Been looking into getting Rings, Clouds, Tides, Beads, Grids, and Marbles, and a few of the others look interesting too. The clones obviously tend to be a lot cheaper (and fit my color scheme better) -- any recommended clone "brands" (CalSynth, Michigan Synth Works, etc.) or recommendations/favorites/disappointments, in this line? Anyone used the recent Blue Lantern Grids?
Thanks.
the 'by far the best' manufacturer of mutable instruments is - mutable - ergonomically sound and great support, plus the original designer gets the money not some guy(s) who took a github plan for a module and shrunk it - mi also have great support!
black panels can be had for most of the mutable modules from various DIY stores
in the long run the cost savings are minimal for most modules and the space saved will be irrelevant once the case is full and you need to buy another anyway
I own Tides (both), Plaits, Marbles, Veils, Branches, Links, Kinks, Peaks, Streams from the factory and a couple each of veils, shelves, ripples and shades that I built and a few in the DIY backlog
I don't really have a favourite/least favourite - they all do what they are supposed to very well
"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia
Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!
sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities
What Jim said if you happen to be able to afford proper Mutable instruments modules, buy them, as its a nice thing to do.
I'm particularly enjoying Marbles as the main control in my rack, feels like the glue you can hold a bunch of different parts together with :) (other MI modules I own are, Links, Kinks (On Jims Advice), and Veils). I own a Monsoon version of Clouds though.
Enjoy your spare HP, don't rush to fill every last space, this is not like filling sticker books. Resist the urge to 'complete' your rack, its never complete so just relax.
I'd go with the original modules if at all possible for the reasons stated above. The only exceptions are Grayscale Supercell/Microcell or one of the Monsoon versions of Clouds and the Antumbra adaptation of Grids. These Clouds clones offer much better control over parameters and Grids is (IMO) about the only Mutable module which can be shrunk without compromising usability. I've tried micro versions of both Plaits and Elements and they simply offer only half the fun (or no fun at all in the case of Elements). Oh, and I do consider getting a Twiig (or whatever they're called) which is basically two Branches in the space of one. Looks alright to me.
I've not had a chance to play all MI modules so far, but of those I have/had I'd say every single one of them is actually really good. Ripples MK1 wasn't quite my thing but the others I've kept. Streams is the one closest to being a disappointment but I've got to try it in a few more scenarios. Frames is underrated and so is Warps. Braids might be my favourite oscillator. Rings, I love Rings (easter egg modes FTW). Elements is too large, really. Wish there was a way to shrink it sans sabotage. But every time I do one last patch to prove I don't need it, amazing sounds emerge. So it's still there. Plaits? Of course. Blades? No "bags of character" per se but all the more versatile, generally useful and not bland either. And on and on… They're all immensely popular for good reason.
the 'by far the best' manufacturer of mutable instruments is - mutable - ergonomically sound and great support, plus the original designer gets the money not some guy(s) who took a github plan for a module and shrunk it - mi also have great support!
I'm not sure I follow ... does Mutable Instruments oppose or have an issue with the clone builds? I'd assume that me buying one of those isn't any different than me getting a DIY and paying someone with more experience to build it, and many of the clones seem to have additional features not including in the MI version and/or attempt to improve the aesthetics or UI. Does this practice negatively impact MI in some way? It seems so prevalent that I guess I just assumed MI made these designs open source by choice and had no problem with the existing market for its designs.
Beyond that, thanks for the recommendations so far, though I am curious for more answers regarding those who have used the clone-brands and the originals -- is there really a negative difference w/ the clones? Senior-bling mentions that the clones are less "fun," -- but what's that mean to you? Do you mean the smaller sizes just make the knobs harder to navigate and work with? You mention 3 clones you've used that were superior to the MI versions -- have you used others that are inferior? If so, why?
I'm not trying to nit-pick here, I tend to prefer to go "original manufacturer" myself when possible -- I'm just trying to understand the rationale, when the clone brands would seem, at a glance, to generally offer the same or better functionality for a lower price. (Good technical support is great and all, but not a big selling point for me personally). If those brands are ripping MI off in some way, or people have found they don't replicate the MI modules very well or work as good or flake out or something like that, that's one thing. But is that really the case? More input welcome.
I think effectively for every other manufacturer modules are always 'original manufacturer' (unless you count the b-company)
apart from the b-company's intellijel quad vca clone, I think the only other brand where clones of 'in production' modules are available is mutable - there were a few pcb/panel sets going round a while back for 4ms SWN, but other than that I know of nothing
the purpose of the open-sourcing of the mutable modules was for educational purposes - ie how to design modules with SM32 mcus/2164 opamps etc etc - and so that anyone who wanted to build one themselves could - NOT so that micro versions could be cloned
reputedly a lot of the builds are decent quality - pachinko seems to be a decent implementation of marbles, if you desperately want to shave off 2hp or whatever...
as I said before the difference in price is in most cases not that much and the usual reduction in size can make the modules difficult (or unpleasant) to use in some cases - tightly packed jacks and trimmers, especially when next to other similar modules etc etc - if you buy a real one then Emilie actually gets paid
I had a button break on my marbles and had to send it back to mutable - fixed free of charge and back within a week (NL -> FR -> NL) - I have mostly factory built and a few DIY mutable modules - if I decide I need any more I will definitely buy them!
supercell looks like a good implementation of clouds though
"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia
Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!
sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities
I have bought from Michigan Synth Works. I would buy from them again.
I find Mutable Instruments stuff to be powerful. But you really have to learn and memorize the functionality of all the different modes to get the most out of them. They are surprisingly complicated when you consider that one knob might control three or four different parameters depending on which mode(s) you are selecting.
This tends to kill my modular buzz. I would definitely consider Mutable's stuff to be the West-Coast side of modular. How a module functions tends to be the most important thing to me after a few years of doing this... even more so than its actual functionality.
