Does Mordax have DATA in production any more, or is that run of units and parts all done?
They have one product, two versions, and they're both 'out of stock' on the site.
They talked about updating it, but it looks like Mordax lost interest in DATA a few years ago in the plague times.
Now they are focused on a prototype 'drone oscillator'. Oh boy.
Eurorack's a tough business to stay alive in.
Are you looking for a black faceplate, or a white one?
Your module choice and placement looks kind of random. A headache in a box.
You're going to have to fight a tangle of wires, and your memory and eyesight, to tune, patch, and play that thing.
It will certainly generate a mess of audio, but a collection of high end modules doesn't make an instrument.
You've puzzled out making everything fit (the fun part), but go back and reconsider what modules, when paired together,
would be typically used in the majority of your patches. Source to sinks, left to right, building from the bottom up.
Not always the best choice, but it fits how most Doepfer modules were traditionally designed, so there we are.
Using a pair of 4 inch wires is better than draping two footers down to one corner and back.
You've got all of those complex modules, but no way to share and distribute expensive-to-generate signals accuratly.
With your 16hp, I would place four Synthrotek MST '07 buffered multiples (my new favorite 4hp mult), one on each row.
Better yet, drop a row's worth of ear candy, and put in some VCFs, mixers, and offset/attenuators to tame those modules.
At least 20% of what you've got there will never get used, beyond maybe once. It could, but won't.
Find that 20%, and simplify.
the Neo Trinity has 6 LFO/env outs with gesture recording in addition to a clock, so that seems like a huge advantage over all those, esp the maths and quadrax for their price. I was wanting to get a Gliss though, and I just saw they make one in 24hp 1u! I will have to get rid of the touch pad though, since I got the stereo out module. Seems like a good trade.
The Palette is rock solid like all Intellijel cases, but it is expensive in terms of buck per hp.
When it comes to hands-on modulation, the Bastl wouldn't be my first choice, not even second or third. I'm no Bastl fan, tbh, so I'm biased. You should also take a look at the Intellijel Planar 2, the Bela Gliss, Intellijel Quadrax / QX, Rossum Mob Of Emus and Make Noise Maths 2. The Ryk Envy Machine comes to mind as well.
The Palette will be too small soon, anyway. :)
Thought about that re: midi- Figured I'd save myself the $200 and use the mother32 for midi-cv if needed. (I just barely understand midi in general but at least have found how to send notes from ableton to the m32)
The Palette seemed like a solid, reliable case compared to the cheaper options.
Wouldn't the Neo Trinity be the source of hands-on modulation? it seems like a powerhouse that I hope could trigger the Crust. I'm also not opposed to using the Moog system to supplement a certain functions for now- The DFAM is like 2 8-step sequencers and I have like 6 or 7 envelopes to use in the whole system.
Ah, thanks. Well, if you're really willing to sell the Terrarium, then the Oneiroi might be a good replacement (although a totally different beast with another sonic palette). For ambient, it's a nice choice for sure, and the 352 should bring in enough money to continue on that way.
If you want the MIDI input to work on your Intellijel case, you'll need one of their 1U MIDI output modules to connect to it. If you don't need that, then you're fine, but it might help for sending pitch and gate information to the Crust and its other firmwares (Pizza is a great oscillator, and the Basil is not only a great delay but an interesting Karplus-Strong voice). Unfortunately, there isn't much room for my next suggestion, which would be a hands-on source of free-running modulation (LFO, function generator, etc).
Overall, I think this can absolutely be used as it is, but I am wondering how committed you are to the Palette case. They are pretty expensive and require at least two extra modules (a 1U MIDI out and a 1U stereo out) in order to get all the functionality you need. The 1U modules you've chosen can easily be found in 3U format. In other words, a lot the extras that make this case so expensive don't seem to be a concern for you, unless I am mistaken. Will you be using this alongside MIDI sequencing and mixing things outside of the rack?
@noodle_hut: Thanks for the suggestion. The assimil8or does look like a do it all sampler, but i fear that all those options are hidden behind a good amount of menu diving. I would like some more immediate control over the sounds, like on the STS. Besides, the used price is about as high as what i want to spent total.
The Beringer 173 would mostly be used for trigger gates or other logic related patching. If i understand it right, passive mults are a problem because of signal degradation/feedback?
@ferran_RMBL: That looks like a nice sampler. A display would make slicing alot easier i suppose, yet i would probably miss the direct control of the missing potentiometers. For straight up launching samples, it looks nice. But don't take my opinion for anything but an opinion of a total modular beginner.
Hi,
While we're talking about samplers, how about Ericasynths Sample Drum for launching and manipulating samplers? My main use wouldn't be for percussion, but rather for launching samplers of perhaps 10 or 15 seconds. I like the slice functions and the graphic display. Any thoughts on it?
The Behringer 173 is a passive mult. Unless it's for trigger pulses, I'd avoid it.
The Synthrotek Buff Mult is very nice, as is the Rides in the Storm QAM.
The Rossum Assimil8tor does about everything a sampler could, and sounds pristine.
Still expensive, but they're trending cheaper on the used market.
I am looking forward to building a modular system focused on playing and altering samples. The system will be sequenced by a digitone, which is also handling all of the usual synth voices. I would like the sampler to fill the role of hard to replicate sounds and textures, that i want to manipulate further by other modules. Here is where I stand at the moment:
O_C 4.1 for midi to cv and everything that is missing (lfo, simple envelopes. quantization).
Behringer 173, Math clone and a 4 channel VCA for further envelope generation, attenuation or sequencing the sampler (module recommendations welcome)
4ms STS for sample playback. I want to create a patch that uses playback speed, direction, pitch and sample selection for interesting sounds/rhythms and then switch to a different bank and be surprised by new and probably bad sounding audio. I think the STS fits nicely and will be at the core of everything.
Some kind of filter would go here to further shape the output. I am open to suggestions, as I really have no idea what is needed here.
At the end I would like some kind of mixer with line in and line out, so that I can route the final sound from digitone back into the system and record it with the STS. Does a module like this exist, or do I need multiple modules?
Here is the link to the rack:
I would love to hear some feedback on all of this. Is this enough to get started with sampling fun?
sorry, it's not showing all the modules:
Left to right:
Sample and Hold
Mixer
Amp./envelope follower/Integrator
Noise Generator/Rig Mod
Frequency Central Process 26 (ARP 2600 styled Volt Processor)
3 Mults
Analog Switch
Between these three racks/skiffs all modules are accounted for on the original Roland 700 Synth.
Yeah, the learning curve can be a bit steep in the beginning. That said, this is a really weird rack. ;)
Power consumption shouldn't be a problem, the Intellijel 4U Palette provides up to 1.2 A per rail.
What you need depends entirely on what you want. You don't need a VCA if there's no need for amplitude modulation. But you might want something like this: https://intellijel.com/shop/eurorack/1u/stereo-line-out-1u/ to connect to your 6.3 output jack and reach the outside world. Be careful - modular level is not line level! Modular level is quite a bit hotter!
Lastly, I do have another support skiff which I had not updated on ModularGrid (it was a 6U 104 rack, which I broke down part of it on Nifty Keys the other is a 104hp 3U skiff which I just updated here):
The little power thing is a monster power supply by Synthrotek. These are all analog modules so they don't have tremendous draw. Also I didn't mention in my post that most I built most of the Pharmasonic modules.
Thanks for your insights, you arrived at them quickly and exposed that I in fact failed to share that extra row, more or less that you spoke of. Still, I'm not thrilled with the Behringer 305; so likely I'll replace it.
I decided to jump into modular with the new Bastl Citadel modules. I had previously owned two of their SP2's and loved them (quite buggy though). I have Moog semi-modulars but have never built a full modular rack so I'm worried about missing something obvious.
Do I need VCA? Sequencer? Any cheap 1u utilities? (Figured I can sequence w/ the DFAM/Subharmonicon if needed). Do I have to worry about power consumption? (503 mA +12V | 238 mA -12V | 0 mA 5V) I really have no clue what I'm going to be able to do with this rack besides glitchy drums - I know it would be cool to patch the DFAM in. I'm sure it'll be a learning curve.
I tried to stay true to the components of the original Roland 700, but I ran out of real estate so I sacrificed a few of the redundant utility modules. I used clones from Pharmasonic in Japan. The founders were involved with Roland. The modules sound amazing.
This was built into the back of a Vox 4x12 speaker cabinet. I kept the speakers and purchased the Vox Head that went with it. It is a digital amp with tube distortion but with loads of FX to play with. It sounds huge!
There is also a Nifty Keys that goes with this synth:
including 8 note polyphony and an output mixer. Plus when I want more control over melodies, a sequencer and a sampler.
It kind of wants to be 8 note polyphonic, but there's no easy way to do that with just the sequencer and S&Hs.
Needs active mults and a mixer. I get how it could be patched, but it seems tedious,
especially to group CV the oscillators.
There's tons of potential there, the essentials x 8,
but it's missing about one row more (more or less) of what would make it great.
That sequencer is taking up a lot of room...
What's that little power supply in the lower left do?
Led rope light with beat-synching, color changing, cuttable to length, includes tape and brackets for mounting.
If this doesn't work for you, try searching for "music-synced led rope lights" or similar.
Probably, similar products available at hardware stores such as Menards, or if you are okay using scamazon, they'd have something similar too. Not sure what the anagolous local companies would be in Japan, but look at hardware and/or lighting stores and they should be able to help you.
Well within budget, will move to the music, can adjust speeds/colors, cut to length, mountable, reusuable.
Just make sure you're getting a complete kit, getting individual items in led rope lighting is more fiddly and confusing than a complete kit.
Best of luck!!
-- Jukeshoe
Thank you Jukeshoe! I greatly appreciate your feedback and it has led me down a better path.
Solo ambient live in Japan with Microfreak (sequencing) and Crave filtering modular gear (Mutable Rings and Beads) and creating drones. Please check it out:)
I tried to stay true to the components of the original Roland 700, but I ran out of real estate so I sacrificed a few of the redundant utility modules. I used clones from Pharmasonic in Japan. The founders were involved with Roland. The modules sound amazing.
This was built into the back of a Vox 4x12 speaker cabinet. I kept the speakers and purchased the Vox Head that went with it. It is a digital amp with tube distortion but with loads of FX to play with. It sounds huge!
Andrew Haung's video (at least one from when it first came out, not sure if there is a new one) was actually one of the reasons I bought it in the first place. However, I was never able to get it to do anything I liked, and I sold it, and am incredibly glad I did. Could just be me, that I didn't vibe with it, but I have plenty of eurorack and semi modular synths that do nothing but weird stuff that I love.
It's a fun noise maker and experimental machine. But you have to go on the instrument's journey, rather than take the instrument on your journey. If you have a musical idea in your head and want to make it come out of a speaker, the subharmonicon has a pretty difficult workflow to make that happen.
You can get a really thick tone of out it, due to the architecture of its sub-oscillators, but like mentioned already, it takes a little bit of math and music theory (or just a lot of tinkering) to find the proper ratios for a properly harmonious stack of subharmonics. I also like that it has separate VCA and VCF envelopes, it'd be nice if the Mother-32 had that (not sure how they'd fit the controls on that panel though).
It has 2x 4-step sequencers. That's limiting in a way that can be creativity-inducing, but the fact that they're only controllable by liiiiiittle tiny potentiometers makes it difficult to dial in or perform live. The quantization options don't help either: You've got chromatic (reasonable, but it means you need to be careful for dissonant out-of-scale notes if your other instruments are tuned to a diatonic scale), and a few different xenharmonic scales (which can be cool but are really hard to play with other instruments unless you've gone all-in to microtonal world).
The rhythm/gate generation aspect of it is very cool. It's a great polyrhythm machine, just an awful lot of HP for that job :P
I just received mine from Perfect Circuit, which looks to be a revision that features a LP/HP switch on the front under the Q / Resonance offset rather than via a jumper on the back. Super convenient and wicked sounding filter! I wish there was some manual or documentation that was either included or accessible somewhere though.
This thing sounds absolutely awful. It doesn't create either interesting musical sounds, or interesting non-musical sounds. The sequencer is great, its the only thing going for it. But at $600 there are far better sequncers to get. It's not much use having a huge semi-modualr with a really cool sequencer, that sounds horrible in every other capacity. Further, you can tell that the Moog quality has severely dropped. The first three semi-modulars they put out all had really well done manuals with super useful starting patches. The manual for this is pretty sparse, and having gone through all the starting patches they had, I can't think of a single use for any of them.
-- johny5w
Did you ever find a use for it? The Andrew Huang video made it seem ok.
Very cool indeed. I think this is a fantastic idea but it'd be great to have the unit as a fully self-contained performance rig, ie with the speakers still working.
For my taste I experienced the subharmonicon way to hard to play with other instruments.
Because of the subharmonic character it can be hard to get musical results if you dont have a deep understanding of music theory, intervals, tunings and stuff.
If you do just noodleing and experimental music it might be a good playground but dont expect to get regular music out of it immediatly.
Now that I am selling xVox module kits directly on my website I am able to drop the price. Kits are now available for $285 [(https://www.gregsbrain.co/xvox)]
Are they terrible? Limited? Boring? Too big? Don't play well (in tune) with others?
I was thinking about one to go with the Spectravox I have.
Thoughts?
