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Marbles is great fun and super useful!

Since this is your first rack regardless of what you get now, you will have a completely different point of view after using the rack a few months.

I would ditch both clouds and the maths and learn to use just the two subtractive voices you have set up now for a few months.

Then you will know what else you need.

I totally agree! A couple days ago I happened to post a similar request on the ModWiggler forum:

From https://modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4237599#p4237599

One gripe I have about module entries that are "Approved by manufacturer" locked is that many manufacturers are not very good at keeping on top of updating their modules on ModularGrid! And the method of getting the manufacturers to update changes or correct mistakes by sending a message is sort of tedious/cumbersome and no guarantee that the change will take place or the request even read, since ModularGrid is often a low priority for them or worse yet they've gone out of business or passed on. 😔

I think a better method might be to set up a "Pending Change" status so that end users can use the normal tools to make changes to a locked "Approved by manufacturer" module but the changes wouldn't take place until the manufacturer takes action on the pending request (approves, rejects, or doesn't respond for a certain period of time, at least a week but no more than a month?) While a request is pending no more changes/pending requests can be made on that module. This way it would be more streamlined for both users and manufacturers and modules that were locked by manufacturers that don't care or are MIA can still be updated in a reasonable amount of time. (which will also reduce the need to end users to create duplicate module entries that can be edited)

how do you connect the Qx remote to the Quadrax?
-- alexangi

It just connects with a standard I2C ribbon cable. Currently I just have my Qx connected to my Metropolix, but it's compatible with Quadrax, Matropolix and Planar2.

Anyone going to Machina Bristronica 2024?
If you see a chubby guy who needs a haircut, say hello!

hello,
does anyone know what capabilities do this extension module provide on the 1u plum audio ornament and crime (phazerville firmware) ?
thank you :)

how do you connect the Qx remote to the Quadrax?

What was your plan for it when you got it?

EDITED Oct 10th, 00:11

This thing sounds absolutely awful. It doesn't create either interesting musical sounds, or interesting non-musical sounds. The sequencer is great, its the only thing going for it. But at $600 there are far better sequncers to get. It's not much use having a huge semi-modualr with a really cool sequencer, that sounds horrible in every other capacity. Further, you can tell that the Moog quality has severely dropped. The first three semi-modulars they put out all had really well done manuals with super useful starting patches. The manual for this is pretty sparse, and having gone through all the starting patches they had, I can't think of a single use for any of them.

Amazing modulation module and I have a lot of them! I finally found a user interface that suits me, everything is logical, well designed, practical and designed for a live game.
The strength of this module is to have 8 outputs at 8 hp and it is bipolar.
I love it so much that I'm thinking of buying a second one!

Yes, the switches you propose have a lot of sense I guess.
Passive multis doesn't work well for audio signals, so I got it the reason for your first proposition. Anyway, for me they are superuseful, not only for audio (that's mainly the reason I use buffered), for modulation too. Ambient music with a lot of modulation is more fun for me :)

But yes, fair enough switch minimix, xaoc dsp and one vails for bartender and barback, even if probably I'll miss the xaoc dsp, it's the best solution I think.

patch notes in the youtube link

I have two original tiptop power bricks, each one output 13 V, 3.07 A max. No problem since day one.
the amperage in you case seems low, what power brick are you using? although it's strange if the uZeus rail indicators blinks even with one module plugged in..
Have you tried to remove/swap all the busboards? If it blinks even without busboards connected to the header the uZeus could have an issue. Have you inspected the back of the module? alla caps are in place?

That's very fair! I think I'm used to just running stack cables and hex/outboard passive mults that I often don't think of them as necessary, but that's my own workflow. What you're doing sounds super cool! My vote would probably be to drop Minimix, Xaoc DSP, and maybe one veils, and add the Bartender/Barback combo to mix. Whatever configuration you end up with, would love to hear what you make! Cheers friend

Hi,
thanks for the advise with the jumper.
I removed it but unfortunatly it still flashes.
With your hint, I could find other threats with simmilar problems.
I even tried to plug in the cables of single modules to doublecheck, if its maybe because of the higher start up power consumption but it still flashes..
Could it be the cable from the wall wart?
It runs13,5V / 1.11A

EDITED Oct 7th, 13:22

Hey! thanks for the suggestions.

I guess it's difficult to decide which modules drop or not. But buff mults and jugle henge isn't sure not to drop. I use so much the multis for audio, cloning signals for sending to differents effects and depends on patch, using jungle henge to create a new full stereo spectrum audio mix with only one source. For example: rings to multi, one dry signal from multi to JH, another to clouds, clouds to JH, another from multi to prism and finally prism to JH. Like that I have 5 audio signals from rings dry + wet to put into JH and play around the spectrum. Love the results of this kind of patch around Jungle Henge and multis, I consider they are so lush and give me an ambient signature for my music I love so much. It's true JH is better partnered with veils (or whatever VCAs) on this kind of patches.

In other hand, sometime I use bitbox micro as a kind of drum machine and Jungle Henge seems perfect to mix all drum kits placing into the stereo spectrum.

Maybe I could drop the Xaoc DSP cause i have to use all effects as an inserts because my mixer. If I switch to a mixer with sends/returns I won't need so much.

EDITED Oct 7th, 09:34

If you want this all to have a certain rhythmic undercurrent, Pam's is probably the way to go. Also, a Toppobrillo Sport Modulator seems like it'd be a good calls for a noise/ambient case like this as well - lots of opportunities for going from modulation to audio rate oscillation and everywhere in between. I think it would fit this setup particularly well for how it can be both a self-contained drone synth in its own right as well as a toolbox for your modular setup.

An attenuverter or VCA would also be helpful here to give the textures even more movement and fill more space.

So I got a bug up my ass and was going to sell all of my mods. I sold a little over half of what I owned before I had sellers remorse and decided to keep the rest. Based on what I have here, I want to fill in the rest of the space with mods that woud compliment what is there for chill drone and ambient noise and spacescape type stuff. I also might try to make some glitchy randomness ala Autechre type stuff. Any advice?

This is the rack as it sits on my desk today.

Here ya go, I used my ancient samari search techniques.

glad you mentioned this as I've never seen it
https://archive.org/download/braids-illustrated-1.8/Braids%20Illustrated1.8.pdf

EDITED Oct 6th, 23:10

I've personally had really good luck with the modules I've gotten from After Later, both new and used. I haven't used the Bartender/Barback mixers, but they do seem to fill the functions you'd want! Boy I'd miss having the Veils though, they're really great VCAs. I'd sooner drop both of the buffered mults and probably Jungle Henge as well. That would get you most of way to the 34 hp required, but would have some trickier decisions for the last few hp. How much are you using the that Xaoc DSP? The combo of Beads and the Versio modules as well as Prism feels like it could be enough effects. I'd maybe be inclined to pull that out if mixing is the priority at the moment. I don't envy those hard choices!! The good news is you can always buy another rack to house the stuff you're not ising here haha

Thanks Sweelinck! Glad you liked it.

To quote “The idea behind GOMA was to make an improved version of the classic 3 Attenuator/Attenuverter modules.”
And that’s what it is. Mostly surface mount already installed, pretty simple build.
And it works just fine, very high fidelity between the input and output signals, and it attenuates and reverses the waveform just fine.
Good module.

Build

Hey, thanks for the suggestions, I'd check those.
I've found the nightlife mixer series from afterlater pretty interesing too. Even if I don't like that brand in general, I see this mixer: bartender; plus the expander Barback, could be fit good on my rack taking off two veils and minimix.
What do you think with this one?

Nice tracks, interesting patch informations. Thanks!

I want to say thanks to you all for the useful suggestions. I already changed it around a bit and removed an osc for some more filtering (Wasp).

I wasn't looking at the Ochd expander but extra logic to do nifty things to my CV as I had some space left when processing other tips I got here, so I added that. I like logic operations in VCV Rack and was missing that in the hardware.

I also already noticed the Expert Sleepers interface. I like it. Surely keeping an eye on that one as it opens many doors via VCV Rack. It might even free up more space as it could stand in for other functions via VCV Rack modules.

I haven't had time yet to consider all the other tips you gave but I will. Thanks a bunch!

Not sure if it's intentional or not, but the module next to the Ochd is not the expansion, but the logic module Eas that looks very similar.
Since there's no mention of it (that I can find) in your post I thought it may be an oversight. Apologies if it isn't.

Here's another idea.

BIA + Crust are a prettty potent voice combo, backed up by samples from Disting. Font is there because a filter is always good.

Beatstep Pro is the trigger sequencer : 6 channels go to BIA, Crust, Skis x 2, possibly Disting x 2.

Pams + Tetrapad handle other modulation, backed up by BSP. The Doepfer quad switch is a modulation director. I also added the Xodes AC3 here, because I had 3hp left, and I don't have any 3hp wide modules, and it seemed like fun. But maybe another EG would be more useful here.

Output stage is the Instruo Carn + ALM HPO. Carn is very expensive but it has faders, a soft limiter on the output, and a little more flexibility than a straight up mixer. I would need to buy both of these. :-(

-- Zacksname

This is probably what I would do under those conditions to achieve what you're describing.

This one is the opposite extreme to Teataine's version. And I also like it! It's probably a bit closer to where I would have gone.

You can fill up the Disting with samples and stuff before you go so there's plenty of extra drum options.

My thoughts exactly.

Even if you take the Beatstep Pro, I think the Pam's, Tetrapad and Tete are unavoidable here. They seem to be most of your modulation and playability.

With all that modulation power, the Beatstep might be redundant indeed. Although sometimes you just want to punch in the drum pattern, so I would probably take it regardless. Could be useful if ever needed to get clock from the computer too, although I have never done that before, there's first time for everything.

Since this one requires only things I already have, I might just put it together and see how I like it!

Nice ideas -- thanks!

-- teataine
Interesting challenge, here's my attempt:

You managed to keep a lot more than I expected! Also, I did not know about that Traffic module... I have spent so much time deep in Pam's trying to achieve such an effect

I added an A-138s and a Bastl Ciao!. If your chosen USB interface can take modular levels, then I would replace the Ciao

OTOH, if the audio interface has 4 channels, I could do the mixing in the box. This selection tops out at six outputs, so a little 2hp mixer could replace the A-138s. Mixing on the computer is not as fun though!

The Disting is worth keeping in such a small case because it can do so many different things.

I suspect it'll be playing samples most of the time, but yeah, this is a mandatory pick

The DFAM is also amazing but people usually point out it's a waste to have it mounted in a rack, especially a small one. I'd seriously consider keeping it as a separate unit tho.

People always say that, but I think it's backwards. Don't think of it as putting a DFAM in a case, think of it as making a DFAM++. Anyway I thought about that a lot quite a lot, and I think DFAM + 4hp of power doesn't leave enough quite enough space, especially if you need to squeeze some kind of mixer in there.

Thanks for the suggestions!

There’s a tintinnabuli option hidden in Disting EX’s “chord engine” algorithm, and it’s led me down the Arvo Part rabbit hole.  Here are some ideas on how his unique and beautiful approach to music might be implemented in a modular system. Detailed patch notes in the video:

Easy to fix ourself.
plug it in and feel wich chips get hot
all socketed, easy fix, cheap fix
it's all TTL CMOS and some OPAMPS

doing self will cost you... maybe....10 bucks.

Thanks. I really appreciate this. It still doesn't work cos I fried it but it's booked with a repairer so hopefully it'll coe back fine

@nin993
In these cases you can't claim the money through paypal? Did you use f&f?

And it's really simple.

STEP 1
Pull out the plug from ST1 on the 155
(Keep cable cause it can still be used as buscable if you ever loose or destroy one)
But for now, aside with it.
ST1 wil NO LONGER BE USED

STEP 2
Next to the plug you just remove sits a second, it's twisted and sits on ST2 next to ST1
Pull out the plug and fold aside for a moment.
THIS WILL CONNECT LATER TO CABLE B plug 1 (B1) in step 4

STEP 3
Look at the 154 and notice there are 3 cables
cable one is the buspower, it has the 18pole plug at it's end, at this moment not yet needed.
Cable 2 is called A
Plug this cable onto ST2 this is the connector on that led board that is NOT on the edge
AGAIN: st1 at the edge REMAINS EMPTY
Red stripe goes down, closest to the edge of the board

STEP4
From the 154 comes a longer cable with 2 connectors pressed to it. They call it B
Both connectors are protected agains shorts with a blind connector.
Manual say you should use the connector at the end called B1
Remove the blind connector from B1, leave the pins in.
Okay? Got it?
Now you should have connector B1 in your hand (yes the one at the end)
At step 2 I asked you to fold away the cable you removed from ST2
LOOK CLOSELY AT THE RED STRIPES and plug the cables together,
My cable from the 154 has not a massive colored stripe but is more some kind of red stipled line
Whatever:
RED GOES TO RED

Remark:
Cable B has two connectors
The second one is ment for your second A-155
You may however swap B1 with B2 if that suits your cable management better
These 2 are 100% the same, it can't go wrong here.

EDITED Nov 6th, 12:05

Don't buy anything from @freesolo337. I will summarise my experience with him:

1 - On the 17th of August I bought a Mutable Ripples V2 from him, I sent the money and he sent the module on the 22nd.

2 - The module should have arrived at my house on August 27th but it could not be delivered. Apparently because the address on the package was incorrect, so the Spanish postal system informed me that it would be returned to Ireland. I informed @freesolo337 of this situation and he opened an incident case with the Irish postal service.

3 - A few days passed without any update. I called both the Spanish and Irish services several times; the package was still in Spain but no one knew where it was. After calling persistently for weeks I managed to get it located and sent to Ireland.

4 - The package was lost again. After calling several times and sending dozens of emails, I found out that it was blocked in customs. I had to call again over and over again and managed to get it unblocked so that it could be returned to Ireland. Throughout this whole process, @freesolo337 did nothing about it.

5 - When the package finally arrives in Ireland (12th September), it can't be delivered to @freesolo337 because there is no return address. I was told by the Irish service that @freesolo337 had to fill in a form to get the parcel back. He decided not to do so because he had already filled out a form (step 2) and apparently filling out another one was too much work for him.

6 - Since 12 September I have asked him for the incident case number of the form he opened. He has not sent it to me. The last message from him is from 17 September telling me that he had already filled in a form and that he will let me know. Since then I have not heard anything more from him, he has ignored all my messages for weeks and I am without my money and without the module I bought. I have been ripped off :(

https://sunshine-jones.com/doepfer-a-155-a-154-connections/

Hi

Yes that's what I figured but having followed the instructions I'm not sure why it blew. That's why I'm asking if anyone has another pic. I'll have it repaired and then need to make sure it's wired correctly so it doesn't happen again.

You have blown one or both modules,
connecting isn't that difficult but first it needs to be repaired.

This is probably what I would do under those conditions to achieve what you're describing. You can fill up the Disting with samples and stuff before you go so there's plenty of extra drum options. Crust is also good because of the alternate firmwares. Both of those voices can cover a wide range and be more than just a single drum each with clever modulation. Veils is flexible and can be used for multiple things at once (like mixing two tracks of audio on one half and controlling modulation on the other half). Even if you take the Beatstep Pro, I think the Pam's, Tetrapad and Tete are unavoidable here. They seem to be most of your modulation and playability. If anything, the DFAM might be a better accompaniment for this than the Beatstep Pro, but it's all up to you.

EDITED Oct 2nd, 07:24

Interesting challenge, here's my attempt:

You're losing the outboard mixer so I added an A-138s and a Bastl Ciao!. If your chosen USB interface can take modular levels, then I would replace the Ciao with a modulation source. It's not an easy choice between your available filters and VCAs but the percussion modules I kept all have their own envelopes so the Skiis should suffice and I've swapped out the Doepfer LPG for a 4hp one (not necessarily this specific one, but a smaller one for sure). I've also kept both filters because I like filters. The Disting is worth keeping in such a small case because it can do so many different things. Kinks is probably overkill given the lack of modulation, but it's also a noise source and just a nice utility. Beatstep Pro can take care of the sequencing and some modulation with its CV outputs so I sacrificed the Pams for a Traffic, which can really add a lot to either the BIA or Crust. Also, the Crust can turn into a Pizza or Basil in a pinch, and if you keep it as a Basil maybe you can skip the Thyme. The only thing I'm really missing is more modulation. Ideally I'd keep the Pam in there but then I'd have to sacrifice one of the voices or the Doepfer slim filter and the Sosumi. Depends on your workflow and which modules you're more comfortable with.

EDIT: I think Tetrapad+Tete is just too big for such a small rack, maybe a couple of Glisses would be better. All of the above of course assumes you're willing to sell and or trade some of your existing modules for new ones. The DFAM is also amazing but people usually point out it's a waste to have it mounted in a rack, especially a small one. I'd seriously consider keeping it as a separate unit tho.

EDITED Oct 2nd, 07:34

In about six months I'll moving to the other side of the world for a year, and living in a very small apartment. Lots to plan, so let's start with the important stuff: modular. Most of my music stuff is going to storage. I can take my one row (84hp) modular case with me and not much else. I want to make techno. Here's what I have now :

The only thing that is guaranteed a seat on the plane is the GMSN! power module. What else would you take? I'm open to buying some things to make this work.

Practical factors: currently this modular goes directly into a big mixer, which is also my audio interface. This will not travel either. I will probably buy a small USB audio interface for recording. (Suggestions for that are also welcome!) I'm also going to take my Beatstep Pro, and maybe my Bastl Thyme.

p.s. If you see a Wasp filter and no DFAM, then MG is being slow. Click through to the real rack....

EDITED Oct 1st, 22:12

Hi

Much like other people I'm sure I've been trying to connect my A155 to A154. I followed the manual on the website and double checked it with another thread I found. Powered up the case and although all lights came on I got the dreaded burning smell. I think I caught it in time but how the blue blazes do you wire this thing up? It's pretty much killing the fun not being able to get it up and running. It shouldn't be this hard should it? Anyone got a picture of theirs they can post?

SSF Vortices has 3 stereo and 4 mono channels in 16 hp, or with Tesseract Tex Mix you can get 4 stereo channels and some sends/returns in 20hp. Otherwise Doepfer has the 8hp VC Stereo mixer, a couple of those with the Jumble Henge could yield interesting results!

Howdy and welcome to the modular madness!

The first and likely most important advice I can give is to expand to a bigger rack. I started the same way with the Tiptop Happy Endings kit, one row of 84hp with the uZeus, and I think I ended up getting a second row of 84hp rails within about 3 months. It sounds like you have a lot of things you want to try, and if you feel like your first explorations with your current setup has got you hooked, I'd recommend going straight for something like the Tiptop Mantis (absolutely best bang for buck in a ready made rack) or the Arturia Rackbrute.

Once you do that you have more room to explore different combinations of modules and see what piques your interest and helps you make the music you want to make.

Maths and the Doepfer VC mixer are great additions. Look up the Maths Illustrated Supplement. That will teach you A LOT about modular synthesis and voltage principles. I don't think you need the Behringer VCA as a final output, but VCAs are helpful for other things, like modulating modulation (maybe not as important yet since Maths is really your only modulation source, but likely worth holding onto). I've plugged my modular straight into a little Mackie mixer for years, and turning the gain down on the channel gives plenty of headroom so it doesn't distort. Not sure if your interface will do the same, but keeping the levels lower on the Doepfer mixer should be enough.

I appreciate that you're staying clear of smaller modules (way better for ergonomics), but I agree the 14hp Behringer VCO is pretty large even in a bigger rack. The Pony VCOs are pretty teeny and can be difficult to adjust manually, so things like the MCO, Make Noise STO, 8hp and up copies of Mutable Plaits and so forth would be great. Having two of a particular VCO is nice for detuned sounds or harmonizing in similar timbre spaces, so I'd recommend picking a VCO you like and getting two of them.

How are you using Clouds? If you haven't looked up the Parasites firmware, that makes the built in reverb way more useful as well as adding some additional delay and resonator modes. Highly recommended.

Other things I'd recommend: based on what you mentioned about melody/harmony/rhythm/randomness, a copy of Mutable Instruments Marbles is an amazing all-in-one sequencer/random source/trigger generator. Something like the Disting or the Ornament and Crime can also be super useful multi-function modules that can help you explore a lot of different types of modules and determine if you want a dedicated module to do the things you reach for the most in those resources. Once you incorporate more modulation sources, I'd also recommend something to mix them. I'm partial to the Tiptop MISO and the Doepfer Matrix Mixer. They let you turn a few simple modulation sources into a ton of different combinations and variations of more complex modulation. (EDIT Ornament and Crime with Hemispheres firmware is best for function exploration)

All in all, what you have is great for learning the initial signal flow of a mono synth, but the real fun of modular comes when you start to explore modulation. If you don't want to expand the rack, I think the Disting would be the thing I'd add. If you want to expand to a Mantis case, maybe swap out the Behringer VCO for a pair of other VCOs that you like, but definitely add a clone of Marbles, a Disting or an Ornament and Crime, a Tiptop MISO, and maybe a dedicated LFO or Sample and Hold from Doepfer or something.

Cheers!

EDITED Oct 1st, 14:53

This video is a rehearsal. t’s for a performance of Estroe and me. It’s such a joy to make music and perform together. But we are also very busy at the moment So in our 20 min performance there are two five min solo parts This is the rehearsal of my five min part. It might totally change but at this moment I like it. It’s the STO and Rings, being sequenced by my keyboard and the Moskva. Beads, Sealegs and the fx aid are my loyal effect companions. Enjoy the music!

Looking to use meta module to test out various modules versus being on vcv rack the entire time.

I'd like to run different synths through the rack and have a few guitar pedals as sends.

Does this rack make sense? Not sure what to do add with the meta module and pladask (the only two I have so far).

Cheers,

Hi!
This is my last iteration of the rack I've got focus on ambient generative music, but enough flexible and complete to making other stuff.
I'm overall pretty happy with it, and it was a long way to arrive here. But minimix seems sometimes not enough for my purpose, thanks to Jumble Henge and Veils (x2) I could arrive to compensate the loss of flexibility from minimix, but I'm wondering if I could find another alternative mixer module more flexible outthere with similar hp, even maybe I could switch out one veils too to get more hp for a new mixer module. Notice I need stereo mixer with stereo channels, only mono inputs doesn't work for me (more stereo channels are always better for me). So, what do you suggest me around this? Thanks

EDITED Sep 30th, 19:27

The semi modulars usually have some sort of side panels which are detachable. For the Neutron I timbered some fitting panels out of beech wood and screwed it on top of my rack. Saves precious rackspace and you can still patch it as if it were in the rack.

Oh amazing, might have to pick one up!

My semi stuff never goes in my euro stuff rack. Need the HP and juice for modular. That said, its your wallet...