So as may be the case in the coming weeks, I'm a long-time drooler and VCV rack convert. Thanks to the serendipitous convergence of my birthday, the holidays, and some extra cash, my wife has given me the OK to put together a skiff (it ain't much, but it's a start). To attempt to keep costs down, I'm assuming I'll start with the Cre8audio NiftyBundle which will cover a good number of essentials and allow me to put that money towards other modules.

Nevertheless, 1 row of 84hp (60hp after the Chipz and Cellz modules from the NiftyBundle) ain't much to work with and I'm looking for any advice for packing as much functionality into the space as possible. Here's my first go:

ModularGrid Rack

The blanks on the left are placeholders for the Chipz and Cellz modules.
The Vult Freak, while digital, offers a whopping 10 filters +1 distortion unit.
Quad VCA was virtually a no-brainer to me.
Erika Dual EG/LFO (plus the QuadVCA as needed) gives an already good amount of modulation for such a small unit.
Kinks I figured would add S&H and some basic logic.
Dixie II+ would add some more basic waveforms not provided by the Chipz osc.
Twin Waves offers so many functions and I only had 8hp left when I picked it, so it just seemed like the right move. More osc, more lfo, a trig output for kinks S&H, and whatnot...
Then, of course, Disting. I mean... it's Disting.

So, did I screw it all up? Am I overdoing the modulation and forgetting some basic utilities?


Actually, this is pretty well thought-out. Given that it's in Cre8's new skiff, that deals with your MIDI, power, and audio outs right off the bat. But with the Chipz + the Klavis, is the DixieII+ really all that necessary? My instinct would be to remove that and put in a potent 8 hp audio processor...such as the several 8 hp clones of Mutable's Clouds.

You don't need that mult, btw. This build is too small for it; try using inline mults or stackcables instead. Plus, you can pull it and put in a Circuit Abbey Twiggy...which gives you a pair of ring mods. With two VCOs in the Klavis and two in the Chipz, this would make loads of sense.

The last swap I'd make would be to pull the Dual EG/LFO, which only has two loopable EGs...and substitute in a Xaoc Zadar, which gives you four EGs with an awful lot of additional control, looping, etc. It would be nice to cram in its expander, too...but that woud require repurposing the mult with that and finding one more hp to fit the 3 hp Nin module. However, if you went with Michigan's Twist (Mutable Warps clone) in the slot currently occupied by the DixieII+, you'd then get some interesting processing, plus ring mod capability, plus two more hp that would then allow you to drop the Nin in with the Zadar. Jam a Konstant Labs power monitor 1 hp module in the gap, and there you go!


Thanks for the input! Really appreciate the Zadar tip, I wasn't aware of that module at all. I swapped out the Dual EG for that one + expander. I went ahead and swapped the Dixie with an Erica PicoDSP and a Befaco out3, for a couple of reasons.

You were absolutely right that I wanted to get an audio processor in there. But I also realized earlier today that the Cre8 case sums it's input 1+2 to a mono output, and I thought it might be worth my time to consider what the case might look like with a stereo output module.

So this version includes that, and the picoDSP to give some reverb and delay where there were none before. All within the form factor and exactly 10 power connections. I might consider just living with mono output from the case and try to fit another 4hp module in there instead. Not sure. Thanks again for your suggestions.

ModularGrid Rack