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Thanks for the reply brother. Thats a very good point about the Neutron, it didn't cross my mind to move it.. I use it in such a basic way there's almost no point in it being in the rack at all, I could even replace it with my Behringer 101.

I'm actually a little bit worried about the second rackbrute being horizontal. Ergonomically I'm not sure it will be great. If I ever get enough desk space two rack brutes side by side would be good.

I wouldn't have bought half the gear I have if it wasn't for Demo videos, I like the ones I watch. Maybe I only watch the good ones! ;-)

Hi there. There ist one thing that keeps disturbing me - the abundance of demo videos that tell you close to nothing about the module being demonstrated.

Scenario 1: "Demo Video": A module is being demonstrated but you cannot tell what it really does because the patch is so sonically dense or complicated you have no idea what said module is contributing. The module is not being switched in/out of the patch to give you an idea either.

Scenario 2: Modules of the same type are being compared, such as filters, delays, reverbs etc. That's a great idea as such; ideally all the modules you are listening to are in exactly the same situation, being fed the exact same input, sequence of notes, CV etc. In reality this is a rare exception, rendering the comparison close to useless.

Scenario 3: Inappropriate test signals. Have you ever listened to a demo of a reverb or echo trail being added to a sustained and possibly complex signal? That tells you nothing about the quality of the reverb tail because you have no chance of listening to it by itself. A short white noise burst would do the job. Likewise, a neutral sustained white noise input would reveal the character of a filter quite easily, in one fell sweep, if I may say so. I do not remember a single demo taking advantage of that fact.

Am I a cantankerous ill-tempered humorless wannabe wiggler who is all wrong?
Quite possible. Just saying. What's your experience? Discuss.

Note that the Audio I/O module from Intellijel is discontinued. They have split it in 2, Stereo Line Out and Stereo Line In, a total of 20HP instead of the 24HP used by Audio I/O.

Love this thing. It makes my ANALOG sequencers reset from step one every time. Works with Analogue Solutions Generator and Detroit Underground DU-SEQ.

just received this little red beauty. removable capacitors on the front panel control the LPG filter level. we are happy to use this 2HP unit in our mobile music school, teaching STEM to at risk communities.

Thanks again to PH for great service.

gratitude,

Ben at Universal Mind TV (Public Benefit Company)

Hi Mat1,

Looks to me that you are willing to go for two Brute cases 6U, fair enough. I don't know where you live, but I live in Germany and there the Arturia - RackBrute 6U costs about Euro 311 per rack (at the moment unavailable by the way). That's 176 HP for one rack, fair enough, not too bad to start with, you start with two racks of that, so yes, good to go from that point of view :-)

But let's have a closer look, shall we? Going back to one rack Euro 311 and 176 HP total rack space, this rack costs you 311/176 = Euro 1.77 per HP. That's actually a not too bad price. I use those cheap Doepfer cases, they are a bit cheaper but Euro 1.77 per HP is not too bad.

Let's take that Neutron module now of Behringer, that's 80 HP, so if you decide to put that Neutron in this rack, that will cost you 80 HP * Euro 1.77 = Euro 141.60, you have to add that on top of the price you paid for that Neutron. Let's say you got that for a flat Euro 300, then suddenly your Neutron costs 300+141.60 = Euro 441.60, is it that worth?

I mean, I put my Neutron in my rack as well but I keep in the back of my mind that I am willing to remove it at the moment I am going to have a HP space issue; do you?

Better idea might be to keep for the moment that Neutron in it's original case and just start with one rack (instead of two but prepare yourself to spend money for a second case). I believe once you removed the Neutron that most of it will fit in one rack. I usually ask people to keep at least one row free for future modules, so that would be your second rack then :-)

Or yet another idea is, you straight away go for the Doepfer - A-100LMS9 rack, that's a 3 row 168 HP rack, gives you a total of 504 HP. That rack costs here Euro 701 / 504 HP = Euro 1.39 per HP, still (much) cheaper than the two RackBrute 6Us. With this low cost monster case or whatever it's called from Doepfer, you can leave that Neutron in it, space enough for the moment and if you need space prepare yourself to remove that Neutron (or keep it out of the rack directly from the beginning).

These are just some ideas to chew on :-)

Generally I see some modules you could leave in your rack design (Maths, Mutable stuff, the Pamela's) however you might want to consider to reduce (to start with) a bit on the "fancy looking" modules. If you must have a few of them, then just start with one or two of them. Get some experience and then consider to get one or two more, build up again some experience, etcetera.

I do miss classical modules like oscillators, LFOs, simple EGs --> Maths is not that simple and it's a rather big module, so you might want to reconsider that one; on the other hand the entire world has a Maths... up to you :-) Get at least one more filter. I see, if I counted correctly, 3 sequencers but I am missing a bit the classic stuff. So you might want to have a look into a more "equal" distribution of the functions.

I don't know all the modules you have in your rack, so I might have overlooked here and there a function that you actually might have already put in the rack, fair enough. I just provide you here with some food for thought :-)

Good luck with the planning and kind regards, Garfield Modular.

I see no (harsh) criticism - I just see facts - sometimes these are hard for us to deal with - possibly lost in translation

You said:

whilst the pico system seems to be a reasonably well specc'ed system - there are drawbacks - the main one being that the individual modules (yes I know there's only 1 panel in the system) are all very small - usually best sandwiched between 2 bigger modules so that there is space to get to the control and the jacks and in this case they are sandwiched between 2 modules the same size they are

If someone is looking at the Pico, they are already well aware its a small system with tiny modules - some of us are OK with that or even prefer it - don't have a problem with tiny modules / knobs.

Also you said:

so your re-sale market is starters who particularly want to get trapped with these modules

Why would you be "trapped" ? Like no-one would possibly want to buy a small modular to learn on? Yes, its a beginner system, to learn on, but that's OK that's the point. The OP mentioned he already has a bunch of synths so at least he has some knowledge he can use. There are plenty if videos out there of people patching this - hopefully the OP has watched some.

But my main point is I've been in that position as a beginner and coming to forums like this can be intimidating and its all too easy to dampen enthusiasm or turn people off.

That's seriously amazing!

Kind regards, Garfield.

I'm a thick skinned northern Englishman!

Im from the Midlands myself (I live in New York now) so Im familiar...

Yeah I realized my mistake and took them off. I'll make it public.

the blatently obvious thing is that you have 2 uzeus power supply modules that you don't need as the intellijel cases are powered

why do you think you need a midi module?

it might be an idea to make sure your rack is public - I can't click through and there are some modules I don't quite recognise - unsurprising really considering there are over 7000 eurorack modules on the site

23hp of plucky goodness....

I mean, I'm using an ALM Pip Slope and MI Veils but with RND running the show its very listenable.

So I built this based off of research I did on modules. I'm into effects and I think I need a midi module but I'm not sure. Is there anything I need/don't need? I'd like to fit this set up into an Intellijel 7U 104HP case. If I scaled it down, what would be some things I should keep or don't necessarily need? Leaning towards the ambient side of things but also into sampling and noise. I use an MPC Live for drums. Thanks everyone!

The initial idea was to have a melodic pattern generator running in the background when I'm producing so that I could easily add little sprinkles or melodies that I could somewhat control. The original rig was just the first two rows. I've been pretty happy with the results so far but I decided to expand out in the last couple of days.

The idea for the next two rows was to add a drum machine and an ambient/sampler'ish section and a filter for each. The Disting will be used mainly as a multisampler to play things into Morphagene or as FX for the ambient/sampler section. It's really important for me that things don't get toooo glitchy or unrepeatable.

One thing I'm thinking of is to move Euclidean Circles and the Quad Drum up to the top row instead of Veils, Rings and Outs so that the drum section is closer to Pulses. A couple of channels of Logic would be good I think to combine Euclidean Circles with Pulses also. In theory I'd have drums+bass/lead in the same rack. I think that makes sense musically.

I'm interested in what you guys/girls would add or change?

Is this the expander for Dylan's 1000 VCO monstrosity? ;-)
-- Lugia

Hahaha!

@Ajai - No offence was intended - and I see no (harsh) criticism - I just see facts - sometimes these are hard for us to deal with - possibly lost in translation or you are being over sensitive for some reason

I see no point whatsoever in sugar coating 'criticism' - that would impart ambiguity where none is intended

I do see the first line of your post as completely inaccurate though - no offense taken - I'm a thick skinned northern Englishman!

@Garfield -

Hi Ajai,

And I feel you are a bit harsh towards JimHowel1970 :-)

A new user was asking for feedback, JimHowel1970 provided his honest feedback, what's against that? Perhaps we should try to value more the contents and values of feedback and advice rather than being too sensitive for how that might have been meant? I believe JimHowel1970 was just being honest here.

Of course you are being honest here as well, and that's good too :-)

My personal opinion/thought with if people ask feedback and/or advice is... be glad that you received feedback & advice (it can contain valuable information), filter for yourself the value of that for your situation and if you feel a bit upset... yes... that's of course sometimes not nice but I believe here in this forum we all just try to help each other, nothing else (no hidden agenda's).

And the best of all: if you receive advice, it doesn't mean you have to follow up on that, one can decide to follow up on that... or not :-)

Being honest here, not trying to insult anyone or not trying to be harsh here and with kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

Ah yes, the TR-09 :-)

Thanks for explaining the details, interesting to read how you come up with settings and configurations. Kind regards, Garfield.

@JimHowell1970 I think its a bit harsh to criticize someone for wanting to try out modular with the System III Eurorack. Like the OP, I have a bunch of synths Ive been playing with and have spent the best part of a year looking at modules / systems / cases and educating myself on the ins and outs of modular before buying anything (which, for some of us, is a big investment). Surely how something feels and sounds is a purely subjective thing? Yeah, its small (some of us like that) and yeah it has less modules than the System II (which is like three times the cost), but if you go in knowing its all of these things, and maybe looking at it as something to learn on, that's not to be sneered at.

In my case, I wanted to keep things small but have room to add some modules, especially ones that come as standard on the System II and are not present on the System III. So I have a small Moog 60hp case with the Pico System III 42hp module which gives me a few hp to add some more modules later. Yeah, Ill outgrow this (I like the size and look of the Moog 60hp cases so I bought a 3-tier rack already :-) or maybe I won't, but I haven't spent a ton of money in the process (so far < $700) while Im educating myself. Erica Synths make some nice gear and are to be applauded for trying to make modular more accessible.

Just an aside about this thing...it's the key component that makes the you-can't-get-one Synton Syrinx so damned amazing. Frankly, I'm surprised that no one's cloned it yet (despite it being complicated AF), but G-Storm is 100% the right builder to nail it.

You'll never find a Syrinx for $330...but this is, and it'll get right into that unobtainable sonic ballpark.

It's also definitely not a pedal. Fact is, this would fit better in with synth modules...except that it's not one of those, either.

Yeah, VCAs are super-duper important! In addition to controlling audio levels, you also use them for controlling modulation levels. Want a slowly-widening sinewave sweeper to modulate a VCO? You'll need a VCA after your mod source, and an EG to do the rise/fall of the waveform level, then send the result on to your VCO(s). You can also feed an audio signal into both the control and signal inputs and use a VCA as a very effective AM modulator. Or you can rig two up to work as an autopanner. And so on. Very much a bread-n-butter device.

As for the 2hp effects...if you're OK with not tweaking the controls on that module all the time, then sure. But something fitting into 2 hp of space doesn't lend itself to constant user manipulation. Keep that in mind...

Is this the expander for Dylan's 1000 VCO monstrosity? ;-)

:)

If you mean the Hats then its from the Roland TR-09.

I put the Patch notes on the YT page:
The new module in the rack is the #2hpRND #Eurorack #ModularSynth, at the moment I don't understand it enough (I feel I need a scope to see whats going on) but anyhow... The RND gates are clocking the Euclid which in turn is clocking the RND. Two sound sources STO which is getting some smooth output action from the RND which then goes ono being messed with in Monsoon Clouds and a fair bit of Ochd LFO hitting the Clouds. #ADDAC105 Quant output from the RND to the CV, then its getting Clock hits and LFO. ADDAC013 on the little plinky bits that are panned left and right (DNiPRO DOT controlling), Bass beat is also the 103 with a little light hats from the Roland TR-09.

EDITED Aug 17th 2020, 06:57

you're gonna need a bigger case

I lol'ed at the original, and I lol'ed even more at your post @GarfieldModular 😂

EDITED Aug 17th 2020, 00:03

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

Such a small module, so big & nice results! Nice one, again.

Around 0:38 some percussion kick in, how do you do the percussion in this track? Sounds pretty good to me.

Thanks a lot for sharing and this is a nice closure of my weekend :-) Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Sajmund,

Well you know what's the saying that goes around here, right?

You never can have enough VCAs

Though your approach... yeah, that might be just about enough ;-)

So what you could do is, you completely clear out your living room and then for each function you fill up one rack like the above with all VCOs, then another rack for filters only, then another one with LFOs (you might want to combine them with EGs) and a rack full with mixer might be helpful too. The one full with VCAs, you got already.

If your living room has more space, also get one rack full with sequencers only, one with logic modules only, one with effects modules only, one with percussion modules only, etcetera... It is actually a nice idea :-)

Unless you just won the lottery or you are otherwise a wealthy person, it might have here and there a few financial issues your plan but other than that, yeah, go for it :-D

Kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Doepfer has some basic patchs examples. If you look at the minimal patch, you will replace the A-190-3 by one track of your SQ-1, the A-110-2 VCO by your E352, the A-130 VCA by one channel of the Tallin or the Quad VCA and the A-140 Env by Contour, Maths or Zadar. If you use Math, plug the gate of the sq-1 in channel 4 trigger and Channel 4 out to the vca CV input. Play with rise and fall to shape the envelope.
-- defragmenteur

nice thanks

Please add the correct dimensions for this piece of equipment.

Or?
What do you think?

Let me hear about it

The acquiring of modules has begun. Here's where I'm at for anyone interested:

Trying out Ornament and Crime as a multi-functional module to see if I like it. Figured it can be a flexible stand-in for what a patch is missing, whether that be LFO's, envelopes, a quantizer, or something weirder.

Went with the Joranalogue Filter 8 for my starting filter instead of the Jove. While not as sonically pleasing, it's got an insane amount of sound sculpting options. I can always pick up a Jove down the road when I'm itching for a new filter.

Other than that, original marbles, dixie II+, quad vca, and a few utils to get me started. Will probably want an attenuverter soon.

There's a big math-shaped hole in my rack. After I get more comfortable with these modules, that's next on my list. Or something like it at least.

EDITED Aug 16th 2020, 16:43

A quick patch with the 2hp RND

one module i am thinking on getting that i think might be a good fit for what i want to do with my eurorack,is the Soma Lyra-8FX

Hi,

Thank you for your answer. I suspected something was wrong with euclid / trigg.

Speaking of VCAs, I didn't realize how important it was to have a lot of them.
Regarding the envelopes, peaks is ok, but for now I also like to use it for tap lfo thats why ill purchase à Maths soon/

Regarding the effects, I did not know happy nerding ... so much in such a small module :)
Monsoon takes up space, I could switch it with a Uburst to save a little space ... if not, go towards mono effects like 2HP?

Thanks again, I will reconsider my setup with most of your suggestions.

no just the appropriate cable - that is your clock at the correct bpm

then just record the modular via your audio interface

so i actually dont need any modules for this?

I recommend @oliodnb wholeheartedly. Realistic bidding, fast communication. Good buyer!

Thanks for your responses! I feel like I was focused too much on optimizing on space where I should be more worried about user experience. Ended up finding a good deal on a 150hp powered case, which will really open things up. Will take a more serious look at maths now. Joranalogue Contour also impressed me, which is similar in function I believe, though smaller so not as powerful.

Someone just put up their dixie II+ and quad VCA for a good price, so I bit. It has begun!

Again, thank you for your feedback, really helped adjust my perspective. Will update this thread as I start putting something together.

pams and mimetic digitalis will complement each other well

you already have 2 adsrs in peaks - do you really need more? more vcas - good idea - you van never have too many!!!

dump - 30hp total

2hp euclid and pico trigger - these are redundant with pams

pico dsp - as the pico trigger is now gone - you want to even up you hp requirements and it only has mono in stereo out - and you have no stereo mixing capabilities

optomix - too big in this size case

monsoon - need space

intellijel buffered mult - you already have one buffered mult (links), do you really need a second? and third?

add

kinks - this will massively increase your modulation options in a small space

a cascading quad vca - veils or intellijel - these particular vcas can also be used as external inputs - as they are actually amplifiers instead of the usual vc attenuators

happy nerding fx aid - more effects - more choice - stereo - probably some dual mono effects as well

if you want stereo I'd also add: a panning mixer and a stereo mixer (maybe multiples of one or both)

Hey, thanks for letting me know! There's a lot of great stuff out there already, but felt I could add with detailed and clear live patches in a beginner friendly way. Im excited about this new channel/journey, glad to hear you enjoy it!

All the best!

Designed for use with the Moog 3 Tier Stand (mother 32 60hp cases)

Hi Jingo,

Oh yes, this is the good stuff! This is some nice and decent ambient music.

Ha, ha, I felt it was quite funny to read that you couldn't reproduce your last patch, but I guess you felt it was rather frustrating so for you I feel sorry that you couldn't find back your previous settings.

But that lead to this beautiful piece of music. So it wasn't that bad that you lost your last patch ;-)

What you mean with quality remains shitty? I sat in my listening chair and I hear a clear high tone arpeggio and a nice wave sound that goes through out the music that builds up a good tension. I don't hear quality issues there...? Might it be your speakers or amplifier that provides you issues?

To be honest, I don't mind you loose this patch as well, if that brings yet another beautiful piece of music, then keep loosing your patches, ha, ha :-D

Thanks for giving me a good start of the weekend and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Rijn,

Wow that's a nice and clear video. I think it's a very good introduction into modular for beginners. So I can't wait for your next video :-)

Thanks a lot for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield Modular.

My rack so far :

What i currently plan :

I'd better get a stereo VCF instead of a Ripples but, well, no problem, i'll get a second Ripples... or not, i'm not 100% sure 2 of them would be useful with a Graphic VCO (?)

A second Plaits.... i made some VCV tests fusioning 2 Plaits in one, it sounds amazing (from my point of view.)

I think i will probably need a buffered multiple for v/o purposes.

Only synthesis modules here, i prefer to keep sequencers external (apart from the Stages sequencing capacity.)

EDITED Aug 14th 2020, 21:31

As cliched (and HP expensive) as it sounds, I'd want to add a Maths in a smaller system like this. Will open up a lot of possibilities and can be a standin module for a lot of functions while you learn the basics, also does envelopes very well imho. You have limited space, and it is a big module, but I keep being surprised at how much I enjoy working with it and how much I learn from it.
-- troux

Yeah Maths would be good! Or take a look at Stages as a function / envelope generator, sequencer and more.

Greetings of the season ;),

and thanks Garfield for keeping my motivated with your kind words :)!

This piece went into another direction as I was not able to reproduce my last patch (lost my notes and couldnt remember).
So this time I hopefully will be able to refine this prototype, hf:

hmpf, uploaded twice now, quality remains shitty?? strange :(

EDITED Aug 14th 2020, 18:08

Hello Modular Grid community! I started to upload in-depth live-patch description videos on my new Monotrail Tech Talk channel. This is the first video of a three part series explaining a patch on my eurorack modular synth I often use for live performances. We start with the melodic voices, next week we have a look at drums and sample playback, and finally how I bring everything together! All feedback on this series is welcome, I hope some people will enjoy this :)

Video:

Modular grid:

All the best!
Rijn / Monotrail

The picture shows a Yamaha product but the Title claims Roland. This entry needs to be fixed by someone who knows what this pedal is.