2021: A Year in Gear (What You've Bought or Want to Buy in 2021)

[pekbro]

I have 8 individual eurorack power supplies. *And I still need 1 or 2 more actually.

[elxsound]

It's impossible to tell the quality of a PSU by the components used. The fact that people use components as a metric for the quality of a PSU is part of the reason why power in Eurorack is such a mess. Lots of companies make PSUs without listing the PSU specs beyond maximum current draw. Then customers are encouraged to choose their own PSU... based on what? Anecdotal evidence?
Most buying those PSUs wouldn't understand what the specs mean anyway. I know I don't really understand all that stuff. It's really easy to latch on to ideas like "linear = good, switching = bad" or "meanwell? more like meanill, amirite?"... if you get any deeper into the technical stuff it's easy for customers to feel like they are in deep water, unable to feel the bottom with their feet.
It would really be nice if someone (a neutral third-party) with a lot of experience in this field would analyze and classify different PSUs to give consumers more confidence about what they are buying. Of course you would get push back from vendors and everyone knows credibility is fleeting in the age of the internet.

One thing I starting to find is that I'm better off with a bunch of smaller PSUs than one or two big ass supplies for the whole system. Keeps the length of wires between the PSU and power distribution to a minimum. Balancing current draw and having a common, low-impedance path to 0v are the things that seem to make the most difference.

Well this makes me feel better… I was fully committed to investing in a solid PSU, but I got stuck pretty quickly before going the uZeus route. I honestly have not tried to go back and make a different choice, but that’s mostly because I haven’t decided what the next expansion will look like.

I can’t complain about the uZeus though. It’s been solid, quick and easy even if it did steal 8hp that I’d like back now.

[whyterabbyt]

It's impossible to tell the quality of a PSU by the components used. The fact that people use components as a metric for the quality of a PSU is part of the reason why power in Eurorack is such a mess. Lots of companies make PSUs without listing the PSU specs beyond maximum current draw. Then customers are encouraged to choose their own PSU... based on what? Anecdotal evidence?
Most buying those PSUs wouldn't understand what the specs mean anyway. I know I don't really understand all that stuff. It's really easy to latch on to ideas like "linear = good, switching = bad" or "meanwell? more like meanill, amirite?"... if you get any deeper into the technical stuff it's easy for customers to feel like they are in deep water, unable to feel the bottom with their feet.

agreed. last thought on it, but to my mind, if Doepfer, who were singular in their stance on using linear power supplies, has decided that they can build a switching PSU that they're happy with, Im going to trust them. Im not concerned that they're buying branded parts made by one of the largest PSU manufacturers in the world, since they get to leverage economy of that scale of production. Conflations of lower cost solely with lower quality, or more expensive parts with better affordability arent swaying that; they're logically unsatisfactory. What would have been more useful would have been a technical account of how some devices are 'worse' or any useful concrete information. After all I thought the thread was 'what have you bought' not 'what you bought sucks.'

[foosnark]

I found some of my modules are getting a bit warm -- 98F on front panels according to my laser thermometer. Not a huge cause for concern, but I'm adding some ventilation to my wooden oven of a case. A couple of custom-cut perforated aluminum panels from onlinemetals.com (recommended by the guy from Synthwerks) should help a little, without the hassle of taking everything out and cutting some ventilation holes in the wood.

I've pretty much given up on the custom-built resonant EQ I was hoping for, but honestly I don't feel like I need it.

Looking forward to replacing my ES-3/ES-6 combo with a BoredBrain Optx once those are released. 8HP, 8 ADAT ins and outs. I'm told it's much less power consumption than the ES modules, and basically no internal DC offset. And that will also free up half of my Mazzatron Mult+PassThru, which will make it more convenient to patch between the Minibrute and modular

[whyterabbyt]

Recently unboxed and tested a newly-arrived Tamron Fotovix, my second one. Basically NOS condition, at one of the cheapest prices Ive seen them go for, about 2/3 what I paid for the first one(*) . Even needed to fit a plug, it had never been used, came with all the bits still in their plastic bags etc.

Also bought a set of 4 cheap but clear plastic 3" 'lazy susan' type bearings, which are just the right size to sit on these, and which Im hoping I can drive from an Arduino-controlled motor. What's the MIDI CC for rotation speed?

(* which turned up with the lens body detached, had to hotglue it back on because the catch seemed to have broken)

[pekbro]

Re: Power Supplies, I just tend to listen to what the engineers are saying in the forums and whatnot.
Mostly it's not stuff that folks like to hear IME.

[vurt]

I have 8 individual eurorack power supplies. *And I still need 1 or 2 more actually.

what the hell are you powering????
i only have 728 hp in all.

[WatchTheGuitar]

I found some of my modules are getting a bit warm -- 98F on front panels according to my laser thermometer.

It’s probably the laser tbf

[foosnark]

I found some of my modules are getting a bit warm -- 98F on front panels according to my laser thermometer.

It’s probably the laser tbf

I can't get the sharks to stop staring at my gear though.

[pekbro]

I have 8 individual eurorack power supplies. *And I still need 1 or 2 more actually.

what the hell are you powering????
i only have 728 hp in all.

I just have twice as many small cases as you, also I'm getting pretty close to 1000 hp worth of modules, though a few are still on the boat.

I did flake on the Robot Knob, the kickstarter failed and though he offered to turn the
pledges into pre-orders, I didn't really want to spend the money on it.

The Chromagon as well, I'm not super happy about the price going up by 1/3 and am not
going to buy it at this point, though that may change when it actually becomes available.
tbh, they kind of rubbed me the wrong way with their attitude about it, and I may not
buy any more of their modules at all.

[WatchTheGuitar]

My 4 tier Jaspers stand finally arrived from its round Europe adventures. Looks pretty manageable as a one person build, but saving that fun for the weekend. Think I will want to order some extra arms, but probably not clear exactly what until the base stand is built.

[vurt]

Think I will want to order some extra arms,

to help you build it?

[WatchTheGuitar]

Think I will want to order some extra arms,

to help you build it?

[foosnark]

Novation Launchpad X, to stop me from missing the grid controller from Medusa. It's more customizable, which is great because you don't often need an 8 octave range for a single synth part.

[kcearl]

Just bought a new mixer for the dawless side of my studio…like it so far, not 100% sure but I think it colours the sound a little, nice though.

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