz Donut fed into Angle Grinder and using 4ms DLP for delay and NE Desmodus Versio. After a while just doing the same worn out techno tracks is boring. Weird ambient patches that take on random sounds is more fun with modular for me anyways. If I had to do a live dance performance at a club, I'd just use my Elektron Analog 4 and be done with it or a drum machine.

VERY smart move on the tile rows, too...both Intellijel AND the Pulplogic standards.

Talk with them for a bit, too...doing "modifications" to their base-model cabs is something they're experienced at. If you need more power, wider rows, etc...they do that.

Yep, you'd BETTER keep that Doepfer cab...because, as we all know, empty Eurorack spaces have the ability to summon modules to fill them! Do not anger the wandering Eurorack modules!

The other thing is that Case From Lake has THE cab you want...go and check out their pages on Reverb (or right now, Facebook; they seem to have blown thru their stock listed on Reverb!), and lo and behold, they've got "flat" cabs that curve slightly to raise the top and middle rows, making for a much better ergonomic result. The other thing I like about them is that they can and do modify their base-level designs. More power? Extra tile rows? Extra width? Yeah, they do that. Plus...and this is the huge one...they're CHEAP! You normally don't see cabs like theirs without prices that go several hundred higher.

He was packing the joints when I did an event with him back in the late 1990s, actually! Surgeon's skills aren't just due to the imposed limitations, though...he has a very singular ability to use the minimal elements and STILL make tracks that sound fully-formed. And that's not an easy trick; when you try to do more with less, it's invariably far more difficult than trying to do more with more.

OK. let's go over these questions one at a time...

1) Noise can be used with Marbles in a number of ways, besides the point that it's useful for a number of other purposes...both modulation AND audio. But as an example, let's take the "jitter" input. By introducing noise at varying levels through this input, you can increase the instability of the Marbles. But there are loads more possible than JUST that. Suffice to say, noise is pretty essential in general in ANY synth, and there's tons of points in the build where a totally random source of that sort would be useful.

2) By using the Penrose quantizer. What you'd do there is to define a set of notes that fit the overall musical scheme you're working with at the time, then feed a modulation source into the "Input" and a clock pulse to the "Trig". The trigger fires the sample and hold circuit in the Penrose to lock in a single voltage value from that modulation curve, then the Penrose "rounds" that value to the nearest assigned scalar step. By using very sparing clock pulses (Skipper at, say, 3/4th of maximum stochastic skips) to add harmonically related blips every time the voicing connected to the Penrose fires.

When you consider what's going on there, it's really very sample-and-hold-like...but the resulting control voltage values get constrained to ONLY the ones that you've defined, not totally random values.

Hi WaveofSilence,

Yeah, nice one too! I love the arpeggiator functionality, what would we do without it? ;-)

Regarding the cables, ha, ha, does your hand never get stucked between the cables, so the cables "hold your hand locked-in"? ;-)

Nice to see you at work at the drums as well. That cymbal you are playing, is that an acoustic cymbal or is that digital too?

You are a real multi-instrumentalist, using so many instruments in this jam. Well, keep the good work up and thanks a lot for sharing this with us. Kind regards, Garfield.

Hey, thanks to you both. Glad to be back.

Behringer Crave & VCV rack..

I use MB with Roland 500, Behringer, Erica, Joranalogue and Doepfer Eurorack modules, works great. MB has one direct gate and 2 CV.

Lugia,
I read the manuals, check reviews and look at the Youtube videos about the modules you have suggested.
I think they will be a great improvement for my generative struggle.
But there are two issues in your comment that I dont really understand.
1. How shall I use noise for modulating Marbles?
2. How to use the quantizisised modulation curves?

> Wow, fetteste Spielwiese Sascha!

-- Kemal
ja macht echt spaß

removing the atlantis, if you don't use it much, seems like a good idea

I would personally go with either batumi or pam's in this size rig, not both, and add more utilities for mixing/modifying/multing modulations sources to create more interesting ones - kinks is great, if you can find one - discontinued recently, but there should be a few still in stores

re utilities in general doepfer and ladik are your best friends - just make sure the depth is ok in the case

I'd also consider an fx aid xl - lots of different algos for effects and decent number of modulation inputs

Hey guys,

I'm reaching you to get some advices about what I could swap out of my main rack to go the full ambient way (Tim Hecker, Lawrence English...).
I had this rack for about more than a year now and I think the only module I tend to not use that much is the Altantis.
I also have a skiff with a PEG, a 4ms DLD, an Erbe-Verb + an Erica Synths Sample Drum that I almost never use.
I replaced the DLD and the Erbe-Verb in my rack with the Mimeophon and I'm pretty happy with it.
My goal would be to pack most stuff in the 7U because I move it alot to play with some friends.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!
I'm thinking about maybe removing the Atlantis to get a Batumi, Pamela's New Workout and a Morphagene but I'd be glad to hear what you guys think about it.

Thanks!

Hi Wedoh,

Oh my gosh, this is nice and relaxed. Can every day be like this please? :-)

Very nicely slowly controlled, beautiful! So what did I hear? Philip Glass resigned and you did take over? ;-) Great stuff this, nice video along with it! Thank you very much for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.
-- GarfieldModular

Wow! Thank you so much Garfield!
Your kind words really encourage me to keep making music. Also i really need to listen to Philip Glass now :-).

I really appreciate your feedback. It meant a lot to me.

Kind regards
Johan

Hi Lugia,

This is perfect indeed. I will contact him.

Thanks for the suggestion,
Regards
Matteo

or thonk - but they are diy only and are currently out of stock - but they do notifications!

Thank you both of you ! Special thanks to Lugia, you made me discover Noise reap, and I love Paradox !

I have been playing with a LC9 for a year, and there is always an empty row... otherwise I really like to play modular "horinzontally", with the case lying down on my desk, which is not possible with LC9 because of power supply.

I already order a 68hp*2 to Modular Maritime - trying to work with french guys, as I am french too - but maybe i'll keep the LC9... just in case :p

EDITED Feb 27th 2023, 09:46

Thank you! My cables usually end up like that, so I try to arrange modules to control while playing on the top and sides.

Here's another video where I left the patch to play on its own with the keyboard arpeggiator repeating:

EDITED May 28th 2021, 03:18

Really helpful all your opinions, I think I will research more about what modular is xD.
For what you all say, you need a bigger budget to build something useful.
Anyway, my first priority is to have some good quality analog sounds, like a a simple saw wave with filter and envelope for bassline. For more complex modulation and synthesis I prefer going on digital because of budget, and use vst like serum with a lot of capabilitys.

Hi Cmb_,

He, he, that's a nice track with a lot of fun in it, I like that. That kind of make happy music, it provides me with positive energy.

Yes, the Telharmonic is a real dark horse, isn't it? :-) Thanks a lot for sharing your great track and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Wedoh,

Oh my gosh, this is nice and relaxed. Can every day be like this please? :-)

Very nicely slowly controlled, beautiful! So what did I hear? Philip Glass resigned and you did take over? ;-) Great stuff this, nice video along with it! Thank you very much for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi WaveofSilence,

Nice jam! You got a nice sequence going on as from about 5:00 that develops pretty nicely, I like that!

I love the melody you are building up as from about 27:00 with your keyboard, nice!

By the way, what a spaghetti of patch cables ;-) Enjoy your Plaits and kind regards, Garfield.

You should be able to order the COUNT module directly from Adventure. Go here: https://www.adventurepedals.com/eurorack/count and then drop them a line inquiring about shipment.

Another great source...especially since I'm betting you're in Italy...would be Case From Lake in Brescia. Won't fix your VAT in the EU, but at least the locality will lower the shipping cost!

+1 on the Mantis (or similar) suggestion. Actually, have a look at these guys: https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=case%20from%20lake&make=case-from-lake Bespoke construction, wood cases, all very amply powered. If you can't find a Mantis, just check out their 2 x 104...which comes in at a whopping $29 more than the Mantis while offering the same room plus a serious wood cab.

Microfreak isn't a bad idea here, also. It's definitely got more of a "west coast" sound going on...plus you get the touchplate keyboard, which I know tends to wig out synthesists that have no modular experience. But really, it's more like the bastard love-child of a Sound Easel and a Microbrute...quite interesting, really. The other nice thing is that Arturia is always coming up with new oscillator modules and other voodoo that can be "blown in" via USB.

But, yeah...$1k isn't a doable goal here unless you're willing to bust out the soldering gear. But if you DO want a way to get proper modular performance while not spending an arm and a leg, then go here: https://www.tangiblewaves.com/ I have a 160-space AE system here, soon to get punched up to 180 spaces when I add the controller/mixer tier. And while that might sound HUGE (and yeah, it IS), the AE stuff is extremely affordable; my system, thus far (which includes the new 20-space row and the modules slated for it) has run me around $6k-ish...and $6k for something that big isn't something you can do in Eurorack, even if you DO kit-build the system yourself.

Or you could sum the four outputs down to either stereo or mono, and feed it through a stereo filter (like the Morgasmatron or the Dual Borg) or any mono VCF you prefer. Even better, if you want to keep the outputs totally separate, you could even go with several different filters for coloring each output differently. Lots of possible options there...

To add to the discussion, consider the artist Surgeon who does a lot of techno stuff. He uses a very basic setup just
with a kick, clap and snare modules and sampler. I figure since he packs houses and is famous techno artist, he can show us how it is done. Here is a post of what he has used in the past for some ideas

You could use Plaits instead of Braids and so forth. Quadrax instead of Quadra for modulation stuff.

Thanks again for the thoughts!

So here's what I did, in case anyone cares ;)
- Removed most of the drum modules (except the kick drums - I like having the full control)
- Removed the Matrix Mixer (no space, might come back later)
- Might remove Rings + E350 at some point, when I need more space
- Got a Chronoblob - patching stuff into the feedback line is awesome, lots of fun here
- Got a SY0.5 - Super cool for basslines and bloopy stuff in little HP
- Got a Serge 8XL - Very hands on, lots of patching points
- In the future I'll get some more small utils, like a 3xMIA and maybe another VCA
- I also rearranged things so that the "performance" modules are in the bottom row for easy access

Hi, thank you for you answer, I really like your 12 hp idea, do you know a good alternative for COUNT, because it is not avaible in europe... The last few days I was trying to find some replacement for the xpan, because panharmonium and magneto work both internly mono, so I don't need panning before. I added some sound modules and I also changed blades for the stereo diode, because of the 4 outputs to benefit from the 6 (8) inputs for my panmix. If anyone now some cool soundmangling modules to feed into my panharmonium, please let me know :)