Vintage Synth Explorer Forums

I think I'll have to start out with the basic patch cables that you make in the Paia kit, and decide where I find myself wanting mults. Those cables look great, but having at least 10 of them is nearly $100! I suppose in modular world, thats peanuts

Would this ikea rast work as a 6u? http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/44361109/

Seems like a few people have successfully modded that to work.

I ordered a pack of 80 minijack patch cables from some guy on eBay. Cost me like $50 including shipping.
They are 3 different lengths from short to "very" long. Not stackable though.
I've never used more than 20 in a single patch on mine, though.

No idea what user it was, I did it several years ago.

Jabberwalky wrote:I think I'll have to start out with the basic patch cables that you make in the Paia kit, and decide where I find myself wanting mults. Those cables look great, but having at least 10 of them is nearly $100! I suppose in modular world, thats peanuts

I'd definitely advise having a mix of normal and stackable cables. You don't need too much stackcables either, with only one you already have a three-way mult. So just a few will already be very helpful IMO. But yeah, 100$ is definitely peanuts in modular...

Jabberwalky wrote:Would this ikea rast work as a 6u? http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/44361109/

Seems like a few people have successfully modded that to work.

Yes it's perfectly 6U already from the shop, you just need rails and power. I have two of them (for normal rack gear though, not modular - not that it would make a big difference).

Great news pflosi! Looks like I'll be stopping there this evening

Bitexion wrote:t's one of those things you're bound to try. "Multiple=mix several signals together, so lets plug all oscillators in there an see how it sounds!"

You do realise now that multiples aren't for mixing anything together don't you? That's like the first thing you learn with modulars.

Jabberwalky wrote:I think I'll have to start out with the basic patch cables that you make in the Paia kit, and decide where I find myself wanting mults. Those cables look great, but having at least 10 of them is nearly $100! I suppose in modular world, thats peanuts

http://www.adinfinitummusic.com/PC35mm.html

That's a good source for cheap mini jack cables.

Jabberwalky wrote:Great news pflosi! Looks like I'll be stopping there this evening

I got a second, flipped it over and attached it to the first for even more space.
Then I got some casters so I can move it around when needed.

Stab Frenzy wrote:

Bitexion wrote:t's one of those things you're bound to try. "Multiple=mix several signals together, so lets plug all oscillators in there an see how it sounds!"

You do realise now that multiples aren't for mixing anything together don't you? That's like the first thing you learn with modulars.

Hehe, actually I didn't learn that until right now. But I've never used the multiple module all that much. I'm pretty much self taught, no university classes with a moog modular system in the basement etc..so no, that wasn't the first thing I learned with modulars. I've owned mine for 3 years now, didn't break it so far. Although I probably should have, if multiple-ing VCO outputs is as bad as you say.

Mostly I've used the module for splitting LFO signal to several modules. I have 2 proper mixer modules that I use normally, this was more of a test to see what happened, really, if the pitch dropped or if it tracked the pitch correctly. No and Yes respectively. Guess they foolproofed the VCOs.

GuyaGuy wrote:

Jabberwalky wrote:Great news pflosi! Looks like I'll be stopping there this evening

I got a second, flipped it over and attached it to the first for even more space.
Then I got some casters so I can move it around when needed.

I wonder if Ikea is aware of their perfectly designed rack! I bought one last night, seems sturdy enough (for being pine). Did you buy rack rails GuyaGuy? It looks like your lower gear is inset into the table. It looks like I'll be going with the TipTop Happy Ending on the bottom.

Bitexion wrote:Mostly I've used the module for splitting LFO signal to several modules. I have 2 proper mixer modules that I use normally, this was more of a test to see what happened, really, if the pitch dropped or if it tracked the pitch correctly. No and Yes respectively. Guess they foolproofed the VCOs.

Why should it drop pitch / prevent accurate tracking? The only thing it could do is distort the sound / cv you're mixing and / or destroy some of the connected outputs... All this doesn't mean that you'll instantly blow something when you connect outs together, it can take some time. There's a reason why Muffwiggler has an emoticon for a smoking burned out module. I wouldn't take it to an extreme, considering that Analogue Systems is not known for good repair service...

Dropping pitch via passive mults can happen if you use it the correct way, i.e. split a pitch cv to several oscs (instead of mixing the osc outs); if the output of the pitch cv before the passive mult is not buffered, pitch will drop and / or it won't track accurately...

Oh right, the sequential switch drops the pitch a good halfnote when I plug the 3x8 sequencer through it. I just never knew why, except that it's annoying. I'm not an electronics guy, so thanks for enlightening me even though it's not my thread to begin with

One of my mixer modules is buffered for used with CV's (not audio signals according to the manual). Maybe if I use the CV mixer as a buffer before the seq/switch I prevent that pitch drop?

I'm certainly learning a lot from the exchange bitexion being pretty new to modulars and all.

The move from "just turning knobs" to dealing with control voltages can be a difficult one to get your head around. You're used to everything happening "automatically" in pre-patched synthesizers, and suddenly you have to patch up every single control voltage. Can easily get lost and forget things. Or do things the wrong way, as pflosi clearly has demonstrated above here.

There's quite a bit of "boring" patching too, getting CV's to each oscillator from the midi/cv module, sending every oscillator output to a mixer input, the the mixer out to the filter in, and filter out to vca in. Add in some envelopes and LFO modulation and we're talking over a dozen cables already, just to get a sound you can play with the keyboard

When you get the modular it's very bewildering that you need lots of cables just to be able to trigger a note and have it shut off when you lift the key. You're so used to it happening naturally, but it doesn't. And if you don't use an envelope to the VCA, you get a sharp click on note on/off due to the voltage popping up too soon.
Need a slight attack to prevent that.
There is nothing that tells the VCA to shut off when you release a key, it will just keep sustaining the note forever unless you use an EG.
Things like that make modulars fun, but also difficult to work with.

I was thinking I'd be making outrageous cool Tangerine Dream stuff immediately. h**l no. I kept making various minimoog-like sounds for more than a year. I more or less set up the synth as a 3vco monosynth and left the cables attached and just tweaked it like a normal monosynth. It took a while to be able to get "modular crazy" sounds.

Jabberwalky wrote:
I wonder if Ikea is aware of their perfectly designed rack! I bought one last night, seems sturdy enough (for being pine). Did you buy rack rails GuyaGuy? It looks like your lower gear is inset into the table. It looks like I'll be going with the TipTop Happy Ending on the bottom.

The bottom row has rails. The top (Moogers) just have spare wood blocks for rails. The middle stuff is just stacked up--nothing is screwed in.

Some different stuff is in there now though; the photo is a few months old after all.

the primary difference between the 2 formats is in the POWER DISTRIBUTION
i would call any matter of selection or variety in the modules themselves a secondary difference. It's not always a problem, but still you're better off not mixing too many different euro manufacturers in the same case anyways.

Euro can often use a switching supply with serial configuration for power distribution. Doepfer (and monorocket?) offers an exception with their larger linear PSU - you can see the big transformers on those.
Blacet uses a linear supply, and the distro is in a star configuration. this assures a more even load to each module, as the voltage path is incrementally the same from each module to the PSU.

i couldn't tell you why, technically, but it is generally accepted that a star config+linear is a better way to avoid ground and loading issues. star configs are generally beefier in build, and practically a must in larger systems.