User Posts

Hi Jingo,

Weird, I thought I replied you yesterday regarding this but I can't find my own reply back...

Thanks a lot for your reply. Yes, I did download the Metron manual (of course) and read it a few times but I don't think it mentions anything about running backwards or randomly, very weird, in my opinion every sequencer should have that. I miss that on the Elektron sequencers too, it only can go forwards...

Since it's so difficult to find the "perfect" sequencer, meaning for me a sequencer that has at least 3 channels and 8 (or more) triggers in one sequencer, I consider now to split this requirement in two sequencers, one for at least 3 channels then and one for at least 8 triggers. Makes it more expensive and it requires most likely more HP space... I don't see any other way of solving the problem. Unless Ground Control will be released of course, I give it till end of October.

So for the 3 channels I might consider the Five12 - Vector then again, since that one can go up to 6 channels if I am not mistaken.

For the triggers I am not sure yet, hesitating between a few modules, some of those I consider are: Squarp - Hermod, Winter Modular - Eloquencer, and perhaps one or two more.

Thank you very much and kind regards, Garfield.

Edit: Oh my goodness, only now I realised this post reached page 2, that's why I didn't found back my reply... :-(

EDITED Oct 16th 2020, 23:16

Hi Mog00,

Ha, ha, this was funny (for me to experience I mean). I was listening at the album "Tank" of Kreidler when I stopped listening at this Tank album and wanted to listen at your music, while doing so, for some weird reason I totally forgot I was listening at your music and in my mind I was just listening at Tank music from Kreidler, but it was your music! Very weird, your track here can fit just very well into that Tank album of Kreidler.

So in other words, fantastic track! Thanks a lot for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Sacguy71,

Here check this website from Doepfer:

http://www.doepfer.de/home_e.htm

That shows you all the available cases, of course the monster cases are less suitable for your weekly weekend to the beach or something like that but they offer a good affordable space. Well "affordable"... more affordable than other brands, let's put it like that ;-)

If you are going to buy an MDLR case then please let us know your experience with it, once you got one.

Kind regards, Garfield.

Edit: This above link doesn't go there where I want it to go ;-) So once clicked on that link then on top on "Products" and then on "Housings overview".

EDITED Oct 16th 2020, 22:49

Hi Sacguy71,

Well the concept of Doepfer cases is a bit different, that's why you can't lay them down. You can lay it down but you might not like the power plug make it "wobbly" ;-)

The idea instead is to use A-100LMB base case first (that gives you a half-laying/half-standing case) and on top of that you add a standing monster case.

I don't have an MDLR case, I was considering one however the power supply specifications aren't as good as those of Doepfer and the MDLR cases are more expensive on a per HP base than the Doepfer monster cases. I am actually (very) happy with the Doepfer (monster) cases, they provide some nice affordable space and are deep enough for most of the modules in the market.

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Miroslav,

I had the bigger brother Doepfer - A-190-5 and had enormously problems with understanding that module, so perhaps you have a similar issue with the A-190-4. I love to work with Doepfer's modules except these A-190-x series...

I also had connectivity problems, one of my problems was the MIDI channel setting with this A-190-4/5 module, so check if your MIDI channel settings are correct otherwise dig the manual again and read through it again. I had done that many times and barely could fix the problems. I exchanged the Doepfer module with a Vermona - qMI 2, so much better and logical than the Doepfer one.

Good luck with the troubleshooting and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Broken-Form,

Wow that's a fast decision :-) Please let us know how your experience is with the Hermod. It's one of the candidates that I consider too.

Good luck, have fun with it and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mog00,

Oh wow! That's beautiful and magical at the same time. Those sounds that keeps coming have all those gone through that I-047 filter from Instruo? Sounds indeed like a lovely filter!

Nice modulation experiment! Thank you very much for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hey Jingo,

Good to hear that you are happy with your Drum Sequencer from Erica Synths and pity Erica Synths still haven't released their Black Sequencer; most likely same or similar issues as Endorphin.es with their Ground Control.

Worst case scenario that I see is that I have to let go the idea of getting one sequencer that has many channels (3 or more) and 8 (or more) triggers. Perhaps I have to split that into two sequencers, one for the full channels and one for the triggers. That makes it most likely more expensive and it might take more HP space but perhaps it's then easier to get to a perfect "sequencer combination" ;-)

Thanks for checking out the manual of the Metron, I went already through it, several times now but I can't find anything related to different running direction modes... pity otherwise beside the Five12 that might have been a nice sequencer too...

While waiting for Ground Control and the Black Sequencer, I can check on that sequencer "split idea".

Thanks for your help and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi The-Erc,

Now we are talking! This is a fantastic track, really. Starting with that great kick sound and then every once and a while you throw in another nice, interesting and by times a beautiful sound as well. Large variation keeps the listener left amazed in his/her chair, jaw dropped open, just not believing one can add so much great variation in just one single track.

As you might know, Techno is not particularly my cup of tea, though this sounds like kind of Techno to me, thus if this is a new-style Techno, then I will be soon a serious Techno fan ;-)

Very well done, I hope you stay healthy and I "hearing" forwards for your next superb track! Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Sacguy71,

The WMD - Metron with extension modules Axxent and minimum of two Volteras might be indeed a nice sequencer too but bloody expensive and in the manual of Metron I can't find any information about if that sequencer can do running other than forwards, I would expect from a modern sequencer at least backwards and random as well and if possible a ping-pong run too.

Any member has a Metron who can confirm about those running direction modes?

Thank you very much in advance and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Cameliamusic,

Welcome to modular! I don't think I have seen it yet, so generally I would like you to advise not to buy everything at once. Start with a few main modules, gain some experience with them and then slowly by a few more, build up some more experience with them, and keep repeating till you either reached your target plan or till your bank account is zero ;-)

Many members have provided you already with some excellent comments, so there is not much to add other than the above remark.

Good luck, have fun with modular and kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Edit: Removed typo.

EDITED Oct 15th 2020, 21:31

Hey Jingo,

Ah, you are using the drum sequencer from... Erica Synths? Happy with that one?

It's a pity that the Vector doesn't support more than 4 drums (I still don't understand why the Jack Expander offers 8 triggers if one only can use up to 4 drums, bit weird in my opinion), that puts me a bit off to be honest. That's really a pity because I thought I found in Five12 the perfect sequencer :-(

Yes you might be right and perhaps I should stay patience about the Ground Control.

Do you have any experience with WMD - Metron? It's the next one I consider (besides the Ground Control). I can't find in the Metron's manual if it can run backwards or randomly too? Do you know perhaps?

Thank you and kind regards, Garfield.

@Troux, ha, ha, yes, your frog in the pond idea was very good too ;-)

Hi Mowse,

Wow, great sounds indeed, I wasn't even aware of this synth, it must have slipped my attention! Therefore a huge thank you to share this with us :-)

Thank you very much and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Sacguy71,

He, he, indeed crazy drones ;-) Just before 1:50 you got a very nice sound there, pity you didn't hold that a bit longer, I loved that!

Around 2:40+ you have there a kind of percussion sound that sounds like a bit of a robot-kind-of-footstep sound, nicely done! :-)

All-in-all a nice experimental jam :-) Thanks a lot for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Farkas,

Sorry that it took me so long before I managed to listen at your entire album, long story short: Great album, nicely done and that for your own birthday :-) Nice!

Short story long: Beside what I just wrote, wow, track 3 and 4 are for me the toppers. Squares (#3) is a nice composed high energy track that keeps me active and draws my attention full to your album, full to Squares! Then directly followed by Logos And Pathos (#4) is so different from Squares, yet it fits so well to be followed directly after that third track. It gives the listener time to relax, and gives the listener time to process what just happened at Squares. By the way, before I forget to mention it, in both tracks I love your handclap sound!

Though Logos And Pathos provides the listener a moment of reflection on the Squares track, it draws the listener back to reality and the listener gets sucked up its full attention by Logos And Pathos and though a bit sad to start to forget about Squares, the bonus of listening at Logos And Pathos is it all worth :-)

I do appreciate your huge amount of modulation in the first track Drowning In Positivity as well, he, he, nobody needs to explain to you what modulation is ;-) Followed by some nice and funny sounds, it's an interesting track!

Overall a great album to be proud about! Thanks a lot for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Troux,

Wow, I do think I would love to hear that long story about you using your kitchen island as your studio

Thus, without knowing your background story about the kitchen island, since you are using your kitchen island already as your "studio", why not f*** the entire kitchen, remove/break out all the unnecessary components like cooking units, fridge (who needs a fridge anyway, hey?), and whatever weird stuff you might have in your kitchen, get rid of it and transform your entire kitchen into a studio. I mean let's be honest here, the kitchen as such is anyway way overvalued, hence get rid of it :-)

Yes but...no but, use take away and delivery services instead and you got plenty space for your studio

So, now you got space for a serious full sized 19" rack, the DRM1 Mk III will fit pretty well into that nicely newly obtained 19" rack ;-)

Ha, ha, all the fun aside, the DRM1 Mk III is surprisingly small, yes okay it's 19" but I do think it's usable if you don't put it in a 19" rack but just leave it as it is. It has (at least for a 19" rack device) a surprisingly small depth, just a few centimetres (one max two inches). Okay I just measured it, 5.5 cm (2+ inch). I also just checked the back side from a 19" rack point of view and it's nice flat, the cables are inserted from the top (behind the rack), so if you would put it flat on your kitchen table the cables wouldn't block it from laying nicely flat on the kitchen table.

Seriously, consider it. Kind regards, Garfield.

@JimHowell1970

Glad to hear you are not dead ;-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Ivolvanov,

Wow that's a great nice little track! I don't know why but when I was listening at it I was thinking about acrobatics :-)

Well done, I like it and thanks a lot for sharing this. Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Jingo,

I forgot to mention those two sub sequencers of the Five12 - Vectron, those are very nice, I heard loopop using that in his video (and explaining it), that's really great and gives a lot of interesting, additional opportunities, to this sequencer!

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Steve,

Oh that's a nice relaxing track! I wasn't even aware a module like Monome - Crow exists, quite interesting and melodic too.

I am going to listen one more time, get even more relaxed, thanks a lot for sharing this, kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Jingo,

Thanks a lot for pointing out page 15 the scenes, totally overlooked the scenes...

Yes, the combination of steps, presets, playlists, scenes and projects, that should be enough. Pity of the presets though other than that I guess it's sufficient.

I just found something that worries me quite a bit. Do you have the Jack Expander as well? If yes, those 8 triggers there can't they all be used to control drums & percussion? I was assuming that but I read this in the manual on page 13 this:

"As with Chords, Drum Parts have four voices"
and this:
"You can use 4 Gate and Velocity outputs on the Jack Expander module, or use 4 trigger outputs only, or even combine 4 trigger outputs with 4 velocity CVs."

Why not just using all those 8 triggers for percussion & drum? :-(

So I hope you have that Jack Expander and can either confirm that indeed only 4 trigger outputs can be used for drums or is there a trick to use them all 8 for drums?

Thanks a lot and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Farkas and Troux,

Farkas: Sorry, totally forgot to mention: Happy Birthday! :-)

Troux: Yes, I can understand where you are coming from regarding drum modules & co. Why not considering a Vermona - DRM 1 Mk III (with trigger inputs). Lovely Drum Synthesizer!

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Sacguy71,

Ha, ha, your rhythm around 3+ minutes is very nice indeed! I am a bit jealous regarding the 0-ctrl, and you got the 0-coast as well, right? Recently haven't seen that much in your setup, don't you like it any more? I thought that's a pretty nice module! The change of music style around 6+ minute is nice too!

Thank you and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mowse,

For the fact that you have used the Telharmonic, this is just plain and "simple" beautifully! How you manage to have this Telharmonic so nicely controlled, sounding so nice? You must have magic fingers ;-)

Thanks a lot for sharing this nice ambient piece of art, kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Sacguy71,

Looks to me that you are giving the Varigate 4+ a second chance :-) Nice to see you playing around with your system!

Thanks a lot for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Sacguy71,

Yes indeed, I actually bought (at that time) the Sinfonion a bit too early, I wanted it to buy it a half year later but then there was such a good offer that I couldn't let it go and that module when it just came out was (and still is) so intriguing that I couldn't let it go.

Can one buy a Sinfonion too early? Well yes and no. If you want to feed that "black hole sucking monster module" enough to keep it happy like a happy tail of a dog then yes. You seriously need tons of modules as an input for the Sinfonion, if you don't have that but you still got the Sinfonion then you will realise that you can't provide full and enough input to the 3 voice/melody channels, the chord channel and the arpeggio channel. Now that is not necessarily a disaster though, you can start with the chords, arpeggio and for example one voice channel instead of straight away 3 channels but of course on the long run you like to use it to it's maximum, hence my terminology: "This is a black hole that sucks up all your modules" ;-)

But having all said that, I have not even a single thought or moment of regret, not at all. Yes it's bloody expensive and yes, in my opinion there should come laws to protect us users from ridiculous prices for modules ;-) But putting the fun aside, I wouldn't go as far as saying something cliché as: "It's worth every penny of it" because that's just too cliché but yes I think, it was worth the investment but I agree with everyone saying it's (too) expensive as well and therefore deciding not to buy it. So you just have to consider for yourself: "Is it worth it?". Download the manual if you are more interested in the Sinfonion and completely read it, it's one of the modules I haven't tested it at my local dealer but as mentioned I didn't regret it buying it "blindly" (but of course I read the manual completely and watched all the tutorial video's from Mathias Kettner, who designed the Sinfonion).

Very difficult decision of course but keep in mind two things:

• It's cheaper than the Five12 + Jack Expander sequencer combination, even if it is just a little bit cheaper ;-)
• But... the Sinfonion is not your classical sequencer as such (see also above my earlier message), it's a chord progression sequencer and thus if you like to have some "classical" sequencing (which I indeed like to have) then you have to get yourself another sequencer beside the Sinfonion

Especially that last point makes it unpleasantly expensive, because a Sinfonion costs already a fortune and then yet another fortune is required for a good sequencer next to it.... And yes, I do realise that the above two points are a kind of contradiction...

Or check out this video, didn't know this one till today, quite nice introduction of the Sinfonion:

The Sinfonion you see in that video by the way, looks like a prototype to me. The now available Sinfonion has nice dim yellow lights (not too bright), more comfortable for the eyes and a different setup on the layout of the buttons. You also can see a (very) nice modular setup of "Ströme Studio".

Or if you like to hear the Sinfonion used by myself, the track in my below post demonstrates some of it's possibilities:

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/forum/posts/index/8749

Not the entire track has been done by the Sinfonion though, however the arpeggio you hear in this track is definitely done by Sinfonion.

Regarding that complex sequencer question of yours, why not consider the Five12 - Vector + Jack Expander, yes expensive but it looks like a good sequencer, ask Jingo, he loves it ;-)

However, I still want to give that Ground Control (from Endorphin.es) one more change, I am waiting till the end of this month to see if it's finally going to be released, depending then on perhaps yet another delay message from my dealer, I am going to decide, I think, not sure yet because the Ground Control is attractive in it's way too (beside the much lower price than that Five12 combination).

I realised I haven't answered to your suggestion of the Frap Tool - USTA, that definitely looks like an interesting sequencer but my guts say or warn me a little bit to be careful with the "sexy module look syndrome"; it might be nicer looking than being that "perfect" sequencer I am looking for. Or let me put it in another way, it's too expensive for what it (technically) offers. It has 4 tracks (8 CVs and gates) but no triggers for percussion/drum. Of course you could use those 8 CVs/gates for that but then you have to give up on a few channels. It still looks interesting, I have to give you that :-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Farkas,

Wow! An entire album, well thank you very much for that! I can't wait to listen at your album, however it's just 3 am here and I need to catch some sleep, so I try to listen another time to it. I am sure it will be good so I can't wait till tomorrow and I hope I have time to listen at your entire album.

Thank you very much and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Jingo,

Ha, ha, yes, I guess it doesn't help much me blaming you for everything that goes wrong after (in case I would) I buy the Five12 - Vector + Jack Expander ;-) Yes, indeed, preferable I would like to keep wife + house ;-)

I watched today the loopop entire video, yes it's indeed a very nice and interesting sequencer, argh.... so tempting :-)

One little concern left though... If I checked and understood the specifications correctly, in 64 steps mode (I heard that from loopop in his video) there are only 6 presets left, so only 6x64 = 384 steps length possible. I was hoping to be able to "compose" an entire track length with a sequencer but 384 steps might not be long enough. I understood there can be 8 parts, so maximum steps are 8x384 = 3072 steps. That's to be honest for modern standards, not really mind blowing much...

The ground control, if it ever will be released, has 64 steps x 24 patterns = 1536 steps, so two songs on the ground control is the entire capacity of one project on the Vector... But ground control can go till 24 songs, so it has 12 times the capacity of a Vector and costs less than half the money...

Or did I miss something on the Vector? And is it in practical terms no issue at all?

Thank you very much in advance and kind regards, Garfield.

Edit: Removed asterisks because Markdown Syntax is not that nice ;-)

EDITED Oct 13th 2020, 00:58

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

Well... since you are asking... ;-)

To a 10 or 12 minute version with a similar approach, I wouldn't have anything against that! :-D

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mowse,

What a treat tonight here, 2 nice jams from you :-) I like your jams and since I am listening again to your music, I guess/hope you survived the thunderstorm?!

Thank you very much, the week couldn't have started better, kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mowse,

Oh yes, this is some proper music! :-) How did you tame that Telharmonic so well? For me that's just one crazy monster ;-)

I hope your devices all survived the thunderstorm? Because I want more of your music :-)

Thanks a lot for sharing this and you gave me a good start into this new week! Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Lugia,

I forgot: It's very DEEP, and as a result it's got a bit of learning curve...but man, the POWER... --> that sounds a bit like an Elektron, especially the learning curve part ;-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Lugia,

Thank you very much for your opinion and the provided information. So there are already two modules around (or beyond) the 1k line you approve of ;-) The Sinfonion and the Vector+Jack Expander ;-)

That most likely means that if Ground Control from Endorphin.es is not going to be released that I will seriously going to consider this sequencer (Vector+Jack Expander), just need a "bit" (to be read as: "tons") of time to save money for that bank-plunderer!

Okay, thank you very much and for my bank account's sake I hope the Ground Control will be released ;-) Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Lugia,

Ha, ha, yeah, funny spelling that Sinfonion ;-) I agree with you on the complexity of the Sinfonion, it might be one of those very few modules that one never stops learning about...

So, my I ask you a direct question and I am hoping for an honest (and not a diplomatic) answer ;-) ? Is the combination of Five12 - Vector + Jack Expander (bit over 1k bucks together) worth it? If yes, why, if not, why not?

Thanks a lot in advance for your opinion and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Gabor,

I fully agree here with Wishbonebrewery, this is some serious good stuff!

The beginning of your track is superb, building up a serious tense towards the listener. My heart felt like it was bonking out of my chest, so tense, so great! You really have some good and beautiful sounds in here, it keeps me pressing again, and again the play button. While I am writing this post, I am listening for the 8th time this track, no kidding! Pressing now for the 9th time the play button because I forgot to wrote a paragraph... (and I am waiting till it's finished, which is now, pressing for the 10th time after submitting this post)

Nice view on your setup too! He, he, I always love to see your OP-1 in your setup :-) That red "thingy" there in the right upper corner, is that a North synthesizer? What is that exactly? Don't tell me it's the rack version of the G2, is it?

I was worried about my average/dull weekend, this weekend, but you just made my weekend closing down perfectly! Thank you very much! Beautifully done and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

Oh yes, very relaxing, great! Pity you can't be arsed ;-)

Ha, ha, just kidding. I was listening and suddenly it was quiet and I didn't really know what happened to me, till I realised that your track came to a stop and that was the reason why suddenly the world stopped around me... So, this track could have been twice or thrice its length and it would still have been too short for me.

Thank you very much for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Jingo,

Oh that's great news and I have overlooked that Direction thing on page 4 :-(

Whoops, that means Five12 - Vector + Jack Expander increases once again of being my main sequencer :-) It's the price that keeps me away from it otherwise I think I would have ordered it already...

If my wife wants to divorce from me because I sold the house to be able to pay this sequencer, I am going to blame you for it, all right? ;-)

Okay one last question on this sequencer to be really sure :-) How's the menu diving, not too extreme I hope? Because if there is something I don't like then that's (deep) menu diving! One level okay (Sinfonion has for example most of it just one level), in certain cases two levels might be all right but that should be it, so please let me know.

Thanks a lot for the information and trying to convince me (you almost got me convinced)! Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Farkas,

I love the Sinfonion. If you are interested I can recommend to download the manual from ACL's website. The manual is easy to read and here and there a bit humour has been added, so it's not "dry-stuff" you are reading, I feel it's one of the better manuals out there under the Eurorack modules.

Then the Sinfonion itself, well most I told you already in my above post. Though it's a fantastic module, one has to keep in mind that it is a serious black hole that sucks up any module that's nearby located. You are really going to need almost every module you have in your setup (at least in my case) because you need tons of modules to keep all those channels "happy". 3 voices, chords (4 voices/oscillators would be nice, with 3 it can be done too) and an arpeggio, so preferable you need at least 8 oscillators then plenty of LFOs, EGs, large mixer or several mixers, VCAs, filters modules, etcetera (well you know the drill) to keep the entire thing going and working the way you like it. That's why I call it the black hole of my setup, all modules are being "slurped up" by the Sinfonion ;-)

In the far future, I might even consider a second Sinfonion however that costs yet another fortune, so I am not too sure about that at all.

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Farkas,

What you describe about the Voltage Block, those things, in a way, I have that functionality already in the Sinfonion (from ACL). Sinfonion is fantastic and I wish I can find a kind of main sequencer that can co-operate nicely together with the Sinfonion.

Sinfonion has a bit different setup as the usual sequencer (not in a bad way, by the way), so that's why I am looking for yet another sequencer. The Sinfonion, from my point of view at least, focusses more on arpeggio and chords, which is by the way fantastic and of course has yet another 3 channels available for melodies, though real classic sequencing is for those 3 channels kind of limited or not possible, the focus on those 3 channels is to get a kind of melody out of it, which is superb!

For a good reason the Sinfonion is called a chord progression sequencer; I therefore look for a classic (but good and not too limited in possibilities) sequencer to go along with my Sinfonion.

Thank you and kind regards, Garfield.

Hey Jingo,

Thanks a lot for those links, weird I thought when I checked the Jack Expander here at ModularGrid that there were no HPs indicated but now I see it's 12 HP :-)

Of course I downloaded the Vector user guide already (v1.4 indeed), but unless I overlooked it, I don't think this sequencer can do anything else than running forward (or can it go backward, random, ping-pong, etcetera? If yes, where can I find that in the manual)?

I saw a few bits of Loopop's video already but I need to have a quiet moment and then watch the entire full video. Yeah... Five12 chances are getting higher now ;-) I want to wait till end of October to see if the Ground Control will be released finally by Endorphin.es.

Meanwhile, I will still look around for other ideas and sequencers, more reading, more watching videos and let's see what it is going to be :-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mog00,

He, he, yeah nice noodling around with the BIA :-) Do you have the same experience as I do, that once you start "noodling around" with a patch (especially a patch like in your above example here) that you just can't stop it and continue want to keep "noodling around" with it? I love that feeling and that urge to continue not being able to stop :-) One of the pros of modular in my opinion.

Oh yes, especially the first one or two minutes your track reminds me far away a bit of the Kreidler music :-) So nice one!

Please continue to enjoy modular and thanks a lot for sharing this, kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Farkas,

Ah yes, the Voltage Block, forgotten about that one, to be honest, so thanks a lot for reminding me. I am not too sure though...

I tested last year the Varigate 8+ at my local dealer, it was okay but I wasn't overwhelmed I must say. If I remember well (so please do correct me if I got that wrong) then there were sequence settings that once you left them, go for example to another track/channel and then go back to the previous one, you "don't get automatically the values back" of what you did before, if you adjust it then and it might not fit too well, if you get my point, or is it from a practical point of view not too bad?

Did you tried to combine the Voltage Block with the Varigate 8+ or did you straight away went for the combination of the Voltage Block and the Eloquencer?

I am curious after your experience with this one, so if you like to share some details or pros & cons with me that would be nice. Does the Voltage Block supports ratcheting?

Thank you very much, have a good weekend and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mog00,

Ha, ha, you are still figuring out "what the hack you are doing?" ;-) Well for the fact that you have no clue on what the hack you are doing, you come up with a pretty nice track here, wow! No, rather WOW! I seriously love this, and this is your first ever track? My goodness, can't wait for your next few tracks then.

You blew me here away and I was worried about this coming weekend but with your fantastic track, I am going to have a serious good entrance into this weekend! Thank you very much for that and kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Hi Jingo,

Are you saying that the Vector does have different running direction modes other than forward? That would be a pro indeed. Do you have the Jack Expander? If together with the Jack Expander, one has then 6 channels/tracks - outputs? Can the Vector do ratcheting, oh yes 2, 3 or 4 times, right?

Hmm, let me think of it, you might be right, this might be indeed the sequencer to go for, can I use your credit card? ;-) Joking of course, but together with the expander we are talking here about some serious bucks...

How many HP wide is the Jack Expander?

Thanks a lot for reminding to me the Vector :-) Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Sacguy71,

Nice demo/jam you got here with your Korg - SQ-1 and I like the sounds that you are able to get with the Basimilus Iteritas Alter module.

Thanks a lot for demoing those interesting items, have a good weekend and kind regards, Garfield.

Unbelievable, last Friday the Endorphin.es - Ground Control suppose to become available at my local dealer, then it was indicated on their website it will become available by mid of October and now just recently this has been updated to end of October... I need to check if they mentioned a year, perhaps Oct. 2023? ;-)

"Anyways..." I have checked again most interesting sequencers with a lot of input from many of the members here, so thank you very much for that.

Actually my requirements are not that difficult: 8 (or more) triggers for the drums/percussion and 3 or more channels (CV+Gate, mod is a bonus) and a few running directions, at least: forward, backwards & random.

Well then there seems to be no sequencer that can do that, the combination with the running directions seems to be a killer... So letting go that running direction requirement, I see following sequencers as the most interesting candidates:

• WMD - Metron with Axxent extension module and preferable with 2 Voltera extension modules (48 HP total), then one will have 16 triggers (not bad!) and 8 CVs for 8 tracks/channels but it's missing the running direction modes as far as I can see it from the manual; most expensive one from this list
• Squarp Hermod, 26 HP, 8 CVs & 8 gates, not too bad but no triggers and no running direction modes; the cheapest in this list
• Five12 - Vector + Jack Expander (54 HP), 8 triggers (4 available for drums) and 6 channels (6 CVs, 6 gates, 6 velocity & 2 mod-inputs); it does have running direction modes (forwards, backwards, alternate, random); 2nd expensive from this list

• Endorphin.es - Ground Control (not released yet), 42 HP, 8 triggers and 3 CVs & 3 gates, this would be my ideal sequencer, not sure if it has running direction modes though and if it will be released at all; 2nd cheapest from this list of 4

• Perhaps to the above the Winter Modular - Eloquencer could be added with 38 HP, it has 8 CVs & 8 gates so that's not too bad but no triggers for the percussion (unless one uses that from the 8 gates but then less channels left for others). One could consider two pieces of Eloquencers but that would make it the most expensive one of the 5 mentioned here...

Conclusion? There is no perfect and ideal sequencer ;-)

To make the situation more ideal one could consider a combination of 2 or more of the above mentioned sequencers, that makes it however yet again more expensive and one needs tons of HP space...

Anyway, I am going to sleep a night over it and see if there is a more practical solution to this, cheers for now, Garfield.

Edits:
- Updated/corrected the details on the above Five12 - Vector & Jack Expander combination
- Updated HP of Jack Expander of Five12, 12 HP by the way (source: ModularGrid, modules section)
- Updated the running direction modes for Five12 (Vector manual, page 4)
- Updated triggers for Jack Expander (Five12), 8 triggers but only 4 can be used for drums

EDITED Oct 14th 2020, 23:40

Hi Jingo,

Wow, thanks a lot for your extensive reply as well as the list with sequencers and your opinion regarding them.

He, he, same here, for my profession I am also busy in the IT stuff (not a programmer though), working 12 hours per day or more with a computer does also make me feel that I don't want a DAW. I don't want to exclude the DAW any more but at the moment I don't have time yet and my computer (Mac) has a too low OS version to be able to run Apple's Logic Pro X, bad luck because I just upgraded my OS and don't want to do that too often, so DAW has to wait ;-)

I had a good look again at the Keystep Pro, biggest issue I have with that one is that it has mini-keys, ridiculous in my opinion, either come with a decent keyboard or leave it. They could have used the normal sized synthesizer keys and add an extra output for the space that comes available because of taking "real" keys. So I am not so sure about it... What we actually need is a Eurorack version (without keyboard) of that Keystep Pro, that would be nice! With a few more options perhaps.

Yesterday and today I had more detailed looks into a few sequencers:
Yes, the WMD - Metron is very interesting but bloody expensive, because if you go for that one, I do think one should also take the Axxent extension module and at least 2 Voltera extension modules, then this sequencer would make sense but then you are far over 1000 bucks here in Europe and is it that worth it...?

The Squarp - Hermod or the Pyramid as well as the Metron are actually very interesting sequencers but somehow (especially the Hermod) can't really 100% convince me either. What I miss with both of them are the "run direction modes", like: forward, backward, up&down, random, etcetera. For me that's kind of unbelievable, kind of new or at least modern sequencers but they only run forwards... :-( Same for the Elektrons, also only forwards, pity!

I have a slightly bit more info on sequencers, will reply to my post on sequencers though since I have a mini-update on the availability of the Endorphin.es - Ground Control (delayed again, sigh...).

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Kel,

Nice to hear from you again :-)

Welcome back, let's rock 'n roll (in a modular way then), kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Jingo,

Thanks a lot on the information on the sequencers and stuff. I need to reconsider my requirements and check a few of them again. With Endorphin.es - Ground Control and Erica Synths - Black Sequencer not becoming available (at least after almost 1.5 years waiting it looks like that) I have to reconsider what I want to go to use for my "main" sequencer...

What's your opinion on the Arturia - Keystep Pro? Have you tried/tested it? I might consider that one if I can't find anything else that might satisfy me... or while waiting for the "perfect sequencer".

He, he, the beginning of your track is very nice actually! While I start writing this section, and you might not believe that indeed, I start listening at your track for the third time! So is it good? Yes, definitely! I love the first 1+ minute, that's for me the best part of it and when the handclap starts to bang in, ha, ha, yeah, I love that moment (around 1:21), nice hard and present that handclap but fits well with your music.

Though I praise your music here, is this music I would buy on a CD or LP? Most likely not but that's just because indeed techno (I feel this track is pretty much techno, you feel it's not "techno enough"? :-) ) is not so much of my cup of tea but it doesn't mean that I don't appreciate your efforts that I clearly can hear out of the track and what you are able to manage to do here, it's amazing to be honest. I wouldn't be able to come up with a piece of quality music like this! How things fit together, how you time (at least that's how it seems to me) at the right time to come in with yet another perfect matching sound to get the flow going, give the necessary variation(s) and keep the listener sitting at the edge of the chair waiting for the next sonic surprise :-)

So well done and I hope you surprise us soon with yet another nice track! Thanks for all the advice and tracks and kind regards, Garfield.