My Mutable Palette case

Hi all,

I would love feedback on this Intellijel Palette case build. I am new to modular, but not to synthesis in general. I have loved the things I've seen about the Mutable Instruments line, so I tried making a build with a handful of those to cover sound sources, shaping, modulation, and some VCAs. I am still unsure of what my goal for my modular system would be and I am hoping that the feedback I get will help me figure that out! I am interested in having sequencing ability, lots of modulation, and interesting sound sources. I would love to hear thoughts on alternative modules to the ones I've selected as well as ways to max out this small case to get the most out of the space. Let me know what you think!

Like when I joined here and started my Eurorack Journey, everyone is going to tell you to have a Goal in mind before you start.
It will stop you spending a load of money on something you find you don't use or didn't need
Figure out what you want your Rack to do.... for me the initial goal was to fill in the gaps around the other gear I had so that the combo of other gear + Eurorack didn't have any crossover.
My goals have slewed a bit and I now want to bring in some of the capability of the external gear into the rack but not fully.

I don't think I followed the advice given here, but that's not to say that it wasn't helpful ;-)

Every time I think about what could be missing from the case, I catch myself and realize that it's already there. I think you're going to find that you'll want either more modulation sources, a filter, or another mixer. I'd recommend looking into the latter as a replacement for the uStep or Branches - you won't always want to use Tides as a chord generator, but when you do, it'll allow you to squeeze all three voices out of your system instead of just one.

You may also want to look into a unity mix in 1u if it fits - in small systems, it'll let you change the base note and have a couple of sequences moving in the same key (if your sequencer doesn't already allow for that). It could also serve as a down and dirty mixer for multiple voices.

I hope this helps - I think, even if you bought this today as is, you'd have a wonderfully capable machine.

Thank you @wishbonebrewery and @dinorrific!

@wishbonebrewery: thanks for the reminder about a goal. I am finding it hard to choose a goal partly because I don't know what's possible, and I think my mindset is stuck in "subtractive synth" mode and the more I learn about modular the more I realize that's a really limited view. I think what drew me to modular is seeing people's sequencing setups, but also the more dreamy ambient/atmospheric sounds that I've seen some people create. I don't know whether this build would be especially good for that, but I think that's what drew me to the Plaits.

@dinorrific: are you referring to this? https://www.modulargrid.net/e/synthrotek-1u-unity-gain-mixer

I made changes my rack, but anyone with the old image cached will need to force-reload. When people update their racks to discuss here, is it typical for people to update the existing rack? Or make a new one? Since I updated my rack, some of the comments above will now be confusing since the image will show the changes for new viewers.

Hi !

Just jumping in to attract your attention to the 1U formats that exist: there are 2 competing formats, Pulp Logic tiles and Intellijel. The Palette case is made for the Intellijel format, it is not compatible with Pulp Logic sized module.
In the build above, I'm pretty sure the Atten-B are not compatible with a Palette case, and I have my doubts about the Unity Mixer as well. An Intellijel Quadratt (or Duatt) provides mixing and attenuation in the Intellijel format, and I also know of Transient Modules who are also making Intellijel compatible 1U modules, including a mixer.

Hope this help :)

In the build above, I'm pretty sure the Atten-B are not compatible with a Palette case, and I have my doubts about the Unity Mixer as well.
-- toodee

That would be correct, actually. Intellijel tile rows CANNOT fit "original" format tiles, only Intellijel's version. Both Pulplogic tiles as well as the Unity Mixer won't work here.

Frankly, if you're doing a Palette case build, you should look into Plum Audio's Intellijel-format tile versions of devices like the Ornament & Crime, which fits very well into the scheme of things that Mutable's modules are part of. And while I'm shocked to be saying it, there may well be too many VCAs in here for the build's scale. A better choice would be Happy Nerding's 3xVCA, which gives you enough VCAs in a splittable configuration that also allows for some simple VCA-controlled mixing.

Thank you so much @Lugia and @toodee - I didn't know about the 1U formats and I will definitely look into the 3xVCA!