Well, I am officially in. I pulled the trigger today and ordered a used Erica Synths Pico VCO for $120 Canadian. I figure its small, its a VCO, cheap, and versatile. I should be able to use it for various functions if I use another voice instead, or as an LFO or noise source.
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Do you have the case yet?
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No. I had been back and fourth with John at Pulp Logic about which tiles he might suggest or any other components I might require for the case that they sell because I am shipping cross border and I donât want to have to make a second order. About a week has passed and he hasnât replied yet. I was elated to find out that he could make me a completely water tight case though, with the jacks on the inside.
I figure it will take months before I can get anything all put together and the Pico VCO seemed like a great way to have the option of a standalone rack (sans Audulus) while taking up as little room as possible. I always like to max out versatility, and minimize size in my setups.
I appreciate any advice anyone has on anything. Even though I have been researching eurorack for years and am an avid user of software modular, I am still intimidated by the process. Also super stoked to have my first module on the way.
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Until the mothership arrives, I noticed that you can get a 3 module power supply and cardboard case for $50 over at the dreadbox shop. Iâm probably going to get one to test out my DIY modules before plopping them in my main case.
It might be worth having around.
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I was back looking at the Nerd-seq. Then I was looking at Hermod, because I can plug my X-Key directly in. Then I thought that maybe the iPad should remain the brain in the system due to size constraints. I am really glad I ordered that Pico VCO because it got me thinking about a bunch of Picos.
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Just ordered the Pulp Logic Case this morning. 
Hereâs what seems to be happening to me:
The case and tiles are ordered. All jacks are going inside in order to keep things as water resistant as possible. The pico VCO should be here soon.
I may pull the trigger on the Data, ES-8 and Disting at the same time. Some of these are low stock in Canada.
Any advice on cables?
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Which is better uBraids or Plaits?
The price is the same. $320 CAN
Itâs definitely worth having one or two tip top stackable cables as I am not otherwise seeing any mults in your case. Personally I like the Black Market brand cables as they have a nice âdrapeâ as well as the patch cords I salvaged from my ms-20 midi controller. Those MS-20 Cables have a really sturdy grip and have lasted about 15 years now. Mostly I use the 25cm in the small case, but I have a couple that are slightly longer for corner to corner connections and a few that are 9cm for when I am patching to literally the next panel over.
Whatâs the power draw of all of that? Just seems like it might be at or above the limit of the stock power supply. Modular Grid calculates it below. Itâs also relevant that you donât exceed the rails - the upper and lower limit of the power supplyâs current (see how the one below uses more than twice the positive power than negative).
A lot of small modules can quickly make you exceed this limit.
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And large cases too as I found out with the MakeNoise Shared system case. Exceeding the power limit results in unwanted noise and erratic behavior. It isnât quite as bad as plugging the power header the wrong way around, but itâs no fun. Also I would double check to see ifg there are enough headers for all those pico modules.
Power Consumption: 633 mA +12V | 253 mA -12V
Pulp Logic Case Power:
- DC-DC converter followed by filtering and linear regulation
- Power from a +9V to +18VDC power adapter or battery pack
- +12V rail 1000mA
- -12V rail 1000mA
- +5V rail 500mA
- 10 Shrouded 16-pin Eurorack connections
- 15 Keyed 1U Tile connections
- Includes 12V â 4A DC Power Adapter and US style IEC cord
- Uses a 2.1mm x 5.5mm center positive power connector
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You can try both in VCV Rack - Braids is free, and for Plaits you have to donate $20 for Audible Preview Plugin set (which includes Marbles). At least you can try Braids for free, to test if its your thing sonically and worth having in hardware.
They both deliver different sets of sounds, with some overlap, but I would go Plaits, since it has 4 âcharacter-changingâ knobs and CV inputs (FM, timbre, harmonics, Morph) vs. 3 on Braids (FM, Timbre an Color).
UPDATE: The Plaits is now open-source, and it was moved into regular free audible modules package in VCV Rack. So now you donât have to pay anything at all to try these two.
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Geeze. So many thoughts. Itâs tough with 54hp, but probably in a really good way because you canât just pick up modules you like or what have you.
I like my drums. One of the reasons I got Audulus was I was looking for FM drums for iPad.
I could stack up some 2hp drums in the case, but that seems kind of uninteresting. But if you get more intricate modules for each element (kick, clap, snare, hat, etc), you run out of room fast.
Akemieâs Taiko interests me, but it is big and only covers one voice. At the same time, on most of my tracks I may use a couple of FM drum voices, but then I end up using retro casio type drum samples for filling out the rhythms anyway. Each classic drum sound fits into a composition very well anyway, so no need to reinvent the wheel. I also like producing electro, where, for me, it is good to somewhat anchor the sound in some genre specific voices that keep the productions in a theme.
If you go sample based, you loose the opportunity to get some really interesting CV modulations of the core waveforms. If you go for the CV mods, you run out of room.
Was looking at this â because it is new â but at 30hp and god knows how much money ($790CAN) it seems off for the lunchbox.
- The little demo at the end is very underwhelming but some of the specs are great.
⢠30 HP/TE width under a black panel, <3/4â in depth
⢠7 drum voices: bass drum, snare, tambourine, closed and open hi-hat,
cymbal and metal beat
⢠hybrid sound generation: digital noise with spectrum animation,
injected into analog circuits
⢠full discrete analog generation part, using inductor coils instead of
op-amps
⢠on-board effect processor with 8 effects: hall, shimmer, room, plate,
spring reverb types, tap and tape delay types as well as a new freezer
effect with additional auxiliary input and firmware update over audio
So you get a delay packed in there for other uses.
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After watching Andrew Huangâs video on Endorphines I can see that it is not really what I am looking for. I like the idea of the old drum machine voice module, but the fx routing and whatnot wouldnât suit the setup I have in mind. I am sharing some of this because I hope there is someone out there who has similar concerns and needs to think through how to put together a small modular to compliment Audulus in a full live rig setup.
Someone just posted a used Maths module in my area. I would like to get into this one just to raise my comprehension of what can be done with CV (gotta love that Maths is call an âanalog computerâ). However, at 20hp it takes up more than a third of my case. Is it worth the HP? What about VC Trinity by Bastl? Are there other modules that accomplish what Maths does in other interesting ways â even less HP? CV Trinity is 14hp, for example. That being said, it does seem to require a bit of mode/function diving that Maths does not.
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I often see this sentiment expressed, but when it comes down to it, 20 HP is not that much physical space for a LOT of simultaneous CV functionality. Not to mention that the template of maths is such that the more you use it the easier it becomes to think of patching with it and performing on it. Performance modules kind of need a little space around the knobs (a jack right next to a trim pot is not at all the same thing) again 20 HP is not that big when you compare it to breaking down the components piecemeal.
That said, Befaco Rampage is pretty nice, and is 2HP smaller, but lacks the attenuverters and 4 channel mixer in favor of more logic outputs. That said, the KEG that @stschoen whipped up, does a pretty good job of most of the stuff maths gets used for, so Audulus can easily be a source of modulation and remove maths from the case altogether.
BTW if you just want a little analog drum machine, have you checked out the Delphtronics LDB-2E? Definitely not much going on in terms of performance controls, but it is a full analog drum machine in 6 HP.
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My GodâŚ
âYou can hear the rectification.â
âItâs like a little analog playground.â
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Yeah, thatâs the dual oscillator that I might swap my beloved DPO out for. Plus this guy is totally legit, I had the opportunity to email with him and he was really open about how his modules are internally configured and whatnot.
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No wave folder?
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