All Posts

Hello! This is the first time I've asked for advice on my rack. I had put together a 6u rackbrute that had too many oscillators without enough utility or modulation. I am hoping for this new case to be more of a success. I've already had it custom-made and there are two power supplies in the case that can handle what I have now. Side note: the person that made my case goes by "Case From Lake" on Reverb and Etsy. Highly recommend you check them out!

Anyways, here is what I got. Starting with a Frap Tools ecosystem for complex oscillator and modulation options for some analog. Supercritical's filter seemed like a good fit. I originally wanted a BIA as well as the Akemie's Taiko to make samples for Squid Salmple, but quickly realized I was running out of space for utilities. After that is a Quaid Megaslope that might be able to be replaced, but I picked it for simplicity's sake. Akemie's Castle is something I have wanted since I first saw it on here, so I would rather not remove it. However, I may have too many voices at this point. Maybe I have to replace it with the BIA and more utilities?

Nerdseq is the perfect sequencer for me, and the expanders should add plenty more modulation and triggers in theory. Pamela's seems to be handy in a lot of situations so I threw that in as well. Finally, some more utilities along with a Warps clone and 6 exponential vcas (maybe not enough). I am using ES-9 for a lot of reasons. A big one being some extra EQ and effects in Ableton for a final mixdown of anything I decide to record. The workflow of the case likely needs adjusting as well. I am not worried about price as I plan to chip away at it over time.

Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you for reading or viewing my post!

EDITED Jan 24th 2022, 08:55

Thanks, its been about documenting ideas before pulling all the plugs, I've just built the Winterbloom Castor & Pollux so wanted a clear rack for new noodling :)

I enjoyed the pings last weekend and it was nice to hear them return again for the beginning of todays installment along with the drips and sweeps. I must say that it is also nice to see that you are doing a live stream every week, seems like a motivating challenge.

All the best.

whilst it may be true that you can't have too many oscillators, it helps if you have the support modules needed for them as well

sound modifier modules, modulation sources and utility modules are just as important, if not more so than oscillators

Hey community,

I have been tweaking my QS this morning for a new video, and I went to the conclusion I already did : Wow that's a real keeper, for sure.
In this short video, I explain why I keep it (and it joined the keepers team).

EDITED Jan 23rd 2022, 12:09

Thank you Eric,I need to add timespamps for the audio example too, they are lost on the length..

Using the Joystick attached to Clouds V/oct and Feedback for the grungy sweeps from the Drips made with triggers fom the Befaco Burst pinging a filter, there there are a couple of Sine waves going into the Danny Sound Timbre which is fairly slowly modulated and heads into Mimeophon, the weird filter drone that is annoyingly panning around your head is two different mono filters.

Cheers for listening :)

Hi,

Just a quick update.
You can add/delete tracks now. Added controls for glide and velocity and track playhead.

OK...it's late January. And late January is normally when Winter NAMM would be happening. But it's not...they postponed it to midsummer and combined it with the Summer NAMM stuff, presumably all out in LA.

SO...what this means is that if module manufacturers want to drop something new at NAMM, well, that's not happening for a hot minute. So users here might take some time to check the newest offerings in the different formats, Eurorack especially, as my bet is that those companies won't want to wait 6+ months. This should be quite interesting, since this IS the most logical place for new modules to pop up, and I'm already seeing some neat new stuff that's here and not out in Anaheim!

+1 on the Tool Box. Frankly, I'm amazed that all of what it's got fits into just 6 hp. It's perfect for adding lots of functionality to a small build.

Sounds like something's misconnected. Did you verify the polarity on all of the ribbon cables? Given that this was a result of a rearrangement, that would be my guess.

...or you could just go with something so overspecced that you can use it as the system grows (which it will!). Trogotronic has their m/15 supply, which has 5 AMPS on each of the 12v rails and 1 amp on the +5, and it's expandable. That might sound extreme, but when you have a P/S like that running at a very low draw, the result is that the P/S puts out less heat...which can affect the overall performance of the build. You also eliminate gradual damage to the P/S's components due to heat, which is a significant synth-killer. And the cherry on the cake is that with the above build, you eliminate all current inrush overloading...which will also pop your P/S if the overage is high enough. No chance of that with the m/15 in that build.

The best solution to power supplies is really simple: get the beefiest one you can! Even if you DON'T use all of the current capacity, there's still some major plusses to having a big honker like the m/15 and other hefty P/Ss out there.

DFAM really doesn't belong in there, and right now, it's crippling the modular because it cuts 60 hp out that this build REALLY needs so that you can put in some proper modulation and other "helper" modules. The layout is also pretty jacked...I don't see anything that indicates signal flow paths, which is going to result in a rather confusing to use result.

As for not having too many oscillators, well, my AE system has a huge amount of them, somewhere around 24. But it's a 180-space system, so the oscillators wind up occupying only 1/9th of the build. It would be better to go with a ratio like that than to have the VCO overkill that's here. Sure, your build's got a lot of VCOs...but the amount of OTHER modules along with that is really out of whack. Also, the thing that you can't have too many of are VCAs. And THAT makes perfect sense when you start poking at what VCAs are actually capable of besides amplitude control.

Here's a new track called "Distant".

https://audiomack.com/embed/solitaire-ou-solidaire/song/distant?background=1

Some patch notes:
1 voice from SSSR Labs SM042 (panned center) & 2 voices from tELHARMONIC (panned L & R) both sequenced by TINRS Tuesday (with Natural Gate, Schippmann DTG, Schippmann DLFO, Elby IF 120, ELBY CGS733, plus a few more as modulation);
OmegaPhi providing another 2 voices (with Permutation, Verbos Random Sampling, CG Products Add 1, DTG, DLFO, IF 120, CGS733, plus);
Another voice is the metallic noise from Verbos Random fed into Rings (with Add 1, DTG, DLFO, IF 120, CGS733, plus);
Some percussion (finger cymbals, shakers) and guitar recorded live; and celesta from VSL

All the best

EDITED Feb 24th 2022, 19:40

doesn't look like there's a lot of overlap - and more utilities are always useful...

-- JimHowell1970

Thanks Jim! Now I got it ;) but its not the current state..? So changes coming in a bit later a guess

EDITED Jan 22nd 2022, 22:46

The middle light is the 5v power state. Some distribution board dont includes a 5V supply. Verify the specs of your board.
-- defragmenteur

On the konstant labs pwr checker module the middle light is -12v

The middle light is the 5v power state. Some distribution board dont includes a 5V supply. Verify the specs of your board.
-- defragmenteur

All 3 lights was working before i rearrangged my case

How do I verify the specielt on my board?

wmd/ssf tool-box?
-- JimHowell1970

I have considered that but wondered if it would be overkill since I have the OSD? or maybe utility modules can never be 'overkill' :)

actual link:

wmd/ssf tool-box?

the rails are the heat sink for the uZeus...

personally I would try to find a single psu that can power all the modules and preferably with a proper bus board

befaco excalibus will power the whole thing and no rack wart - so a bit of extra space for utility modules

The uzeus -12v is limited to 500 ma.

The middle light is the 5v power state. Some distribution board dont includes a 5V supply. Verify the specs of your board.

Having a blast with my Rackbrute 3U set up with my Minibrute 2. Would be interested in recommendations for filling in the last 6HP remaining considering what I already have in place. What am I missing? What would be cool to add to this setup knowing that I'm using it with the Minibrute 2 (also cross Rackbrute with my 6U as well, but mostly used with the Minibrute 2).

One note...I have all the effects that I think I'll ever need...plan to do some external stompbox with the Hendrikson....looking at the Hologram Microcosm as a possibility.

Here's the current state:

EDITED Jan 21st 2022, 21:44

...
-- Next_G

Sequenced cv/fx routing seems interesting in ideas but also tending to sound sludge I guess :B buuut definitely will try out. I kind of feel repulsive at the performers layout.. but think its handy for fast rythmic fx on drums or so.

...
-- wishbonebrewery

Pretty sums up my relation with the moons (-;

Thanks for input guys!

Hi community,

2 of my young students bought the MK2 of Klavis' Twin Waves, but they don't speak english so I did a full instructionnal video about this dual oscillator/LFO. It has chapters too. Hzppy viewing

-- -ADR-

Thanks a lot for the nice job.

Eric

I'm also in two minds about the Moonphase, though I think it takes a bit of learning and some careful tweaking to get the best out of it. It may get sold if I buy another Stereo filter, I do use my 3 other mono filters way more than the Moonphase and can make interesting Stereo (Dual Mono) effects with 2 mono filters. All that said, I sort of think if I did sell the Moonphase I would immediately find a use for it ;-)

The Modbab Modular Performer spontaneously comes to my mind as one for cool spacy effects. A good idea would also be a sequencing switch, e.g. to route different tracks or CV modulations to different FX and/or modulation targets. E.g. the Livestock Electronics - Maze , Erica Synths / Sacrament Modular - Cursible or the Qu-Bit Electronix - Synapse .

Heya twiddlers,
Being into modular since a time and trying to downsize and focus myself on this one here. Music im up to is ambientish downtempo or so.. I got a machinedrum and some drum modules nearby, which are also feeding this case for fx. Whole mixing happening in another case + signature 12 for daw recording. Nerd is currently my main track builder,
bitbox as sampler for fieldrecdronestuff, Voltage Block for modulation and quick builings. Also there's a keystep pro for jamming.

The upper 1u is an led lamp from the case, middle one has two passive mults.

Don't have people with modular in my bubble so was kind of interested what others would think about the assemble. I have fun atm but would be open for changes (-; I now its pretty subtractive and I think its time to drift forward.. the chord doesn't gets this much cables its deserves, also im not so sure about the moonphase but both have some sweetspots to discover ... rubicon is an fm beast and really like its behaviour but always needs help from outside and therefore its kind of to big for me.. maybe a klavis twin wave or 2 dixies...
One of the distings usually ends up as a reverb /fx which feels kind of squanderedy, so maybe a fx aid if space pops up...?

sooo what's on your minds?

Thanks and enjoy that u enjoy

12u 80hp

Also building cases out of old military boxes. But that maybe another thread with pictures :~~~~~~~~~~)

EDITED Jan 22nd 2022, 19:15

tysm Warlock016!
Somebody once told me you can never have too many oscillators. I guess like any other obsessions, a "junkie" can justify just about anything. :)
I do have a mixer, so I'm covered there. Thanks for pointing out the absence of modulation. I think I have sequencing cover outside the rack with the Keystep Pro, Moog Sub 37 and DAW. I'm hoping Yarns will help make that happen. But I don't know much. It's all learning and most importantly, fun!
Regarding the planning, the rack shows what I already have. I might sell of bits to make a more useable rack or give them to my kid to play with. Just think of it... giving my kid Maths to mess with. That just might score me as one of the hippest days (oops, using "hippest" disqualifies me instantly)
Initially, I'm looking to create a soundscape that interacts with acoustical instruments. Hoping the acoustic instrument will inform the environment with pitch and sequence rate. Funny, I can see it but I'm not sure I can explain it. Again, it's all about having fun.

Thank you for making time to review! Much appreciated!

I agree that more variation in notes would be more appealing. Tried some different things, but did not like the result.

If I would work with a DAW, I would have recorded the "main patch" and started something new, to work on this one later.

The patch is "saved" in my head, the jam recorded.

BTW, thanks for the sub (scription, not bass)!

Wiggles

EDITED Jan 20th 2022, 21:59

(I made a note for myself to go back and listen to this on good headphones after having a quick listen on the go, so here is a "full" review, haha)

I really enjoyed this jam and I wouldn't have noticed a to loud clap/snare without you pointing it out. Gets me in the mood to buckle up and have a long night of coding/programming.

Tips for future jams? While sounding great you could transpose and move the bassline a bit and go und and down some halftone steps to shift into another mood. Then staying there for a while and coming back to your root note. But that's more personal preference than anything else.

Keep wiggling those knobs!

First of all, thank you for all this good advice!

NP

first of all - bigger case - but keep this one and add 6u of 104hp

Yes, that is obvious by now, haha. I will order more rails and put together a nice case for it. I'm a woodworker by trade so I have some nice materials for it laying around. I kind of like the 1U form factor, is it worth it to include a couple of rails for this, or is it mostly a gimmick for keeping cases small? Until I get a use for it it can be covered up by a nice wooden panel.

1u is a tricky question - lots of people like it, but it really is just a way of cramming in a bit more without using an extra 3.5"

as for is it good value? in terms of building cases - I don't think so - a pair of rails is a pair of rails, so the same price as for 3u - if you are a wood worker then in all likelihood the cost of materials is effectively nothing, depending on what lengths of wood you can buy in - whenever I've built cases the piece of wood I bought would have easily had enough space for either - and they still take power slots!

as for functionality - there's nothing compelling enough to put a 1u row in, if you can fit a 3u, imo, and you can fit way more in 3u/104hp, than in 1u/104hp - at least 3 times as much... also I think it often encourages people to marginalize utility modules - which imo are equally important as sound sources or modifiers, or modulation sources!

personally I wouldn't bother, but don't let me put you off!

the befaco excalibus is a great DIY power supply

Do you think my uZeus with the booster brick will be too small for this? For what I paid for it (used) it seems to deliver good juice?

quite possibly, yes - always remember you should lead 30% headroom on all rails to allow for inrush... worth noting is that whatever brick you run for the uZeus -ve rail is maxed out at 500mA

As for PNW, Maths and the multi-utility/effects/thingies they are all on my wishlist and I hope to be able to add them to my system in the future, but right now the budget is a little tight. Never seen the Xaoc devices before, so thank you for bringing them up, they look super useful.

Unless something used pops up, I think my next shopping cart will be filled with DIY filters, envelopes, and LFOs. I kind of hoped O&C could do a lot of this for me. I had my hands on a used WASP, but some other dude offered almost shop prize for it.

yeah used prices can be insane at the moment, but unless you can get at least 20% off, I would buy new, if you can - support and warranty are often useful...

one thing to pay attention to - work out the cost per channel and if the DIY version is comparable at that level - for example the tta/buchla quad function generator is about 200(insert major currency) - which works out at 50/channel - it's quite difficult to get a DIY function for much less than this - so once you factor in time etc... it's not always worth it... but sometimes it's fun - my racks are about 50/50 DIY and bought...

Thanks again for the good advice, gotta go write a letter to Santa..

-- Geir74

good luck with that!

thank you ! yeah, nice (like most of RMR stuff), tho this one is a real video of the actual manual, i guess you'd know your module like no other after a viewing ;)

EDITED Jan 21st 2022, 21:34

EDITED Feb 27th 2023, 07:11

As I'm looking at it now, that system draws less than 1 amp in power, and there's 17 modules. Any system with 20 power connectors and 1.4 amp of power should work fine, assuming your ribbon cables are long enough to reach the connectors.

My distribution board also has 3 lights and the middle light dont light up as much as the 2 others.
Is it the psu that got damaged?and can I do something to fix it or do I need to buy a new one?

Hi community,

2 of my young students bought the MK2 of Klavis' Twin Waves, but they don't speak english so I did a full instructionnal video about this dual oscillator/LFO. It has chapters too. Hzppy viewing

Todages i rearrangged my case
I have a 12u 84hp travelcase with 2 bus boards.i have the konstant labs pwr checker modules with the 3 green lights

I noticed the the middle light on the one module doesent light up now.does this Mean my bus board is screwed?

Im on the train right now.can take some pictures when im home on sunday

EDITED Jan 20th 2022, 16:27

Well, with those two modules, you will have an arm and a leg of a drummer. So that is allready a half drummer :)
-- M01C

Hehe, well Iv'e used Jomox drum machines and modules for years so I know the sound I'm getting with them. The decision to grab the modular version was easy there. It's a big 20hp module but well worth the investment IMO.
Along with the Mantis case I also bought the brackets in case I ever expand in future. Might mean the decksaver might not fit then but that's ok.

I'm just shopping for a good sequencer now but I wouldn't rule out 2 or 3 in future for different tasks. I'm just using an AKAI MPCX for now till I decide what sequencer modules to buy for the case.

Rob

Well, with those two modules, you will have an arm and a leg of a drummer. So that is allready a half drummer :)

1 x Ladik A-520
1 x MI Veils
1 x HN 2XSAM (http://www.happynerding.com/category/2xsam/)

If you want to use the Mantis live, consider a decksaver and a (2nd gen) bag.

Please keep in mind that some Ladik and Doepfer modules won't fit in the Mantis. The A-520 should not be a problem.
-- M01C

Hi there,

Yeah I already bought the Mantis decksaver along with the case last week so I'm ok there but I will be buying the bag too shortly once I have some actual modules. So far I only have the dedicated bass drum "Jomox Mod Bass 09 MK2" and a Behringer Brains module (so cheap but sounds fab)
I may end up going with euro rack drum modules once I know what I'm doing but for now I really would like to use my drum machines as it's fast hands on workflow is what I'm used to.

I'll check out those modules you mentions mate thanks again.

Rob

First of all, thank you for all this good advice!

first of all - bigger case - but keep this one and add 6u of 104hp

Yes, that is obvious by now, haha. I will order more rails and put together a nice case for it. I'm a woodworker by trade so I have some nice materials for it laying around. I kind of like the 1U form factor, is it worth it to include a couple of rails for this, or is it mostly a gimmick for keeping cases small? Until I get a use for it it can be covered up by a nice wooden panel.

the befaco excalibus is a great DIY power supply

Do you think my uZeus with the booster brick will be too small for this? For what I paid for it (used) it seems to deliver good juice?

As for PNW, Maths and the multi-utility/effects/thingies they are all on my wishlist and I hope to be able to add them to my system in the future, but right now the budget is a little tight. Never seen the Xaoc devices before, so thank you for bringing them up, they look super useful.

Unless something used pops up, I think my next shopping cart will be filled with DIY filters, envelopes, and LFOs. I kind of hoped O&C could do a lot of this for me. I had my hands on a used WASP, but some other dude offered almost shop prize for it.

Thanks again for the good advice, gotta go write a letter to Santa..

The CP1A can power two rows comfortably. Not sure about the uZeus. I think there's some kind of booster adapter for it. Look into that. In any case, if you want to position the PSUs where they are now, you'll need flying bus extensions to reach the two upper rows. The ones provided with the units won't reach.
I don't know about the uZeus, but the CP1A is designed to be placed on the left for comfortable connections. Either that or upside down on the right.

1 x Ladik A-520
1 x MI Veils
1 x HN 2XSAM (http://www.happynerding.com/category/2xsam/)

If you want to use the Mantis live, consider a decksaver and a (2nd gen) bag.

Please keep in mind that some Ladik and Doepfer modules won't fit in the Mantis. The A-520 should not be a problem.

Thanks for the replies @MO1C and @bopodoq it's much appreciated here. It's so confusing coming from an all hardware background hence my questions.
I didn't really want to use a DAW at all. Only for maybe recording the stereo outs of whatever comes out the case. I was more thinking for when I play live with 1 case and 1 drum machine out on the road.

My plan was to use the drum machine either by:

• Using the fx, filter modules in the case to process individual drum sounds coming in from the hardware so BD, SD, TOMS etc sent anywhere in the euro rack, processed and/or sequenced then back out again.
• Or using a sequencer such as Eloquencer or Circadian Rythms to trigger sounds and NOT use the external drum machines sequencer

Basically I'd like to use the external hardware for both the above depending on the situation.

Thanks
Rob

I like the eudemonia having a built in vca, and I am familiar with dreadbox products.
But the third filter for the drums could be anything. Doesn't have to be that particular filter module.
I would think of one each hysteria eudemonia ataxia forming a voice, but I see what you mean. I also have considered an Erica double bass in place of the antidote.

EDITED Jan 20th 2022, 01:15

Three Hysteria, one Eudemonia and one Ataxia and that would be a voice.

But you want three filters? Why choose for three Eudemonias?