The Modular Bug Bit Me Again

Harsh, harsh, harsh. It starts out by looking for a sensible synth to add to my arsenal, a cheap one, one that is easy to transport, quick to dial in, maybe even a digital one that will pull the weight of at least couple of my mono...then it morphs, morphs into a quest to find what I can sell to start a kick ass modular system which is the opposite of sensible, easy to transport, cheap, and easy to dial in.

{censored}

Those Monorocket cases are just the bees knees...

There are basically only two things in this world I would never try even once, under ANY circumstances:

Cocaine and modular synths.

Word....

Sounds like we have been doing the same thing. I have been youtubing eurorack module demos all week. I had starry eyes for Dopfer but then I started looking at livewire and tiptop audio. I want to have one of stg's Mankato filters, too.

The last year or so has seen an explosion of interesting eurorack modules, and there is a bunch of stuff poised to come out in the next couple of months. Modules range from interesting sequencing modules(forthcoming), to glitchy stuff (take a look at The Harvestman), functionally dense utility modules (Makenoise), vintage style oscillators and filters (Macbeth), and on and on. I'm totally hooked on Eurorack right now...of course, there is always the next, best, coolest module coming out NOW which you have to steal and beg to buy...

btw - the Mankato filter, unfortunately, is not available in eurorack, at least not presently.

A good place to drool over stuff that is coming out in the next few months is muff wiggler...

btw, the following picture is of my system. It's grown a bit since then, and I'm going to have to start working on a second case soon.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/analoguehaven/4150969562/

Drools right...Eurorack is exploding. I got in this year via Frac, and am now sort of regretting it due to the lack of module variety. I like the Blacet I have, but, I may have to go Euro as well.

Both can be very expensive and addictive.

Oh crap, I just clicked on STG under Eurorack on analoguehaven and saw the Mankato filter pictured there so I assumed it was available in Eurorack. I saw it originally on STG's web page and thought it looked like a really cool idea. I was thinking about it as an add-on to a base system.

Eurorack is the way to go. It has the largest available types of modules and manufacturers. Lots of cool stuff coming out very soon. And living in Seattle, i get to see a lot of it well before it's even announced =o]

Better be bitten by a modular than by this little dude!

Sorry r05C03, but I couldn't help but be reminded of this when I read the title of your thread, lol

[YOUTUBE]j8xAeBOAC8U[/YOUTUBE]

for what it's worth, even a large Buchla 200e folds down, comes with a carrying case & is easier to transport than an electric guitar. sell the car now!

Why can't I just by a nice inexpensive digital like the Blofeld, like so many of you nice folks have suggested. It would so much more sensible. What is it about knobs and wires and little fiddly bits that interest me so much more? Some sort of latent psycho-sexual trauma? Is it the hunter-gatherer genes? Is the quest more important than the gear itself? Or am I just a spoiled westerner with privilege to not worry about where next week's food is going to come from, giving the mental spare time to concern myself with trifles....

the Mankato _will_ be in eurorack this year.

also: don't discount Moog format. considering you have an XS and all those Moogerfoogers, it would integrate quicker.

I was thinking about the Moog format, for exactly that reason (ALOT fewer 1/8'' to 1/4'' adaptors...but the choices seem so limited compared to the euro-rack, for which their just seems to be some really unique stuff coming out, I mean craziee (including, as I have learned, your Mankato...). Let see there is you, MOTM, Synth.com, who else does Moog format?

Well, most people who use them probably think that they sound much better than the Blofeld, present many more options than the blofeld, and have much more modulation flexibility than the blofeld. And exactly what are you going to do if you think that your blofeld needs another lfo? None of this flexibility or analog sound is NECESSARY, but some people find it rather inspiring.

MoonModular is a new player. Expensive, but they've added some interesting modules to that format.

I think you are right to avoid things like the Blofeld, just based on the other gear you have in your list. You seem like a tweaker, like myself, and I need immediate hands-on control with real knobs, or else it isn't much fun. BTW, I have a handful of Eurorack modules and I constantly use them with my Moogerfoogers. I just can't bring myself to sell my CP-251 because it would take a lot more money to replace all that functionality with modules. And there is nothing in modular format currently that sounds anywhere as good as the MF-103 Phaser.

also, take a look at bridechamber.com - a lot of that stuff is diy, but if you're not into building them, you can probably find someone to do it for you. I'm going to be adding some of those modules to add to my moon modular setup.

All in all, though, eurorack presents more choices than the other formats right now. However it's pretty easy to go back and forth between the 5u stuff and eurorack - all you need are 1/4 to 1/8" cables...

ModCan B

Yeah, I was just looking at their sequencer this morning. It isn't cheap, then again neither are Cwejman, Livewire, Tiptop, etc. in the Eurorack format. I have been reading some chatter at the Muff forum about the Moon Modular stuff. Noisebug is distributing their stuff now, eg. Moon Modular 569 Quad Sequential Voltage Source. It looks like they even make rack cases.

for some reason, the Moon cases only fit their own modules, and use their proprietary power connector.

...all synth roads lead to modular.

I counted the other day. There are almost exactly as many 5U/MU module manufacturers as there are Euro. And all the recent interesting Euro-based circuits have not gone un-noticed by the 5U/MU builders.

No matter though, 5U, Euro, whatever your poison, it's a great time to build a modular synth.

...all synth roads lead to modular. I counted the other day. There are almost exactly as many 5U/MU module manufacturers as there are Euro. And all the recent interesting Euro-based circuits have not gone un-noticed by the 5U/MU builders. No matter though, 5U, Euro, whatever your poison, it's a great time to build a modular synth.

It's funny, because I was just remarking the same thing to someone else today - that the 2 formats that really seem to be taking off are the 5u stuff and euro. I mean, there is Paul Schreiber's motm, modcan b, dot com, and just look at the bridechamber site. I'm making the arrangements now to have someone build me a neural agonizer (perhaps the greatest name for a module ever?), and plan to explore some of the other stuff. Based on the euro stuff (chaquo, and tgtsh), Ian Fritz modules are well worth exploring.

Would anyone like to buy a human soul for $50,000? I don't think I'll be needing it....

I'm actualy trying to limit myself to only one format (Euro) with the exception of having Semis. My love hate for modular is I just want to do FX processing with it, but there are too many goodies. It's overwhelming.

And the problem with Semis are that they can sound so good (FR XS), and then they say 'Hey, why don't you try all my other buddies'

Does anyone have any experience with the Analogue Solutions line of products? Their website is less than helpful, but their modules seem to be at a very reasonable price range.

I had a few A. Sol modules. The VCO2 module i had was a bit odd in that it had DC offset on all the waveforms. Meaning that only the POSITIVE side of the waveform was showing on an o-scope. The SY01 was ok, the filter wasn't very, uh, filtery? You had to crank the resonance almost all the way up before you would get a nice filter sweep. The LFO1 was cool, but didn't go into the Audio Range. I ended up selling all of them eventually. They were my first 3 modules i bought. I do still have the ATT4 Attenuator module, which is nice and extremely useful. I haven't used any of the newer stuff though, so i'm not sure how they sound. But i do really want the SY02 VCF.

BTW, i'm originally from WI =o]