Your modulars (Part 2)

I take it you already have Pamela’s New Workout? Otherwise, you’d be looking at the “Pro Workout”. Is that your only source of modulation or do you have other gear that could fill that duty? If it’s just clock you’re looking for, there are cheaper options.

MFX feels a little redundant with Sealegs and Swells.

As a eurorack-addict myself, I feel duty bound to remind you that if FX are all you’re after, for this sort of money you could get a fancy rackmount multi-FX unit like a Line 6 Helix Rackmount or fancier. However, those don’t have the appeal of live patching!

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Whoops - yes it would be “pro” workout. All my other gear are synths and guitar pedals, controlled by Hapax. I don’t have any other modular, was just looking for a small little rack because I have been gassing over those 3 intellijel modules. I am not set on pam or mfx, just figured I needed some modulation and Pam could sync to my Hapax’s clock and modulate the intellijels. I threw in the mfx to fill the gap. Open to suggestions to replace pam and mfx, but the intellijels I am set on, as they are the reason I making this little FX rack to begin with.

Yeah I am envious of those sweet effects. If you get an Intellijel case you could add some utilities in a 1u row like LFO, mixer etc.

unfortunately I am restricted on height for my setup, a 1 row 3U is all I can fit

My suggestion would be to hold off on MFX and Pamela’s if they were just filler, and substitute with a couple of modulation and voltage processing sources. For example, grab a Doepfer A-145-4 Quad LFO (slim line) and an Intellijel Triplatt for voltage mixing, attenuation, inversion, etc.

How about replacing Pam and MFX with an Intellijel Quadrax?

Quadrax is very powerful, and capable of complex modulation, cross-modulation, attenuation, etc. (no inversion unfortunately).

But be aware that Quadrax does have a menu system hidden behind button presses, so you’ll probably spend a good month or so constantly referring to the 50+ page manual to remember what all the bits do.

In a big system, where Quadrax is just one of many modulation sources I find this a bit of a pain, which is why I suggested the WYSIWYG combo of Quad LFOs + mixer / attenuator / offsetter / inverter.

However, If these are going to be your only eurorack modules, then you’ll probably commit Quadrax’s main functionality to muscle memory much quicker.

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As always with modular: start slowly! I would only get one of those 3 intellijel FX + the modulation module at first. That way you learn that specific combo for a while alone. Squeeze out all of its juice. Then grow to the next one.

I will second @pmags’s advice about considering alternatives (for what this will cost, you can get an iPad, a knobby/slidey MIDI controller, and many great, flexible FX apps) and @KleinKlang’s advice about going slowly.

But let us assume your heart is set on these three (understandable; I have no need for them, yet I have been following their development and watching the demos). They total 60hp, and you have 84hp to work with. That leaves 24hp for everything else. Since you have no other Eurorack, and no space for anything more, this is a precious resource and should be carefully thought out. You don’t have the luxury of trying something and then shunting it off to another case if it doesn’t quite work for this purpose, or living with something that is a little too large for what it delivers.

Modulation has been mentioned, though there is some internal modulation in each of the core modules. You probably need to work with the FX modules with just your fingers and what they provide, first, to get a sense of what you are lacking. Strategies for modulating FX vary. I hardly ever modulate reverbs, though I will adjust space/delay on the fly. Others really get into it, to the extent of making the reverb a sound source. I have the Quad LFO that @pmags mentioned, though mine is paired with Acid Rain Junction. But this combo won’t do synced LFOs. For that I have Pam’s and Neo Trinity, both 8hp. Pam’s is more set-and-forget, and NT more playable (though, with no screen, there are more button combos to remember). Then at 12hp I have the more sophisticated Clank Chaos, a Marbles clone, and the new O.R.N.8 variant of Ornament and Crime. Each of these offer a different set of features, but they may be overkill in this case. There are a couple of more recent modules I’m contemplating, but I have no experience with them yet, so won’t speculate.

The Audio I/O takes up 10hp. You can get one stereo channel of I/O in 2hp with the Pindsvik LIHO (I have one of these and will get another). It’s well-designed and well-built. Audio I/O has a bunch of features intended for use with Intellijel cases and 1U modules, which would be wasted on you. Unless you really need dual balanced channels, I think you could claw back some space here.

Your proposed setup has no in-rack mixing except for the start-of-chain and end-of-chain provided by Audio I/O. I think a small stereo mixer would allow for some parallel processing and more flexible configurations among the three core modules.

I agree with the comments above about the redundancy of MFX and the difficulty of using Quadrax (I own this), which is similar to my issues with Neo Trinity. You need to be using these regularly to keep on top of them, and even then, you are not going to commit the full range of Quadrax’s complex LFOs to memory. You’ll probably need to print a cheat sheet for handy reference.

Here is what I suggest. Start with Sealegs and LIHO or another 2-4hp I/O module of your choice. When you feel you have a good handle on using Sealegs, add Swells. After some experience with both, come back here and tell us what you’ve learned. You may already know what combo of modulation and mixing makes sense at that point, or we may be able to help with that. Then fill out the rest of the case.

[Edit: tagging @crevice because I didn’t reply properly.]

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I bet one is Random8. Got it yesterday and it’s a keeper. Attenuators are a bit tightly packed but for comparison there is no other mod source at it’s size with so many attenuators on the outputs. Neo Trinity does attenuate but for the selected channel.

Button access is excellent. I wish there was an on/off mode with long press button to capture and release a loop, that’d solve 90% of the attenuator use (once is set it’d stay there).

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You are, of course, correct. I have a tight travel schedule until August and can’t really order any modules to be shipped. I’m also waiting for more experience reports, and a proper manual (there isn’t one on the Befaco site yet, as far as I can tell).

Isn’t long-press used for access to secondary functions like quantization?

hey @crevice,

I went down a similar path until recently of building an effect rack.

after a few months, the purchasing has worn on me and I’ve decided to sell it all and simplify. Fortunately, I didn’t get too deep before deciding this.

I love the modular format though so have got myself a workshop system and I’m loving using that + it’s self contained so no more looking at what could be.

On your choices specifically, I’d start with just one of those if at all. I tried Multigrain, but didn’t gel with the interface. I’ve recently got an torso s4 and it’s much nicer sample management wise having a screen for my tastes. So perhaps try Multigrain out of you can to see if the workflow is for you. I’d probably opt for sealegs and some modulation.

Going slow is a nice idea but tricky in practice I found.

Appreciate everyone’s feedback. I was deep in the modular rabbit hole a few years ago and I had a massive needham case. I left for a reason and I think im realizing I should probably listen to that reason and stick with what I currently have. I also have a torso S4 already and id rather focus on that over multigrain. I have ton of pedal effects, including a polyend mess which does pretty much whatever I want.

There are times when I want to build a simple small rack with just Vhikk X and Pams, but I will keep fighting that urge.

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Looks like you could love a torso s4.

This sounds pretty sensible.

I have on my list of future plans “getting close to the sound of Vhikk X with iPad apps”. Probably just Drambo alone will suffice.

I am pretty much in agreement with everything you have said about Vhikk X here.

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I love my Quadrax, it is pretty complicated if you want it to be, but I love it, even though I’m probably just scratching the surface. I put the manual in notebook LLM, so I ask it questions if I get stuck. Useful for the Arbhar too…

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Actually, I seem to be filling my case with more and more Intellijel modules. Form, function and sound seem to be great, love my Atlantix and it fills the SH-101 hole in my life. Swells looks amazing too….

I’ve had the Vhikk X since its release, but I’ve always thought its best form would be a standalone drone box with its own LFOs, envelopes, and touch plates, rather than a Eurorack module buried in a large case.

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I specifically asked Fletcher about this in our extended conversation at Superbooth, and the answer he gave was pretty much what he said in the video linked above. It’s a lot harder to get regulatory clearance for a standalone box, because of the power supply. With Eurorack, not only the power supply, but also the LFOs, envelopes, and other modulation sources, are the responsibility of others.

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