A4 CV/Gate boxes available now

Elektron Gear Analog Keys/Four
#1

I have designed a box for CV breakout for the A4, it addresses many possible issues:

Intermittent pitch CV from messy adapters, I tried adapters on the A4 end and the modular end.
Both methods also put undue strain on the sockets, I know that this will eventually lead to broken sockets or cracked traces, not good, not too mention bulky and unattractive and prone to getting knocked.

So after some testing and prototyping I arrived at a small box with 2x 3.5mm sockets with a cable that ends in a TRS plug for the A4.

The sockets are very high quality, not cheapo crap, they are compatible with all kinds of 3.5mm plugs, they are also very snug which results in very secure and electrically sound connection.

The jack is also very high quality, gold plated so as to be compatible with the gold plated sockets on the A4 (do not use nickel or chrome plugs in gold plated sockets BTW, google it) and has a metal body with a decent strain relief holding the cable inside secure.

The cable itself is Van Damme (no not the 80’s hair-throb) install cable, very good and nice, soldered using proper solder.

The enclosure is a pretty tough little ABS box, just as big as it needs to be, with a sticker on top to indicate which socket is which.

I am selling small batches of these for £20, postage will be charged at cost, £4 UK, £9 rest of world. Postage is the same for 1 or 2.

This is what they look like:



If interested in buying email me directly darenager Hat gEEEEEEmail dot Kom - but in the obvious proper format.

Insert Cables
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#2

Looks neat. Got me thinking about the sockets on the A4. I’ve been using chrome jacks and have to plug/unplug every day. Might solder some gold plugs onto my cables or use mini jacks and just leave gold 3.5mm to 1/4" adapters in the A4 for future proofing.

#3

As long as it is gold plated should be fine, just avoid the cheap ones as I noticed that there is quite a variance in the thickness of the plastic insulator, which probably won’t cause any problem due to the way the connectors contact (like this >|) but better safe than sorry.

#4

this looks like a no-brainer to have…
will order once my CV outputs are functional again :expressionless:

#5

Looks good. Nice work

#6

Sorry for stupid nessss but how does it work with 1 1/4 jack too 2 1/8 sockets? Or is there 2 jacks? :slight_smile:

#7

I think you need 2 of them, one per output pair…

#8

Ahh course I see, so it can connect to either that’s why both ab and cd on the other end… Wonder If a duel version would be worth it?

My main modular is 5u anyway but I have some FRAC that’s shit converting the big to little jacks as they hang and wobble. Would love to convert the FRAC to 5U actualy but I’m going way off subject soz.

#9

Yeah I was thinking of doing a dual version, but decided against it for now as separate is more flexible I think. I was thinking of doing banana versions but don’t think there would be much call for it. Yeah 5U/6.35mm systems just use a decent quality insert cable, but seriously I would not recommend using adapters with 3.5mm jacks, the contact area is so small and they are pretty flimsy, better off cutting the 1/4 jacks off and soldering some 3.5mm on.

#10

hmm…are they broken or serving some other function under the new OS? o.O

#11

^^ yeah Ive been using 1/8 patch cords with a 1/4 converter instead as didn’t want to risk any damage the other way.

Interested in these tho. Good thinkin.

#12

hmm…are they broken or serving some other function under the new OS? o.O[/quote]
nah i erased the calibration accidentally, finding out the hard way that the A4 responds to a few undocumented midi commands not meant to be sent by users… needs to be re-calibrated in Sweden, but i’ve been reluctant to send it away, i need it, CVs are secondary :slight_smile:

#13

oh crap! I’m excited to see what your A4 software will do if your design process involves brute forcing electron’s secret midi implementations :slight_smile:
::Off Topic::
which brings me to an interesting marketing idea for the synth market - building in hidden features and dropping hints on the user community who have to work together to unlock it somehow. Similar to the latest Boards of Canada release or the video game FEZ…but with a much greater payoff. Surely elektron users would be nerdy enough to go for that sort of thing.

#14

Hi there

Are these still available please?

Beers Simon

#15

Yes still available, shipping will start again after the holiday :+1:

#16

How many of these do you have left? I am interested in 3-4 maybe?

#17

This certainly looks nicer than just using an adapter, but you’re pushing a bit of snake oil with the “undue strain” stuff. The only reason for this is that it looks cooler.

#18

@Ihatederekreed: I make them to order so no problem :slight_smile:

@ MalicSoaker: Snake oil - Not my style, I don’t mind if people don’t believe that having a 6.35mm to 3.5mm adapter with a cable in a 3.5mm socket will cause damage. Using adapters is something that plenty of people do, engineers and most professionals don’t though, and it has nothing to do with snake oil, just common sense and physics.

This is the type of thing that should be avoided, just to be clear.
http://i01.i.aliimg.com/photo/v0/427054333/3_5mm_mono_stereo_plug_to_6.jpg

But anyway this is not meant to be a sales pitch, I’m not making huge profits on these, you can buy one or not, you could make your own, or you could cobble up a botch job with adapters, up to the individual :+1:

#19

OH, well shit yeah, those weirdo adapters are going to be heavy as hell. I didn’t even know those were an option. I just assumed everyone else was using this: http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-HOS-YPP118-LIST?SRC=D0301DT0HAMS0000&utm_source=shopping&utm_medium=feed&
And then just 1/4" to 1/8" cables stuck into them.

Yours look cool as shit , though. Can you get me two of them to the states for a sane price?

#20

Until the Minibrute came around, all my analog synths and various filter units, utilize 1/4" for cv/gate, et al. Have yet to go modular, but can see where your break out box would be really useful if I still decide to get MS20-mini. Really love the tidiness and professional look. Honestly, this would have been very very utilitarian had it been enclosed with A4 new, as well as 1/4 TRS split to pair of 1/4" Tip/Sleeve.
Not really a fan of 1/8" connections as a preference.