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Thanks again for your advice! And apologies to the OP for hijacking this thread :)

-- oldandintheway

Quite frankly I learned so much from the different answers that it really changed my approach. I hope this helped others as well that are just getting started. As an example, I am not a lot more into my Maths, Kinks, Links, and Shades modules as I've focused a lot more on modulation. The addition of a matrix mixer will probably blow my mind and allow me to just immerse myself in the complexity.

-- marcomixtle

I'm glad I was able to be a helpful nuisance at least ha.

I'm also getting intrigued with the prospect of a matrix mixer. I'm currently experimenting with using the Intellijel Tête-Tetrapad combo in voltages mode as an automated scene manager, so to speak, where I periodically bring in a new set of 8 CV levels to shift mod amounts, move through wave tables, etc. Combining this with a matrix mixer could be great fun and/or mentally push me over the edge, either of which would be entertaining.

you could set the bar so low for good that it is almost impossible to be so bad as to warrant not being good enough so get a new module - I forgot to take the trash out - I'm not good enough to deserve a module - I emptied the moldy cheese from the fridge - I am good enough to get the module I want/need etc etc etc> -- JimHowell1970

A fine strategy :)

Actually, there's not really any "standard widths" in Eurorack. You see 84 hp (and multiples thereof) a lot but that's because 84 hp is about the limit that you can jam into a 19" rackspace. But other widths you see include 60 hp (Moog), 104 hp, 126 hp, 140 hp (Uli), 168 hp (double 19" rack width) and 197 hp (from ADDAC, using 1 meter length rails). As a rule, most cab makers tend to stay with even-numbered hp amounts since the vast majority of Eurorack modules have panel widths that come out to even numbered amounts. But not all...

The real bottleneck on sizes comes down to power issues...amounts of headers on distro boards, power load capability vs. potential load from the modules, that sort of thing. However, there ARE ways to deal with those, plus you don't exactly have to use typical Eurorack supplies...with some poking around, you can find LINEAR power supplies that fit the bill. And yeah, linear supplies are worth the expense + weight, as they're quite incapable of spewing ultrasonic rubbish onto your DC busses, and they tend to tolerate inrush behavior better than switching supplies. No radiated fields, either, aside of the usual line frequency junk (which they're usually good at filtering out).
-- Lugia

Thanks for the insights on case widths. I'll keep that in mind when I build my next cabinet. (I'm trying to stick to my self-imposed moratorium on buying/building any more shiny toys until I accomplish something musically useful with all the stuff I have already bought/built :) Well, maybe one or two shiny toys if I've been a good lad...)

And you must have been reading my mind re: power. I was researching linear supplies only an hour or two ago, just to see what has come on the market since I built this system a year or so ago. I went with a low-cost switching supply to get started, figuring I could upgrade to linear later if noise became an issue. I encountered inrush issues straight away and wound up going with two supplies to split the load, even though the combined draw total was on paper comfortably below the steady-state rating of one supply on its own. (The vendor was a champ and gave me a break on the second supply.) So that lesson well learned!

I think I've lucked out so far with noise, knock on wood. I'm not hearing anything, and assuming I can trust the spectrum analyzer in Cubase, I'm not measuring anything above -100 dB. It's almost as clean as my MatrixBrute, if that's a meaningful point of comparison. Credit to the noise filtering on the distro boards, I guess.

However, on my next system I'll definitely go with linear, and may upgrade my current system sooner rather than later. I'm not happy with the way these supplies flicker on power-up and power-down; I cringe to imagine what that's doing to my expensive modules.

I like the looks of this tidy bundle from Konstant Lab: https://www.konstantlab.audio/shop/zdroj-set-high-end-linear-power-supply-bundle/ although I'd need twice as much +12V power to run my 400hp rig. Maybe they'll offer a beefier version in the months ahead.

Thanks again for your advice! And apologies to the OP for hijacking this thread :)

Interesting, thanks for sharing that one. And good point about price.

I've gone the DIY route myself, as woodworking is my other obsession. My lazy side was thinking it would be nice to be able to drop prepowered, prerailed sub-units into a cabinet of my own design so that I could focus on the woodworking side of things. One downside of this would be the constraint of the standard fixed widths (84 and 104, etc.), and I like the flexibility to choose my own widths. (My first build incorporated two 200hp rows, as I needed the width in this multipurpose cabinet/cart to accommodate a couple of keyboards.)

I don't think any of us can claim any form of intelligent foresight - it's just what we've picked up along the way - often from making those mistakes ourselves in the process

start with too small case - check
not enough modulation - check
not enough utilities - check

4, maybe 5 years later - experience in how to build modular synths that are worthwhile and usable - in my case both audio and video - and pretty much any size

-- JimHowell1970

Ah yes, the case dilemma. I wish Euro had the equivalent of the brilliant Box11 system from Synthesizers.com in the 5U world, which is itself a modular solution to modular systems. You can start with a single 11-U wide box and expand from there, both horizontally and vertically. And the power solutions, another great Dotcom offering that makes power a no-brainer, can grow with you easily enough. (There may well be something similar in Euro, and I haven't run across it yet.)

But I happily embrace the mad uncertainty of it all as I continue to build out furniture and cabinets in my studio, knowing I'll end up with multiple semi-self-contained systems that can be linked as needed. I gather this is fairly common :)

That screaming you hear later tonight will be me.

If I may applaud from the cheap seats, as someone still working my way through the newbie stage, Jim and Lugia's wisdom is mighty welcome. That priority/ratio model is a helpful guide.

I meandered from 5U into euro and wound up with a hybrid rig in which the lower-functional-density 5U modules often serve as support players for the higher-density euro devices (e.g., I quickly discovered that the Synthesis Technology E370 needs a veritable army of modulation signals to live up to its full potential). I can't claim any intelligent foresight for this, but as a pleasant change, my ill-guided bumbling through life worked out rather nicely in this instance.

Giving anyone a reason to chuckle is a satisfying day's work, and it helped me recover from being traumatized by a demented stalker kitty :)

Thank you! I didn't realize that a rogue module had fallen out of my rack and out of view. (Aren't I the doofus for getting hissy about something that is actually a helpful feature. Bad me.)

And my post suffered from pre-coffee confusion...I upgraded to unicorn independently of losing my mind over an on-screen cat :)

OK, I've upgraded to Unicorn status...can I have special powers to get that bloody cat off the corner of my screen? It's a distracting nuisance. Yes, I am easily distracted.

I tried an overlay/pop-up blocker in Chrome, but no luck. Is there a way to disable it? Please, I'm begging.

Cheers,