This is another good reason to use output modules, which besides lowering modular level to line level, are usually AC-coupled and remove DC offset. Since “lowering” is just attenuation, you will see people saying that this step isn’t necessary, but skipping it means you have to be pretty sure about the outgoing signal and about the capabilities of what it is going to. Headphones… probably a bad idea.
I’m similar to plragde in that I got into modular because it’s, well, modular.
For me the surprising results are what happens as a result of fiddling about with things, plugging things together in whatever way you like even if that’s not “the right way” to do it.
If you wanted to be a complete Puritan about the whole thing then you could buy a load of Doepfer modules.
You’ll get as simplistic a UI as you could wish for, with many hands-on controls.
I think it would also drive you completely mad.
For me a decent modular system balances modularity and hands-on control with enough inputs/outputs/functionality that I’m not forever bouncing between modules twisting a knob here, a slider there.
A good example’s the Ziqal Dimension Mk 3. It’s a wavetable oscillator. You can load your own wavetables. You can morph sounds via the inputs & outputs. If you want to control things via the front panel you can, but you’re not forced to. In practice this means I usually load a wavetable, set up some morphing via envelopes or LFOs, and then I don’t have to be forever giving the voice some movement while I’m trying to put the it together with other voices.
I am a huge fan of the Voltage Block meta sequencing concept. Some things to check out:
Endorphin.es Total Recall
Never used one but seems cool, 3CV preset manager / macro contoller.
Jasmine & Olive Trees Traffic
Again never used one, but seems wildly popular. This one has 3 CV presets you can trigger
Of course there’s Make Noise Pressure Points and Intellijel Tetrapad to which you can add the Brains or Tête respectively for sequencing
And now for a shameless plug, if you grab a 4ms Catalyst Sequencer it has a controller mode that does meta/preset management and I added an app called VoltSeq that basically turns it into something sort of like Voltage Block but with gate/trigger sequencing and live performance beat repeat/granular modes that use the crossfader. Catalyst Sequencer is hugely underrated and inexpensive to grab used on Reverb.
I’m one of those guys but I won’t argue the point, I just haven’t needed an output module yet. The scenarios I see where they are required are when you can’t pay close attention to the output strength, balanced connectors and when you need ground lift for the case to avoid hum. They are a real nice to have though, especially with features like VU meters, filters and cue listening so I treat them as live case only.
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IMHO nw2s were making the best I/O modules for Eurorack but sadly they seem to have gone out of business
Thank you for these recommendations. Your custom sequencer firmware is wild! I am a sucker for projects like this. I will try to wrap my head around each suggestion.
Triggering the Traffic module with the Metropolix Gx expander seema really fun, I could have a different synth preset activate in three spots across the pattern
This is me.
It’s a full house except for the Maniak. I have 8hp to fill and I’m torn between a wavefolder the Maniak (MANIC // VCAs with SUPERPOWERS! from DivKid & Apollo View Modular) or the Intelligel Bifold (Bifold - intellijel).
Using Bitwig and VCV pro in hybrid setup.
NE Alia and Moog DFAM are perma patched with Eowave Portail.
I’m using Portail to cv/clip launch presets for Alia and sequence/modulate DFAM. (for more info look for me in the Bitwig thread)
ES9 has 8 potential routings from VCV pro through Bitwig for modulation/clock/sequencing.
I have an 0 Coast and 0 Control on the side.
I use the ‘CON Rides in the Storm’ to process external audio (Digitone2 / Novation Peak, …).
I’m not sure about the Expert Sleepers Pandora. It seems to cut off some of the high frequencies, I find it difficult to make good use of the vactrol like behavior, but its nice to use in parralel and it can bring some serious Oemph. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahm0gTiE42A&t=1390s)
Edit:
I really like whats coming out the SSGSF, so maybe I choose another LPG …
-Thoughts / Questions / Suggestions (8hp) ?
-What are your favorite lpg 's and why ?
Can you link to the full rack instead of a blurry JPEG, please? What is “Maniak”? I have Bifold and quite like it, but I don’t know what it’s competing against.
Edit: you’ve linked in a clearer JPEG, but not the full rack (over which one can hover to get more information etc). Your edit has enough information that I can reconstruct the URL for the full rack, but it’s private. You have to make it public.
Edit 2: Okay, the rack link is there now, and the module links, thanks. Manic and Bifold are very different devices; what do you expect from them? I’m not sure what in your current rack really needs the assistance of Bifold.
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I admit it: I suffer a bit from horror vacui.
I was thinking of filling that last 8HP with a wavefolder to explore different sounds. I’m leaning more towards the Bifold. I don’t quite grasp the principle behind the Maniak. I think it mixes two different types of folding within the stereo image.
The Bifold seems more transparent to me.
There is wavefolding happing in some configurations with 3 Body @ 27min19sec
Bifold is definitely clearer. You can think of wave folding as an elaborate form of (deliberately induced) clipping. Manic just does a few types of clipping independently on each channel, allowing normal stereo processing or pseudo-stereo from a mono source.
You already have many sound shapers, and your sound sources are also pretty complex. 8hp is a good size. Slap a blank in there and wait for something more gamechanging to come along!
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I need to upgrade my trusty Batumi to a 8 channel lfo module within a mostly make noise case. Ofcourse the multimod or polimaths would make sence, but I feel multimod is on the expensive side for lfo and polimaths hm, would be nice to have videos outside the nuss sxstem. Does anyone have experience with one or both? Or any other recommendation? I need -5 to +5 or 0-10v outputs.
I have to preface anything I say about k-Accumulator with the caveat that I don’t really understand the module very well yet. We still don’t have a manual, and while the quickstart guide is longer than some module manuals, it can in places raise more questions than it answers. I even hesitate to post audio demos because it feels like I’m scratching the surface and what I’m doing is obvious and probably not representative.
I haven’t put it together with Three Body; I have them in different double cases right now, and I don’t have the space to easily run them simultaneously. I could put one of them into a Pod to make it easier, but I’m not sure what I’d do with the two of them together. It’s hard enough to figure out how to make one of them fit with something else (that is easier for 3B, I’m still working on synergies with k-A).
Superficially, k-A and 3B have some overlap, but they are really rather different. I view 3B as more of a PM/FM laboratory. It provides building blocks in the form of three nearly-identical oscillators, each with a whack of outputs. There are some nice normalizations, but one often overrides or doesn’t use them. 3B is more rooted in classical technique and consequently more transparent.
k-A takes some of the ideas of 3B, and some that 3B doesn’t cover, and builds another layer on top of them. This allows it to go in a bunch of new directions, but those are more specific. There are more normalizations, and more varied ones, and there are effects that one part has on another that haven’t quite been explained to us yet. There are fewer outputs. It opens up new doors, but is a bit prescriptive, not forcing you through them, just making it pretty attractive to go that way. Maybe some of that effect is my own lack of imagination at early stages of exploration.
k-A is more of a complete voice, and it’s a little too compelling to use the UFG as an envelope and the ∆-∑ for synced V/oct, even though other uses are possible. So far, for me, ∆-∑ is the weak link. I don’t have enough control over it, and I don’t care for how it sounds at audio rate, meaning I probably won’t like it as an audio-rate modulator, either (I haven’t tried yet). I wish they’d added a S&H input instead of the hard-to-use Pattern switch. I have Random8 on order for that case, which further undercuts the role of ∆-∑. But I forgive k-A a lot when I just listen to it while turning some knobs.
k-A and 3B are both gems, and I can happily recommend them, each with some caveats. They’re big and on the expensive side, so I can’t just glibly say “Get both”. Either one will likely bring the owner much joy, and I feel privileged that I can own both.
Happy to answer more questions.
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<3