Looking for some related advice here. I’m looking at the Make Noise system concrete as my 1st venture into eurorack, the rack has 18hp of free space where I could put a Midi to cv converter but I was thinking of putting the Epoch benjolin in that space, so what I’m lookng for is a standalone Midi to Cv converter that will pitch sequence and send clock to the modular from the OT. Any suggestions anyone?
The Benjolin is amazing, super organic and alien and unpredictable in the best ways. Maths is really great for helping to tame it, too. That said, I’m not sure I’d go with it in the Make Noise System Concrete. The Rungler output on the Benjolin is plenty random and put the Wogglebug on the back burner for me, and that’s a lot of real estate taken up by the Phonogene and Echophon. You’re also going to want an attenuator to bring the Benjolin filter outputs up to modular level, so that’s more HP to consider. For reference, here’s my Benjolin-centered 3U: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/308674
As for your original question about standalone midi to cv converters, the Kenton stuff comes to mind. Not cheap tho.
Thanks for the advice, I am interested in something to manipulate outside sound samples for concrete/electroacoustic stuff though, probably more so than I need another synth voice, do you think there would be a good way to incorporate both the Benjamin and Phonogene into a row? ‘Clouds’ is a similar idea to the ‘Phonogene’ is it not?
Btw do you have any idea audio of what you’ve been doing with that rack> I’d be interested to hear it.
Clouds and Phonogene do have some crossover, as does the Echophon I believe, but of course they all have their differences as well. I got Clouds before anything else because my original intent was for a sampling and sound mangling setup…that’s still on the agenda, but I’m waiting to see what’s up with the Rossum Assimil8or whenever that comes out, and I realized I’d have a lot more fun with a unique way to generate and CV sounds in the modular, which is how I came to the Benjolin. There’s certainly room in a rack for both the Benjolin and Phonogene and they’d make a great pair…same with the Echophon. All three together would be wicked, and it’s certainly a good plan to start with…but it doesn’t leave you any room for anything else, so you’ll probably be looking to expand sooner than later is all.
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As I was jamming with my rig tonight I got to thinking about your question again, and it’s worth noting that sequencing the Benjolin like you would a more traditional oscillator is kind of fruitless. It only tracks well for a few octaves, and the interplay between the oscillators and the Rungler circuit is unpredictable enough that you’ll probably be frustrated trying to apply it in more traditional means. If you’re willing to forget about midi for a minute and approach the Benjolin full-on I think it would be a lot of fun in that system and would keep you plenty busy, although you are still going to want attenuation for the filter outputs.
Yea I figured as much regarding tracking when listening to demos, I would want to clock the modular to my other gear though. What would you think of the System Concrete with the ‘Benjolin’ instead of the ‘Wobblebug’? You mentioned there was some overlap. This would leave me room for an attenuator and a midi to cv maybe.
Interesting module
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Tried searching from my phone, but this old thread is the most recent thing I could here. I just got a little 104HP skiff. I also have an OT2 and A42…it got em all sync’d up, but would prefer to sequence from the OT. Looking for the best solution.
Also, I know the A4 has 4 CV outs, but only one CV track, correct?
Sorry, still wrapping my head around this stuff 
You can use any track to assign for pitch or gate cvs.
If you prefer you can have 4 different pitch sequences assigned to any of 2 tracks fix track and cv track for example.
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Whoa…never saw that in the manual! Now I just need to figure out how
Again, I’d really love to use the OT as a midi/cv sequencer and there appears to be options. Just trying to find the best one
I personally would get a Expert Sleepers FH2. Extremely powerful combo, only 8hp.
If you don’t want to use rack space, check the Cv OCD. It’s also really cool, but you can’t use the OT Lfo’s with it for modulation. With the FH2 you can. The FH2 also has Lfo’s and other stuff built in as far as I know
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Thanks! Been considering the FH2, but was unsure about how to hook it up…fairly easy?
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the predecessor FH1 was said to be a bit complicated to set up. @CarlMikaelBjork had a fun and informative video about it. The FH2 looks much improved and has a display. Should be easier and it’s very powerful with the OT!
I’m sure if you can operate on the OT you’ll also manage to set up these modules
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The FH-2 is brilliant. And comes with an intuitive and clever web app for configuration. Easy!
A little bit into this one I run thru my current rack. Including a brief intro to the FH-2.
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Also check out Polyend Poly 2, when i was researching midi-cv converters i landed on that.
Anyway ended up with ordering DN so my eurorack ventures are postponed…
does this also count for the mutant brain?
i just ordered one bc. i’ve read that it can use the OT’s LFO’s up to a certain degree, but this makes me a little cautious now…
i think it‘s the same as the CvOcd.
as far as I remember it only outputs positive voltages. For lfo‘s you need positive and negative output
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How do you sequence with an OT + FH2 which only has USB, no DIN, as the OT doesn’t send midi over USB? What am I missing?
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Din midi to usb cable, read reviews before buying the cheaper ones though.
You can also get a midi breakout for the FH2.
https://www.expert-sleepers.co.uk/dm4midibreakout.html
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I’m interested in getting the CV.OCD, but what you say here is a deal breaker. Are you sure about this? Maybe there’s been an update? See from the manual below:
Other CV sources
CV.OCD’s four analog CV outputs can output signals other than musical note pitches. You can also use them to output
-
Velocity of the most recently played note (Specify note input)
* Continuous controller (CC#) value (Specify MIDI channel and CC number)
This indicates it’s possible to convert any CC from OT midi track LFO.s. Am I missing something?
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