Approaching completion of my setup after months of trial and error...

Here is the main case:

Here is the drum skiff:

Here is the Zoia/Voice skiff:

I also have a Naked Boards MC- 8 to control parameters of the Zoia, which I mostly use as end of chain effects and some utilities.

I still have a Make Noise 0-CTRL on order from when I first set out on this costly journey.

I have not purchased the Data Bender, the Ochd, and the Quantas Ampla as money has run out. In their place I have a tides knock off, an ornament and crime knock off, and a Doepfer 6hp 8xVCA. I need the ducking possibilities of the Quantas Ampla and don't really need all 8 VCAs on the Doepfer so I think thats a good trade. I have mostly been using the O&C as a random generator or a sloth and I have been using Tides as modulation as well. The hope is to replace those two with Ochd and create room for Data Bender. It wont be as good, but It should fill the role. I feel like I could use more random once I lose those two, but space is running out.

The drum skiff is probably the weakest and will be the next thing to overhaul when time/money permits.

Any thoughts/recommendations?

tides is a great vco too

the octal vca is fine

try working out how to patch a ducking vca with what you have - it's almost certainly in there somewhere

I can do ducking with Boundary or Cascade, but that takes away their use as my main envelope generators. I have rarely found myself using the octal VCA because there are built in VCAs in the Boundary, Cascade, Doepfer LFO, and I have the Tangled Quartet as well as Skis in the drum skiff. Quantas Ampla would only eliminate 4 VCAs out of 17 total and give me the ability to duck four channels at once with one gate synced to the kick which the Bastl Tea Kick has a square out as well as the kick out. It will be a while before I can afford to get Data Bender, so I will continue to use the O&C and Tides and see what I can get out of them. I haven't used Tides as a VCO yet, so maybe that's what tonight will bring!

Drums benefit greatly from a compressor/mixer and attenuator. I ran an experiment recently with a few drum modules in my setups without an EQ & compressor and with EQ/compressor and the compressor/boost made a world of difference! Something like Hexinverter Mutant Hot Glue or Endorphin.es Golden Master do the job well.

I have been looking for good compression for the drums. I had looked at the 1u Golden Master, but people said it was noisy. Most people liked the 3u so that might end up in the drum skiff. The Mutant Hot Glue looks amazing, but big, and space is limited for now. I definitely want my rhythm section to be able to cut through better than it is. I hadn't thought of using on of my attenuators to boost it before. More things to think over.

I can do ducking with Boundary or Cascade, but that takes away their use as my main envelope generators. I have rarely found myself using the octal VCA because there are built in VCAs in the Boundary, Cascade, Doepfer LFO, and I have the Tangled Quartet as well as Skis in the drum skiff. Quantas Ampla would only eliminate 4 VCAs out of 17 total and give me the ability to duck four channels at once with one gate synced to the kick which the Bastl Tea Kick has a square out as well as the kick out. It will be a while before I can afford to get Data Bender, so I will continue to use the O&C and Tides and see what I can get out of them. I haven't used Tides as a VCO yet, so maybe that's what tonight will bring!
-- xnax

I was meaning work out how to patch it from scratch not relying on any particular module to do it for you...

you could take a copy of the kick (or the gate of the kick) and invert it and then add that to the envelope(s) you want to duck... or pass through a vca twice 1st with the intended envelope and again with the inverted gate... you have a lot of vcas you could use!

I do have a lot of VCAs! I will work on it and see if I can get creative while I wait for the holidays to pass and money to be mine again.

Speaking of VCAs...you might not want that quad VCA module that's right before the output mixer. It's got four DC-coupled linear VCAs...and what you want are exponential VCAs at that particular point. Reason is: we don't perceive apparent loudness as a linear function. The decibel scale is an exponential curve. Plus, DC to mixer to amp = potential for lots of smoke and damage to your speakers.

So...yank the Tangle Quartet first, then shift the NE quad to the TQ's former slot (which is the perfect place for linear/DC-coupled VCAs). Slide everything left by 2 hp, then you'll have an 8 hp hole by the mixer into which you can drop a Doepfer A-132-4 and have 2 extra hp, or just yank the NE itself and replace it with the Doepfer. Or any of a number of options, but the swap looks extremely doable...just depends on how it works with your build.

Thanks for the info on the difference between exponential and linear VCAs. I moved some stuff around and actually pulled the Qu-bit Prism because it is fairly redundant with the Data Bender. I switched the TangledQ for the exponential Doepfer so I have some variety in my VCAs and it made room to add an FXAid XL and keep the Ornament & Crime. I hate menu diving, but that module is such a swiss army knife in a case like this. Here is the current take: