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Hello Subharmonicon wizards,

I prefer controlling the pitch of my Subharmonicon with external MIDI instead of the internal sequencers. While doing this, I have to have the Play button unlit, or else the envelopes won't trigger. However, now I feel like I'm wasting a pair of great 4-step sequencers here that I could use to control other parameters. Ideally, I would like to clock the sequencers with the MIDI clock or an external analog clock signal, but without the resulting trigger overriding or otherwise interfering with my MIDI sequence. Currently, when Play is lit, the internal sequencers advance, but my external sequence doesn't get through. When Play is unlit, the external sequence goes through, but the internal sequencers don't advance. Damned/mildly inconvenienced if I do it, damned/mildly inconvenienced if I don't.

Does anyone have a solution for this? There are two SysEx files at the Moog website, labeled subharmonicon_seq_transport_on / off, respectively, but the forum page with instructions or comments on their exact workings does not exist anymore. Does anyone know if these could help? Is there another way to hack it?

Regards

Pricewise there is really nothing that can compete, I think. Maybe two of the Erica Synths x Moritz Klein 5-Step Sequencers can scratch your itch, but if you already own an SQ-1 I recommend you look into ways of mounting it in your rack using DIY rack ears. I sometimes see people selling 3D-printed ones on Etsy or Reverb, too.

The DFAM can sound really nasty, and when combined with the MAFD by Sonoclast you can program in 8 different sounds and sequence them independently from the rather limited onboard sequencer. I am also currently getting back into the Dreadbox Drips, which features similar concepts (2 VCOs with FM plus Noise, Filter, 2 Envelopes), albeit with somewhat less flexibility.

I'm trying to use the Octatrack in a DJ configuration and put together a small companion rack out of modules that were mostly sitting in boxes on my shelf. The idea is to have 2 "decks" on the Octatrack for conventional mixing, with two extra layers of complexity and sonic expression in the shape of this stereo processing rack (which receives audio from the Octa's Cue outputs and sends it back to the AB inputs) and a pickup machine or two to help with transitions and corrupt captured loops in real time.

Overseer, Morpheus and the Z-DSP could be used in series or parallel, with 2x SAM providing either mixing or multing/attenuating service for the stereo track(s). I have the Time Domain cards, but maybe getting Grain de Folie would be more interesting for mangling audio with the Z-DSP.
The ADDAC filter, OR, and Slew function from the dual S&H are my attempt at finagling an Envelope Follower. I wanted to filter a copy of the stereo input through the bandpass filters, half-wave rectify them and slew them with the S&H to either directly modulate parameters or scale modulation within the rack. The issue is that after bandpass filtering, there is not much energy left in the signal, another half is lost because the OR has the diode-specific voltage drop of 0.7V and is not full-wave-rectifying (I'm currently using two 3dB boosts from the Quad VCA per EF signal), and the slew control on the S&H is finicky, but the general functionality is there.

• What ideas for other processing modules do you have? Clouds or Beads is an obvious candidate, but maybe you know of some other obscure audio buffer with cool modulation possibilities.
• For a better envelope follower I thought about the Doepfer A-135-4C, but it's lacking comparators, and those would be nice to have. There don't seem to be that many EFs on the market in the first place. Got any tips? Maybe some ideas to fix the issues with my bootleg EF described above?
• The XAOC Katowice would be cool because I could split the incoming stereo track into three separate frequency bands, process those individually, and mix them back together at the output. Has anyone tried that with a fully mixed track? Is it worth the 200+ $? In general, I'm trying to just use what I already have and don't get to use in my other setup at the moment, but if a purchase here or there would elevate this concept significantly, I'm not opposed to it.

Warm Star Electronics has a module called The Bends in 10hp. That might be an option to look for. You can find them used occasionally and they are fairly inexpensive.
-- farkas

Wow, this looks fantastic and extremely well thought out! Thank you for the tip, I hope I'll find one on the secondary market since they don't ship outside of the US...

alternative: doepfer matrix mixer
-- JimHowell1970

Definitely on the shortlist, although the knob matrix is almost a bit crammed imo. Thank you for the suggestion!

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a module that lets me mix, offset, scale, and otherwise mangle several CV signals. 4ms SISM and TipTop MISO come to mind, but I have developed a severe aversion to these mini-pots that are not mounted to the front panel and would really prefer a module with a clean, spacious layout and full-size, haptically satisfying knobs. Happy Nerding 3x MIA seems to be sold out everywhere with no word about a restock anytime soon, so my number one option at the moment is the XAOC Samara. Do you have any other ideas or recommendations?

Regards

What elevates Eurorack effects modules from guitar pedals is the ability have voltage control over many of the parameters, either through hands-on manipulation or by utilizing control voltage generators like LFOs, Sample&Hold, Sequencers etc.
You have Pams New Workout in thhis setup, which can provide up to 8 CV sources, but lacks immediate control due to only having one encoder. But even if you use all of Pams outputs, you still have vastly more CV inputs on your three effects modules that you aren't using. I would drop at least one, if not two of the effects modules and add more CV sources, mixers, maybe a filter and, most importantly, VCAs into this system. One knob per function-type modules will make your effects rack very playable. Also think about mixing several modulation sources together before sending them to the CV input of one of the effects. This is almost mandatory if you want to go beyond what you can do with guitar pedals anyway.

Note I read one online review of the HPO that said "that only about a quarter turn of the volume knob is needed to achieve ear-shattering volumes" which is why I'm hoping someone on this forum has real world experience with either of these 2 modules and can comment.

To my knowledge, the achievable volume in headphones depends on the relation between output impedance of the headphone amplifiers and input impedance of the headphones themselves. Low impedance headphones will allow for more current to flow and the volume to be louder, vice versa with high impedance headphones. Check the manual/specs of both the module and your headphone set (and ideally the headphones of the user who complained) and decide accordingly.

EDITED Jul 27th 2022, 11:42

From my limited knowledge of electrical engineering, I'd say yes. DC coupling means both AC and DC current can pass through. It has no bearing on the polarity of the current (positive or negative) which I'm suspecting might have been why you asked? The opposite would be a problem though: DC signals can not pass through AC coupled inputs, because AC coupling has no direct path between input and output and will only allow AC current above a certain threshold frequency to pass through.

The Happy Nerding 4x Stereo Mix is pretty good if you don't mind the dual knobs - https://happynerding.com/category/4x-st-mixer/
-- wishbonebrewery

How do the dual knobs work? Do they push in / pull out to switch which channel you're interacting with?

-- Podfrog

They are concentric knobs, with the center one controlling one channel and the outer "ring" controlling another. You can't push them in but they don't protrude that far from the panel tbh. I find them ingenious and love how they save space without compromising playability.

While I'm a fan of Ladik for their affordable and compact modules, I would not recommend this particular mixer of theirs. The pots are not srewed to the panel and thus feel pretty wobbly and low quality. I do recommend the Doepfer Performance Mixer, their quality is consistently outstanding. Can't say anything about the other models you listed.

If your budget for some reason doubles at some point in the future and you feel like you want to splurge on a mixer, I would also recommend the Xaoc Praga. Amazing Performance mixer with CV control over panning (which many other performance mixers lack) and level, among other things.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the info, I was just about to jump on an offer for one to add to a palette case. What rail presents an issue, exactly? Upper one? Lower one? Both? And do you think some filing down of the PCB could help? Had to do that with a MN Rosie once...