Mescaline modules in rack - any pros?

Hello, reasonably new user here. I’m in the process of building up a rack (see below)

https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_1614676.jpg

which consists of the modules seen in the screenshot (except the Doepfer dual qnt which I hope to get soon and cheap) plus a Moog Subharmonicon, Field kit Fx as well as an MS20 mini which I use as an external filter/mod source. The rack pictured is in reality a cre8audio nifty case + a Doepfer LC9 84 hp. That’s 3-6U more than I initially planned for, but as you can see, I consider using the extra hp/u to rack
Mount the three Folktek Mescaline modules. I wonder if anyone has tried this and which pros there may be with this way of setting up the Channel, Motion and Mental?
There’s a big con of course: the amount of hp used. Mental is a true space devouring monster that way. But I figure the ergonomics would be better with the Medcaline trio integrated. I’ve used them for about a year and find the original setup beautiful but a bit impractical – more so when using the Mescaline in sync with other modular/banana stuff.
Any Mescaline user there who’s willing to chime in on this matter?

That would be me. And I wouldn't do this. For one thing, the observation about the module sizes is very significant...each one is 42 hp, and if you have a 2 x 84 cab, you'll fill 3/4ths of it with the Mescaline. I keep mine in the original stand/rack that Folktek came up with...partly because of the space issue, and partly because the Mescaline was intended as a stand-alone in the first place. And I also use mine with other devices, such as a 160 (soon to be 180) space AE system, a quartet of window comparators from FHC, and a couple of Bastl devices, the Softpop and bitRanger.

If I were to move this to a "proper" Eurorack cab, the interfacing would immediately become an issue. Consider: you would not only have the Dupont pinwires for patching the Mescaline, but some standard 3.5mm cables as well for the Eurorack implementation. This would get messy really quickly, to say nothing of being problematic for the Dupont connections as they tend to come loose far easier than Eurorack TS cables.

Besides, Arius Blaze DID intend these to also have an aesthetic component. Given that, my Mescaline is staying in its rack, where it looks cool and cryptic and mysterious.

Thanks Lugia!
Yes, the hp factor and the aesthetic factor are certainly things to consider. The Mescaline is truly a beauty and I don’t like parting the modules even in Modulargrid. Still…
If I try my idea the Folktek modules would occupy 132 out of 336 hp and for now I’d be fine with that. If so, I would rack the Mental, Motion and Channel vertically in the 9U case, in their original order. Yes, this takes a lot away from the aesthetics (however I’m curious about if it wouldn’t make it easier patching between Motion and Channel - I think the original angle between them tend to make this quite finicky sometimes). And I may very well find that my idea won’t work at all.
The cable mess though – it’s already a reality to me. I’ve been patching the Mescaline with Ciat-Lonbarde and Lorre Mill gear from the start as well as syncing it with the Subharmonicon (and recently w eurorack) and my hopes and intentions were that having the Folktek modules mounted with the other modules would make the cable spaghetti a bit less messy (shorter patch cables would be required, the Duponts would be kept mostly to the right of the rack etc) … how do you avoid the worst mess with your different standalone units?
Edit: put it like this – mounting them in a rack I can’t see the functionality of the Folktek Mescaline modules being done actual harm, in the way rackmounting some semimodulars actually might take some of their intended possibilities away. Or am I mistaken here?

Depends...if you put the Mescaline in a typical cab, that would tend to get messy in the way I describe above. But if you put it in a 1 x 126 cab, now...that would actually preserve the "ecology" of the Mescaline while, at the same time, housing it in something less precarious. And yep, it fills that from end to end. If you wanted to do a lot of gigging with the Mescaline, this might be a good solution. However, you would still have the potential of patchcord snarls right over the middle of this.

How I deal with this: the Softpop and bitRanger aren't in any fixed position, so if they need to go somewhere for the sake of patch clarity, that's not a problem. The Mescaline is also not necessarily "fixed", either...but it tends to stay in a position that allows it easy access to the "non-movable" Dupont pin devices, such as the AE and the FHC quad comparator. But they don't need to go "outside" their patching paradigms, since each device also has 3.5mm I/O of some sort, so there's no need to start stringing Dupont wires all over the whole modular "sandbox" station in here.

The other key to this is the sandbox itself. This has 80 1/4" patchpoints in of itself (Furman PB-40s, all non-normalled) which, along with my unkillable Mackie 1202 (1st gen), allow me to centralize the signal routing for this entire subset of gear. Plus, it lets me have a pair of FX processors (Zoom 9120, Korg SDD3300), a quad gate (Symetrix) and my MOTU interface for either audio or CV/gate/trig work right there, all ready to go. And yes, I did implement the inserts on strips 1-4 on the Mackie, where I use some little short patches to handle the duties of the "normalization" link.

I eventually tried it the way I described it (that is, the Mental-Motion-Channel mounted top-to-bottom in a 9U rack, not beside each other). To my surprise the beautiful patterns make an even more significant whole and the ins and outs is both more easily available and readable. I’ll gather the audio outs into a small mixer module. The channel touchplates are not as immediate as before but the rest really opens up. I’ll try this for a while and see what it brings to the table …

One thing I'd suggest if you ARE recabbing a Mescaline: check Folktek's modules, and you'll find a few more that use the Dupont pins...especially some little attenuator banks that can open things up further.

Thanks, great tip!
Btw (a little bit OT, but…), it’s been a while since I looked into the AE modular, but I did yesterday. Those drone modules (DronX & Drone38) seem really interesting. You’re using them?

Thanks, great tip!
Btw (a little bit OT, but…), it’s been a while since I looked into the AE modular, but I did yesterday. Those drone modules (DronX & Drone38) seem really interesting. You’re using them?
-- Noctopolis

Not YET...but they ARE on order. Should be here either late this month or sometime in August with Tangible's general order fulfillment scheme.

Frankly, I love the HELL out of my AE. The primary voicing "cores" on that are very Buchla: a dual DCO and dual VCA, plus two main VCOs, a CVable waveshaper, and manual summing mixer per "core". Six of those. Haven't got anything cut with it just yet due to being stuck in an inexorable studio upgrade, but that sound...daaaaaaaamn...