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If I had the same requirements

portable
interface with instrument
interface with pedals
interface with computer (vcvrack)

I would do this instead - minimum viable starting synth:

buy a tip top mantis (better hp/$ ratio and still portable)
get a rack mounted instrument interface (either doepfer or befaco)
get a rack mounted pedal interface (or 2) - possibly ALM SBGs, maybe doepfer or addac
get a rack mounted expression pedal interface (or 2) probably addac
get a disting mk4
get an es8 or es9
get mutable instruments links and kinks (a basic utility powerhouse, you will want something like these sooner or later)
get a quad vca (the one you have in the rack already seems ok, personally I'd go with veils)
get one of the effects modules from above - either the morphagene or the mimeophon

why get in the rack interfaces instead of the intrfx:

I just googled it - it seems ok for what it is but you'd probably want 2 or 3 anyway: 1 for bass in, and at least one or 2 for effects pedals and on top of that it didn't appear to have any more functionality than level and format swapping - don't you want envelope and pitch following and gate extraction?!? and using an expression pedal or 2 to control the modular whilst you are playing bass is also useful

after those I'd probably want to get maths, the other make noise effect and maybe a vco next

but, I'd want to go slowly and learn each module pretty well and how it interacts with other modules first and when selecting the next module to buy I'd like to think I'd consider if I have enough utilities to support my new module, and if not what I would need to add and then get it at the same time

you could try self-patching marbles a bit - probably find you need more utility modules - which would be where I would start to add to get the most out of this system - kinks, a few mults (or stackcables), a sequential switch, a matrix mixer all great for extending, modulating and moving modulation to where it needs to be - which in this case is marbles!!!

another great module for adding to modulation, especially over longer time periods, is the nlc triple sloth - 3 slow, slower and slower chaotic modulation sources - great for mixing in with other modulation

what are you currently using your disting for most?

how are you sequencing v/oct? maybe something to address that - otherwise, a small utility mixer, a couple of attenuators (2hp) and a disting mk4 would be my votes to just plug the physical gap and (any) gaps in functionality

I'd be tempted to go with a smaller mixer - you've got relatively little to mix for audio

the best advice is to go for as little as possible

maybe just get stages, the filter, plaits and the quad vca to start with and add a disting - and a sequencer if you need it

play the hell out of them and learn as much as you can about each module - try using different disting algorithms to see what they do and think about why you might want them. or not as the case may be - if you find yourself using the same one constantly then buy a module for that mode and use disting for something else

Hey Alex

I'd watch out for all the smaller modules you have there - a lot of them are going to be difficult to use unless you have baby fingers

a lot of the 2hp demos videos show them with blind panels between

I find that having a module that has a bit of space around it (say a mutable one) either side is a decent solution - this goes for pretty much anything up to 4hp - disting is really fiddly unless you have space around at least the knobs

Jim

try posting an actual link to the rack not just a picture of it - amazingly there are thousands of modules and nobody knows all of them

you have made mistakes 1 and 2 in modular newbieness

1. filling the case up too quickly - with no room to expand

2. getting all shiny trendy modules and forgetting about the plumbing

You have way too many voices and appear to be quite light on utilities for so many modulation and audio sources and destinations

veils and blinds together in such as small case is too much as I think are 2 tides (even if they are different models)

possibly a good exercise is to explain (here or to yourself) your reasoning behind picking each module and question why you haven't selected more basic utility modules

I would reduce* the number of 'voice' modules (voices/vcos) to 1 or 2, keep one effect, rene/tempi, veils and one modulation source and work out how these combine (probably with additional utility modules) to produce interesting audio - you may want to strongly consider getting a disting mk4 as well - it will help you understand what different types of module do and guide you on your path

*this may just involve sticking them in the cupboard for now and reintroducing them when you are actually ready for them

delays, reverbs and utilities - make a little modulation go a long way?

just to re-iterate - get the biggest case that you can see yourself filling over a year or 2 or 3

generally this will be at least 6u and 84hp

mostly this is as a long term money saving strategy - I know it might not seem it in the short term

generally the best bang for buck (cost/hp) is the tip top mantis - which is a great case, although some dislike the aesthetics - but not as much as I hate the rackbrute

doepfer and ladik both make very useable, inexpensive modules that are not tiny and have real knobs on them - but are generally bigger than 2hp and often cheaper than the 2 hp equivalent

the 2hp modules are great - for sticking between larger modules - if there is enough space to get to them easily - tbh I find the same issue with a lot of 4 hp modules too

just take a look at the 2hp youtube videos - they've almost always got blank panels between the modules

all good advice, multiple sequencers - so you can sequence the sequencer (ie transpose)

the simple ones are really useful

even if in the future you decide you want a more complex sequencer, you can use the simpler ones for transposing or for general CV generation

how are you currently playing/sequencing???

too many sound sources and processors and not enough utilities

for me, I'd want both a mutable instruments kinks and links, an lfo (preferably with multiple outs) and an envelope generator and attenuators/attenuverters - so probably maths or batumi and some 2hp trims, disting never hurts, an lpg and probably a filter

if you're restricted for space by the rack I'd get rid of either the rainmaker or clouds and the smr to make space

otherwise just get a bigger case

Kinks is really useful in 4 hp (there's a wave modifier, a comparator, noise and sample and hold) and so is disting (yeah it's a bit difficult to use, but it' so useful)

Marbles could add a nice degree of randomness into the mix and maybe a smaller vco (dixie 2 or something) and an lpg (lxd)

1 get a 104hp 6u rack - maybe tiptop mantis - but check with the airline that the dimensions are good to go - I know they are in the eu, but not sure elsewhere - and remember to pick up the case - it's cheap and poorly built but will get you going

2 find an actual store near where you want to go - one or all of these 3

Analogue Haven (Los Angeles, CA)
http://analoguehaven.com

Big City Music (Los Angeles, CA)
http://bigcitymusic.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_18

Boutique Pedal NYC (San Diego, CA)
http://www.boutiquepedalnyc.us/eurorack-modular/

and check what they actually have in stock - probably not a lot of time to order things in if they don;'t have them

3 some of the modules you have in the rack are not easily available anyway - so that makes things a bit easier - giekses nodrums may not be available (think he only sells from his own site, but may be wrong), snazzy dronebank - and the maths you have there is the old version - so i'd ditch all those and

4 you probably don't need both the turing machine (if you could find a built one) and permutations just get marbles!!

4 I'd really look at kinks - it's really useful in 4 hp - the same for disting - which even has a pitch follower and a tuner, both of which maybe useful

if you really want the intellijel 1u in a diy case i'd not bother with the endplates
if you want to use endplates for the 3u and possibly a row of pulp logic sized 1u then make a couple of correctly sized endplates out of some thin wood

you could try vcvrack it's free and works with es8 - or silent way (which should show up as a plugin in ableton)

bought a doepfer a-192-1 from @adrien
dispatched quickly and picked it up from post office last night - perfect, except for the reversed power header...

fixed in 2 mins, though

works perfectly

thanks

microbrute has a sequencer, but it is only 1 channel - so you can only have one sequence running at one time and the number of slots for saving is low, if it's anything like the sequencer on my minibruteSE which I think it is

also not sure how you'd trigger/synch the beats - never had a volca

I also have a BSP and for sequencing a drum machine/bass/lead it's perfect + it has loads of slots etc - much better than my minibruteSE - I use it for sequencing a modular synthesizer and triggering

• it can handle midi and cv and synch and drum triggers (so would work with everything)

another option which may be possible is to use a precision adder - but then you are into buying a rack etc - which you may not want to do at the moment - and you would be limited to a specific interval

another option is to not worry so much - get the dreadbox module and try it - you may get what you want from tuning the microbrute and the dreadbox to different intervals - you might want a guitar tuner (there are free ones for your phone)

tbh I'd do this and then get a BSP (pretty cheap used) if needed or go in a totally different direction (if you want to keep your money - run and don't look back - there's a reason they call it eurocrack!!!)

yes clouds should have enough gain to deal with line level - not tried it to be honest but if that's what the spec says then that's what the module does (it's mutable instruments!!!)

the big question though is not what audio are you going to feed into it, but what are you going to modulate it with???

clouds loves modulation - and attenuated modulation at that!!!