First rack for Ambient/Downtempo - Need advice with next module(s)

Hey there,
finally I dived into the rabbit hole and got my first rack. I already have an #OP-1, #Peak and #Bass Station II. They cover a lot of ground and possibilities already - so I wanted my rack to be very precise and focussed. I feel comfortable in a lot genres (Indie, #Ambient, #Downtempo, #Experimental, Techno) but with this racks I wanted something with the possiblity to dive deep without using my mouse. You could call it getting lost in the process. I already had some very deep and productive hours with this rack.

What I am looking for next is a second oscillator. I have the Cloud Terrarium in mind. I tried the #Verbos Complex Oscillator, too. But I think the Harmonic Oscillator fits much more into my acoustic portfolio. I am also looking into getting a #Klavis Twin Wave, which could cover the more digital dirt for me. I was pondering a lot wether I want to have effects in my rack. For now, I want to get the Make Noise #Mimeophone for crazy modulated echo stuff. Sure, I could get something external like Red Panda #Particle - but maybe both sometimes? For reverb needs I have been driving well with plugins, Valhalla and Altiverb. I tend to set and forget them once the setting fits into the track, so no need for CV modulation here.

You see, I have been working (and thinking) a lot about possible next steps.

What do you think? Any special tipps?
What is your experience with those modules mentioned?

Hi Illlumen,

Welcome to modular :-) Did you already both some of the modules? If not yet, you might want to take it easy here. Since you got already a Peak and an OP-1 with a Bass Station too, there is no need to hurry here. You might want to re-considery our choice on the Harmonic Oscillator unless you felt in serious love with it (did you tested it at a dealer?) because it's a large module and looking at the small rack you have, space is something you don't have or at least you should keep in mind your limited HP-space.

I don't have experiences with those modules you mentioned, so I can't comment on them in details, just take it easy and please consider a larger rack. Did you checked out the Intellijel 7U case, 2 * 104 HP? That might be nice to start with.

Good luck with the planning and kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Hey Garfield Modular,

thanks for your advice. At the moment I already have installed every module in the rack (Mantis) you can see in the picture. So I really know how limited my space is right now. I have tested the Harmonic Oscillator and the Complex Oscillator and I decided to keep the HO. So I still want one more oscillator for drones and textures. I strongly lean towards the E352, soundwise.
But it will take some more time until I got the money together, so I should have enough time to think it through.

Hi Illlumen,

Yes, take it easy, while saving money, you can play around with your rack and those modules and after a while you will see you get a more clear view on what you like and prefer, from there you can then see how you can "fill up" the HP-gap :-)

Have fun with your modular system and kind regards, Garfield.