I agree that it is likely a forever synth. I paid full price for mine and while I always love a good deal I can’t say that I’m upset about missing the deal. It was nice to have access to the VL2 before Black Friday and when I amortize the cost over a decade or more the price difference hardly matters. ($2000 / 120 months = $16.66 / month. I spend more money on espresso)
The only place I’d disagree is the part about not being easy to begin with. A single patch cable sends an oscillator to the output and you can already start to play with textured drones. Hooking up the keyboard / sequencer is very easy. It isn’t quite as easy or fast as the Syntrx, but it is arguably easier than the 2600 since nothing is normaled and (nearly) every connection is one you made explicitly with cables you can see.
I took a risk… I found one at Juno Records in England for $1,643 USD, plus $59 for shipping. They had 1 left in stock at that price. We’ll see if they actually process it or if they’ll cancel my order. I bought it through paypal with credit card in case there’s an issue. I checked with TrustPilot and they have a 4.9 star rating with nearly 50,000 reviews, so seems legit. I’d never heard of them before. Crossing fingers no surprises.
it is a good store - they were selling vinyl and dj gear - these days they are also selling music gear, modular synth and a lot of boutique brand like Pittsburgh modular
I am tickled that they still had a VL2 for $1499 (plus tax and shipping) at this late stage. I thought it was an error, but just received email confirmation that it is sitting at Heathrow waiting to get on a DHL Flight to the US with express shipping. One concern, though, is that Juno is not listed as an “authorized reseller” on Pittsburgh Modular’s website, so I am not sure PM will cover any warranty or technical issues I might end up having with it. Over at Modwiggler, they seemed pretty responsive to issues people were having out of the gate.
I hope to have it by Christmas so I can bring it to the cabin and begin to experiment with it and see what I can learn about modular. Edit: DHL just confirmed that it will be delivered by end of day this Friday! Holy crap that’s fast, coming from England today. Not thrilled about the impact on the climate shipping it from PA to England and then back to me, though.
I am not sure how much I will end up using the Touch Control Module. I may end up using the Hapax as my primary controller for it, but I guess nice to have it there as part of a self-contained unit.
I would definitely explore the touch controller, it’s CV-able which is obviously tons of fun. It’s also great for playing as you jam/record, turning steps on and off, changing pitches etc.
I know you can’t know this, but do you think PM would have any issues with their own warranty if I didn’t buy it from a designated authorized reseller?
Definitely plan to use it. Looks like a really fun way to explore more about modular too. Plus, it is pressure sensitive and has modulation through patching to control a bunch of different stuff with pressure as well as which pad I am playing. This means a lot to me because I thoroughly enjoy using my MPE controllers. I don’t know enough about how modular patching or CV works to know if the pressure capabilities of the touch controller is polyphonic. I assume it is, but don’t know.
Based on my recent customer services experience with them, where they pushed out a new firmware to fix a bug I’d found in two days, I think there’s nothing to worry about.
Juno is a good retailer, but just be aware that after you receive the unit in the states, a few weeks later you will most likely receive another bill to pay import fees.
I purchased a waldorf M from them a couple years ago for $1400 to California, and about a month later received a bill from fedex for around $85 import fee.
Usually for anything purchased under $800, you won’t get billed, but anything over that, the courier usually will charge you.
I wondered about that. I also wonder if that is legal–as in, they advertise a price as a “grand total” but don’t say anything else. If I ended up paying an extra $50. to $100 in import fees, that would be okay with me in light of the substantial discount. Also, DHL is not requiring my presence for delivery, so I don’t know how they’d expect to be paid upon delivery.
Unfortunately, it is definitely legal, because it is actually government tax, and Juno isn’t the one charging the fee. It is up to the buyer to look into, depending on what part of the world they are purchasing from.
Also, the courier (dhl, ups, fedex etc) doesn’t collect it in person on delivery. They will send you a bill later.
Apparently, sometimes the item purchased can be held in customs, until the fee is paid (not to the delivery driver though). Most times, the courier should just send a bill a few weeks later.
Thanks for this. I know this is my responsibility and ordering things from outside the US always carries this kind of thing, but this disclaimer should be included as part of the ordering process. I probably would still have ordered the VL2, but “informed consent” is a good thing.
Quick question to all you Voltage Lab 2 owners! How is the pitch tracking on your units when using MIDI? Going through both direct MIDI (via MIDI response option on the oscillators), and MIDI to CV (to Pitch in), the tracking gets pretty messy on mine once I go an octave over/below whatever I’ve calibrated it to. Like, if I’ve calibrated both to C2, between C2 and C3 it’s rock solid. After that it’s all wonky, up to a 35 cent difference on the oscillators. Wondering if it’s just the nature of the beast (it’s my first foray into anything modular)! I figure if it’s not normal I can still get it replaced!
Keep in mind that you are buying from a UK vendor and expecting them to handle every possible international tax/duty/whatever is a rather tall order. These things can and do change on a whim.
According to Wikipedia, customs duties in the US are based on country of origin. Since Pittsburgh makes their gear in the US you may not be subject to any additional duty, assuming the vendor properly indicated the country of origin for your VL2. I’m by no means an expert, so please do your own homework.
Didn’t mean to detract the thread from actually discussing the VL2, but just a final word on shipping and costs–I got a message from DHL telling me I could either pay the import tax before or at the time of delivery, or they would return it. I paid it in advance. So, after shipping costs and the import tax, it was still well worth ordering it from Juno, for what that’s worth (assuming it arrives in good shape).
I am new to Modular, so I have been building a small library of books to get me ready for the VL2. I found a pdf of electronic music: systems, techniques and controls, by Allen Strange through a link over at Modwiggler. It is the second edition, but even that was published in 1982, so I am hoping it will still be relevant for getting my head around modular.
Even though the VL2 will be my only modular device (for now and maybe permanently), I do have a Hapax if I want to use that for sequencing. I will need to think of other ways I might want to incorporate it into my studio. I know it has midi, but I’d rather use CV and audio connections to get to know that world better.
I also picked up the pdf manual for the VL2 and this just arrived this morning (an expensive indulgence, but maybe worth it and it is such a nice book):
Can’t get more legit than a link from the Buchla site.
Since the VL2 is a not-Easel, the Strange book should be extremely relevant, regardless of its age. I’ve yet to open the PDF alongside my VL2, but that’s more because life has been busy since I received my VL2 and I’m still discovering things on my own.
