User Posts

Hi TL,

Sounds to me that there is something rotten in the state of Denmark ;-)

Good luck with the troubleshooting and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi TeenageLarvae,

Ha, ha, sounds to me like a radio that has been broken ;-)

By the way, I only hear your noises coming through the left channel, is that a wanted result? Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Lugia,

Oh wow, that's a serious beauty that Soundcraft Five series. With 54 frames you mean 54 faders? That's a beast of a machine! :-)

I just had a quick look here in Germany on eBay so far couldn't find much that's affordable, I found two serious large studio racks, used at about 18k Euro... not the prices you are talking about. Looks like there is a different market between the USA and Europe. Will check out further this week into this though.

Hold on... 400 lbs that's I guess getting close to 200 kilograms! That's a serious thing, did you hire a crane to first remove the roof of your house and then let the desk go down into your house or how did you manage to transport such a beast? I live in that kind of cheap build new houses where everything is built just at minimum specs to keep the house standing but that's it, I think if I would put somewhere a 200 kg mixer I think it goes through my ceilings ending up flatting my coffee table in the living room! ;-)

That Five mixer is just fantastic to look at, so I can imagine, or exactly I don't think I really can imagine, how fantastic that must be in usage, lovely! :-) Well done deal for S$ 1500! Have fun with it and I hope your floor can hold the weight ;-) Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mowse,

Wow, that's fantastic, congratulations on your album! Your above track is amazing... are you going to release this on CD and/or record, if yes, please let me know how/where to get this?

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

Hi Sacguy71,

Interesting post, I am about going the same path as you do, looking into a new studio setup with lots of things to consider... (lots of work and time)

For a board I am looking for a digital one, not much on the market though. I end up with either the PreSonus - StudioLive Series III or with the Allen & Heath - SQ series (the QU series is nice however not as flexible as the SQ series and just flat stiff compared to the very flexible PreSonus). Both are expensive however the Allen & Heath is topping that, not only with the mixers but with the Staging-boxes as well, kind of "forcing" me to end up most likely with a StudioLive board.

Pros and cons I see between those two, I focussed here on the main parameters however if I have overlooked an important one, anyone, please feel free to mention it:

• 48 channels on all models of Allen & Heath's SQ series, 32 channels on 32x StudioLive boards and 64 channels on 64S
• 24 DCAs for StudioLive and 8 DCAs (and 8 mute groups) for SQ
• 8 FX channels for SQ series, 4 FX channels for all StudioLive Series III models except 64S that has 8 too
• (Flexible) Mixes most StudioLive have 16, the 64S has 32, the SQ series have 12 mixes
• User definable keys, SQ has 16 of them and StudioLive has 8
• Allen & Heath SQ series SQ6 has 4 definable encoders and SQ7 has 8 definable encoders, the StudioLive mixers have none
• Allen & Heath stage boxes are quite expensive, PreSonus not only has cheaper stage boxes, rack mixers can be used as stage boxes as well
• Allen & Heath without extension card the board's USB can "only" handle 32x32 channels, PreSonus 64x64 standard
• Allen & Heath is very much oriented for right-handed persons (I am a left-handed person), PreSonus does that as well but less "heavy" as Allen & Heath
• Allen & Heath has the option to add a Dante optional card so one is ready for the (future) audio networking, PreSonus doesn't offer Dante at all (not onboard at least) and one has to use PreSonus' AVB networking. Just recently PreSonus came out with the AVB-D16 "Dante Bridge" as PreSonus calls it; in that way one can use StudioLive boards in a Dante audio network

Well there are tons of parameters more you can compare, I made quite a big spreadsheet for myself to compare the bigger models from SQ series and StudioLive and on some levels Allen & Heath seems to be better to me and on other levels the PreSonus seems to be better. What I feel interesting is that the PreSonus StudioLive Series III seems to be a lot more flexible then the SQ series from Allen & Heath. Allen & Heath SQ series managed to be much more flexible than the older QU series however to me it looks that it can't compete with the flexibility of the StudioLive series III. Flexibility seems to be important to me.

Well, that are my 2 cents ;-) Good luck and please keep us updated with what you end up with. Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi TumeniKnobs,

Hoooo-ooooh, that's a nice relaxed track and this touch with the birds is just lovely. It's already Sunday and the end of the weekend, asking the sandman soon to fill up my eyes, your track definitely will help me in a beautiful closure of this fantastic weekend, thanks to you! :-)

Thank you and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi ModLifeCrisis,

Nice track and Plaits is indeed an interesting module, I use it most of the times as well, there is always a nice (unexpected) sound coming out of it.

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

Hi Farkas,

He, he, yeah! Nice long track, bit dirty but still easily within the acceptable, I don't mind to hear more of that kind of dirt :-)

Well, thanks a lot for sharing "your dirt" ;-) and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Baltergeist,

Oh that are three lovely tracks. The tension and the atmosphere you build up there are just fantastic! For me that sounds like great sound tracks for a great movie :-) The "Murder Hornet Draft" is for me my favourite number one, lovely track!

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

Hi Brunomolteni,

That's an interesting jam you got there! He, he, the first few minutes when listening to your jam it somehow reminds me a bit of the older Dead Can Dance style of music ;-) Just a bit of Lisa's Gerrard voice and that's it mate :-)

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

Hi Lugia,

That's a very interesting idea indeed. Thank you very much for sharing this with us :-) Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Steve,

Oh, that's a great sound! Yummy :-)

Can't you do a bit more of that sound? It's a sound that begs for more! Thanks a lot and I hope to hearing more from your Serge style, kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Funbun,

Great video, I love it! Beautiful environment and river, so jealous :-) Of course nice sounds from your AE system that goes along with the video too!

Ha, ha, so bad luck the first time just before 02:00. Better at 04:00+ :-) Oh come on... at just before 06:00 you are making me hungry with that beautiful piece of fish in the pan! ;-)

Good video and nice entertainment, thank you very much for sharing this with us and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mowse,

He, he, that's a nice fun jam. I love the playfulness of this jam. It's a great enjoy to listen at it.

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

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

Oh my goodness, what a music! This is seriously beautifully done, nice long track. I totally agree here with Troux that it would be nice to hear an entire album, double CD or double record please, instead of a good 9 minutes it should be over 90 minutes! Are you the new Tangerine Dream? ;-)

I love the picture of your rack with those cables too :-)

This is enjoyment pure! You made my weekend start fantastically, thank you very much for that :-) Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Igor,

Oh that's a nice demo track for your album. The atmosphere is so... tense... cutting like sharp knife here through the air. Beautifully done!

I continue listening on Bandcamp :-) Thank you very much for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Steve,

Oh yes, you got a real nice rhythm there, along with some nice, fun and interesting sounds as well! How about some more of the same :-) ?

Thanks Steve for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Systasis,

You got some lovely bits and bites there in that sample track. I specifically like the part that starts around 02:20+, really interesting!

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

Hi TeenageLarvae,

I tried to send you below message yesterday already but for quite some time Modulargrid was not reachable. Trying again now:

Wow, I think this is the most noisiest track I have heard so far here on Modulargrid ;-) Great noise stuff you got there! I guess for you a Wogglebug (from Make Noise) is peanuts and from your point of view most probably the Wogglebug isn't noisy enough, though I experience it as a difficult module to tame! :-)

Would be nice to see in a possible next video more details of your modules, looks like you got a few interesting ones in your rack! Thank you very much for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Hi The-Erc,

If you are willing to spend 8 HP then I can advise two filters.

1) Well okay LPG then :-) The Make Noise - Optomix with 8 HP not too bad.

2) The Doepfer - A-124 Wasp filter, for a full review report please download the PDF from my below link:

https://garfieldmodular.net/index.php/doepfer/doepfer-a-124-1/

Below 8 HP it's getting seriously difficult, no other filter worth mentioning comes to my mind with less than 8 HP.

Good luck with the search for a good yet small filter and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi TumeniKnobs,

Oh yes, those good old times... the 70's :-) Yes and Rush indeed and don't forget that long Telegraph Road number from Dire Straits ;-) But that was already the early 80's...

Oh long ambient, nice! Don't forget the "new rule" here that ambient needs to be 17 minutes or longer ;-) Can't wait for that and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mowse,

Oh wow! This is very interesting and a very nice complex sounding jam. Lots of stuff to discover here for the listener.

It's getting late here and I was getting sleepy but you made me fully awake again :-) Well done and thank you very much for sharing this. Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi TumeniKnobs,

Oh wow, that's a lovely and beautiful track and nice loooonggg! :-)

Well, keep the good stuff coming, I can't wait for it! Thank you very much and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Julia,

I must have overlooked this post, some great tracks you got there, wow! :-) I like the especially first one and that lengthy frozen-reverb at the end, fantastic :-D Nice long tracks, I wouldn't mind if they were even longer.

The usage of amazing and interesting sounds, is superb. Are you planning any concert tour through Europe after Covid? If yes, I hope you don't forget to stop by in Germany ;-)

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

Hi Gabor,

Wow, this is a fantastic experimental jam. I love it, those weird but very nice and interesting sounds. The way you control them and engineer them towards my ears, fantastic! :-D

Looks like the Theremin is your best friend ;-) Thanks a lot for sharing and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mowse,

Fantastic usage of the effects, I love this! Very interesting way of creating music. I wouldn't mind more of this kind of music :-)

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

Hi TumeniKnobs,

Oh that's a great jam! Lovely voices you are using here. By the way, how did you manage to do the drums & percussion?

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

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

Oh lovely track! For me the bass is okay, perhaps it could be a slightly touch more present but the way it is now will do for me too. By having the bass not too present, makes this a very lovely subtle track and the listener is more attracted to the other sounds you have to offer here!

I love that kind of ping-pong sound, nicely done! Thanks a lot for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mowse,

Oh yes, that's that kind of track that just can't be long enough ;-)

Great work again, thanks a lot for sharing and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Brunomolteni,

Wow, this is a great jam, I love it! Nice (input) play with your modular. Lovely video to watch you at work too!

This is great stuff, I wouldn't mind more of this. Thanks a lot for sharing and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Farkas,

Good that you mentioned it (again), Future Sound Systems I mean, wasn't on my watchlist yet, now it is :-)

Thank you and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Farkas,

He, he, I love those funny sounds you use as the kind of lead-voice, great stuff :-)

Yes indeed, David Sylvian seems to be concentrated in looking at your jam, he's watching over you ;-)

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

Hi Farkas,

You are welcome! :-)

Kind regards and have a good weekend, Garfield.

Hi Ivo,

Nice fun music, I like it!

Thanks a lot for sharing and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Farkas,

Ha, ha, thank you :-) Well... I wouldn't go as far as calling it a dissertation however... yes indeed besides (in my other life) my usual architect role in IT & telecommunication industry, usually large, solutions and setups, I am a technical document writer as well, hence that kind of setup of the review reports ;-)

What exactly would you like to know about the Doepfer monster cases? I mean, if I am going to write a review report about that you have to read another 20 pages ;-) Just kidding, I am not going to write a review report about cases... oh ooooh... having just said that... perhaps in the far future but not for now.

Roughly there are two types of Doepfer monster cases, the "cheap" series or "economy" monster cases, meaning the case has been made of simple but, at least that's how I experience it, still nice plywood or the "suitcase" style and better looking monster racks/cases.

The simple ones are the A-100 LMB(V) and A-100 LMS9(V) and the better looking ones (suitcase + cover) are the A-100 PMB, A-100PMS6, A-100PMS9 and A-100PMS12. I have myself a set of A-100 LMB and A-100 LMS9 whereby the LMS9 stands on top of the LMB and that's just a great set together. It's very economically as well, at least here in Europe, it's the most economical rack available, at least the LMS9 that is, the lowest price per HP.

The LMS9 has 3 rows of each 168 HP. The 9 stands for 9 U. The B stands for base; I guess but I might have read it somewhere as well. The V indicates a black painted plywood case (I have the non-V variant though, that's just plain and not painted plywood version). From a power supply point of view you have to be a little bit careful if you have power-hungry modules however if you have the combination of LMB (relatively more power per HP) and the LMS9 (relatively less power per HP) then you should be fine, you can then put the more power-hungry modules in the LMB rack and the less power consuming modules in the LMS9. In that way, I haven't faced any power consumption issue yet. Easy for me to say because...

For my own usage, I made a spreadsheet that contains a list of all the Euro rack modules I have with tons of information in it, power consumption on all power rails are parts of that. I then created names for the Euro racks I have and add a name of such rack behind the module I own. Then with some spreadsheet calculations it's easy to see your power consumption on a per PSU (Power Supply Unit) basis of each rack. So for example that LMS9 has two PSUs, so I call that rack LMS9-1 (for the left PSU in that LMS9 rack) and LMS9-2 (for the right PSU in that LMS9 rack) for example and the LMB-1 and LMB-2 in that way you can keep track of the power consumption of all PSUs (and of course in combination with the racks).

But I am drifting off the subject of Doepfer monster cases ;-) So back to that subject:

I also own one of those more fancy looking monster cases. If I have to be honest, they look great but I wouldn't easily use them as a way of transporting my modules to another location and have there a jam with it. These PMS cases weight a ton (almost) and since I am not a bodybuilder or otherwise strong person, I will face difficulties in carrying such a case around the globe for fun ;-) I still might do it after the Covid but that would be rather the exceptional case than a regular and default solution. Perhaps on the long term I might consider an Intellijel 7U case for visiting people to jam together.

Coming back to that power consumption topic. The bases (i.e. A-100PMB and A-100LMB) have each two PSUs and for just two rows per case, that's really sufficient. However if you take the LMS9 it has 3 rows (of 168 HP) with also just two PSUs and that can be in certain cases a bit limiting. But as I already mentioned, if you combine an LMS9 with an LMB, you really should be fine, in my opinion.

The A-100PMS6 also has 2 PSUs, so again one PSU per row, thus fine and the PMS12 even got 4 PSUs, again one PSU per row, so totally fine. It's just that LMS9 case where you have to keep an eye on the power consumption, hence the interesting price for such rack.

At the backside per monster case you just have one power cable connection, no matter if you have a case with 2 or 4 PSUs, so you only have one power cable. The rubber feet under those monster cases are seriously stable and of course you can cause the case to tumble backwards but with some respectful handling of the case it stands actually very stable on those rubber feet.

For this LMB and LMS9 set I also bought the A-100MVG set of very thick iron (I guess it is iron) black painted plates. These plates are actually meant for the PMB and PMS racks and though it doesn't fit perfectly it still can be used for the LMB & LMS9 combination as well; which is what I am doing. Doepfer didn't really perfectly designed the LMB and LMS9 (in context with the A-100MVG set and yes I know this set was meant to be used for PMS series but still), on each of the cases one small screw is going to be covered a bit by those plates making it not perfect but it suits its purpose to keep the racks bundled together :-)

For my LMB & LMS9 set, I use those A-100MVG plates at the back side of the cases and at the more towards the front of the sides of those cases I added myself on each side one smaller plate to keep there the cases together as well. It's plywood so it's easy to drill a few small holes in there and tighten those metal plates with a few screws and nuts and then you got a rock-solid set of LMB & LMS9 and then those rubber feet of the LMB are sufficient enough to keep that rack-set into place without worrying that it might tumble unless you put your entire body weight against it, of course then it will :-)

Anything else that comes to my mind...? Not for the moment, I am really happy with this LMB & LMS9 set, so giving me 5 rows of each 168 HP = 840 HP. Plenty of space!

If you don't live in a Hobbit house hence your ceiling is not too low ;-) You can add even one more LMS9 rack on top of that giving you 8 rows * 168 = 1344 HP, even more space ;-)

The "only problem" I have with this LMB & LMS9 set isn't really Doepfer's mistake, it's rather my own caused "problem". That problem is...

That set of LMB & LMS9 is already near fully packed with modules :-( and of course ;-) It's so nice to use this combination of LMB & LMS9 and you might think: "Oh plenty of space", indeed but even then, there comes a time that even those racks are going to be fully packed with modules...

But yes, I can, without any hesitation, recommend the Doepfer monster racks, I really like them, especially those LMB & LMS9 ones since they are more affordable than those expensive (but nice looking) PMB & PMS racks.

Not sure if I covered everything, otherwise just let me know what you would like to know.

Edit: Oh yes, I forgot, another huge benefit of Doepfer cases is... I really don't bother to check the depth of modules because most likely it's going to fit ;-) Well I actually do check it most of the times but what I am trying to say is... if it doesn't fit in a Doepfer case it most likely isn't going to fit in any other case either ;-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

EDITED Feb 27th 2021, 00:51

Hi Farkas, All,

As promised, I managed to create two new review reports for the Doepfer modules A-145-1 LFO and the A-140-1 ADSR EG; ready for download.

Just a very general and summarised view on my review reports, especially handy for those who don't want to read the entire approximately 70+ pages review report :-)

After the first head page, the contents tables and the introduction in chapter 1. The interesting reading straight away starts with chapter 2 - The module summarised. So if you don't have much time but just want to have a quick glance, you only have to checkout chapter 2.

In case that might have interested you into knowing more about the module, chapters 3 up till 6 can be read, and that's it. Chapter 7 is a large and extensive explanation of all the tables, parameters and characteristics used and mentioned in the previous chapters. Chapter 8 is the glossary. So it's actually only about chapters 2 up till 6, which are about twenty pages. So compared to 70+ pages, twenty isn't too bad, right? ;-)

Updated overview of the ready reviews for download:

Doepfer - A-110-1 VCO
Doepfer - A-124 SE Wasp filter
Doepfer - A-140-1 ADSR EG
Doepfer - A-145-1 LFO
Erica Synths - Pico Switch
Make Noise - Mult(-iple)
Waldorf - DVCA1 (dual VCA)

Reports planned for March are the Warna - II from Xaoc Devices and the Quad Switch from Hikari Instruments.

Thank you and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Gabor,

Oh.....hoooo..... this is one of your nice special tracks. Lots of interesting and nice sounds, keeping the listener clustered to the speakers till the very last second! As always guided by a nice styled video :-)

The Theremin is an interesting device and you demonstrate that here very well, thanks a lot for sharing this video. Kind regards, Garfield.

P.S.: He, he, and yet another nice shadow play :-)

Hi EroGumby,

Thanks a lot for sharing your reflections on your own goals, it's interesting to read and might help one to improve hers/his own process too, very nice!

Sounds like you improved on almost all goals, that's a great result!

I look forward in seeing/hearing your next goals and improvements :-) Kind regards, Garfield.

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Hi EroGumby,

Wow you set some tough targets/goals for yourself during this jam. Now, knowing what the goals were you set for yourself, it would be interesting to know how many of them were accomplished? :-)

Good work, thanks a lot for sharing and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Zuggamasta,

Oh wow, that are beautiful sounds you produced there with the Paradox from Noise Reap. Pity the Paradox seems to be sold out on their website and I couldn't find a dealer in Europe yet that keeps Noise Reap on stock.

Glad to hear you like the OP-Z so much :-)

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

,

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

Oh lovely, nice long track. I was working on some document while listening at your music. Well your music fully draw my attention so what work on a document? ;-)

Very nice sounds and music, I am going to listen after this comment again to it, this deserves another listen :-) Thanks a lot for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mog00,

Ha, ha, I like the beginning of the track, those kind of, as I call it, anti-rhythms are nicely done! :-)

Kind of nice mellow jam, yeah, I like it, I wouldn't mind to hear more of this sort of music. Thanks a lot for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Baltergeist,

This is a nice playful track. I love the sounds you use here. Pity you are going to remove all the patch cables, we will never hear any more of this great music :-) and :-(

Thanks a lot for sharing and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi ModLifeCrisis,

Wow-oh-wow! What a sound you got there!!! That's a kind of sound you want to die for, that good! :-)

Nicely done and thanks a lot for sharing this, kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Hi Brunomolteni,

Wow, this is something very nice and special! I like the tension within the track and then that fat bass, wow! :-)

This is great work, so nice you are sharing this with us :-) Kind regards, Garfield.